Figure 1.-- German soldiers invading the Soviet Union gave the boys here cigarettes and took their photographs, thinking that it was humerous. We see other exampes of this in German soldier pgotography. Many German soldiers made albums of their military exploits. The soldier here has written "Russische Bengel" on his snapshot. The dealer thought this meant 'Russian ruffians' A HBC reader tells us 'Russian urchins' is a better translation. Smoking was not something boys did in Germany and was even looked down on for teenagers. It apprently helped to confirm their idea that Russian and the Russians were backward and uncivilized. What we are unsure of is why Russian boys seemed to enjoy cigarettes. Here we are not talking about teenagers, but primary-school age boys. There was in the Soviet Union before the German invasion a shortage of just about all consumer goods. This presumably would have included cigarettes, although we do not yet have information on availability. If cigarettes were hard to obtain before the German invasion, we suspect that few boys would have picked up the smoking habit. So we are unsure why so many boys seem to have enjoyed the cigarettes given to them by the Germans. Images like this are actually little historical documents. They not only provided historical evidence, in this case how peole inclusing children were licing iun great poverty. The photographsals provide clues as tgo whatwas in the hearts of the German soldiers smashing into the Soviet Union. Both the selectioin of subjects and in this case the comment written on the photograph provide clues, although the interpretation is much more subjective and there is no way of relly knowing. We can, however, speculate. .

German soldiers invading the Soviet Union gave the boys here cigarettes and took their photographs, thinking that it was humerous. We see other exampes of this in German soldier pgotography. Many German soldiers made albums of their military exploits. The soldier here has written "Russische Bengel" on his snapshot. The dealer thought this meant 'Russian ruffians' A HBC reader tells us 'Russian urchins' is a better translation. Smoking was not something boys did in Germany and was even looked down on for teenagers. It apprently helped to confirm their idea that Russian and the Russians were backward and uncivilized. What we are unsure of is why Russian boys seemed to enjoy cigarettes. Here we are not talking about teenagers, but primary-school age boys. There was in the Soviet Union before the German invasion a shortage of just about all consumer goods. This presumably would have included cigarettes, although we do not yet have information on availability. If cigarettes were hard to obtain before the German invasion, we suspect that few boys would have picked up the smoking habit. So we are unsure why so many boys seem to have enjoyed the cigarettes given to them by the Germans. Images like this are actually little historical documents. They not only provided historical evidence, in this case how many Soviet citizens, especially in rural areas, including children were living in great poverty. The photographsals provide clues as to what was in the hearts of the German soldiers smashing into the Soviet Union. Both the selection of subjects and in this case the comment written on the photograph provide clues, although the interpretation is much more subjective and there is no way of relly knowing. We can, however, speculate. And we welcome reader assessments.

Chronology

This German soldier snapshot is undated. We think that most of these tourist type images were taken during Barbarossa (June-December 1941). After the failure of Barbarossa, Russian scenes like this lost most of their novelty an interest. They can be roughly dated by the clothes the children are wearing. Here it looks to us like the cold weather has mot yet begun, but the hear of summervhad past. Thus we would giess the photograph was taken in September 1941. By this time the Whermacht was deep in the Soviet Union and preparing for the final war-winning drive on Mocow.

German Soldier Photography

Our HBC website relies heavily on photography as a primary source. And one of the sources of photographs are images taken by the Germans. We note both official and news photography. Of course in NAZI Germany, press photographs were official photographs, at the least the ones that got published. An important source of unofficial photographs were the individual German soldiers. Photography was very popular in Germany and many Germans had cameras, often excellent cameras. And many soldiers not only took their cameras to war. There were military regulations about this, but they seem to have often been ignored. Many German servicemen were so proud that they prepareed photo albums of their exploits as a record of their exploits and accomplishments. Subject matter varied. Most of the photographs picture barracks life and occupation duty. There are also sight sightseeing photographs. In the East there were many photograohs of the local people who seemed so alien to the advancung Germans who considered themselves more civilized. There are even photographs of the attrocities the Germans were committed which was also against regulations, but some of the men involved were so proud of what they were doing that they wanted a record.

Cigarettes

Cigarettes and tobacco use in general was founded on in Germany. Medical resereches had already connected the casual link between tobbaco and cancer. In adiition it ran counter to the NAZI ideal of a healty bidy and life style. Smoking was not something boys did in Germany and was even looked down on for teenagers. Even so, the Whermacht privided soldiers a cigratte ration to help maintain morale. The German cigarettes by allaccounts were awful, although this may have been especially true in the karer stages of the War. German soldiers invading the Soviet Union gave the boys here cigarettes and took their photographs, thinking that it was humerous. The boys may have asked for them. Here we do not know fode sure, but given the number oif similr images, it may well have been the case. There was in the Soviet Union before the German invasion a shortage of just about all consumer goods. This presumably would have included cigarettes, although we do not yet have information on availability. If cigarettes were hard to obtain before the German invasion, we suspect that few boys would have picked up the smoking habit. So we are unsure why so many boys seem to have enjoyed the cigarettes given to them by the Germans. What we are unsure of is why Russian boys seemed to enjoy cigarettes. Here we are not talking about teenagers, but primary-school age boys.

Insription

We see other exampes of this in German soldier photography. Many German soldiers made albums of their military exploits. The soldier here has written "Russische Bengel" on his snapshot. The dealer thought this meant 'Russian ruffians' A HBC reader tells us 'Russian urchins' is a better translation. A German speaking Dutch reader tells us, "The word Bengel could be either singular or plural in German. In this case plural. We have the same word and the same meaning in Dutch."

Historical Documents

Images like this are actually little historical documents. They not only provided historical evidence, in this case how people including children were licing iun great poverty. The photographs also also provide clues as to what was in the hearts of the German soldiers smashing into the Soviet Union.

Rural poverty

One of the relevations from the German soldier photography is the extent of poverty in the Soviet Union. We believe that these photographs were mostly taken in 1941. Thu the images shows what life was like in Stalin's Socialist paradise at the time of the German invasion and not poverty caused by the Germans as aesult og the invasion. Stalin's collectivization campaign was an assault on the peasantry and Soviet agriculture never recovered from it. Stalin's policy was essentially to murder the best farmers in the country and their familie or to deport the 'lucky ones' to Central Asia. Stalins enginneeered Ukranian Famine is one of the great crimes of the 20th century. This is interesting because Soviet propaganda depicted a worker's paradise for both urban industrial workers and the rural peasantry. And many in the West, especially during the Depression, bought the Soviet propganda. This was the case of the Rosenbergs and the other American traitors that spied for the NKVD and Soviet military intelligence services. It ius why the Soviets had such an effecive soy network in America and Brutain. Of ijnterest is that nothing like these images of Sovirt poverty appeared in the American press before, during, and after the War. Thus the German soldier photography offer us aare window into Soviet life.

German soldier outlook

Scenes like this apprently helped to confirm their idea that Russian and the Russians were backward and uncivilized. Both the selection of subjects and in this case the comment written on the photograph provide clues, although the interpretation is much more subjective and there is no way of relly knowing. We can, however, speculate. And we welcome reader assessments. A Dutch reader tells us, "I feel that the photographer did not mean it in a condescending way. He was kind of amused by the boys." This benign interpretation could well be accurate. It should not be though that the German soldiers involved in Barbarossa were mindless killers. We do not believe this at all. And most if not virtully all of the ordinary soldiers had any idea about the monsterous killing opertion that NAZI leaders were prepating as part of Generalplan Ost. Of course large numbers of German soldiers knew that Jews were being murdered as part of the Holocaust. So we are not sure just where the soldier who took this was coming from. We also have to nderstand that many of the soldiers who took these photographs and wrote the captkion were not especially sophisticated or had though deeply about political issues. It seems to us, however that they show a codescnding attitude about the Russians and one promoted by NAZI propaganda, that the Russians were backward and bareely civilized. We see this as similar to the way that many Whire Americans pictured black children in the the South-not a murderous attitude but one of strident racial superrority.

Created: 6:06 PM 11/4/2014
Last updated: 6:06 PM 11/4/2014