(Please bear with this story...) Hello - I recently began sorting through my mother and father's wartime photo collection. The photos had been knocking about for as long as I can remember, but were disorganized and strewn about in different places... I suppose one of the many interesting sets in the collection was a small series of German photographs that my father 'liberated' while he was serving in the 8th Army in North Africa. These four photos were pasted into his main wartime album and were, naturally, a great curiosity and talking point. Here are the four photos in question...(Click on them to enlarge in new window)... Now, obviously, my father had put these in his album because of the fact that they showed German soldier in battle, it was rather a interesting 'trophy' from his service. But, of course, he knew little about their origin or their former owner - the only title he put to them was 'Poland', a guess on his part probably owing to the characteristic eastern European architecture you can see in a couple of the shots. And that's how we thought of them all these years, as novel pieces of memorabilia showing some scenes from the early war Blitzkrieg (presuming that the owner was later transferred to North Africa, where my father came by his pictures - though he never said how he got them). Now, recently my mother found a some more of my father's photos which she had forgotten she had and passed them to me to add to the collection. Among these were three more in this series of German Army scenes. Looking at them I concluded that my father hadn't put them in the album because they were a bit blurry and didn't contain any more German soldiers, so were of less interest to him... BUT... On the back of one of them I found written a name in pencil - 'Stryj'... It didn't appear to be my father's hand writing, so I had to imagine that it was a title written by the original German owner and was probably the location of where the photo was taken. So I Googled the word - something my father couldn't have done - and immediately found several references to a town of that name (Stryj also known as Stryy). The town wasn't in Poland, but rather the Ukraine. I will let one of the reference tell the next stage in this story... "The Germans occupied Stryy on July 2, 1941, and hundreds of Jews were immediately killed. In November 1941, 1,200 Jews were shot in the Holobotow forest. Several depotations to extermination camps took place beginning in September, 1942. Between June and August of 1943 the Stryy ghetto and labor camps near the town were liquidated. When the Soviet army occupied Stryy in August, 1944 there were only a few Jewish survivors. No Jewish community was re-established." Source: ShtetLinks Page -- Stryy As you can imagine I was a little shocked to say the least, and carefully re-examined the three additional photos again... ...Now I have no way of confirming this absolutely, but the title seems to point to the probability that these photographs were perhaps the record of some of the 'military operations' carried out by the Germans against the town of Stryj in 1941... If so this is a very gruesome find. I am absolutely sure my father would have no idea of the true significance of these photographs, but rather just thought they were interesting memorabilia. As for me - I am not sure that I am happy keeping them, and am thinking that they should perhaps be passed on to a group or organization that could put these into some historical context. Perhaps a Jewish organization or Holocaust archive. ...So sorry to write such a long-winded post, but I thought you might find the story, and the photographs, of interest. Steve
Fascinating Steve, Does look like a few recently burning buildings doesn't it... Just wondering about the column of what are apparently prisoners (3rd picture), and look to be wearing uniform? Unrelated to Stryj, or maybe forced labourers?
hi there vp... Yes I wondered about the column... Going on the original story that these photos were from the Blitzkrieg in Poland I had taken them to be Polish POWs. However - I cannot discern any uniform positively - and certainly cannot see any of the very distinctive Polish Army headgear (the four-cornered "rogatywka" or czapka). And I would have imagined it would be present. However, all the people in the column are male...So as you say maybe forced labour. I am not familiar with the history of the invasion of the Ukraine - but I guess that would be under Soviet governance at this time - so they may be Soviet soldiers. Frustratingly one cannot see any of the German vehicle number plates or divisional insignia!!! As you say - these photos, although belonging to the same owner do not have to belong to the same time line, but may have been collected all through the owner's military service. Glad my meandering story telling wasn't tiresome. Thanks for your reply. Steve
What units went from Ukraine to North Africa, I wonder? Browning's Ordinary Men includes a tone-setting report by an Order Police captain who mentions Stryj as being subjected to a 'Jewish resettlement action' between 3-5 Sep 1942. Nothing on any original actions by military forves 'passing through' as the book does focus on the Police's role.
Steve, I think that you've done the right thing by posting them here together with your reasoned comments. The photographs will now be more accessible than in a specialised archive. Their context as part of your family collection makes them more interesting and adds a further level of interest. These are the sort of souvenirs that ordinary soldiers picked up from the other side and of course they also suggest that not all the troops in the 'clean' war in North Africa were as untarnished as all that.
...of course they also suggest that not all the troops in the 'clean' war in North Africa were as untarnished as all that. Thank you for your comments Rich... For me, you hit the nail right on the head. My dad like - I believe - many veterans of the North Africa campaign was very respectful of his German advesaries - and only had the most admiring of opinions about Erwin Rommel. While he was very aware of the atrocities of the Holocaust - and indeed made sure my family and I paid a visit to Belsen so that we would understand and not forget the monstrosity of the Nazis - he seemed to deem the German Army of the North Africa campaign as a very different beast. ...I find it sad to think that even by this early stage in the war his perceptions of his German foe were wrong. Of course, in hindsight our generation is not surprised as history teaches that the Nazi manifesto was obvious right from the start - but for people like my father it perhaps seemed incredulous that people that he had a grudging respect for could have been a party to this kind of base murder. Disturbingly the photos I posted above show ordinary members of the Wehrmacht and not members of the SS seemingly involved in these operations. Steve
Whilst not attempting to absolve of blame those responsible for any of the attrocities mentioned above, don't forget that the individual who took the photograph of a burning building did not necessarily have anything to do with the fire. Roxy
Whilst not attempting to absolve of blame those responsible for any of the attrocities mentioned above, don't forget that the individual who took the photograph of a burning building did not necessarily have anything to do with the fire. Roxy Hi Roxy - yes, that is a point. There is just as likely a chance that these soldiers *might* have been witnesses to the aftermath of the actions of other units. Though this is a bit of a can of worms to open - where does the blame end? One thing is for sure, whether initially involved or not these men *were* witnesses to the actions committed against the defenceless citizens of towns like these. One can make ones own mind up then how culpable they were in the actions of the Nazi war machine. I make no accusations and do not believe in tarring everyone with the same brush...But either way the result was the same to small Jewish communities like these.
The third picture in the top set appears to be an "aktion" in Stryj, wherein Jews were marched out of town to the nearby forest and made to lie down in pits where they were then shot. Note that a few of the men appear to be wearing skullcaps; the rest are almost all wearing hats. Between the wars, Stryj was in Poland, and had a Jewish community of over 10,000. Stryj was in the part of Poland assigned to Russia in the 1939 treaty, and the war did not come to it until the Germans invaded in 1941. Fewer than 200 Jews from Stryj survived the war. Most were killed in a series of "aktionen" as described above. The ShtetLinks pages noted above are memorials to communities that, for the most part, ceased to exist durring the war. I can facilitate a donation of scans of the pictures to the Stryj ShtetLinks group, if you wish.
A fascinating thread to read and perhaps the history of the photogropher will never be know. I have to agree that the photographer may well have happened on the scene following previous action. A lot of questions raised and it will be difficult to get to the bottom of it. Regards Tom
It's not much to go on, but you can just see the beginning of a number plate in photo 3 of the second batch. It begins (I think) --- 'M 1-7...' Again - it's most frustrating that no divisional markings can be seen!
I'm not sure if the motorcycle photo comes from the same location. The registration number is not German (but of course it could have been a confiscated vehicle). The machine visible looks to me like a Polish Sokol which was a pre-war Polish copy of the Harley Davidson.
img 1 could be an eagle on the sleeve of the man in front img 3 looks like ps/w rather than anything else
img 1 could be an eagle on the sleeve of the man in front Nope , can't see that myself. I think you're looking at a crease/fold in cloth. The helmet decal is the Heer Eagle not the SS swastika shield.
Nope , can't see that myself. I think you're looking at a crease/fold in cloth. The helmet decal is the Heer Eagle not the SS swastika shield. I can see the decal isn't a swastika but it doesn't look like the Heer one either (check with helmet of other guy). The thing on the sleeve I mean to recognise as eagle is below the crease. Better visible zoomed out.
My grandmother was born in Stryj, and was ten years old when this invasion happened. She and her family weren't Jewish, but someone tipped the Germans off to the fact that she could speak Russian, Polish and Ukrainian pretty fluently. They took her from her parents and put her in a military vehicle with a megaphone. She was made to announce things like "All non-jews must remain indoors, anyone who disobeys this order will be shot and killed" in three different languages. Not long after, her family fled to Germany. They had a few stable years there before the war ended, when they were put in a squalid refugee camp for two years. Eventually they got passage to Australia, where she met my grandfather... and here I am! This was a horrible part of history that even my grandmother has tried hard to forget.
