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Tag / WWII

The State of Berlin After Hitler

Did you ever hear about the Californian high school teacher who wanted to teach his class how the German people accepted Hitler as their leader, so he created a Nazi-like movement at his school in just 5 days? While browsing through these jarring post WWII photographs of Berlin, one of my favourite European cities, I…

Up Close & Personal with Coco Chanel in her Apartment at the Ritz

The most controversial years in Coco Chanel’s life were spent living at the Hotel Ritz in Paris. While most of Paris was being booted out of their homes during the German occupation, Coco lived in luxury throughout most of World War II– thanks to a highly questionable relationship with her lover, a German Aristocrat and Nazi…

Inside the FBI’s Colossal Fingerprint Factory

Before the FBI went digital, it looked a little more like a giant stock warehouse for Amazon.com. In the 1920s, the bureau was only employing 25 workers to classify around 800,000 print cards, but by 1943, there were more than 20,000 employees sorting through 70 million fingerprints. At the height of wartime, the archives were so overwhelmed that the FBI eventually…

The Ghost Army of WWII that Duped Hitler

This is not a photograph of a strong man contest. That tank weighs about as much as an inflatable dingy. But what were World War II U.S soldiers doing clowning around with a blow-up tank? Actually, there was nothing funny about it; these were the brave men of a unique secret mission to intimidate and deceive…

Paris Then & Now: A City on the Edge of Freedom

Being able to walk around Paris with window vision into the past is probably up there with my top three wishes. A Parisian photographer and art director, Julien Knez, made it a reality with his remarkable before & after overlays. Tracking down the exact location of vintage photographs taken in the 1940s, Knez gives us a glimpse into Paris on…

What Happens when You Discover 31 Rolls of Undeveloped Film from a WWII Soldier

“Lucky Strike Beach”,  “Start of Train Trip”,  “Roll of French funeral, 1947”; these are some of the labels found on 31 never-developed rolls of film taken over 70 years ago by an American World War II soldier. One film was wrapped in some kind of a letter that reads: “I’ve always had a lonesome life, dreaming…

Art at War: Lost Frescoes of the Maginot Line

The Maginot Line, considered by many to be one of the greatest and most expensive military mistakes of all time; a name rarely spoken of today except to recall something that people hope will prove effective but instead, fails miserably. But here, inside the forgotten underground bunkers that line a defensive wall built by the French between…
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