World War II came as a breaking point in photography as elsewhere. It was documented on a huge scale by thousands of photographers and artists who created millions of pictures. While some photographs are taken in the heat of battle, others are staged. One of the many powerful images of Waffen-SS in action during the Battle of Kursk showing a SS-Panzergrenadier climbing the banks of an anti-tank ditch. Contact sheets reveal that this photo was staged behind the lines where it was safe by the war correspondent SS-Kriegsberichter Johan King who covered the Leibstandarte SS at Kursk. Note the face-mask at his neck: meant to provide camouflage, it was seldom, if ever, used by soldiers in combat because it hampered visibility, especially when on the move. The photo is taken when the Waffen-SS were at its peak. Highly trained and equipped with the latest warfare technology, the elite Waffen-SS was to spearhead the expected German summer offensive of July 1943:
Operation Zitadelle. Credit: Rui Manuel Candeias. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. The photograph to the left shows a SS-Kradschütze happily posing for the talented photographer SS-Kriegsberichter Ernst Baumann in July 1941. Ernst Baumann was assigned to the Totenkopf during the opening days of
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Credit: Doug Banks. Commons: Bundesarchiv. War photography provides us with the opportunity to learn about war from the safety of our homes. It engenders knowledge, understanding, and empathy, but also desensitization.
Staged or not staged, still great pictures though!
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