After being saved from an auction, extraordinary photographs that were taken during WWII by a German soldier are now on display for the first-time.
This set of 59 private black-and-white photos, taken from September 2, 1943, to October 13, 1944, depicts German soldiers in the Warsaw Uprising. It was the biggest resistance movement against Nazis during World War II.
These photos of soldiers beleaguered by Nazis on the frontline would not have been published in the original publication, because they might have proven damaging to Nazi propaganda efforts.
Hitler ordered complete destruction of Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising. This began on the 1st August 1944.
His Nazi troops had already razed more than 80 per cent of the city and 18,000 Poles were dead in the 63 day battle.
Jan Ołdakowski, the director of the Warsaw Rising Museum said: ‘These photos were taken from a private perspective, which is why they are so valuable.’
German officers in shabbily-dressed uniforms are shown giving Nazi salutes at a group women. Some are responding to the gesture. It’s not certain if these women are German civilians or Polish citizens trying to save themselves.
Unscrupulous Nazi officers gathered at the graveside of a fallen friend during fighting. The well-armed Germans killed around 18,000 Polish rebels.
As they hide in an apartment that appears to have been evacuated, a group of German soldiers dressed in shabbily spy on them through a peephole. They are likely hiding under blankets, and appear to be on filthy beds. Such images wouldn’t have been published by Nazi Germany.
German soldiers examine the effects of an explosion that ripped apart wrought iron track and blew many holes in it.
Ołdakowski continuedL ‘You can see that the recommendations on how to photograph German soldiers did not apply to them, so they are often sloppy, dirty and sitting in postures that would not please their bosses.’
He added: ‘A German soldier could not show in his photos another German soldier who had his uniform unbuttoned, or who was tired.
‘The Germans made sure that the image of their soldiers was that of a victorious, well-uniformed, decent army.’
Armed soldiers leave a building with their weapons. These fighters appear tired and worn, a stark contrast to the elite fighting force depicted in Nazi propaganda.
In the aftermath of the heavy fighting in Poland’s capital, shirtless and dirty soldiers load the damaged equipment onto trains.
Nazi soldiers peer out from the windows of an apartment in Warsaw, which has been closed during the bloody fighting
While they are waiting for their orders, German soldiers sit alongside heavy artillery directed against the city.
The unique photos described by historians as ‘historically priceless’ were recently discovered by staff at the Warsaw Rising Museum after being put up for sale on an internet auction site.
The owner, an antiquarian bookseller in the Czech Republic, agreed to sell them to the museum for the equivalent of £2,000 if he received the money within 48 hours.
Now on public display online, other photos show the occupying Nazi German soldiers manning positions in buildings, preparing to face the onslaught from Stalin’s Red Army waiting on the other side of the Vistula river, and Wehrmacht troops on patrol on the bombed out capital’s streets.
German troops are riding on an armoured vehicle that makes its way through streets of the desolate Polish capital.
One Nazi officer supervises the capture of what appears to be civilians and their employment by the German soldiers.
One of the photos shows shabbily dressed German officers giving Nazi salutes and some women returning it.
We don’t know if these women are German civilians trying to save their lives.
Another image shows officers dressed in rough clothes at the tomb of a combatant.
Another image shows disgraced officers of the German Railway Security Service (Bahnschutz), filing through a bunker constructed with overhead street barsricades.
Following Hitler’s orders, bitter fighting continued for 63 consecutive days. After the German heavy artillery decimated most of the city, it was retaken by the Germans.
Many others show German officers inspecting railway tracks for damage.
The collection ends with photos of Polish civilians being herded out of the capital’s Ochota district.
Although the identity of the soldier who took the photos remains a mystery, historian Ryszard Mączewski said: ‘It could have been a soldier of the 302nd Radio Battalion, because the weapons used by soldiers from that unit are visible in the photographs.
‘However, it could also have been someone connected with the Bahnschutz, as officers of German railways can be seen in the photographs.’
This photo depicts a group of Polish civilians who did not form part of the insurgency against the Nazis being herded out of the capital’s Ochota district
The 63-day conflict saw 18,000 Poles lose their lives, and another 25,000 are injured.
Hitler ordered the destruction of all the cities in the Warsaw Uprising. It began on August 1, 1944 and ended on October 2, 1944. Over 80 percent had been destroyed by the Nazis when he left.