UNDER GERMAN OCCUPATION AND THE FAMOUS TREE OF EUROPE
Gnarled Polish tree that Jewish brothers hide inside to escape the Nazis is named best in Europe
- Oak Józef, in village of Wiśniowa, south-eastern Poland, was used by two Jewish brothers to hide from Nazis
- The Brimmon Oak in Wales, around which a new bypass will be built after a petition, finished as the runner up
A Polish tree that two Jewish brothers used as a shelter for hiding from the Nazis during World War Two has been voted European Tree of the Year 2017.
Oak Józef, in the village of Wiśniowa, south-eastern Poland, was also printed on Polish 100 złoty bills. Today it is admired by many visitors and is captured in many photos and paintings.
The Brimmon Oak, in Newtown, in Wales, came runner-up in the competition.
The competition started in 2011 as a way to highlight the significance of ancient trees. This year featured candidates from 16 countries and the participation of hundreds of thousands of people.
Two Jewish brothers used Oak Józef (pictured) as a shelter for hiding from the Nazis during World War Two
The Polish tree with its extraordinary history was voted European Tree of the Year for 2017
The Mycielski family was so charmed by the beauty of the area that they bought a mansion there that became a cultural and intellectual centre of the region
Today, oak Józef is admired by many visitors and is captured in photos and paintings
Oak Józef, in the village of Wiśniowa, south-eastern Poland, was also printed on Polish 100 złoty bills
According to historians, the tree acted as a refuge for two Jewish brothers hiding from the Nazis.
Jakub Pawłowski of the Ulma Family Museum in Markowa, said: 'The hideout was shown to the brothers by Rozalia Proszak. The hollow in which they hid was huge. People say it had two levels, the lower was used as a hideout and the upper – as a lookout. Both brothers survived the occupation but their fate after the war is unknown.'
Robert Godek, head of the Strzyzów District Council, in Poland, received the award.
He said: 'A warm thank you to all the people of Wisniowa and all the European supporters for believing in Oak Józef's candidacy. We will celebrate this honour back home as it deserves.'
The Brimmon Oak (pictured) received 16,203 votes, the Oak Jósef had 17,597 and the third place Lime Tree at Lipka, in the Czech Republic, had 14,813
The Brimmon Oak in Newtown - around which a new bypass will be built after a petition attracted 5,000 signatures - finished runner up to an even older oak from Poland
The 500-year-old oak in Powys finished second in the European Tree of the Year award for 2017
Oak Józef won in a narrow vote, edging out the 500-year-old Welsh Brimmon Oak.
It has been cared for by one family for generations – they even have wedding photographs from 1901 that were taken under its canopy.
But in 2015 it was threatened by a new bypass. Mervyn Jones, who farms the land, campaigned hard to save the tree with 'tree hunter' Rob McBride and following a 5,000-signature petition to the Welsh Assembly, the bypass route was adjusted.
It was named the UK's Tree of the Year in December.
Ancient tree campaigner Rob McBride, who attended the award ceremony in Brussels, said it was 'amazing news'.
The Brimmon Oak received about 16,200 votes, some 1,400 fewer than Poland's Josef Oak, in the results announced on Tuesday. The Lime Tree at Lipka, Czech Republic, came third with about 14,800 votes.
The Lime Tree at Lipka, Czech Republic, came third in the competition with about 14,800 votes
This lime tree grows by a road connecting the 13th-century Lipka manor and a former cemetery, now tomb of the manor’s first owners, the Kustoš family. It is said that a couple that make love under the tree will share an everlasting love
Pictures show Hitler and fellow Nazis celebrating by a giant tree at the start of World War II
Christmas presents a time for people to come together and celebrate.
And while it is horrible to imagine that happy sentiment extending into one of the most horrible genocidal groups throughout history, recently-released pictures give viewers a glimpse into their holiday festivities.
LIFE magazine released a series of photos from a Nazi Christmas party in 1941, right during the beginnings of World War II when they sent Jews, homosexuals and gypsies away to their death at concentration camps.
Under the Christmas tree: Adolf Hitler (center) sits with Heinrich Himmler to his left, who was the commanding officer of the Nazi secret police. They both were at the forefront of the movement's push to create a 'master race' ridding the world of Jews, homosexuals, and list of other groups they deemed less socially acceptable
The pictures show the group's leader Adolf Hitler sitting with a furrowed brow at a formal dinner party for Nazi officers held in Munich.
That picture, showing Hitler's hands grasped at his mouth as he sits quietly next to a peer, was the only one of the group that LIFE originally ran.
The caption they ran alongside it, when it as published in 1941, said that 'though he dominated his officers and came to despise them, Hitler never felt socially at ease with them -- they had better backgrounds and education. He never invited them to dinner, aware that they looked down on the old comrades he liked to have around'.
The December 18, 1941 event was held at the Löwenbräukeller beer hall, and it was decorated for the season.
Leader and followers: Hitler (center left) appears ill at ease at the Christmas party and is rumored to have not trusted his advisors, and the group of underlings to the right have a similarly stiff attitude at the Christmas party held on December 18, 1941 at a Munich beer house
Attentive attendants: Though they were in a beer hall, their best behaviour was required at the Christmas party and it is clear that they were not going to let loose
A large Tannenbaum tree was placed behind Hitler's seat and tinsel streamers adorned the hall's rafters.
The eeriest aspect of the photos is the knowledge of what was going on outside of the building, and knowing what massive atrocities these men- who seem to be throwing their cares aside for the evening- were capable of enacting.
The photos were taken by Hugo Jaeger, one of Hitler's personal photographers. Unlike many other photographers at the time, Jaeger was using color technology in 1941 and took many of the Nazi propaganda photos in that style.
At the end of the war, Jaeger was able to bury his photos in glass jars underground, hidden for safe keeping and they remained there for ten years until 1955.
The masses congregate: The Nazi party took over the entire Löwenbräukeller beer hall in Munich and was decorated using tinsel, large Tannenbaum trees, and, unsurprisingly, the ever-present swastika
Paris through a Nazi's lens: Propaganda pictures of Occupied France taken by photographer ordered to prove city was thriving under German rule
- Andre Zucca's images of Paris in the Second World War have remained controversial
- Appear to show Parisians carefree and jubilant under Nazi occupation and Vichy rule
- Photojournalist took images of fashionable women, smiling soldiers and happy families in the capital
Fashionable young women pose for the camera and commuters mix with Nazi soldiers on the bustling Paris streets.
The famous roads of the French capital are adorned with the Swastikas of the German regime but Parisians appear jubilant.
At first glance, these photographs appear to show a Paris that flourished under four years of Nazi occupation during the Second World War.
Controversial: Andre Zucca's series of photographs, such as these young women posing in unusual sunglasses, showed Parisians enjoying life under German rule
Carefree: The series is filled with fashionable women wearing stylish outfits and applying make-up, in stark contrast to hardships commonly associated with Nazi rule
Propaganda: Historians say images such as this one of a Nazi solider walking freely with Parisians was designed to show the world France was happy under occupation
Positive light: Zucca's photos show women dressed in the height of fashion and courting young lovers enjoying the French sunshine
Taking in the sights: A German soldier looks on at lethargic-looking polar bears at the Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes, Paris's famous zoo
Captive city: An elephant reaches across from its enclosure to take something from the hand of a youngster. Zucca was commissioned to show a Paris that was happy under the Nazi yoke
Ingenious contraption: Two fashionably dressed young men stand by a tandem bicycle towing a carriage of sorts
But these images - of cafes, courting lovers and carefree commuters - were taken to show the world how the French capital was thriving following the Nazi invasion of 1940.
Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels wanted Paris to retain its pre-war image, at least on the surface.
Shot by French photographer Andre Zucca for the German propaganda magazine Signal, these pictures show a Paris that is in sharp contrast to the hardships commonly associated with Nazi rule.
This depiction remains controversial and deeply distressing for many French people who lived through the four years of the occupation.
When they were put on display in 2008 - more than 60 years after being taken - many called for the exhibition to be closed down. The then deputy mayor Christophe Girard said: 'It's a complete manipulation. And it makes me vomit.'
Opposing ideologies: A sign advertises the Europe Against Bolshevism exhibition, held under the auspices of Nazi front organisation the anti-Bolshevik Action Committee in Paris in 1942
Life goes on: Parisians go about their business, walking down into a subway. The majority of Zucca's images show Paris as a thriving, lively city
Summer fun: A part of the Seine is pontooned off into a swimming pool, which is filled with hundreds of Parisians grabbing a chance to cool off in the summer heat
A walk in the park: Shot by Zucca for German propaganda magazine Signal, these pictures show a Paris that is in sharp contrast to the hardships commonly associated with Nazi rule
Très chic: The images were taken to show the world how the French capital was thriving following the Nazi invasion
Flames: This poster, which reads 'Assassins Always Return to the Scene of their Crime', shows Joan of Arc kneeling in prayer, her hands manacled, while below her the town of Rouen burns. The city was approximately 45 per cent destroyed by Allied bombing during the Second World War, when it was the location of the German navy HQ
Youngsters sail boats: While millions of ordinary French citizens struggled with desperate food shortages in both the Nazi occupied North and under the Nazi-collaborating Vichy regime in the South, for others life remained pretty much the same When exhibited in Paris in 2008, Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris, ordered a notice to accompany the images stating that the pictures avoid the ?reality of occupation and its tragic aspects?
Business as usual: The majority of Zucca's images show Paris as a thriving, lively city filled with food, laughter and young families
Basket case: Zucca was a successful photojournalist before the war and his work was published in eminent magazines such as Paris Match
Boys sit on a park wall: After Paris fell to the Nazis on June 14, 1940, Zucca was commissioned to work for the Signal the following year to portray the occupation in a positive light
Too young to understand: Girls and boys play in what appear to be the early forerunners of rollerskates against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower on central Paris's Champ de Mars
Symbol of empire: A soldier and civilians mill around near Cleopatra's Needle in the Place de la Concorde, one of three obelisks taken from Egypt and re-erected in Paris, London and New York during the 19th Century
A flower seller sits outside her shop on a bright, sunny day: Zucca's photographs are historically important not only as an example of Nazi propaganda but also because they were shot in colour
Ambiguity: Following France's liberation in 1944, Zucca was arrested but he was never prosecuted and continued to work as a wedding photographer until his death in 1973
A car equipped to run on natural gas: With most petrol diverted to German forces to run their tanks, ships and planes, civilians were forced to find alternative sources of fuel for their vehicles
Needs must: Another car equipped to run on natural gas, with engine modifications making it almost appear like a souped-up Wacky Racer
Zucca was a successful photojournalist before the war and his work was published in eminent magazines such as Paris Match.
After Paris fell to the Nazis on June 14, 1940, he was commissioned to work for the Signal the following year to portray the occupation in a positive light.
His photographs are historically important not only as an example of Nazi propaganda but also as they were shot in colour.
Reality? An elderly woman walks along the street wearing the yellow star which Nazis forced Jews to wear. More than 70,000 Jews were deported from occupied France to the death camps
Nazi occupied Paris: Giant Swastikas line the streets of the French capital. Paris fell to the Germans just weeks after the Nazis launched an invasion in 1940
Running away? A harried looking man with two scruffily dressed girls drags a cart through the streets of Paris
Homeless: A man dressed in dirty clothes hurries along the road (left) and elderly men huddle around a chair as they play cards (right)
Positive: The Nazis were shown as integrated into Paris life in Zucca's pictures. Some historians say his work is too easily dismissed as propaganda as shows some truth
No rations: Pictures of cartloads of meat (left) and fashionable clothes (right) give the impression that French life was the same as pre-war. In fact they lived on starvation rations and 20 per cent of all food was taken by the Nazis
So did the buses run on time? Parisian commuters queue to board a bus on a chilly early morning under the Nazi yoke
Show of force: Stern-looking soldiers from the Wehrmacht march down one of the city's broad boulevards, which in the minds of Parisians are more usually associated with strolling and leisurely enjoyment
Zucca was given access to the latest - and extremely rare - Agfacolor film.
Following France's liberation in 1944, Zucca was arrested but he was never prosecuted and continued to work as a wedding photographer until his death in 1973.
Shielded from war: A young family, including a man of usual conscription age, sit in the sunshine eating cherries
Friendly force: Nazi soldiers are shown participating in Paris life and are seen shopping at the market (left) and at the horse racing (right)
Bustling: Instead of war torn or repressed, Paris in Zucca's photographs is seen to be thriving with full shops and restaurants
Bustling: Instead of war torn or repressed, Paris in Zucca's photographs is seen to be thriving with full shops and restaurants
Leisure: A shapely woman leaning over the side of the bridge is the focus of this photograph. Zucca was given access to the latest - and extremely rare - Agfacolor film to show Paris as a fun loving big city full of happy people When exhibited in Paris in 2008, Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris, ordered a notice to accompany the images stating that the pictures avoid the ?reality of occupation and its tragic aspects?
A smartly dressed woman steps from a bicycle taxi: Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels wanted Paris to retain its pre-war image, at least on the surface
Trinkets: Two women in military-style uniforms shop at a stall selling toys. Zucca's pictures show both the hardship for French civilians and the collaborations between the Vichy regime and the Nazis
Not yet modern: Bicycles are joined in this picture by the even then anachronistic sight of a horse-drawn carriage. When these pictures were put on display in 2008 - more than 60 years after being taken - many called for the exhibition to be closed down
Getting what they can: Poorer looking Parisians at a down-at-heel street market. The curator of the exhibition five years ago said this collection were never published by Signal and were for Zucca's own use, perhaps accounting for the realistic depictions some show
Kind of blue: Thanks to his access to German Agfacolour film stock, Zucca was one of the few photographers who could made a lot of colour photos, although this seems a little faded by age now
Hustle and bustle: Even those involved in resistance or collaboration would walk the streets to go shopping, enjoy a stroll in the park, have a drink in a bar
Important historical record: Zucca's photographs stand as one of the only full-colour records of live in Paris in the early-Forties
Not all fun and games: Zucca's depictions of Parisian life under Nazi rule don't only show a city full or happy, well off people, but also the daily struggles of those trying to get by as best they can
War to end all wars? Women in military uniforms look at a war memorial commemorating those killed in the First World War just over two decades earlier
Real life under the Nazis: A woman walks a Parisian backstreet, in front of an older gentleman who is marked with the Star of David insignia that Jews were forced to wear
Some historians say Zucca's work is too easily dismissed as propaganda.
In fact the curator of the exhibition five years ago said this collection were never published by Signal and were for Zucca's own use.
Either way, they do show undisputed and barely disguised truths about Paris in the war - both the hardship for French civilians and the collaborations between the Vichy regime and the Nazis.
In one image, a woman with no hat and dressed in a drab black coat walks along wearing a yellow star.
'If you want to earn more... come to work in Germany': France under the collaborationist Vichy regime was the only Nazi-occupied country to pass laws forcing its citizens to go and work in Germany, which was short of manpower because of fighting in the east
'They give their blood - give your work to save Europe from Bolshevism': Another poster encourages French to travel to Germany for work by alluding to the threat from the Soviet Union and the sacrifice of German soldiers fighting on the Eastern Front
Letting them know who's boss: Street signs advertise locations of German facilities in Paris, with their French names written in smaller text beneath
Militarism: Officers from the Wehrmacht chat with a Parisian woman left, and right Marshal Philippe Pétain, a hero of the First World War who became the head of the Vichy government during the Nazi occupation, is the centrepiece in a shoe shop's window display. His government actively collaborated with persecution of the Jews
Gay Paris: A young woman checks her handbag while a man sits slumped over a walking stick in front of posters for the City's famous Moulin Rouge cabaret
The Vichy French authorities, led by Marshal Petain, actively collaborated with the murderous Nazi persecution of the Jews.
While some occupied countries, such as Denmark, protected their Jewish population, 76,000 French Jews were deported to death camps including Auschwitz.
Jews were also banned from teaching, the civil service and journalism, among other professions, in wartime France.
Their property was confiscated and more than 40,000 refugee Jews were held in concentration camps under French control.
Relaxed: Rather than appear invaders, these Nazi soldiers fiddle with a camera like tourists and appear to be have a guidebook lying nearby
At their leisure: Parisians are shown fishing in the Seine (left) or enjoying knitting or reading in the park (right)
Reminder of occupation: A theatre, which has an Imperial Eagle painted on its wall, proclaims itself as a German soldier's cinema (Deutsches Soldatenkino)
Making the best of it: A crowd surrounds a travelling band as they play music in a Paris street. Zucca's cheerful depictions of Paris under Nazi rule remain controversial and deeply distressing for many French people who lived through the four years of the occupation
Hard lives: Market traders are pictured left clearing up after a day's work, while right grim-faced Parisians cycle past a poster for the Nazi-sponsored Europe Against Bolshevism exhibition. Anti-communism was a cornerstone of the National Socialist ideology
Fat of the land: A wealthy looking man and woman ride in a cart pulled by two slim Parisians on a tandem bicycle. Wealth and collaboration with the Nazis helped preserve life for a certain elite as thousands of French Jews were sent to the death camps
Trying to blend in? Senior looking German army officers stroll past a crowd of French enjoying the afternoon in one of Paris's outdoor cafés
Occupation headquarters: Guard posts stand outside a building the sign of which advertises it as an important spot for the occupying German army
Uncomfortable legacy: Zucca's pictures have caused controversy over the years for their portrayal of the French as collaborating with the Nazis and avoiding war
Still life: Zucca's propaganda pictures were bought by the Historical Library of the city of Paris in 1986
While millions of ordinary French citizens struggled with desperate food shortages in both the Nazi occupied North and under the Nazi-collaborating Vichy regime in the South, for others life remained pretty much the same.
Wealth and collaboration with the Nazis helped preserve life for a certain elite as thousands of French Jews were sent to the death camps.
The majority of Zucca's images show Paris as a thriving, lively city filled with food, laughter and young families.
Cafes and restaurants are open and thriving, leisure attractions such as zoos remain open despite the war raging across Europe and men of usual conscription age are seen in civilian clothing.
The march of the Nazi war machine:
- Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen was the cousin of the First World War fighter pilot, the Red Baron
- Photo albums compiled by the high-ranking Nazi depict the chilling peak of the Third Reich before WW2
- He documented the devastating Operation Barbarossa in haunting pictures that have never been seen before
- One of the captured soldiers is Yakov Jugashvili, the eldest son of Russian communist leader Joseph Stalin
Incredible photographs documenting the devastating rise of the German war machine at the chilling peak of the Third Reich during the Second World War have been unearthed in two albums compiled by high-ranking Nazi Field Marsh Wolfram von Richtofen.
Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, who was the cousin of the infamous First World War fighter pilot the Red Baron, was a commanding officer in the German invasion of Russia in July 1941.
He documented the devastating Operation Barbarossa in haunting pictures that have never been seen before.
They include images of the wiped-out Soviet cities of Minsk, Grodnow and Smolensk, burnt out enemy tanks, thousands of captured troops, female Bolshevik soldiers and rounded-up Jewish citizens.
One of the captured soldiers featured is Yakov Jugashvili, the eldest son of Russian communist leader Joseph Stalin, who went on to die in the notorious Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
There are also images showing Nazis in more light hearted moments of the campaign - including a kitten nestled inside a German jack boot and officers catching fish by hurling stick bombs into a lake.
Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen is pictured here marching benind General Franco during the Spanish civil War
Operation Barbarossa - before the Russian winter set in. During the campaign the German army captured five million Soviet prisoners of war. The majority of them never returned alive
Operation Barbarossa: This haunting image shows the destruction caused to the outclassed Russian tanks
'Stalin's son a prisoner': Richthofen's previously unseen snap of Stalin's son Yakov after his capture near Smolensk in July 1941
The devastated town of Merkin in Operation Barbarossa - homes and buildings across the town have been completely destroyed as the enemy launched their rampage
FIELD MARSHAL WOLFRAM VON RICHTHOFEN
Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen is pictured here in high spirits during the Spanish Civil War
Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen served in the First World War in the German Air Force and was in the same squadron as his cousin, Manfred von Richthofen, who was credited with 80 aerial victories.
Wolfram was inadvertently responsible for the Red Baron's death as Manfred was shot down while trying to defend the novice pilot during his first flight in 1918.
He was the youngest field marshal in the German army and he would have gone further in his career, had he not had disagreements with his superior.
He trained as an aeronautical engineer between the wars before rejoining the Luftwaffe under Hermann Goering.
He designed the so-called Jericho trumpet, the propeller-driven high-pitched sirens on Stuka dive bombers which sent a shudder down any British pilot's spine.
In November 1936, he took command of the Condor Legion which carried out bombings in support of Franco's nationalists in Spain.
Von Richthofen survived the war but died of a brain tumour in July 1945 and was never put on trial at Nuremberg.
Ricthofen can be seen here with Hitler at the huge Nazi victory parade for the Condor Legion in the heart of Berlin in June 1939
The huge Nazi victory parade for von Richthofen's Condor Legion in the heart of Berlin in June 1939
Ricthofen with Hitler: The unseen personal photo album of Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, cousin to the legendary Red Baron, gives an unprecedented insight into his military career in the Third Reich
Ricthofen (right) with Hitler at the Nazi victory parade - Wolfram served in the Red Baron's squadron in the WW1, went on to design the 'Jericho trumpet' of the infamous Stuka Bomber between the wars
Russian prisoners from a burned village are marched away from the burnt out shells of their homes by Nazi guards
OPERATION BARBAROSSA
Operation Barbarossa was the name given to Nazi Germany’s invasion of Russia on June 22nd 1941.
Barbarossa the largest military attack of World War Two and was to have appalling consequences for the Russian people.
During Operation Barbarossa the German army captured five million Soviet prisoners of war. The majority of them never returned alive.
Hitler, appealing to history, called his campaign Operation Barbarossa, after a daring and expansionist medieval German emperor.
For the campaign against the Soviet Union, the Germans allotted almost 150 divisions containing a total of about three million men. Among those units were 19 panzer divisions, and in total the Barbarossa force had about 3,000 tanks, 7,000 artillery pieces, and 2,500 aircraft.
It was in effect the largest and most powerful invasion force in human history. The Germans’ strength was further increased by more than 30 divisions of Finnish and Romanian troops.
Operation Barbarossa had begun to miscarry in August 1941, and its failure was patent when the Soviet counteroffensive started.
Although the Red Army experienced greater losses than the Germans during the campaign, the inability of German forces to defeat the Soviet Union marked a significant setback for the German military effort.
Richthofen in the heady early days of the Operation Barbarossa campaign before the brutal Russian winter set in
German General Hermann Hoth (left), a German army commander and war criminal during the Second World War
Ricthofen with Hitler: One of the two personalised albums was compiled just before the war and is of a huge victory parade in Berlin for Germany's Condor Legion, a military unit which supported General Franco in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and March 1939
There are some images showing Nazis in more light-hearted moments of the campaign - including a cute kitten sat in a German jack boot
The album even contains a bizarre set of pictures of Richthofen and his cronies fishing with hand grenades during the campaign
This aerial photograph shows the pockmarked lunar landscape around the Russian city of Smolensk
Richthofen (right) with General Kesselring: The albums document the 'honeymoon' period of the Third Reich, before the onset of the Russian winter of 1941 which proved a significant turning point of the war
A pilot in the foreground can be seen in a flight of Henschel Hs 123 biplanes during the lethal Operation Barbarossa
Russian prisoners can be seen huddled together in the haunting images, awaiting their fate at the hands of the Nazis
Richthofen (left) with Field Marshal Ernst Busch, a German field marshal during World War II and one of Third Reich's most powerful men
The photograph, entitled 'Jews are led to work', shows the Nazi guards forcing Jewish prisoners to march through the streets before being made to work
'Capture of Bolshevik women': Officers told their soldiers to target people who were described as "Jewish Bolshevik subhumans
Russian prisoners are forced to march along the road with their hands above their heads - but the onset of the Russian winter of 1941 which proved a significant turning point of the war
Richthofen and his fellow officers killed time and amused themselves by using hand grenades to go fishing
The Russian prisoners were forced to live in squalid, cramped conditions. More than a million Soviet Jews were murdered by death squads and gassing as part of the Holocaust
A destroyed tank near Kuznio in Russia - The Russians hit back on the Eastern Front and pushed the enemy back towards Germany. In 1944 the Allies invaded France and forced the Germans to retreat from the west
No comments:
Post a Comment