Wow. We continue to look extremely rare photographs And fascinating stories associated with them. The post is long, there are a lot of photos. Enjoy!
1. Searchlights over Gibraltar during a drill. November 20, 1942
2. Board heavy cruiser HMS Sussex with the imprint left behind after being hit Japanese kamikaze on Ki-51
3. Captured Japanese equipment on the deck of the aircraft carrier Barnes (CVE-20)
4. A tug pulls the USS Barnes (CVE-20) through Panama Canal. Captured Japanese equipment is displayed on the flight deck. 
In the foreground is the experimental J5N Tenrai naval interceptor.
5. On the restored border of the USSR
Corporal Gureev I.A. on the border with East Prussia. 1944.
6. German Submarine U-156 dies under attack by an American Catalina flying boat.
The boat completed 5 combat cruises, during which it sank 20 ships with a total cargo capacity of 97,504 GRT.
7. British light bomber Fairey Battle
8. German aircraft technicians examine holes in the side of the Bf-109 fighter
The pilot was very lucky: between the place where the aircraft number was written and the cockpit of the Messer there was the main fuel tank. 
9. German heavy tanks are crossing a shallow river
10. A group of “fortresses” blindly bombs a German radar near Bremen
11. Reconnaissance aerial photograph showing a group of transport aircraft at a German airfield
The photo is notable for what kind of aircraft they are: a twin He-111Z (marked with the letter A), a Me-321 glider (letter B) and six heavy transport aircraft Me-323 “Giant”. 
12. Waffen SS infantryman with a Panzerwaffen grenade launcher in his hands. A Soviet T-34 is burning in the background. 1944
13. Explosions of phosphorus Japanese anti-aircraft bombs over a formation of American B-24 bombers in the Iwo Jima area, 1944
The bombs turned out to be completely useless. Structurally, in addition to the phosphorus filling, they were equipped with a high-explosive fragmentation part. The effective radius of destruction with phosphorus was only about 20 meters, with a land mine - even less, and the fragments themselves were ineffective due to the small caliber of the bomb. But you still had to approach the group and accurately drop bombs on the planes, which in itself is very difficult. However, the Japanese, with their characteristic senseless persistence, continued to use these bombs from the moment they were put into service in 1942 until the very end of the war. 
14. A battery of German 88-mm anti-aircraft guns fires at an illuminated target
I don't know how real the photo is. The target is very low, and the gun was somehow very successfully caught at the moment of the shot... 
15. Life of the soldiers of the 2nd Guards Army in the location of their units. Operation to liberate Crimea, 1944
16. Killed German machine gun crew. The helmet didn't save...
17. Soviet soldiers kindly return the weapons they lost to the Wehrmacht
18. "Comet" in the parking lot
19. Warrior
20. Dead soldiers of the Red Army.
21. Post-war photo. Artist on the ruins of Stalingrad. 1945
22.
23. Corporal Bodger reads a poster warning of the possibility of coming under enemy fire. April 1945
The photograph is notable for the fact that it was taken against the backdrop of the famous Panther, which was shot down on Komödienstraße in Cologne. And this car became famous thanks to the battle with American tanks, which was captured on film by Sergeant Bates. 
24. Soviet sappers are establishing a crossing across the Oder River. 1945
25. American B-24 “Liberator” from the 15th Air Army A synthetic fuel plant in Bratislava is bombed. January 1945 
26. Soviet troops crossing Sivash. Liberation of Crimea, 1944.
27. Tanks of the 6th Guards Motorized Corps at the railway junction. Dresden, 1945
28. American paratroopers with a group of prisoners of war. 1944
The camouflage uniform attracts attention. Due to the similarity with the equipment of SS units, after some time the Americans were forced to abandon it. 
29. Soviet tanks with troops on board in attack
30. Bf-110C from the 6th group of the 76th heavy fighter squadron over the English Channel during the Battle of Britain. 1940
31. Still respect
The inscription on the cross in German: “Here lies an unknown Russian soldier.” Summer of 1941.
32. 7th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht fights Russian roads
33. Soldiers of the 82nd US Airborne Division train on cats. The damaged Royal Tiger No. 213 is under distribution
34. Part of the cockpit with windshield and hood of the Il-2 attack aircraft, demonstrating the “boot-by-boot” targeting system
35. T-34, crushing a German light tank Pz.II
36. Janusz Korczak with children before execution in the gas chamber
Janusz Korczak - an outstanding Polish teacher, writer, doctor and public figure. On August 6, 1942, he entered gas chamber in Treblinka, telling fairy tales to unsuspecting children. 
37. Canadian Air Force Supermarine Strander flying boat with survivors on the left wing.
During a rescue operation while landing in the open sea, the boat lost its right float. Trying to balance the plane, several people positioned themselves on the left plane. 
38. Equipment of a German soldier from the Afrika Korps
39. M3A1 tanks from the 241st tank brigade in attack. Don Front, September 1942
In a few hours the brigade will be completely destroyed.
40. Antonina Lebedeva (1916-1943), fighter pilot
41. A pilot of the 332nd Guards Transport and Combat Helicopter Regiment is photographed against the background of the remains of a German Ju-87 bomber. Murmansk region, 80s
Not a military photo, I know, but still...
42. The crew of the IS-2 tank from the 62GvTTP fires from safe distance according to revealed calculations with faust cartridges. Danzig, 1945 
43. Ceremony for accepting the surrender of the Empire of Japan on board the battleship Missouri. September 2, 1945
44. The first and only successful landing of an amphibious seaplane on the deck of an aircraft carrier. 1940
The photo shows the Swordfish floatplane from the English battleship Valiant, which did not have time to return to the ship (Valiant went after the French Strasbourg when the British attacked French fleet to Mers el-Kebir so that it would not fall to the Germans), unable to be picked up from the water, makes an emergency landing on the deck of the Ark Royal. Pilot John Edward Breeze. 
45. British experimental analogue of the German Schrage Muzik multiple launch rocket system, installed on the fuselage of the Mosquito heavy fighter 
46. German paratroopers parachute from a DFS-230 glider
47. American A-20 light bomber parked at a field airfield
Judging by the bow section, which has been converted to accommodate 12.8 mm machine guns, this is an assault version of the vehicle.
48. “A little
Incredible facts
1. This demonstration was organized in connection with the Thanksgiving Day celebration (Reichserntedankfest), which took place in the city of Buckeberg in 1934.
The number of participants was estimated at 700,000 people.
According to the stories of Germans who did not support the Nazis, even they were shocked by the scale of the event.
Until this moment, no one had seen anything like it.
Witnesses and participants at this event spoke of a feeling national unity, emotional uplift, incredible delight and the mood for change for the better.
When the Germans headed to their tents after the demonstration, they still observed huge lightning in the sky.
2. Nazi stormtroopers in Berlin sing near the entrance to the Woolworth Co. branch. March 1, 1933. On this day, an action was organized to promote the boycott of the presence of Jews in Germany.
As soon as the Nazis came to power, they began calling on all German citizens to boycott Jewish organizations and businesses. A long propaganda campaign began.
On April 1, Minister Joseph Goebbels gave a speech in which he explained the need for a boycott in retaliation for the "conspiracy against Germany by the Jews of the world" in the foreign media.
The store pictured here was owned by Woolworth, whose management later fired all of its Jewish employees.
In this regard, the company received a special distinctive sign"Adefa Zeichen", which meant belonging to a "purely Aryan business".
3. SS soldiers rest near the Olympic Stadium in Berlin in August 1936. These SS men served in a guard battalion designed to provide personal protection for Hitler and his escort during public events.
Some time later, the battalion was named the elite first division "Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler" (Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler"). The unit was very large and accompanied Hitler wherever he went.
During wartime, the division took part in hostilities, proving itself to be one of the most best units for the entire war.
4. Parade of fascists in 1937 in the “Temple of Light”. This structure consisted of 130 powerful searchlights, standing friend from each other at a distance of 12 meters and looking vertically upward.
This was done in order to create light columns. The effect was incredible, both inside and outside the columns. The author of this creation was the architect Albert Speer, it was his favorite masterpiece.
Experts still believe that this work is the best that Speer created, whom Hitler ordered to decorate the square in Nuremberg for parades.
5. Photo taken in 1938 in Berlin. On it, soldiers of the Fuhrer's personal guard pass drill training. This unit was located in the Lichterfelde barracks.
The soldiers are armed with Mauser Kar98k carbines, and lightning bolt emblems on their collars are the hallmark of the SS unit.
6. "Hall of Bavarian commanders" in Munich, 1982. The annual oath taken by the SS troops. The text of the oath was as follows: “I swear an oath to you, Adolf Hitler, to always be a brave and faithful warrior. I swear an oath to you and the commanders who will be appointed for me to be loyal until death. May God help me.”
7. The SS slogan read: “Our honor is our loyalty.”
8. Greetings from the Fuhrer after the announcement of the successful annexation of Austria. The action takes place in 1938 in the Reichstag. The most important tenet of the Nazi ideology was the unification of all Germans who were born or live outside the borders of Germany to create an “all-German Reich.”
From the moment Hitler came to power, the Fuhrer announced that he would achieve the unification of Germany with Austria by any means.
9. Another photo from a similar event.
10. The frozen body of a Soviet soldier, which was put on display by the Finns in 1939 in order to intimidate the Soviet troops going on the attack. The Finns often used this method of psychological influence.
11. Soviet infantrymen frozen to death in a “fox hole” in Finland in 1940. Troops were forced to transfer to the Finnish front from remote regions. Many soldiers were not at all prepared for extreme harsh winter, having arrived in Finland from the southern regions.
Moreover, Finnish saboteurs regularly monitored the destruction rear services. Soviet troops experienced enormous difficulties due to lack of food, winter uniforms and proper training.
Therefore, the soldiers covered their trenches with branches and sprinkled them with snow on top. Such a shelter was called a “fox hole”.
World War II: photos
12. Photo of Joseph Stalin from the police archive, taken during his arrest by the secret police in 1911. This was his second arrest.
The Okhrana first became interested in him in 1908 because of his revolutionary activities. Then Stalin spent seven months in prison, and after that he was sent to the city of Solvychegodsk for two years, into exile.
However, the leader did not spend the entire term there, as after some time he escaped, disguised as a woman and went to St. Petersburg.
13. This unofficial photo was taken by Vlasik, Stalin's personal bodyguard. In 1960, when this and some other works of Vlasik were first published, they all became a sensation. Then one Soviet journalist took them out of the Land of the Soviets and sold them to foreign media.
14. Photo taken in 1940. It shows Stalin (right) and his double Felix Dadaev. Very for a long time In the USSR, there were unconfirmed rumors that the leader had a double who replaced him under certain circumstances.
After several decades, Felix finally decided to lower the veil of secrecy. Dadaev, a former dancer and juggler, was invited to the Kremlin, where he was offered the job of Stalin's understudy.
For more than 50 years, Felix remained silent because he feared death for violating the treaty. But when he turned 88 years old, in 2008, naturally with the permission of the authorities, Dadaev published a book in which he described in great detail how he had the opportunity to “play” the leader at various demonstrations, military parades and filming.
15. Even Stalin’s closest associates and comrades could not distinguish them.
16. Felix Dadaev in full dress uniform Lieutenant General
17. Yakov Dzhugashvili, Stalin’s eldest son, was captured by the Germans back in 1941. According to some historians, Jacob himself surrendered. There are still many conflicting rumors and legends about the life of the leader’s son.
18. After receiving a package from Germany, Stalin learns about his son’s capture. Then Vasily, younger son leader, heard from his father: “What a fool, he couldn’t even shoot himself!” They also said that Stalin reproached Yakov for surrendering to the enemy like a coward.
Photos of the Second World War
19. Yakov wrote to his father: “Dear father! I am in captivity. I feel good. Very soon I will end up in a camp in Germany for prisoners of war officers. They treat me well. Be healthy. Thank you for everything. Yasha.”
Some time later, the Germans received an offer to exchange Jacob for Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus ( Friedrich von Paulus), who was captured at Stalingrad.
It was rumored that Stalin refused such an offer, saying that he would not exchange an entire field marshal for an ordinary soldier.
20. Not long ago, some documents were declassified, according to which Yakov was shot by camp guards after he refused to obey the established procedures.
During the walk, Yakov received an order from the guards to return to the barracks, but he refused, and the guard killed him with a shot in the head. When Stalin found out about this, he noticeably softened towards his son, considering such a death worthy.
21. A German soldier shares food with a Russian woman and child, 1941. His gesture is in vain, because his role is to condemn millions of such mothers to starvation. The photo was taken by photographer of the 29th Wehrmacht division Georg Gundlach.
This photograph, along with others, was included in the album collection “The Battle of Volkhov. Documentary horror of 1941-1942.”
22. The captured Russian spy laughs, looking into the eyes of his death. The photo was taken in November 1942 in Eastern Karelia. Before us last seconds human life. He knows that he is about to die and laughs.
23. 1942. Neighborhoods of Ivanograd. German punitive units execute Kyiv Jews. In this photo, a German soldier shoots a woman with a child.
The rifles of other punitive forces are visible on the left side of the photo. This photograph was sent from the Eastern Front by mail to Germany, but was intercepted in Poland by a member of the Warsaw resistance, which was collecting evidence of Nazi war crimes around the world.
Today this photo is kept in Warsaw, in the Historical Archive.
24. Rock of Gibraltar, 1942. Beams of searchlights that helped anti-aircraft gunners shoot at fascist bombers.
25. 1942, suburb of Stalingrad. Marching 6th Army. The soldiers do not even imagine that they are heading to a real hell. Most likely, they will not see next spring.
One of the soldiers is wearing his own sunglasses. This expensive thing, which was issued exclusively to motorcyclists and soldiers of the Afrika Korps.
26. Going to hell.
Photos from the Second World War
27. Stalingrad, 1942. Preparations for the assault on the warehouse. German soldiers were forced to fight back every building, every street. It was then that they discovered that the tactical advantage they had at their disposal open spaces, has sunk into oblivion due to the overcrowding of the city.
Tanks could not prove themselves in street battles. Oddly enough, in such conditions the snipers played much more important role compared to tanks and artillery.
Heavy weather, the lack of the proper level of supplies and uniforms, as well as the stubborn resistance of our soldiers led to the complete defeat of the fascist army at Stalingrad.
28. 1942, Stalingrad. German soldier with Silver Infantry Assault Badge. This insignia was awarded to soldiers of infantry units who took part in at least three assault operations.
For soldiers, such an award was no less honorable than the Iron Cross, which was established specifically for the Eastern Front.
29. A German soldier lights a cigarette from a flamethrower.
30. 1943. Warsaw. The bodies of murdered Jews and Ukrainian policemen. The photo was taken in the Warsaw ghetto during the suppression of the uprising. The original German caption for the photo reads: “Police also took part in the operation.”
31. 1943. Ending battle of Stalingrad. A Soviet soldier with a PPSh-41 assault rifle escorts a captured German. Hitler's troops near Stalingrad, having been surrounded, they were completely defeated.
This battle is considered one of the most brutal and bloody in the history of all wars. It claimed the lives of more than two million people.
32. Summer 1944. Belarusian strategic offensive"Bagration". As a result of this operation German group Army "Center" was completely destroyed.
The front line of 1,100 kilometers was moved 600 kilometers to the west during two months of fighting. German troops lost five times in this battle more people than the Soviet ones.
Photo of World War 2
33. July 17, 1944. Streets of Moscow. March of tens of thousands of captured Germans. Operation Bagration is considered the most successful during the entire period of the war.
Attack on Eastern Front began immediately after the landing of allied troops in Normandy. Few people know about this operation, especially in the West. Only a few historians are familiar with its details.
34. 1944. Nonant le Pin camp, German prisoners of war. In France during the Falaise operation allied forces more than thirty thousand German soldiers were captured.
The camp guards regularly drove along the barbed wire and shot in the air to pretend to stop another escape attempt. But there were no attempts to escape, because even if they managed to escape from the guards, they would still not be able to avoid execution.
35. 1944. France. 18-year-old resistance movement member Simone Segouin. Her nickname is Nicole Mine.
The photo was taken during the battle with German troops. Appearance The girl in the center is certainly surprising, but this particular photograph has become a symbol of the participation of French women in the Resistance.
36. Simone in a color photograph, rare at that time.
37. Simone with her favorite weapon - a German machine gun.
38. March 9, 1945. The young fighter of the "Hitler Jugend" received the award " iron Cross"For his services during the defense of the city of Lauban in Silesia, Goebbels congratulates him.
Today Laubana is the Polish city of Luban.
39. 1945. Balcony of the Reich Chancellery. Soldiers of the Allied armies ridicule Hitler. Soldiers of the American, Soviet and British armies celebrating a joint victory.
The photo was taken on July 6, 1945, two months after the surrender. There was a month left before the bombing of Hiroshima.
40. Hitler speaking on the same balcony.
41. April 17, 1945. Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, liberation. Security guards - SS men British soldiers forced to dig up the graves of the prisoners and load them into cars.
42. 1942. German soldiers watch a film about concentration camps. The photo shows the reaction of prisoners of war to documentary materials from death camps. This photo located at the United States Holocaust Museum.
43. Last rows of the cinema hall, the same scene.
A series of documentary photographs for Victory Day in the Second World War 1941-1945. Selection of 95 rare pictures military equipment and participants in the Second World War. A unique photo from the scenes of events of 1941-1945, military actions in the history of black and white photography. We look at online documentary photos of the Second World War 1941-1945.
German self-propelled gun "Hummel", destroyed Soviet artillery near the city of Lvov in July 1944.
Related materials:
Junior Sergeant Konstantin Aleksandrovich Shuty (06/18/1926-12/27/2004) (left), brother of Mikhail Shuty, with a fellow soldier, also a junior sergeant.
Junior sergeant, mortarman - Nikolai Polikarpov at a firing position near Kiev. 1st Ukrainian Front.
A US 5th Division Marine killed by a Japanese sniper, shot in the head (a bullet hole is visible on his helmet).
Sailors of the Soviet destroyer Project 7 “Crushing” with the ship’s pet, area of the bow torpedo tubes, bow view.
The German dive bomber Junkers Ju-87 "Stuka" being repaired at a field airfield.
The beginning of a counterattack by one of the 270th units rifle division Soviet 7th Guards Army on the Kursk Bulge.
Head of the 4th Political Directorate Ukrainian Front Major General Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (center), the future leader of the USSR in 1964-1982, during the Victory Parade.
Head of Communications of the 51st MTAP V.V. Bykov instructs gunners-radio operators before the flight Kolberg (Germany) - Pernov (Estonia). From left to right Mikhalev, Karpov, Archakov, Shishkin, Volkov, Chekanov, Bykov.
Unknown partisans of the 1st Proletarian Brigade of the NOAU, armed with Czech light machine guns ZB vz. 26. The village of Zharkovo near Belgrade on the eve of the battles for the city.
Unidentified Soviet female snipers near the dugout. Sergeant's shoulder straps on their greatcoats, Mosin rifles with optical sight PU (Short Sight).
Unknown American soldier US 87th Infantry Division, killed German sniper in the spring of 1945 in the city of Koblenz, Germany. The soldier's weapon is the BAR automatic rifle.
A German 105-mm self-propelled gun "Wespe" (Sd.Kfz.124 Wespe) from the 74th self-propelled artillery regiment of the 2nd tank division of the Wehrmacht passes next to an abandoned Soviet 76-mm ZIS-3 gun in the area of the city of Orel.
German self-propelled gun "Vespe" after being hit by a large-caliber projectile.
German self-propelled gun "Hummel", destroyed by Soviet artillery near the city of Lvov in July 1944.
German self-propelled gun "Hummel", destroyed by Soviet artillery near the city of Lvov in July 1944.
German self-propelled gun Marder II in an ambush, between houses, in a Ukrainian village.
German quad 20-mm anti-aircraft self-propelled gun (ZSU) "Werbelwind" based on the Pz.Kpfw tank. IV, destroyed by a direct hit from a large-caliber shell.
German rangers at an MG-34 machine gun on the Eastern Front.
German officers captured by French soldiers during the liberation of Paris. Hotel Majestic, favored by the Wehrmacht during the occupation.
German infantrymen and tank crews choose bottles with alcoholic drinks in stock.
German soldiers in a captured Soviet T-34 tank. The car is ready to be sent to Germany for testing. On the front sheet the inscription “O.K.H.Wa. Prvf. 6" ( military acceptance 6).
German soldiers inspect the captured positions of Soviet troops.
Second World War (September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945) - two world wars military-political coalitions, which became biggest war in the history of mankind. 61 states out of 73 existing at that time (80% of the world's population) participated in it. Fighting were conducted on the territory of three continents and in the waters four oceans. This the only conflict, in which nuclear weapons were used.
At the top: 1941. Belarus, a German reporter eats a cucumber offered by a peasant woman
1941. Artillerymen of the 2nd battery of the 833rd heavy artillery battalion of the Wehrmacht are preparing to fire a 600-mm self-propelled mortar “Karl” (Karl Gerät 040 Nr.III “Odin”) in the Brest area.
1941. Battle of Moscow. Legion of French Volunteers against Bolshevism or LVZ (638 Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment)
1941. Battle of Moscow. German soldiers dressed for the weather during battle
1941. Battle of Moscow. German soldiers captured Russian prisoners of war in a trench
1941. Waffen-SS
1941. Lieutenant Yakov Dzhugashvili among prisoners of war during the battle for Smolensk
1941. Leningrad, Colonel General Erich Hoepner and Major General Franz Landgraf
1941. Minsk, German soldiers in an occupied city
1941. Murmansk, Mountain shooters made a stop along the way
1941. German artillerymen inspect the remains of the heavy artillery tractor “Voroshilovets”
1941. German prisoners of war guarded by Russian soldiers
1941. German soldiers in position. Behind them in the ditch are Russian prisoners of war.
1941. Odessa, Romanian soldiers inspect captured property of the Soviet army
1941. Novgorod, awarding of German soldiers
1941. Russian soldiers inspect trophies taken from the Germans and discover potatoes in a gas mask case
1941. Red Army soldiers studying war trophies
1941. Sonderkraftfahrzeug 10 tractor and soldiers of the Reich SS division drive through the village
1941. Ukraine, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler talks with peasants
1941. Ukraine, column of Russian prisoners of war including women
1941. Ukraine, Soviet prisoner of war before execution on charges of being an agent of the GPU
1941. Two Russian prisoners of war talk with German soldiers from the Waffen-SS
1941.Moscow, Germans in the vicinity of the city
1941.German traffic controllers
1941.Ukraine, a German soldier accepts an offered glass of milk
1942. Two German sentries on the Eastern Front
1942. Leningrad region, a column of German prisoners of war in a besieged city
1942. Leningrad region, German troops at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city
1942. Leningrad region, one of the first Pz.Kpfw. VI Tiger
1942. German troops cross the Don
1942. German soldiers clear the road after a snowfall
1942. Pechory, German officers are photographed with clergy
1942. Russia, corporal checks documents of peasant women
1942. Russia, a German gives a cigarette to a Russian prisoner of war
1942. Russia, German soldiers leave a burning village
1942. Stalingrad, the remains of a German He-111 bomber among the city ruins
1942. Terek Cossacks from self-defense units.
1942. Non-commissioned officer Helmut Kolke of the 561st Wehrmacht Brigade with the crew on his Marder II self-propelled gun, the next day he received the German Cross in gold and the Honor Buckle
1942. Leningrad region
1942. Leningrad region, Volkhov Front, a German gives a piece of bread to a child
1942. Stalingrad, a German soldier cleans a K98 Mauser during a break between battles
1943. Belgorod region, German soldiers talk with women and children
1943. Belgorod region, Russian prisoners of war
1943. Peasant woman talks Soviet intelligence officers about the location of enemy units. North of the city of Orel
1943. German soldiers have just caught a Soviet soldier
1943. Russia, two German prisoners of war
1943. Russian Cossacks in the Wehrmacht during a blessing (priests in the foreground)
1943. Sappers neutralize German anti-tank mines
1943. Snipers of the unit of senior lieutenant F.D. Lunina fire volleys at enemy aircraft
1943. Stalingrad, a column of German prisoners of war on the edge of the city
1943. Stalingrad, column of German, Romanian and Italian prisoners of war
1943. Stalingrad, German prisoners of war pass by a woman with empty buckets. There will be no luck.
1943. Stalingrad, captured German officers
1943. Ukraine, Znamenka, the driver of the Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger looks through the hatch of the car at a tank stuck in the mud on the river bank
1943.Stalingrad, city center on the day of the surrender of German troops
1944. Commander of the 4th Air Command, Luftwaffe Colonel General Otto Desloch and commander of II./StG2, Major Dr. Maxsimilian Otte (shortly before his death)
1944. Crimea, capture of German soldiers by Soviet sailors
1944. Leningrad region, column of German troops
1944. Leningrad region, German prisoners of war
1944. Moscow. Passage of 57,000 German prisoners of war on the streets of the capital.
1944. Lunch of prisoners German officers in Krasnogorsk special camp No. 27
1944. Romania. German units evacuated from Crimea
1945. Poland, a column of German prisoners of war crosses the bridge over the Oder towards Ukraine
Without date. Two Soviet partisans inspecting a captured German MG-34 machine gun
Without date. German soldiers clean their personal weapons. One of the soldiers has a captured Soviet PPSh submachine gun
Without date. German court martial
Without date. The Germans are taking away livestock from the population.
Without date. A Luftwaffe non-commissioned officer poses with a bottle while sitting on the head of a bust of I.V. Stalin
Another solid portion of retro photos in the project 20th century in color photographs.
Today we will look at what the world was like many years ago. More precisely, not the world, but .
In general, there are a lot of color photographs from 1941. The Germans shot on Agfa film (Agfacolor), the Americans and British - on Kodachrome. Soviet color photographs of the Great Patriotic War are not known.
As is known, German attack The USSR was immediately preceded by a blitzkrieg against Yugoslavia. The operation lasted from April 6 to April 17, 1941 and ended on April 17 with the surrender of this Balkan kingdom.
Units of the 14th Motorized Corps of the Wehrmacht in the Serbian city of Nis, April 1941:
At the same time, the Germans captured Greece in April 1941. Raising the Nazi flag over the Acropolis:
In 1941, the so-called “ Battle of Britain» - air war between Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force (RAF).
Some scenes of this war were captured by the famous photographer Robert Capa.
Here we see the damaged British Blenheim bomber, which managed to make an emergency landing on its territory:
The Anglo-German war also took place at sea.
The German battleship Scharnhorst at the end of Operation Berlin, during which 8 British transport ships were sunk in North Atlantic, March 1941:
Outside of Europe, from the very beginning of 1941, fighting took place in the African theater. Back in December 1940, the British from Egypt went on the offensive against the Italian group in Libya and inflicted a significant defeat on it.
During February 1941, German troops under the command of General Rommel were transferred to Libya, which led to a halt in the further advance of the British. And already at the end of March, Rommel’s units went on the offensive.
Column German troops in Paris, 1941. photographer Andre Zucca:
The Germans stage a parade with captured French tanks in Paris, 1941:
Hitler and the generals inspect the 800 mm Fat Gustav gun in 1941:
The Fat Gustav gun weighed 1344 tons and to move it around railway tracks some parts needed to be dismantled. The gun was the height of a four-story building, had a width of 6 meters and a length of 42 meters. The maintenance of the Fat Gustav gun was carried out by a team of 500 people under the command of a high-ranking army official. The team needed almost three days to prepare the gun for firing.
A high-explosive shell from this cannon could hit a target at a distance of 45 kilometers.
May 1941. Equipment of the 6th German Panzer Division in East Prussia before the invasion of the USSR:
German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, at a press conference in Berlin, announces the start of war against the Soviet Union:
In 1941, the Wehrmacht had something like one and a half million cameras in its backpacks.
German soldiers, officers and photojournalists meticulously recorded every step on Soviet soil. Of course, they especially liked to take pictures of trophies and broken equipment of the Red Army.
Soviet T-28 tank:
The Nazis inspect soviet tank T-34:
Soviet KV-2 tank destroyed in the battle for the city of Ostrov, July 1941:
Battlefield near Ostrov, early July 1941:
Damaged Soviet fighter I-16:
Damaged soviet fighters I-153 "Chaika":
The Finns also filmed in their sector of the front, often in color.
Burnt Soviet armored car on Karelian Isthmus, 1941:
Germans in Grodno, June 1941:
Germans in Lithuania, June 1941:
The bell tower will be restored only in 1973.
July 41st:
Soviet prisoners of war:
In September 41, the Germans captured Kyiv:
In the 20th of September the enemy took Peterhof:
On October 2, 1941, Petrozavodsk was occupied by the Finnish Karelian Army and renamed Äänislinna:
Advanced German units of the 11th Panzer Division near Volokolamsk, November 1941:
Here came the end of their Blitzkrieg.
Now a small gallery of satellites of Nazi Germany in 1941.
Soldiers of the Spanish “Blue Division”, which fought against the USSR near Novgorod and Leningrad, 1941:
French soldiers Volunteer Legion, 1941:
Having defeated Yugoslavia, the Germans created a puppet “ Independent state Croatia,” whose army became one of Hitler’s most zealous satellites.
In this photo, the commander of the Croatian ground forces General Slavko Shtanzer, 1941:
December 7 Japanese army launched a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. The Second World War opened new theater on the Pacific Ocean.
A light boat takes part in the rescue of the crew of the battleship West Virginia, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941:
According to Hawaiian tradition, American sailors honor the memory of their fallen comrades after the shelling of Pearl Harbor, 1941: 
Since December 41, the Japanese waged a simultaneous war against the Americans, British and Chinese. The war with the latter began back in 1937.
The Japanese didn’t have color film, so you’ll have to be content with colored pictures.
Japanese light tank Type 97 Te-Ke against the backdrop of a burning house in China, 1941:
Operating over an unimaginably vast area, the Japanese captured French Indochina in 1941 and Dutch East Indies(now part of Indonesia).
Soldiers of the Japanese 5th Infantry Division in occupied Saigon, December 1941:
Japanese battleship Hiei2 at sunset in Saeki Bay, 1941:
