Сообщение Hiroshima aftermath pictures right after the bombing появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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These pictures are the only aftermath documentary taken on the day of the Hiroshima bombing. Japanese photojournalist Yoshito Matsushige was lucky twice on August 6, 1945. He survived the Hiroshima bombing while staying at his own home, kept his camera, and took some fantastic pictures of the explosion aftermath.
When the bomb detonated, Matsushige was at his home, less than three kilometers from ground zero.
“I had breakfast and was about to go to the office when it happened. There was a flash, and then I felt a kind of thunderstrike. I didn’t hear any sounds; the world around me turned bright white. I was momentarily blinded as if the light of magnesium was burning right in front of my eyes. An explosion followed immediately. I was not dressed, and the blast was so intense that I felt like hundreds of needles pierced me at the same time. “
The injured policeman issues a certificate for a rice ration. People had nothing to eat after the explosion.
The horrors of the detonation aftermath
After that, Matsushige took his camera and headed to the Hiroshima downtown to take pictures of the bombing aftermath. He took two 24-frame photographic films and wandered around the ruined city for several hours.
Yoshito Matsushige took only seven pictures on that explosion day. The aftermath scenes were too horrible.
“I was also a victim of that detonation,” Matsushige later said, “but I had minor injuries from glass fragments while these people were dying. It was such a brutal sight that I could not bring myself to press the shutter button. My tears watered the viewfinder. I felt that everyone was looking at me in anger: “He is taking pictures of us and not giving any help.”
“Sometimes, I think I should have mustered up the courage to take more photos,” Matsushige later said. “I couldn’t keep taking pictures that day. It was too heartbreaking. “
Yoshito Matsushige took only seven pictures of the Hiroshima bombing aftermath. He lost two of them while working with negatives.
Saving pictures in a post-explosion Hiroshima
Detonation destroyed the darkroom, and Matsushige worked with the negatives outside at night. He washed them in a stream near his house and dried them on a tree branch. Only five of his seven photographs have survived. A few weeks after the explosion, the US military confiscated Japanese newspapers and newsreels after the explosion, but Yoshito Matsushige hid the negatives.
Three photos were taken at the Miyuki Bridge. The first two shots show police spilling oil on the lubricate schoolchildren’s burns. The pictures were taken 2.3 km from the epicenter of the explosion, between 11.00 and 11.30 am. Matsushige will return here later to take another snapshot of the wounded policeman signing the certificates for emergency rice rations.
Detonation aftermath from the window of the photographer’s house
Photographer took two more shots of the aftermath near his house in Hiroshima. In these photos, his wife Sumie, wearing a helmet to protect her from radiation, is trying to clean up a barbershop that belonged to their family. He took a second shot from the window of the house.
Photos went public in 1952 when the LIFE magazine printed them. The title was “When the Hiroshima atomic bomb detonated: aftermath uncensored.”
Yoshito Matsushige died in 2005 at the age of 92.
The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing put an end to WW2 in the Pacific Region. The war, which was started by Japan, finally ended.
Read more: 64 Amazing photos by Alfred Eisenstaedt
Destroyed barbershop.
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]]>Сообщение The Reindeer operation: a story behind WW2 photo, 1941 появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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The name of this photo is Reindeer, called after the German operation during the WW2. This offensive aimed to capture Petsamo (an area in Finland on the border with the Soviet Union) to seize nickel mines. The Reindeer operation started on June 22, 1941, and proceeded without incident. On June 29, the German plan changed, and the whole operation was renamed to ‘Platinum Fox.’ The new goal was the city of Murmansk. The Soviet Photojournalist Yevgeny Khaldey was covering the Russian defense activities. It was a time when he made this striking shot in which the beast’s natural beauty confronts the killing machines.
The Reindeer is not the only famous photo that Yevgeny Khaldey took. The best-known picture is, of course, the Flag over the Reichstag, 1945. The ‘Flag’ picture hit the Top 100 most important photos in history.
Oldpics also published a story behind another amazing photo by Yevgeny Khaldey: The Nazi family in Vienna, 1945.
How the reindeer appeared in the combat operation photo
But now, let’s get back to the Reindeer operation photo. In his works, Yevgeny Khaldei liked to combine everyday life and war. He photographed a sunbathing couple next to a destroyed building, the head of the traffic control service next to the sign of German cities in Russian, etc. He used a similar technique with the Reindeer photo. True, the photo with the reindeer was not entirely documentary. The book “Witness to History: Photos by Yevgeny Khaldei” tells about this shot. During the bombardment, the deer (Russian called it Yasha afterward) approached soldiers. The shell-shocked animal did not want to be left alone. Khaldei took a picture, but it turned out not as spectacular as the correspondent expected. Through multiple exposures, Khaldei added British Hawker Hurricane fighters and an exploding bomb to the shot.
The Reindeer operation did not bring success to the German-Finnish army. Neither the Germans nor the Finns reached the Murmansk railway, nor did they seize the Soviet fleet’s base in the Far North. In this sector of the war, the front stabilized until 1942.
Check our publications of the best Soviet WW2 photography:
Outstanding Soviet WW2 pictures (Part I: Max Alpert)
Amazing Soviet WWII pictures (Part 2: Dmitri Baltermants)
Outstanding WW2 pictures (Part3: Emmanuil Evzerikhin)
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]]>Сообщение Gandhi and spinning wheel: a story behind the iconic photo появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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American photographer Margaret Bourke-White took her legendary Mahatma Gandhi and spinning wheel photo in 1946. It became a symbol of the “nonviolent resistance” ideology. Later it turned out that the spinning wheel was a perfect visual component to show the lifestyle and the mindset of Gandhi.
Margaret Bourke-White was a fearless photographer. She became the first female military journalist and took pictures that are sometimes horrifying with the brutality of the events they depict. But at the same time, she was able to capture moments of peace and tranquility. Her photograph of “Gandhi and His Spinning Wheel” is a perfect illustration of her skill.
This Mahatma Gandhi photo is among the 100 most important pictures in history
The harsh time for India
1946 is a turbulent time for India. The former British colony split into independent states – Pakistan and the Indian Union. Numerous bloody clashes between Hindus and Muslims will follow, more than 500 thousand people will die. Mahatma Gandhi, who believed in the senselessness of violence, was very upset by the country’s situation. But in 1946, the parties still hoped for a more peaceful settlement of the conflict. During this time, Margaret Burke-White was on assignment for the editorial staff of LIFE magazine in India. She was working on an article ultimately titled “Leaders of India” issued on May 27, 1946.
The photographer took hundreds of pictures, including many photographs of Gandhi himself: with his family, with a spinning wheel, at prayer. A dozen pictures of the Leaders of India hit the pages of the magazine. But there was no famous Gandhi photo among them.
This picture hit the paper in June 1946, as a small image on top of an article dedicated to Gandhi’s charm, which the editorial board called “natural medicine” for the sick.
Why is the spinning wheel a symbol of Gandhi
The ‘Gandhi spinning wheel’ photograph became truly famous after the assassination of Gandhi in January 1948. LIFE magazine released an article entitled “India Lost Its Great Soul.” A shot of Gandhi with a spinning wheel took half a page over the text. The photograph served as a moving visual eulogy for this man and his ideals.
Margaret Bourke-White noted the significance of the simple spinning wheel in the photograph for Mahatma Gandhi. She wrote: “Gandhi spins every day for an hour, usually starting at 4 a.m. All members of his ashram must spin too. He and his followers encourage everyone to spin”. They even told Margaret Bourke-White to put aside the camera to spin … When she noticed that photography and spinning are both crafts, they replied seriously: “Spinning is the greater of two.” Spinning rises to the heights of the almost religious Gandhi and his followers.
The spinning wheel is almost like an icon to them. Spinning is a medicine for them, and they talk about it in terms of high poetry. “
In Burke-White’s most famous portrait of Gandhi, a note to the LIFE editors reads: “Gandhi is reading clippings — in the foreground is the spinning wheel he has just stopped using. It would be impossible to exaggerate the reverence with which Gandhi’s personal spinning wheel is kept in the ashram.”
Read more: The story of American way photo by Margarett Bourke-White
Gandhi reading religious texts.
Mahatma Gandhi stretching during the reading
Gandhi and his follower
Another angle of the famous spinning wheel photo
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]]>Сообщение Eyes of hate: story behind iconic photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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‘Eyes of hate’ is one of the iconic photos of the outstanding Germany-born photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt. Oldpics published his 64 of his most important pictures recently. ‘Eyes of hate’ photo stands among the others, and we decided to cover the story behind it.
The historical background
So, let’s get back to September 1933. Adolf Hitler has already taken all the power in Germany after winning the elections in January. The 3rd Reich has been proclaimed, the anti-jew and militaristic rhetoric became the mainstream.
Alfred Eisenstaedt worked for the Atlantic (it will soon transform into an Associated press) agency as a photo reporter. Here’s how he got accreditation to cover the League of Nations conference in Geneva. The place where Eisenstaedt captured the ‘Eyes of hate’ photo.
Facing the eyes of hate
“I found Dr. Joseph Goebbels In the hotel garden. By that moment, he has already occupied the position of Hitler’s propaganda minister,” Eisenstadt wrote in 1985. Goebbels was smiling, but not at me. He was looking at someone to my left. Suddenly he noticed me, and I took a picture of him. His expression changed immediately. These were the eyes of hate. Was I the enemy?’ Goebbels’ personal assistant Werner Naumann, with a goatee, and Hitler’s translator, Dr. Paul Schmidt, were standing behind him. We assume that one of them told the propaganda minister the photographer’s identity. “People asked what I felt taking pictures of these people. Of course, I wasn’t ok, but I do not know fear when I have a camera in my hands. “
Goebbels’ hostility towards the Alfred Eisenstaedt was due to his Jewish origin. The minister’s tense posture and a suspicious gaze directed directly at the camera clearly indicate Eisenstadt’s dislike. The propaganda minister truly shared the antisemitic views of his patron, Adolf Hitler.
The alternative name
“I could name this picture ‘From Goebbels with Love,’” the photographer continued. -When I approached him in the hotel garden, he looked at me with eyes of hate, as if he was waiting for me to disappear. But I haven’t disappeared.”
A couple of weeks later, Germany, quite the League of Nations, explaining that other countries discriminate against it. In fact, this meant Germany’s unwillingness to make compromises. It also testified to the League of Nations’ further ineffectiveness in resolving international disputes and preventing war conflicts.
Interestingly, Alfred Eisenstaedt captured his best-known ‘V-J day’ picture in 1945. It became the symbol of WW2 victory. While Joseph Goebbels ended his days committing suicide in May 1945.
Know more: All Pulitzer Prize photos (1942-1967)
That’s how Joseph Goebbels before the ‘Eyes of hate’ scene
The scene during the League of Nations session
Joseph Goebbels truly shared antisemitic views of Adolf Hitler
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]]>Сообщение Nazi Rally in Madison Square Garden in pictures, 1939 появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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Could you ever believe that American Nazi followers organized a huge rally event in New York, in Madison Square Garden, just several months before Hitler invaded Poland?
The truth is that this rally in Madison Square Garden wasn’t the first event that Nazi supporters staged in New York. There were many more, and here are some noteworthy pictures and facts.
Silent Nazi invasion
In January 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, and soon the Nazis controlled the entire country. They missed no chance to gain influence outside Germany. Here’s why Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess instructed the German-American immigrant Heinz Spanknobel to form a powerful fascist structure in the United States.
In July 1933, Spanknobel united two small groups to form the Friends of a New Germany. He relied on German citizens and German-Americans who were part of the fraternity. The new organization even picketed the largest German-language newspaper offices in New York, demanding Nazi-sympathetic articles, advocating for a boycott of Jews in German factories. They wore the swastika-covered uniforms during all these events.
The end of the ‘Friendship.’
In October 1933, Spanknobel was deported from the US. Two years later, Hess urged the Friends’ leaders to return to Germany and all German citizens to leave the organization.
Nonetheless, the organization’s followers formed a new one, that had no links to the German government. It was the German-American Bund. The organization continued its anti-Semitic and anti-communist campaigns, covering them with patriotic pro-American symbols, holding portraits of George Washington, the “first fascist.”
High tension during the rally in Madison Square Garden
The German-American Bund reached its peak on February 20, 1939, when about 20,000 of its members gathered for the real Nazi Rally in Madison Square Garden. The leader of the organization Fritz Kuhn criticized Roosevelt, calling the policy of the “New Deal,” “the Jewish course,” and Roosevelt himself – Rosenfeld.
Some 80,000 anti-Nazi protesters outside the Madison Square Garden clashed with police while breaking into the building and closing the rally.
Note that the late 1930s was a specific time in the International relationships towards Germany. While many people realized the Nazi government’s aggressive nature, the politicians acted in a different, mild way. It was ok to greet the public with the Nazi salute during the sports events. Coca-cola advertised itself in Germany, and Henry Ford was fine to accept a German order from Nazi official’s hands.
The Bund’s days ended at the end of 1941 when the United States entered the war against Nazi Germany.
Read more: 100 most important pictures in history
US kids greeting the public with a Nazi salute
The Rally of 1939
Speakers arriving the Rally
Nazi Rally in Madison Square Garden, May 17, 1939
Nazi Rally in Madison Square Garden in pictures
Young guards in front of a huge portrait of George Washington.
Nazi followers greet the speaker with a salute.
May 17, 1934. A mass meeting of members of the Friends of New Germany.
People greeting the banner of the German-American Union.
Leader of the German-American Union Fritz Kuhn addresses the rally participants, February 1939.
Celebrations of the arriving of the German settlers to America, October 1935
Another angle of the Nazi Rally in New York
1934
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]]>Сообщение 50 amazing and bizarre photos появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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Old bizarre photos publication is always a special thing for an Oldpics editor. It’s not that easy to select and categorize properly noteworthy pictures. How should you arrange for them? By photographer’s name, subject, time frame, location, and so on. But sometimes unexpected help comes! Like Rob Moorees, who archived the notable and bizarre photos for decades. His selection criteria seem to be ‘the stranger, the better.’
His bizarre photos selection features both a photo of Hitler in Tyrolean shorts, a dinner for soldiers with crippled faces, and a married American nine-year-old girl with her twenty-two-year-old guy.
Most of these bizarre photos are documentary, but they grab the attention of the casual viewer.
Unforgettable archive photos
Rob Moorees describes the origin of his collection as follows. He was called to digitize the large Dutch archive “Spaarnestad” located on the outskirts of Amsterdam. As he was finding more and more amazing and bizarre photos in the archive, Rob as permission to separate them from the rest. As a result, the researcher saved up an impressive amount of unusual photos on his laptop and began to publish them on the Internet and specialized magazines.
Rob even organized few exhibitions and printed a photo album titled “Life is a strange thing.” Moorees emphasizes that he deliberately did not categorize his bizarre photos according to any criteria. He wants each of the photographs in his archive to be not just part of a series or a thematic collection, but to have an inherent personality and self-worth in the photo. This effect is enhanced because most of the photographs in the archive belong to unknown photographers. Muris compares this situation with the works of the great artists of the past. We don’t remember anything about them but their paintings, their masterpieces, their vision of the world…
Read more: 100 most important pictures in history
A circus performer in an aquarium car with crocodiles, Berlin, 1933
An iron man of the past in a diving suit. The suit’s name was ‘Iron man’ too. It had an electric charging and pressure protection systems. New York, 1907
Here are some more bizarre diving suits from the past: It`s not a robot, it was a diving suit in 1911
Charles Godefroy flies through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The height of the opening is 29.42 m, the width is 14.62 m. The wingspan of the aircraft is 9 meters wide, 1919
A visitor with a candle in her hand smiles at the large collection of skulls in the catacombs of Paris. 1935
A crowd watching a British airship fly over the port of Ostend during WWI, 1914
See more: WWI German submarine on the beach.
Actor Johnny Ick, who was born with an underdeveloped lower torso, poses for a promotional photo for the famous movie ‘Freaks,’ 1932
Blind WWI Veteran’s marriage, 1921
Women learn to shoot in prison on Roosevelt Island, New York, 1932
Welsh spiritualist Colin Evans feigns levitation by jumping up and down in total darkness and filming himself with an infrared camera. London, 1939
Untitled
Tower of Babel from the Old Testament. A. Frankl, 1927
Unknown author
Boren city citizens await the appearance of the Virgin Mary at the viaduct, not far from the Christian school, where children allegedly observed her the day before. Belgium, 1933
The telepath tries to hypnotize the chimpanzee, 1941
The tactical trick of soldiers during the Mexican Revolution, 1913
The house at the training ground where the US Army conducted experiments on the use of nuclear weapons. Mannequins, 1954 play the role of humans
Soviet cryptographer Igor Guzenko, 1945. In this photo, he hid his face for an interview with Soul Pett from the Associated Press. Guzenko worked at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa and fled to the West in 1945. He brought more than a hundred classified documents and information from the Soviet spy network in Canada; 29 spies were arrested and convicted afterwards. Guzenko received an impressive reward, a mansion, and political asylum.
Soldiers of the British Royal Horse Artillery on pack horses. The animals turned out to be so obedient that they allowed the soldiers to perform tricks like these, 1915
Read more: German WWI submarine UB122 that spent 92 years underwater
Robert Kennedy and West Berlin Mayor Willie Brandt look through the Berlin Wall, February 22, 1962
Photographer unknown
Newborn mutant rabbit with one head, endowed with two bodies. 1941
Military training at Eton. Since then, the uniform of the students of the elite educational institution has changed little; only the top hats were canceled, 1915
KKK’s members drive around Miami in robes and, with a noose, convince African Americans to abstain from voting in elections. Miami, 1939
Marcia Pinkenfield, six months old, who won a very unusual competition and was chosen as the most beautiful child in America, 1927
A real Malibu Lifeguard. Richard Tide sleeps a girl who was washed into the ocean by a wave
Italian traveler Attilio Gatti with two hired pygmies and a gorilla caught by them in the Belgian Congo, 1930
Exercises at the Sint Willibrordus mental hospital. Netherlands, Henk Blansjaar, 14 February 1956
Girl and orangutan. Indonesia, J.A. Dinkel, early 20th century
Funeral of legendary cyclist Fausto Coppi, who contracted malaria during an African safari. The 1960 year
Bizarre photos of a French soldier during WWI in a suit (breastplate and helmet), 1915 year
Read more: WWI Christmas truce in 1914: pictures and facts.
An accident on track during a 6-day bike race at the Madison Square Cycle Track. New York, 1913
Faces of war. A banquet for French soldiers who received grievous injuries during WWI, Henri Manuel, Paris, 1925.
The expiration date has passed. Billy, the elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo, was shot. Old elephants can become uncontrollable, and the zoo staff decided to protect themselves. 1939
Execution of terrorists who staged an explosion in the Cathedral of Holy Week in Bulgaria, killing more than 200 people died,
Bizarre photos of the Ethiopian thief catcher. After drinking a stimulating mix of unknown ingredients, the priest throws a rope over the plaintiff and guides him, closing his eyes, to the alleged culprit. The 1929 year
Bizarre disguise photos. Dutch tanks disguised in flowers, shortly before the German invasion. May 5, 1940
Read more: Bizarre WW2 photos
Dr. Heinz makes an injection of fluids taken from a live hare to a person, which, together with ultraviolet radiation and gymnastics, should lead to rejuvenation. Berlin, 1925
Read more: All Pulitzer Prize photos (1942-1967)
Disguise of British military equipment as elephants, India, WWII
Daughter of the German movie star Marlene Dietrich, starring in the film The Slutty Empress directed by Joseph von Sternberg with her mother. Hollywood, 1934
Charles Jones, 22, is reading to his underage fiancée, Eunice Winstead, nine years old. Their wedding was approved in Tennessee, but not accepted in the rest of the United States. 1937
John Russell’s band warming the public before the Beatles’ performance, 1964
An American lawyer, who wants to remain anonymous, reads out his testimony on investigating a financial fraud case. Ohio, 1933
Adolf Hitler in the national trousers of the Tyroleans and Bavarians called lederhosen. It was a campaign photo to gain more popularity in the Southern regions of Germany, June 12, 1927
A WWI postcard. A German looking at Notre Dame through binoculars is threatened with a saber by the ghost of Napoleon.
Check out more US WWI propaganda posters.
American singer Al Johnson, portraying a black man on the set of the movie Bar of Wonders. The 1934 year
A hypnotized person, frozen at attention, lies in an extremely uncomfortable position. 1932
A man drags a snake that has just had a hearty breakfast. 1941
A Hungarian engineer Stefan Nailed near the machine he invented supposedly made people and inanimate objects invisible. 1935
A folding car designed by a German engineer. When assembled, it could drive at 45 KmPh, 1929 year
8-year-old Freddie McIntosh in a sun protection suit. The boy’s skin is very sensitive to daylight due to illness.
Bizarre photos from the soviet parade of the 1920s and 1930s
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]]>Сообщение Vintage pictures of US Navy sailors spending free time, Hawaii, 1945 появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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Wayne Miller traveled to Hawaii under cover to take pictures of the leisure of American Navy sailors. The pictures had to be bright and interesting as sailor’s free time traditionally consisted of sightseeing, getting tattoos, searching for a sorority, and, of course, drinking. The photographs became public only 70 years later, and you’ll understand why.
Let’s note, that Miller took these photos in the summer of 1945 when WWII was almost over. The V-J day was right behind the corner.
The idea of the photoshoot
Wayne Miller joined the US Navy in 1942 as a 24-year-old photographer with a banking background. Edward Steicher, one of the most influential masters of photography of the 20th century, was his mentor. Over the next three years, Miller documented the Pacific Theater of WWII. He shot his images both from the decks of aircraft carriers and while following the amphibious assault of the marines. He was among the first photographers to visit Hiroshima after the atomic explosion.
Miller’s task was to take photos that will help to recruit new pilots. In June 1945, he decided to take some photographs of the sailors on vacation in Honolulu. He requested permission to dress as a private for this project. Miller knew that his subordinates would not behave naturally during their free time in port if there will be an officer with a camera.
Wayne Miller, dressed as a private
Commandment banned all pictures of sailors
Miller got this approval. He traveled to Honolulu and documented activities traditionally associated with seafarers on shore leave: sightseeing, games, tattooing, seeking out sorority, and of course, drinking. When commandment saw his images they strictly prohibited their publication.
The pictures stayed hidden until 2018. Now you can see the pictures on the website of the Magnum Photos agency, where Miller worked later.
Getting ready for the visit of Navy sailors!
Pictures of Sailors playing snooker
USO club
Shoeshiner at work
On the Waikiki beach
Navy sailors with local girls in USO bar
Ladies agreed to dance with a sailor for a dime, or for free if he lucky.
In a tattoo salon
Hit it harder!
Helping the drunken brother
Drunken sailors pictures
Drunken sailors under arrest
At the Royal Hawaiian Hotel backyard
Another dance for ten cents
A queue to the bar
A letter home
A drunken taxi
A day after a party
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]]>Сообщение Texas City explosion, 1947: Shocking pictures and video of the accident появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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The Texas City explosion shocked the world 73 years before the cataclysm in Beirut. Both accidents are actually very similar.
Read more: 100 most important pictures in history
The chronology of the Texas City explosion
It all began with the cargo ship Grandcamp, which was loading in the port of Texas City. The port workers were loading the ship with the usual goods – ammonium nitrate, a total weight of 2,300 tons for five days. (For comparison: Beirut exploded almost the same amount in 2020, 2,750 tons, but Texas had something extra)
Even the experienced crew leaders of the Texas port were not aware that ammonium nitrate is far from a safe substance. Hence the trivial negligence, which led to dire consequences.
Read more: 10 most expensive photographs in history
Workers discovered the fire on April 16, 1947, at 8 am. The incident attracted more than half of the city’s firefighters, as well as reporters. Nobody felt much of a danger. Even worse, the captain at first did not attempt to handle fire with water. He didn’t want to spoil the valuable cargo. This decision killed them all.
Texas City explosion, 1947
The aftermath of the explosion
At 9 hours and 12 minutes – the exact time of the
Texas City explosion. Eyewitnesses say that the “Grandcamp” and everyone who was nearby was blown away. The shock wave demolished buildings, cars, oil rigs, and ships on its way.
There was no hope to undertake anything at this moment. Hell broke loose. And that was just the beginning. Immediately, numerous oil refineries burst into flames, covering the city with black smoke and flames. Almost the entire city burned fetidly until late at night. And when everything seemed to calm down, two more ships, the Highflyer and the Wilson Keene exploded. There was sulfur on board and the same ammonium nitrate. It took three days to fight countless deadly fires.
The skies were covered with black smoke.
Who’s guilty?
The cause of the Texas City explosion was quite trivial. It turned out that the blatant illiteracy of the personnel and management led to the fact that the workers smoked while loading ammonium nitrate. Finally, the dangerous explosives were packed in banal paper bags instead of fireproof boxes.
The thrown cigarette butt sent 1,500 people to heaven. More than a third of those died during the first Texas City explosion. The city was destroyed, as well as the port. America never saw such a disaster. Texas City looked like Hiroshima after the atomic explosion.
There is also a newsreel of a Texas City explosion.
Read more: All Pulitzer Prize photos (1942-1967)
The explosion almost leveled the entire city
No one paid serious attention to the fire first. The explosion was a surprise!
Firefighters spent several days eliminating the consequences.
The explosion caused the fire on the oil plants
Cars demolished by the Texas explosion, 1947
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]]>Сообщение A family murder in Vienna, 1945 появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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It’s another famous photograph by Evgeny Khaldei, the author of the legendary photo “The flag over the Reichstag.” This shot is not so monumental, but it’s also a fascinating one. Khaldei took this photo of the family murder in April 1945 in Vienna. It depicts a dead Austrian family, watched by living Russian officers.
Check the most Bizarre WWII photos.
A killer shot a mother and her two children: a teenage boy and a girl, whose body was lying a little further away. Their father killed them.
Evgeny Khaldei recalled the story of this photograph: “I went to the park near the parliament building to film the columns of soldiers passing by. And I saw this picture. A woman was sitting on a bench, killed by two shots – in the head and neck; next to her is a dead teenager of about fifteen and a girl. The corpse of the father of the family was a little further away. He had a gold NSDAP badge on his lapel, and a revolver was lying next to him. Soon a witness of this Vienna murder approached the photographer and the officers. He told them that the German first killed his family and then shot himself.
A different angle of the murder in Vienna, 1945
After the Soviet army captured Vienna, the nine-year occupation period started. The city was split between the allies, and the Russians maintained a strict borders control regime. Here you can check some noteworthy archive photos from Vienna’s Soviet occupation zone, taken in the 1940s.
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]]>Сообщение The story behind the ‘Tokyo Stabbing’ picture, 1960 появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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‘Tokyo Stabbing’ photograph won two prestigious prizes at once. In 1960 it was named as a Photo of the Year at the World Press Photo event. In 1961, Japanese reporter Yasushi Nagao received the Pulitzer Prize for his ‘Tokyo Stabbing’ image.
The story of this picture continues our series of Pulitzer Award-winning pictures. You can check the stories behind the brilliant photography like ‘Water!’, ‘Ford Striker’s Riot‘, ‘Serious Steps’, ‘Aid from a Padre‘ and many others.
Read more: All Pulitzer Winning Photos (1942-1967)
How to beat a socialist in the 60s?
On October 12, 1960, the head of the Socialist Party of Japan, Inejiro Asanuma, participated in the pre-election debate in Tokyo. The event went on as usual: noisy and without any incident. But, when the politician was already leaving the building, a young man pounced on Asanuma and stabbed him. Interestingly, he used a short traditional Japanese wakizashi sword. Here’s why the photographer named this image ‘Tokyo Stabbing’.
The moment of attack
The reporter captured the moment when the attacker had already pulled the sword out of the politician after the first blow. He wanted to attack again, but guards stopped him. However, the politician didn’t survive this incident.
The killer turned out to be a 17-year-old ultra-rightist Otoya Yamaguchi. He was a member of the Great Japan patriotic party, which neglected the results of WWII and fought for the ideas of Great Japan.
Was Tokyo Stabbing just a solo act?
Of course, police knew for sure that Yamaguchi could commit this attack on his own. Investigators suspected the head of the party, an experienced politician Satoshi Akao. Note that this tough guy was regularly featured in criminal cases, including murders.
Akao was arrested, but not yet charged: 17-year-old Yamaguchi committed suicide in a juvenile prison. Yamaguchi diluted the toothpaste with water and wrote on the wall: “Seven lives for the country. Long live His Imperial Majesty!” The phrase “seven lives” refers to the last words of the iconic 14th-century Japanese samurai Kusunoki Masashige.
Since there was no one to interrogate after the suicide of 17-year-old Yamaguchi, the police were forced to release the real organizer of the murder Satoshi due to lack of evidence. Satoshi Akao died at the age of 91.
Сообщение The story behind the ‘Tokyo Stabbing’ picture, 1960 появились сначала на Old Pictures.
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