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THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN PICTURES - TWO BOOK SET, 1200+ PHOTOS

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This is Volume I and Volume II of the 1961 German hardcover photo book set called Der Zweite Weltkrieg im Bild. Band I covers the last Nazi Party Days in Nürnberg in 1938 thru the first decisive loss at Stalingrad and Band II Stalingrad to the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. In the foreword by the publisher states these books were not meant to be a historical book abouts World War II. Rather, the photos were to show the unfortunate and disastrous war years, and to make readers aware of the terrible sides of war, and how useless it all turned out to be when it ended.

Above, a rare picture of a Nazi Panzer commander in conversation with a Russian tank driver near the new German-Soviet border.

Volume II contains fine and rare up-close photos of the harsh winter conditions around Stalingrad and Moscow, Stukas above the Russian battlefield, American troops arriving in North Africa and Sicily, Nazi troops inside a Luftwaffe Gigant transport plane, the ruins at Monte Cassino, Nazi paratroopers in Rome armed with a MG42 machine gun, the end of the Tirpitz, the battle at Arnhem in Holland, V1 and V2 rockets, a USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber in flames after it was hit, the destroyed dams at Möhnetal, bomb damage to the Reichschancellery, ......

The photos in these two 9 x 11-¾ inch hardcover books are not half-toned in the regular way (with dots), but are printed by a method called rotogravure which produces something that looks a lot more like a photo. Many of the photos (German war photos and photos taken by the Allies) were never published before and none were sanitized, again so readers would be confronted with every horrifying aspect of World War II.

Above, a German propaganda poster urging the 'abandoned' French population to trust German soldiers.

Volume I contains fine and rare up-close photos of the Luftwaffe participation in the Polenfeldzug, army troops on the move, war damage, the Nazi victory parade in Warsaw, the establishment of the new German-Russian border, General Dietl at Narvik, Nazi paratroopers at Eben Emael and Rotterdam, Erwin Rommel, Luftwaffe planes and Red Cross nurses in North Africa, the Graf Spree and Bismarck, Nazi submarines in action, Rudolf Hess’ flight to England, Kiev in flames, the electric works at Saporoschje (now the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine), frozen corpses of Russian soldiers, the huge mortar Thor and its effect on the defenses of Sewastopol, male and female Russian POWs, civilian victims and torture victims, Wehrmacht field kitchens and hospitals, soldier cemeteries, and the surrender of General Paulus at Stalingrad.

Der Zweite Weltkrieg im Bild Volume II shows the grim “Total War” in Germany. Defeat on the battlefield in the Soviet Union and Crimea, and destroyed Kriegsmarine ships and submarines at sea, the American entry in the war in North Africa, the D-Day invasion of Normandy and Allied landings in the south of France, the 20 July 1944 plot to kill Hitler, Allied air raids on German cities, the Battle of the Bulge, the Red Army in East Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania, the battle for Berlin, Hitler’s death, Hermann Goering’s capture, Mussolini’s end, German capitulation, the Potsdam Conference, all the way to the Nuernberg Trials.

Above, Lale Andersen singing Lili Marleen and below a smiling Generalmajor Theodor Scherer receiving his Knight's Cross after the heroic battle at Cholm.

Left, the announcement of the 'Dreimächtepakt' or German- Italian-Japanese Axis agreement.

Below, a fine picture of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini and SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen SS Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig, reviewing Bosnian SS volunteers during their training in November 1943.

In the back of Der Zweite Weltkrieg im Bild Volume II is a comprehensive Index for both books as well as photo credits.

.... the Krupp factory in Essen after an Allied bombing raid, homeless refugees, Wehrmacht soldiers in retreat, the Remagen bridge, German POWs in the Soviet Union, a disabled Me 262, the removal of a huge Hitler portrait in Bucharest (above left), fleeing civilians tying to cross the Elbe river at Meissen, German POWs marching on the Reichsautobahn, etc., etc.

Der Zweite Weltkrieg im Bild Volume I has coverage of the great triumphs and victories of the Third Reich. Nazi dignitaries admiring the might of the Wehrmacht at Reichsparteitag 1938, the September 1938 Munich Agreement, the Nazi invasion of Poland, the establishment of the first Jewish ghettos, the Wehrmacht in Norway, the victorious battle on the west front in 1940, U-Boot battle at Scapa Flow, air victories over England, the Italian entry into WW2, the Axis Agreement, the start of the war in the Balkans and Greece, the DAK in North Africa, the start of Operation Barbarossa, heavy fighting in Ukraine, Pearl Harbor, to the first defeat on the east front.

Published by Dr. Franz Burda and Burda Druck und Verlag of Offenburg, these two 5+ pound red linen hardcover books have gold blocking on the front cover and spine and both come with their original dust jackets. They were originally published in 1952 but these are Third Editions dated 1961 and are in very nice, little-used condition with tight spines and no odor. The dust jackets show wear and have some scotch tape repairs. A treasure trove of Third Reich and World War II images!