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453 Comments
- luke16, on 05/09/2008, -28/+1093This photo was made in 2008, Russia. The man is smiling because he just won the lottery and decided to spend it all on World War II memorabilia. He is holding the brassed head of his dad. He was so happy that he won the lottery, he dug him up, and had it brassed.
- macwisdom, on 05/09/2008, -13/+888World Warll Berlin Germany, A Soviet solder holding the head of an Adolf Hitler statue. Side note: The tank in the background is a T-34.
- wickensworth, on 05/09/2008, -3/+615And the horse in the background is named Ribbons
- billwild, on 05/09/2008, -10/+454He's smiling cause he just got some head.
- vudicarus, on 05/09/2008, -6/+385He's thinking of turtles. They're something he likes.
- elipabst, on 05/09/2008, -7/+216Wrong. This is actually a trick question. It's from the future. That's Dick Cheney's great grandson walking away from what's left of the US capitol building. In his arms he holds the cryogenically preserved head of Adolf Hitler which he plans to attach to a robot body in order to help him complete his goal of world domination.
- Darren05, on 05/09/2008, -9/+209He's laughing at what the other soldiers are doing to the body.
- MiddleOfNowhere, on 05/09/2008, -0/+159This picture was taken by a Russian photographer called Jewgeni Chaldej (or Yevgeny Khaldei for the English-speaking world) on May 5 1945 before the Reichstag in Berlin, ten minutes from where I live.
You probably all know another photo taken by him on the same day: It's the one of a soldier placing the Red flag of the Soviet Union's atop the Reichstag building in Berlin, signifying the fall of Germany. It is one of the world's most famous war photos (although it was a reconstruction of what happened a few days before. Chaldej was not only a great photographer, but also a Pre-Photoshop expert in "optimizing" reality. You'll see what I mean if you go see an exhibition of his works).
No, I am not making this up. And I happen to know it because by chance a friend invited me to come and see his exhibition, which opened yesterday at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, a beautiful building near the Holocaust Memorial and the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. The Russian ambassador held a speech, and I was glad I went, because Chaldej's pictures of WWII are very moving, and many have never been shown in the West. Believe me that the one linked here is one of the less disturbing/interesting.
Chaldej was a Russian jew who built his first cameras by himself. His mother was killed during a program, the Nazis killed his father and brothers. So it must have been a strange experience for him to stand on the ruins of fascist Germany.
If you are in Berlin, you should definitely go and see this exhibition (more at http://www.chaldej.de/). Although many of the pictures were propaganda supposed to show the Soviet army's invincible march towards Germany in 44/45, it gives a chilling impression of the brutality of war. Russia had the highest death toll during the war against the fascists, and many of the soldiers Chaldej photographed did not survive the war.
One of his most disturbing images shows a Nazi in Vienna, Austria who - when the Russians invaded - took his wife and kids to a park, arranged them on two benches and shot them all before killing himself. It is rather symbolic because it all looks very orderly, showing the Nazi's obsession with "proper" killing. - drlha, on 05/09/2008, -17/+132He's laughing because someone just told him "You know in 50 years Americans are going to be taking the credit for winning this war!"
- BohicaTwentyTwo, on 05/09/2008, -8/+121http://digg.com/users/BohicaTwentyTwo/gallery/3621 ...
- crfcsf, on 05/09/2008, -2/+94Interestingly, Ribbons was one of the few conspirators in Hitler's assassination plot to escape execution. Disillusioned and demoralized after the plot failed, he went on to work in the Soviet artillery corps (as pictured) and was later eaten by Cossacks.
- casspa, on 05/09/2008, -7/+90I'd be smiling too
- Nhmarine, on 05/09/2008, -5/+81I want a souvenier..... A german helmet? nah...... A german medal? nah.... I know! Hitlers Head!
- TheBigBrother, on 05/09/2008, -0/+74And judging by the way the light is reflecting, the walking stick is made of mahogany
- dvsbastard, on 05/09/2008, -4/+72Digg needs a "Quiz" section...
- davidjunit, on 05/09/2008, -6/+71'Twas 28 years and 2 months ago, The Telltale Head was the episode. Bartholomew Simpson removes the head from the Jebediah Springfield statue.
- rauz, on 05/09/2008, -3/+64And the dome in the far background would be the Reichstag.
http://www.lilano.de/catalog/index.php/cPath/21_36 - noturbest, on 05/09/2008, -14/+72who are you and why the hell are you testing me about history?
- digitdean, on 05/09/2008, -2/+52Huh. I used to bullseye whomp rats back home in my T-34.
- MiddleOfNowhere, on 05/09/2008, -2/+49As many people seem to forget because they have been brainwashed by 60 years of "our" (the West) side portraying WWII as mainly American business, no-one was ***** harder by the Nazis than the Soviet Union. They lost around 27 *million* people after Hitler invaded - both soldiers and civilians. The Wehrmacht and Hollywood's favorite henchmen, the SS, raped, killed and plundered their way until they were stopped before the gates of Moscow and at Stalingrad and left nothing but burnt earth when they retreated.
So it might be a *little* too much to expect the Soviet soldiers (many of them just kids with machine guns, as you can see in Khaldei's photos) to arrive with bouquets of flowers and chocolate on the doorstep of Nazi Germany after they had seen the husbands of those German women massacre their families back at home.
That being said, every act of rape (be it in war or times of piece) is a crime. But I find the way you place this piece of information (without giving any numbers or links, just a hint at Japanese war crimes) a bit out of context to say the least. - farboo, on 05/09/2008, -4/+50In Soviet Russia, joke thinks of YOU!
- Homerr, on 05/09/2008, -4/+48The tank is a JS-II, not at T-34.
http://www.battlefield.ru/index.php?option=com_con ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iosif_Stalin_tank
At the extreme right is a ZiS-3 76.2mm divisional gun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZiS-3
More photos: http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.ph ... - Zipko, on 05/09/2008, -5/+48I got those first 3 points but I was really stumped thinking it was some kind of trick question. I just figured those things were obvious and that there had to be something more to the picture I was missing. I guess I overestimated how well people know history.
- XeNoGeAr78, on 05/09/2008, -0/+42Why are we doing lazycat's history homework?
- lazycat, on 05/09/2008, -0/+35“He who forgets history is condemned to relive it”. :)
- N1tro, on 05/09/2008, -2/+35Nice, i looked at the EXIF data and saw nothing of the sort.
- Chordinator, on 05/09/2008, -1/+33You know, you could make a fortune with that almanac..
- cvxdes1, on 05/09/2008, -0/+32Things like that only work once.
Well maybe twice. But only if the conditions are permitting, unlike the current ones. - covertress, on 05/09/2008, -0/+32The approximate date of the photo is May 8-9, 1945, V-E Day (Victory in Europe,) when the Germans finally laid down their arms and surrendered, ending WWII. (video link) http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?acti ...
- mvanhorn, on 05/09/2008, -6/+35dug.
- Cashmoney504, on 05/09/2008, -3/+30"great success" 10 internetz have been deposited in your paypal account
- kaelyiesta, on 05/09/2008, -2/+29I would estimate millions.
- Janizzary, on 05/09/2008, -1/+28Wouldn't it be interesting if someone found that head in present times? Who knows -- maybe, it's in a warehouse somewhere...with The Ark of The Covenant...
- whataboutdave, on 05/09/2008, -0/+25Historical turtles.
- JoshuaLowe, on 05/09/2008, -1/+26This is like a game of Clue.
A Soviet soldier.
At the Reichstag.
With the brass Hitler bust.
Or maybe it was Professor Plum. - jun2san, on 05/09/2008, -0/+24I don't know much, but I do know that the wheels on the cart go 'round and 'round.
- wrzhydr, on 05/09/2008, -2/+25There are two horses. We don't give credit for partial answers.
- macwisdom, on 05/09/2008, -0/+23My wife tells me I am. I say I know a little about a lot of things but the net sum is zero.
- centran, on 05/09/2008, -5/+28That is a picture of the aftermath of the World Zombie War. The only way to defeat them was to decapitate the head or cause severe brain trauma.
Humans won... for now. - rawg, on 05/09/2008, -1/+23you win... can't stop laughing...
- trotskyist, on 05/09/2008, -0/+20I'm curious as to where you got $20,000 from.
- ECas123, on 05/09/2008, -3/+23Hitler head? where? all I see is that guy holding a Charlie Chaplin head...
- MiddleOfNowhere, on 05/09/2008, -0/+19Yes, the United States contributed. And from my historical perspective and knowledge, this was the last time that your country went into a war to literally free countries, bringing democracy and capitalism (two pretty good ideas in my book).
And as a German living in democratic Germany, I am very, very grateful for this.
That being said, take your comment about Russia being involved in this war because "they wanted to make everybody Communist" and shove it up your ignorant redneck ass. And when you have done that, read a little history.
Germany invaded Russia, and the Russians fought back at a death toll you cannot imagine.
The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the war (that's 27,000,000 soldiers and civilians) - nearly half of all World War II casualties.
So educate yourself before spouting such nonsense about "We had the better reasons to send our guys in".
(Post-war history is another story.) - jesuswuzanalien, on 05/09/2008, -5/+24if you had a midget hidden underneath that trench coat?
- Teradoc, on 05/09/2008, -1/+18For real points, name the building in the background!
This coming from a history major who lived in Berlin for a month studying the city: Looks like The Reichstag, but its a bit blurry - lateralus, on 05/09/2008, -1/+18And the wheels on the cart you ask? 26's....135/75/26 Pirelli's. I didn't go to public school.
- ironchef31, on 05/09/2008, -5/+22He's a Russian soldier. Farm boy from the Ural Mountins that went to town on a weekend pass and got a little head.
- RSS14, on 05/09/2008, -4/+21I couldn't think of a Soviet Russia joke . . . sorry.
- Disgod, on 05/09/2008, -0/+17Poor Ribbons. He was born to a drunken mustang, and a broken filly. He had to work for everything in his life and just when he got to the top he got tossed back down again to die in ignominy.
- SemiSarcastic, on 05/09/2008, -2/+19"hey everybody! We're all getting laid!"
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