Hitler's rise to power coincided with the popularisation of both the visual media and propaganda. Once he was firmly established, colour film became available in Germany. Recording major ceremonial events, the photographic portraits of members of the Nazi elite in vivid colour as powerful, smart and confident gave them an aura of celebrity.
Photographers accompanied German troops on their campaigns, capturing images of German soldiers apprehending vanquished French soldiers, for example, or deploying arms of various kinds in eastern Europe. In eastern Europe, in particular, the 'Propaganda Company' which accompanied military units took photographs which it entitled 'The army in the Greater German liberation campaign'. This certainly was propaganda, with the clear implication that Germany's aggressive war in eastern Europe was somehow a defensive campaign to maintain German freedom and even to ensure Germany's very survival as a nation.
This remarkable collection of photographs includes images which have never been published before and historian Dr Jill Stephenson gives an informed overview.
