Identity of French Resistance photographer discovered

Today’s story comes from NPR. They recount the discovery of a trove of very rare photos; hundreds of clandestine photos taken during Nazi occupation of Paris. Open air photography required a permit, and it was clear from the notes on the backs of the photos that they were not permitted. What follows is a multi-year detective hunt to ID the photographer. This is a great read for those who enjoy WWII history, and among our readers, who doesn’t?

From NPR;

The search for the unknown photographer began in the summer of 2020, with the discovery of an old photo album at a flea market in the town of Barjac, in the south of France.

Documentary producer Stéphanie Colaux had long enjoyed looking through old photos, haggling over the price of an album and imagining the stories behind the weddings and birthdays of the everyday past.

But this time she found something extraordinary and precious — and it came with a challenge.

“As I flipped through the pages I realized, my God, it’s all scenes of [Nazi] occupied Paris. And I knew I’d found a treasure,” she says. “And then I read the little note in the front. ‘If you find this album,’ it said, ‘take care of it and have the courage to look at it.’ I thought, someone sent a message in a bottle and I just found it.”

Inside the album were 377 black-and-white photos taken between 1940 and 1942. They included street scenes with civilians and ubiquitous German soldiers, going about the business of Occupation near some of the most recognizable landmarks: Montmartre, the Place de la Concorde or the Champs-Elysées.

Unfortunately, “shadow behind the back of the Germans” as the authors call him, was turned in by one of his own countrymen. He’d be arrested by collaborationist authorities, sent to Buchenwald, and never came back.

Category: Historical, WWII