Walking with <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>: Henry Ries’s Post-WWII Berlin Rubble Photographs
Henry Ries (1917–2004), a celebrated American-German photojournalist, was born into an upper-class Jewish family in Berlin. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 to escape Nazi Germany. As a new American citizen, he joined the U.S. Air Force. After the war, Ries became photo editor and chief photographe...
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MDPI AG
2020-07-01
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Series: | Arts |
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/9/3/75 |
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author | Vivien Green Fryd |
author_facet | Vivien Green Fryd |
author_sort | Vivien Green Fryd |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Henry Ries (1917–2004), a celebrated American-German photojournalist, was born into an upper-class Jewish family in Berlin. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 to escape Nazi Germany. As a new American citizen, he joined the U.S. Air Force. After the war, Ries became photo editor and chief photographer for the <i>OMGUS Observer</i> (1946–1947), the American weekly military newspaper published by the Information and Education Section of the Office of Military Government for Germany (OMGUS). One photograph by Ries that first appeared in this newspaper in 1946, and a second, in a different composition and enlarged format, that he included in his 2001 autobiography, create significant commentaries on postwar Germany. The former image accompanies an article about the first post-WWII German feature film: Wolfgang Staudte’s <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>. The photograph moves from functioning as a documentation of history and collective memory, to an individual remembrance and personal condemnation of WWII horrors. Both reveal Ries’s individual trauma over the destruction of Berlin and the death of family members, while also conveying the official policy of OMGUS. Ries’s works embody a conflicted, compassionate gaze, conveying ambiguous emotions about judgment of Germans, precisely because of his own identity, background and memories. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:38:12Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-0d36ed997b68405697466245070455de |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2076-0752 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:38:12Z |
publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Arts |
spelling | doaj.art-0d36ed997b68405697466245070455de2023-11-20T06:01:22ZengMDPI AGArts2076-07522020-07-01937510.3390/arts9030075Walking with <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>: Henry Ries’s Post-WWII Berlin Rubble PhotographsVivien Green Fryd0Department of History of Art and Architecture, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USAHenry Ries (1917–2004), a celebrated American-German photojournalist, was born into an upper-class Jewish family in Berlin. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 to escape Nazi Germany. As a new American citizen, he joined the U.S. Air Force. After the war, Ries became photo editor and chief photographer for the <i>OMGUS Observer</i> (1946–1947), the American weekly military newspaper published by the Information and Education Section of the Office of Military Government for Germany (OMGUS). One photograph by Ries that first appeared in this newspaper in 1946, and a second, in a different composition and enlarged format, that he included in his 2001 autobiography, create significant commentaries on postwar Germany. The former image accompanies an article about the first post-WWII German feature film: Wolfgang Staudte’s <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>. The photograph moves from functioning as a documentation of history and collective memory, to an individual remembrance and personal condemnation of WWII horrors. Both reveal Ries’s individual trauma over the destruction of Berlin and the death of family members, while also conveying the official policy of OMGUS. Ries’s works embody a conflicted, compassionate gaze, conveying ambiguous emotions about judgment of Germans, precisely because of his own identity, background and memories.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/9/3/75Henry Riesphotojournalismthe <i>OMGUS Observer</i>Wolfgang Staudte’s <i>Die Mörder sind unter uns</i> (<i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>)German Trümmerfilme (rubble film)rubble photographs |
spellingShingle | Vivien Green Fryd Walking with <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>: Henry Ries’s Post-WWII Berlin Rubble Photographs Arts Henry Ries photojournalism the <i>OMGUS Observer</i> Wolfgang Staudte’s <i>Die Mörder sind unter uns</i> (<i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>) German Trümmerfilme (rubble film) rubble photographs |
title | Walking with <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>: Henry Ries’s Post-WWII Berlin Rubble Photographs |
title_full | Walking with <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>: Henry Ries’s Post-WWII Berlin Rubble Photographs |
title_fullStr | Walking with <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>: Henry Ries’s Post-WWII Berlin Rubble Photographs |
title_full_unstemmed | Walking with <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>: Henry Ries’s Post-WWII Berlin Rubble Photographs |
title_short | Walking with <i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>: Henry Ries’s Post-WWII Berlin Rubble Photographs |
title_sort | walking with i the murderers are among us i henry ries s post wwii berlin rubble photographs |
topic | Henry Ries photojournalism the <i>OMGUS Observer</i> Wolfgang Staudte’s <i>Die Mörder sind unter uns</i> (<i>The Murderers Are Among Us</i>) German Trümmerfilme (rubble film) rubble photographs |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/9/3/75 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT viviengreenfryd walkingwithithemurderersareamongusihenryriesspostwwiiberlinrubblephotographs |