When I asked my longtime photo editor, Guy Aceto, to nominate an image to inaugurate our new newsletter, he immediately thought of this one — noteworthy for a person who’s seen hundreds of thousands of World War II-related photos.
The single frame — taken in April 1945 at an unnamed German city — captures a slew of emotions. The victorious American tankers seem relaxed but not swaggering. The resigned German POWs are walking upright and don’t look dejected — probably grateful the fighting is over. They’re faceless in this photo; not so, though to the group of young boys in the foreground, looking on with confusion and concern. And the little terrier near them? Just business as usual.
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