Table Of ContentJanina Struk is a freelance documentary photographer, writer and lecturer. She is
also the author of the acclaimed book, Photographing the Holocaust: Interpretations
of the Evidence (I.B.Tauris, 2004) which presents a history and critique of images
taken during the Holocaust, 1939–1945.
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For Tim
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Private
Pictures
SOLDIERS’ INSIDE VIEW OF WAR
JANINA STRUK
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Published in 2011 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com
Distributed in the United States and Canada
Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
Copyright © 2011 Janina Struk
The right of Janina Struk to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted by her in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not
be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978 1 84885 442 0 (HB)
978 1 84885 443 7 (PB)
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements xi
Preface xiii
One Outrage at Abu Ghraib 1
Two Learning to Photograph War 21
Three Telling Tales 49
Four Photographs as Resistance 77
Five How Pictures Can Haunt a Nation 89
Six Inadmissible Evidence 109
Seven Breaking the Silence 131
Eight The Inside View of War 147
Notes 177
Bibliography 195
Index 203
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Illustrations
1.1 Lynndie England with an Iraqi prisoner taken at
Abu Ghraib prison, Baghdad, Iraq, 2004. 2
1.2 An image of an Iraqi prisoner taken at
Abu Ghraib prison, Baghdad, Iraq, 2004. 3
2.1 Lieutenant William Fisk (hatless front row) with the
12th Battalion, King’s Liverpool Regiment, 1918.
(Courtesy of William Fisk). 22
2.2 Lieutenant William Fisk. (Courtesy of William Fisk). 22
2.3 A photograph taken by William Fisk from a trench
north of Arras in 1918, in the last days of the Great War.
(Courtesy of William Fisk). 23
2.4 A Kodak camera advertisement, entitled ‘Kodak in Camp’. 27
2.5 A page from the Daily Sketch, 29 March 1915: ‘A Scrap
Book of Sacred Memories from the Field of Battle’. 31
2.6 A stereoscopic image from a First World War series
entitled ‘Realistic Travels’. The caption reads: ‘Off on
a night raid our troops steal into the inky darkness of No
Man’s Land near Messines’. (Private Collection). 35
2.7 Front page of the Daily Sketch, 31 July 1915: ‘£600 For
the Finest Picture of the War’. 37
2.8 A page from the personal photo album of Mrs Ysenda
Maxtone Smythe, Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) worker.
(Courtesy Liddle Collection, Leeds University Library). 41
2.9 A page of the personal photo album of Mrs Ysenda Maxtone
Smythe, Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) worker. The picture
shows Private Coules and Private Stevenson. (Courtesy Liddle
Collection, Leeds University Library). 42
2.10 A uniformed studio portrait photograph of First World War
soldier Corporal Louis Henry Matthews. (Courtesy Liddle
Collection, Leeds University Library). 44
2.11 Snapshots from Home in The British Empire YMCA Weekly,
3 March 1916. (Courtesy of University of Birmingham Special
Collections Department). 45
3.1 The cover of Cecil Ripley’s Second World War photo album.
(© Mr C. Ripley). 50
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viii Private Pictures
3.2 A page from the private photo album of Cecil Ripley.
(© Mr C. Ripley). 51
3.3 Packets of souvenir snapshots from Syria, Transjordan,
Haifa, Acre, Tiberius, Safed and Galilee in the collection of
a Polish Second World War soldier. (Courtesy of the Polish
Institute and Sikorski Museum). 54
3.4 Two pages from the private photo album of Lieutenant
E. F. Bolton, 1/5 Battalion The Queen’s, Mesopotamia 1917–1918.
(Courtesy Liddle Collection, Leeds University Library). 55
3.5 Two pages from a photo album compiled by soldiers of 22nd
Infantry Regiment, 8th Rifl e Battalion. (Courtesy of the Polish
Institute and Sikorski Museum). 57
3.6 Two pages from a photo album made by soldiers of the
1st Carpathian Light Artillery Regiment. (Courtesy of
the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum). 58
3.7 Two pages from the private album of Jack Munnock, who
served with the RAF overseas including in Basra with 203
Fighter Bomber Squadron in 1930–1 and 84 Squadron in
Shaibah. (Imperial War Museum, 2004- 11- 20). 59
3.8 A page from the private album of H. C. Bertram, 4th Regiment
Imperial Yeomanry, Boer War 1900–1, ‘Taken from nature’.
(National Army Museum, 6610–57). 60
3.9 A page from the private photo album of B. H. Hodgson,
of 21st Battalion Imperial Yeomanry, Boer War 1900–2.
(National Army Museum, 7202- 23- 1). 61
3.10 A page from the private photo album of B. H. Hodgson, of
21st Battalion Imperial Yeomanry, Boer War 1900–1902.
(National Army Museum, 7202- 23- 1). 62
3.11 First World War album, vol. 186, pt. 1 (69733), Nicolai Kurt
(German, d. unknown), ‘Personal album, German soldier
at Eastern Front’, 24.7cm x 32.3cm x 2.5cm, Gelatin silver
prints, 24 pages, 96 images (© 2009 Art Gallery of Ontario). 63
3.12 A page from the private album of Polish offi cer Captain
Stanisław Schuster- Kruk, 2nd Polish Legion Infantry Regiment
1914–1917 of the ‘Szkolna’ Company in Odessa 1918. (Courtesy
of the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum). 64
3.13 Two pages from a private photo album compiled by Polish
offi cer, Major Jan Sas- Tatomir, 4th Polish Legion Infantry
Regiment, who served on the Eastern Front 1914–1917.
(Courtesy of the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum). 65
3.14 Double page of a First World War album, vol. 32 (69477), unknown,
twentieth- century (American), ‘Personal album, American
Soldier in France, 1916–1941’, 150cm x 214cm x 48cm,
Gelatin silver prints, 80 pages (© 2009 Art Gallery
of Ontario). 66
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Illustrations ix
3.15 First World War album, vol. 32 (69477), unknown, twentieth-
century (American), ‘Personal album, American Soldier in
France, 1916–1941’: ‘War!!!!! (Frenchmen)’, 150cm x 214cm x 48cm,
Gelatin silver prints, 80 pages. (© 2009 Art Gallery of Ontario). 67
3.16 First World War album, vol. 31 (69476), unknown, twentieth-
century (American), ‘Personal album, American Soldier in
France 1914–1919’, 28.1cm x 35.7cm x 4cm, Gelatin silver prints,
101 pages, 701 images. (© 2009 Art Gallery of Ontario). 68
3.17 The cover of the photo album of Hubert Baum.
(Courtesy Liddle Collection, Leeds University Library). 70
3.18 Page from the photo album of Hubert Baum.
(Courtesy Liddle Collection, Leeds University Library). 71
3.19 Page from an album created by Karl Höcker, adjutant to
the Richard Baer commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
(Courtesy of USHMM photo archives). 74
3.20 Photograph from an album created by Karl Höcker, adjutant to
the Richard Baer commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
(Courtesy of USHMM photo archives). 75
4.1 Ivangorod, Ukraine. (Courtesy of USHMM photo archives/
Jerzy Tomaszewski). 78
5.1 A German soldier smiles for the camera while touching the
trouser leg of a hanged civilian during the Second World War.
(Courtesy of the Society for the Cooperation of Soviet Studies). 90
5.2 A page from a photo album compiled by the Provincial
Commission on the History of the Great Patriotic War entitled
‘Photo Album of Atrocities and Crimes Committed by Nazi German
Aggressors in Drohobych Province during the Period of 1941–44’.
(Courtesy L’viv Regional State Archive). 91
5.3 A page from the Soviet War News Weekly, 19 February 1942 entitled
‘Six Photographs’ by Ilya Ehrenburg. 92
6.1 A photograph taken by a British soldier in Iraq in May 2003 and
presented as evidence at the court martial of three British soldiers
in Osnabrück; referred to by the court as Photograph 19. 111
6.2 A photograph taken by a British soldier in Iraq in May 2003 and
presented as evidence at the court martial of three British soldiers
in Osnabrück; referred to by the court as Photograph 22. 111
6.3 A photograph taken by a British soldier in Iraq in May 2003 and
presented as evidence at the court martial of three British soldiers in
Osnabrück; referred to by the court as Photograph 9. 112
6.4 A compilation of Daily Mirror headlines during May 2004. 122
7.1 A snapshot taken by an Israeli IDF soldier that shows Palestinian
children being watched over by an IDF soldier in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories. (Courtesy of Breaking the Silence). 132
7.2 A photograph of Hebron taken by an Israeli IDF soldier.
(Courtesy of Breaking the Silence). 139
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x Private Pictures
7.3 A visitor at an exhibition of Israeli IDF soldiers’ pictures
in a gallery in Amsterdam, November 2007, taking a digital
picture of an exhibit of car keys confi scated from Palestinian
drivers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. (© Janina Struk). 140
7.4 A photograph taken by an Israeli IDF soldier of a group of
Palestinians with IDF soldiers at a checkpoint in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories. (Courtesy of Breaking the Silence). 141
7.5 Graffi ti that reads: Arabs to the Gas Chambers, on a wall in Hebron
signed by the Jewish Defense League (JDL). (Courtesy of Breaking
the Silence). 143
8.1 An American soldier’s snapshot that according to the caption
shows a ‘charred Iraqi’ posted on the amateur pornographic
website, Nowthatsfuckedup.com (NTFU), 2004. 163
8.2 Three still images from a Juba fi lm that show, from top to bottom:
an animated image of Juba the Baghdad Sniper, Lynndie England
holding an Iraqi prisoner on a leash at Abu Ghraib and political
leaders including George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Donald Rumsfeld
each with a red target mark on their foreheads. 2006 (?). 172
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