Nazis with Good Cameras

In an article over on Vice called "Nazi Era Snapshots and the Banality of Evil" we learn of the photo collection of Daniel Lenchner (68). Scouring flea markets, estate sales, and the internet, Lenchner has collected over 500 snapshots of Nazis taken by Nazis that document their daily lives: their families, their friendships, and their leisure activities. One bit of dubious distinction, as far as Leica is concerned, is this tidbit:

...One thing you can say about the Nazis is that they went to war with good cameras. They didn't go with any goddamn instamatics. They went with Leicas: good cameras with good lenses. You can see the number on the train. You can see the blades of grass. You can see the dead man's eyes.

We'd like to remind our readers that this was not the fault of Leica, in fact the Leitz family went out of their way to help Jews during the war; see "Leica History - The Freedom Train."

Update (6/12/14):

Daniel Lenchner wrote us and wanted to clarify with the following:

As a very proud owner of two Leicas including an M6, I did not and would not denigrate the camera or in any way connect it to the horrors of the Holocaust. I was aware of Leitz Freedom train. My point was simply that we are in possession of a trove of high quality WW2/Holocaust related images in part because of the high quality of Germany cameras available during the 30s and 40s, chief among them, Leica. Cameras, unlike weapons, carry no moral baggage of any kind. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was taking a potshot at Leica. Or doing a guilt-by-association. It was not my intent.

We'd like to thank Daniel for commenting, and in our case - we didn't feel he slighted nor associated Leica negatively. We took the article at face value as he explained and only mentioned the "freedom train" as it was related (in a general way) to the story.

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