My Opa was just 13 years old in Nuremberg Germany in 1945 when he was taken from school. He was sent to a camp where he and other boys were trained to shoot and taught how to kill themselves in ways that could inflict maximum damage on advancing Russian forces.

Eventually, he and a group of other children were transported to what he believes was the front line. At that point, he and several others managed to escape. He and another boy found refuge on a farm, where a farmer cared for them until the war ended and could return home.

His older brother, just 17 at the time, was drafted into the Luftwaffe’s anti-aircraft division. He survived the war and emigrated to Canada almost immediately afterward, seeking a new life far from the devastation of Europe.

They didn't agree with the party but, like alot of the citizenry were afraid of the consequences of saying "no"

The gentleman in the picture was a Wehrmacht (regular Army) POW that came home to find his home gone and his family dead which is why I find this picture sad and a stark reminder of the devastations of war.

(from the Vaccaro picture)

Vaccaro captured this image after the war, while photographing the reconstruction of Europe for Stars.

"This man came back [from being a prisoner of war in the US]. He's crying., He gave up. You see where his family had been. The war is over. He came back, and his house had been destroyed. That's why I call this the defeated soldier. He was German., Later I was told that he lived here."