14 Rare WW2 Photos You Weren’t Shown In History Class

here are a lot of famous war shots, especially from World War II. But what about the shots that never made it into your history books? Well, we have compiled 14 rare World War II photos that fit just that criteria.

1. German Wehrmacht General Anton Dostler being prepped for his execution
   German Wehrmacht General Anton Dostler tied up and awaiting execution for war crimes. He was sentenced to be shot by firing squad after he himself had ordered that 15 unarmed prisoners of war be executed by shooting.
   

2. Two Allied soldiers freed from Japanese captivity; have seen better days
   Two Allied prisoners being freed from Japanese captivity in Yokohama, Japan by members of the United States Navy. In the picture, we can see that their bodies were emaciated likely due in large part to a lack of nutrition.
   

3. War hurts everyone, soldier or otherwise
   A thin Japanese man, sitting among the remains of his home in Yokohama, Japan. The attack that hit Yokohama was one of several as part of a series of air raids on Japan that took place from April 1942 to the end of the war in August 1945.
   

4. German prisoners tending to dead Americans
   A pair of German prisoners doing landscaping work in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, France on a United States cemetery on May 28, 1945.
   

5. The private stash of Hermann Goering
   A United States soldier holding a golden statue depicting a woman. This (as well as the other valuables found in this picture) was a part of the private collection of ex-Luftwaffe leader Hermann Goering. The private collection was discovered in a cave and was the second such private collection found to date.
   

6. The burning of the Belsen Concentration Camp
   The Belsen Concentration Camp having been lit asunder. This was ordered by the Commandant of the Belsen Camp Colonel Bird; a soldier took to the camp with a flamethrower while others performed a rifle salute as the British flag flies.
   

7. Soviet soldiers celebreate their victory and the Nazis’ defeat
   Soviet soldiers lined up in several rows at the Victory Parade in Moscow to celebrate the surrender of German forces. They are wielding the lowered standards of defeated Nazi soldiers.
   

8. Photographer alongside Soviet soldiers in Berlin
   Photographer Yevgeny Khaldei working in the thick of things alongside Soviet soldiers in Berlin. This photo was taken in May of 1945, near the end of World War II.
   

9. The ruins of Adolph Hitler’s Berchtesgaden retreat
   The now decimated remains at Berchtesgaden, Germany, which served as Adolf Hitler’s retreat. Keen observers may note the number of craters left in the attack that decimated this land both large and small.
   

10. Homeless Japanese citizens post-war make do with what they can
    Following the war, a number of Japanese citizens were made homeless; luckily, enough people were thrifty enough as well as quick-minded enough to use abandoned buses as makeshift homes for the homeless people. This photograph depicts Japanese men fitting the buses to make them livable for their families.
    

11. Veterans celebrating a job well done
    These many veterans stand atop the General W.P. Richardson as it docks in New York, having returned home from their duties abroad. The veterans participated in the European War (particularly in Italy’s snowy mountains) as well as the African campaign.
    

12. One of the biggest advantages of the war – the push for technology
    The Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC) was devised in 1943 in secret at the University of Pennsylvania. It is noted for the fact that it is the first of its kind, a “general purpose electronic computer” (weighing 30 tons, a lot more than modern ones) meant to help with artillery fire.
    

13. General Charles de Gaulle greeting children amid the ruined city of Lorient, France
    Lorient, France was one of the French cities taken over by Germany, and was notably used for its U-Boat base. This was the case until 1946, when the city was bombed with a number of heavy explosives, destroying Germany’s tactical advantage but also 90% of the city.
    

14. Damage over London
    London was one of many cities that sustained major damage during World War II; this particular shot shows the damaged areas surrounding the St. Paul’s Cathedral area.
    

Source: http://www.wrestledrop.com/14-rare-ww2-photos-you-werent-shown-in-history-class/14/