Photograph
French Colonial Soldier PoW from West Africa
| German propaganda photograph of a French PoW from West Africa taken at a military hospital in Brussels. The original German caption claimed that during his interrogation by a military judge he stated that there were cannibals in his home village. A translation of the original caption continues with "He absolutely denied, perhaps for obvious reasons, having ever eaten human flesh himself. It is questionable if the deployment of such savages on a European battlefield meets with the rules of international law. It is downright laughable when the French and English loose people of the lowest cultural level, and even cannibals, on their enemies while still claiming to fight for the sake of culture." This photograph was widely published in German magazines and newspapers as a propaganda device to both defame French and English colonial soldiers and to incite both hatred and fear among German readers. |
| Image ID: | 133971 |
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| Creation Date: | date unknown 1914 |
| Creator Name: | Frankl, Eduard |
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| Collection Name: | Eduard Frankl World War I photographs collected by Hermann Schultz, 1914-1916 |
| Genre: | Photograph |
| Original Format Type: | photographic print, b&w |
| Original Format Number: | PH 2848.1.5.741 |
| Original Dimensions: | 4.75 x 6.5 inches |
| Probably not a Frankl photograph. These images of a French colonial prisoner from Africa, who claimed to be from a village of cannibals in Guinea, were widely published in German illustrated papers and magazines. |
| Clothing and dress |
| Prisoners of War |
| Recruiting and enlistment |
| World War, 1914-1918 |
| Indoor photography |
| Men |
| Portrait photography |
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| Location: | Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, 4th Floor, Madison, Wisconsin |
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