Backstories Of History’s Most Iconic Photographs

The French Workers Who Denied Hitler a Propaganda Photo Atop the Eiffel Tower

Hitler fancied himself a man of art and architecture, and growing up, he had dreamt of becoming an artist or architect. His greatest hope had been to gain admission to the prestigious Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, and the rejection of his application – twice – was the most devastating setback of his youth. So when Paris fell, Hitler made a beeline to the captured French capital, not only to savor his victory, but also to savor the French capital’s art and architecture. Hitler looked forward to gazing at a captive Paris from atop the Eiffel Tower.

However, prescient members of what would become the French resistance had anticipated that the Fuhrer would derive great pleasure from surveying the French capital from that perch. To deprive him of that satisfaction, they cut the lift cables for the tower’s elevator cars. Without an elevator, the only way to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower was a strenuous climb of 1500 steps. Hitler was in his 50s, and was hardly in the best of shape. So he decided to do without. Rather than treat himself to a view of Paris from atop the Eiffel Tower, the Fuhrer had to settle for a photo with Paris’ iconic symbol in the background.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Airships Net – DELAG: The World’s First Airline

America in WWII – Raid in Ruins: Ploesti

Atlas Obscura – The Great Lengths Taken to Make Abraham Lincoln Look Good in Portraits

Aviation Geek Club – Operation Tidal Wave: Why the 1943 Raid on the Ploesti Oilfield Failed to Diminish the Supply of Fuel to Germany and its Allies

Encyclopedia Britannica – Eiffel Tower

Encyclopedia Britannica – Jean-Bedel Bokassa: President of Central African Republic

Hesketh, Roger – Fortitude: The D-Day Deception Campaign (2000)

History Collection – Incredible Historic Moments Caught on Film

History Network – This Day in History: US Flag Raised on Iwo Jima

Imaging Resource – The Extraordinary Story Behind the Iconic Image of Che Guevara and the Photographer Who Took It

Keegan, John – Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy From Napoleon to Al Qaeda (2003)

Kent State University – The May 4 Shootings at Kent State University: The Search for Historical Accuracy

Libcom – Stjepan Filipovic: Everlasting Symbol of Anti Fascism

National Interest, February 17th, 2017 – Singapore: The Battle That Destroyed the British Empire in Asia

New York Times, November 8th, 2012 – How a Galaway Pub Led to a Skyscraper

Nonument – Stjepan Filipovic Monument

Ohio History Central – Kent State Shootings

Royal Australian Navy – HMAS Abraham Crijnssen

Russia Beyond the Horizon – ‘Children’s Friend’: The Dark Story Behind Stalin’s Popular Photo With a Soviet Girl

Smithsonian Magazine, November 3^rd, 2016 – The Story Behind Che’s Iconic Photo

Star Ledger, May 6^th, 2012 – The Hindenburg 75 Years Later: Memories Time Cannot Erase

Time Magazine, February 21^st, 2020 – The Famous Iwo Jima Flag-Raising Photo Captured an Authentic Moment, But Gave Many Americans a False Impression

Toland, John – The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 (1970)

US Naval Institute News – Camouflaged Ships: An Illustrated History

Vintage News – Eiffel Tower’s Cables Were Cut So That Hitler Would Have to Climb the Steps to the Top

Warfare History Network – ‘Raising a Flag Over the Reichstag’, Photographer Yevgeni Khaldei

We Are the Mighty – That Time a Dutch Warship Pretended to be an Island to Evade the Enemy