• This photograph of a boy prisoner looking up at a large German guard became famous for propaganda purposes in the West as it demonstrated mighty Germany subjugating the weak. While the boy is identified as "the smallest Russian" in the prison camp at Puchheim, his uniform suggests that he is a Serbian soldier. Both the Russian and Serbian armies employed young boys as powder monkeys and for other duties. Some boys simply followed their fathers into the ranks when the war began. The boy is carrying a loaf of bread under his arm. He is facing a Bavarian officer, as indicated by the Bavarian coat of arms on his Pickelhaube (spiked helmet), and the sword at his side. Source: Backhaus, Die Kriegsgefangenen in Deutschland, Photo 226, 1915, 109.

Source: Backhaus, Die Kriegsgefangenen in Deutschland, Photo 226, 1915, 109.

From Pursuit of an "unparalleled opportunity": American YMCA and prisoner of war diplomacy among the Central Power nations during World War I, 1914-1923 by Kenneth Steuer

Subjects
  • American: 1900-present
Citable Link