Portrait of a 19-year-old German soldier taken prisoner by the Seventh United States Army, his glasses shattered and wearing a temporary ID tag with all of his pertinent information as a POW. The image was taken in Moselle, France, which under German authority had become part of the Gau Westmark in accordance with the armistice of 22 June 1940 after the defeat of France. Adolf Hitler considered Moselle and Alsace to be part of Germany, as the local population were largely ethnic Germans who spoke Franconian German dialects and a portion of Lorraine territory had been part of the German Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine prior to Germany’s defeat in World War I when it was annexed by the French in 1918. Near Forbach, Moselle, France. March 1945.
