Wehrmacht soldaten op het dak van een kerk 1940 - 1941

This anonymous photograph captures three Wehrmacht soldiers on the roof of a church in Den Brielle. I wonder who took this photograph and what their relationship to the soldiers might have been? What does it mean to have an image like this preserved in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, an institution dedicated to preserving Dutch history? The image feels like a found object, an accidental document of life during wartime, now repurposed as an historical artifact. Look at how they are standing, their dark uniforms and boots contrasting with the light sky and stone. It’s difficult to see what’s in their minds. Maybe they were hoping to project an image of power, but instead, I see the loneliness of occupation. It reminds me how every picture is a story with multiple points of view and how photographs like this can hold many, sometimes contradictory, meanings.