At the gate
Updated: 4 days ago
Ohrdruf, Germany, 1945.
Historical footage concerning Nazi crimes and their aftermath. Silent historical footage; use the player controls to pause.
People have asked me what goes through my mind when I watch the restored and colourised footage. Often, it is questions.
In this scene, a group of men walk towards the camera. I find myself looking at the walking stick. Had its owner needed it before the war, or because of something that happened during his imprisonment?
Then I wonder what came next for them. They had been liberated, but did they know where they would go, or whether anyone was waiting for them at home?
I may never know their names or the answers to those questions. Yet watching this footage makes me want to know more about the individual lives passing in front of the camera.
Colourisation cannot tell me what they were thinking. For me, it opens up questions I might once have passed over.
When you look at these men, what detail catches your attention, and what does it make you wonder about their lives?
