Leonard McCombe – Aftermath of War Poland
During a stay in Berlin in 1945, Leonard McCombe had an opportunity to accompany members of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) on a mission to Poland. On his approach to Warsaw, he was confronted with a place that the Germans had systematically razed to the ground. Many inhabitants were living in ground holes. But McCombe’s pictures also show the unconditional will of the Polish people to rebuild their nation's capital. Poland was particularly affected by the shifting of borders at the end of the Second World War. Hundreds of thousands left territories annexed to the Soviet Union with their household goods and livestock and headed west to East Prussia and Pomerania. Leonard McCombe’s camera also captured this exodus on the roads outside Warsaw.
Father with Daughter
"A father and his little daughter in the entrance to the basement, which is now their only home."
ATLANTIS, JULY 1946
Violins in Poland
Saving Shoe Leather
“These … women have walked many miles to sell their farm produce to the people in the hungry city.”
ATLANTIS, JUNI 1946
Refugees with their animals
"They light a campfire, roast their potatoes and, above all, take care of the precious animals they rescued. With them, they will start over on the land allocated by the government, where Prussian Junkers once ruled and reigned."
BILL RICHARDSON UND LEONARD MCCOMBE, MENSCHEN ERLEIDEN GESCHICHTE
Death on the Road
“This man had tried to get to Warsaw, but hunger and privation killed him. Other travellers on the road pass him by because such sights are common in the Poland of today, where thousands have little food or roof to cover them.”
ILLUSTRATED, JUNI 1946
Girl with Bucket
"But in that night, in half-dreaming, half-awake hours, the little girl emerged from the picture. ... She pushed back the sleeves of her coat, which was much too big and covered her hands completely, and lifted the heavy bucket that was still in the picture, turned and tripped away towards the end of the platform, where meadows shimmered ... she was a child without a past or a future and looked away, embarrassed."
ATLANTIS, JULI 1946
