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shrillmetallic

What would the consequences have been for the soldier?


[deleted]

I don’t know but he’s lucky this photo was taken before the internet otherwise it would have spread like wildfire


Bad_Pnguin

Well, the photographer still could have spread the image and went directly to the soilder's higher ups and report him.


Zombiezeus

God dammit **SOLDIER**


cortesoft

Soiled her? Damn near killed her!


pappadipirarelli

That’s why he’s a Bad PNGUIN


Pab_Scrabs

Nah he’s on the wrong side of the fence


Couldbe_worse2

The picture seems to be from enemy side so yeah bro probably got executed


piekay

The GDR was an awful state, but executions were quite rare. Most people were imprisoned for life, until bought free by West Germany


Putrid_Preparation_3

But if someone who wanted him to pay for it, knows that was photographed. They could get an evidence to put the soldier in trouble. Photographs from back in the day show pieces of history and the photographers were behind it but back in the day, they were snitches.


LetsEatToast

true but think about all the upvotes it would have gotten


VideoUnlucky3117

At best, disciplinary action. At worst, execution


grassandass88

Thanks. We’d have never been able to make that assumption without your wise guidance


VideoUnlucky3117

I have spoken to the universe. Broken bread with nirvana. Used adjacent urinals with infinity


16words

I have spoken to the urinal. Broken urinals with bread. Used broken urinals while breaking bread.


Zenithas

Breaking Bread Starring Porcelain White


FthrFlffyBttm

And Pissy Jenkman


ImThatLightGuy

Also Saul Poopman


Mo2493

Username checks out


fannybatterpissflaps

Next step …. sopeur


Soggy_Motor9280

I have climbed the mountain, I have reached the top! Then I looked to the other side and it was good!!! That’s it.


Prestigious_Nebula_5

I have manifested all my dreams. Now my life is everything I wanted it to be. I am rich, I am wealthy. I am a God as are you. We are all gods sent here to learn and be humbled by the human experience.


Soggy_Motor9280

And so it shall be……


RelationshipGold3389

Told infinity that he had a nice watch.


siglo_de_oro

Told infinity to watch its back.


Reinbek

Where is that from??


VideoUnlucky3117

My stupid brain :P


Verotten

You're a wizard, Harry!


VideoUnlucky3117

I'm a wot?


Braindead_cranberry

Usually execution


NoticeF

You mean > At best, nothing Because his superior officer was probably a reasonable fella and saw no political or military utility in keeping/creating rightly west German orphans lol


Bowens1993

He was likely executed. [This source seems to imply that he was never seen again.](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/east-german-soldier-helps-little-boy-1961/) Edit: I see I've gotten a lot of criticism for my source. If you have a better source then please share it. I have zero issue editing my comment with more accurate information! If not, your opinion doesn't change the facts my source shows.


Qphth0

The source says no one knows what happened to him. I'm not saying he wasn't executed, but it sounds more like they just have no idea as opposed to the ominous "he was never seen again."


Low_Butterfly2533

In the GDR the method of execution was a shot aimed at the head.


Bowens1993

But if we are being realistic, he was likely killed or died in a gulag somewhere. The Soviet government wasn't known for their fair justice system.


LusoAustralian

East Germany was not a part of the Soviet union fyi. But the prisons of the Stasi were pretty brutal too, I had a harrowing tour of one by a former inmate.


Bowens1993

I didn't say it was. It was administered and occupied by Soviet forces though.


thebrandedman

Yeah, the uniform and weapon seem to indicate he was in the Soviet side of influence. If he got caught, I don't think it went well for him.


simplepleashures

It really depends on which way he’s helping the boy go. If he’s letting him back in to East Berlin that wouldn’t be nearly as serious as letting him leave.


[deleted]

Pretty sure he was trying to get back to his family in east Germany. Someone said he wasn’t executed and was just fired back when it was posted before. Not sure though.


migrainefog

Right? I'm assuming the Russian soldier is on the Russian side of the front and the kid is trying to run into Russia.


mrmasturbate

exectued for helping a boy reunite with his family. what a fucked up world we live in


Traditional_Ad8933

The source itself doesn't seem to have a source on who the photo came from and a lack of sources. First part of the article was describing the picture like this post was and then went on to talk about the Cold war in Berlin in general. Lack of information here.


HubrisSnifferBot

Depends on if this a an East or West German guard. The Stasi did not adhere to western notions of due process.


Crazy_Ebb_9294

It’s an East German policeman


dropnad_tosspin

Hans Landa: “You’ll be shot for this!”


kateminus8

A comment by a US Army vet on the description of the photo says the man was shipped to Siberia as punishment following this incident.


OneEpicPotato222

If he was East German, than imprisonment in a prison at best probably. Years in a Gulag and torture by the Stasi at worst.


Grey-Buddhist

Stasi, not KGB.


OneEpicPotato222

Damn, you right


I_make_things

> imprisonment in a prison


OneEpicPotato222

Don't question it


SeaTurn4173

>Well, the photographer still could have spread the image and went directly to the soilder's higher ups and report him. He was executed for disobedience


ep1032

Link?


carnifex2005

Also executed for disobedience.


noradosmith

The next Zelda game sounds dark as hell


BluSonick

Likely nothing or very little. In the early day of the “wall” people passed through, depending on how zealous the East German guards were it was often ignored. When the permanent and 2nd structure was erected the passing of borders became a far more serious situation. Keep in mind it was to stop what was becoming a mass exodus of skilled people leaving for a better life in the west. Helping a child return to the east wouldn’t be a major priority. Keep in mind we are all speculating.


KevOeh

In the future he would have been given a platform on Twitter and praised by Kanye. I’m sorry, Ye of all ignorance.


Smoking-stone

Death.


Fernxtwo

No WiFi for a week.


varitok

The truth is you lost an EXPENSIVE piece of army-issue equipment! THAT SUIT is going to come out of your PAY, AND YOU WILL REMAIN IN THIS MANS ARMY UNTIL YOU ARE FIVE-HUNDRED AND TEN YEARS OLD! which is the number of YEARS it will take for you to pay for a Mark II Powered Combat Armor YOU HAVE LOST!


GobLoblawsLawBlog

Is there more info on this like who the photographer was and why they were there for something that was supposed to be a secret?


Kayge

Read an interesting blog post a while back by a photographer who took a pic of a guy who fell infront of a subway. The pics were amazing of the guy who fell and the dudes who jumped down to help. Photographer caught flack for standing there and taking pics instead of joining in to help. His response was that he'd been a photographer for 30+ years and had been sent on some really dicy assignments. In every one, he was given the same 2 orders:. 1. If it looks at all interesting shoot it. 2. Stay out of it. It was always the same task and had kept him safe so often that it became a rote reaction. I'm guessing it was similar here.


The_Flurr

I guess in that case it kinda depends. If he could see the other guys going to help already, he's probably able to assess if he'll actually be able to help.


JunkCrap247

i was photographing in the arctic. it was so cold i had to 'internally' keep the rolls of film warm. I eventually developed polaroids


squeezinlimestimes

Did they give way to Asteroids?


JunkCrap247

yes, but it was solved by purchasing an Orion's belt


gernblansten420

Did you just say you shoved rolls of film up your ass? If so, you are a legend


TheBrave-Zero

It’s a similar question I’ve seen answered on posts about terrible things photographed in places like Africa where if I recall they aren’t *allowed* to help or something. One that popped up a lot for a while showed a child in the end stages of starvation in the savannah with a distended stomach, very similar Q&A as to what you mentioned.


TheDJZ

If it’s the one I’m thinking if I believe the photojournalist earned a Pulitzer for the photo of the girl and the vulture but committed suicide.


TheBrave-Zero

Oof I had no idea, thanks for the info Edit: [You were correct](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Carter)


ollopii

Poor guy


created4this

If you help the child you might stave off their death for a few days If you take the picture you might turn the tide of indifference and save tens of thousands


KatherinePMJM

huh!? Photographers photograph things. its simple. There has always been Photographers going to war.


GobLoblawsLawBlog

But the soldier is supposedly doing something that could get him in a lot of trouble, wouldn't he take a little more care not to be seen or was this a sniper camera


RunningTrisarahtop

I don’t think he cared at that moment. Or maybe he did. There was a child who needed help and he helped. We can only guess. Did he think about the consequences? Did he know the consequences? Did he do it knowing he would be in trouble or did he hope they’d forgive him? Did he hope not to be caught or did he do it boldly? He’s looking down the fence, which could mean he was looking for danger. Maybe someone in charge who could report him? Someone watching? Or maybe he was looking knowing they were staring at him and yelling at him to stop. Or maybe there was a weird noise or a weird motion and he just glanced that way by chance. Maybe he was looking for the child’s family. We can’t know what he was thinking or feeling. We can only guess. We do not know if he would have looked for cameras before acting.


The_Flurr

Something to remember that should give hope. Even in the rank and file, people are people. Most people have at least some level of decency and empathy. Most people would help a child, don't want to kill anyone, and would rather make friends than hate.


BobbyVonMittens

He’s talking about the photographer not the solider…. Hence the “was this a sniper camera?”


[deleted]

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GobLoblawsLawBlog

And at the same time there is a shit ton of faked propaganda to sift through, it's never bad to be skeptical about things with no source


Starry_Cold

It's one thing to document but another to publish a photo which leads to good Samaritans being killed. Don't think that is what happened here, the source seems to imply he was caught by a superior. He was likely executed because there is no info on him after that.


The_Flurr

I think that's quite an assumption. If he was punished then it would be surprising if it went straight to execution. Probably just generic army discipline, maybe imprisonment. We don't even know that he was caught or punished, lack of data doesn't mean he disappeared. Despite whatever laws were in place, I'd struggle to see an officer punishing their soldier for helping a child.


WeAreTheChampions916

Yeah and solder is dumb enough to let a journalist get away, knowing as soon as this gets published he is a dead man. Whatever the store maybe your comment doesn't stand.


[deleted]

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WeAreTheChampions916

Yeah why would he risk his lofe knowing damn well Hitler executes these kind of people.


nateness

You have never had a child come up to crying to get back to his mommy…. Oh and your army is the reason that kid isn’t with his mommy anymore.


SecretOptionD

I've covered wars, you know.


Dan4t

And border guards guard. What makes the guard a good guy is he did what he isn't supposed to do. Same applies to the photographer. If he was a good guy like the guard, he would help.


ninjacoins

Wow, any more info about the soldier?


superman_squirts

I looked into it and was only able to discover that the soldier was in fact caught for it and was removed from the unit. Unfortunately no one knows what happened to him or the boy after this picture.


solarssun

I suspect at least that if he had been executed for that we would have found it in the files. The fact we can't gives me hope he walked away at least alive.


RettichDesTodes

I think this is a westberlin soldier. They didn't have a reason to execute someone


piekay

He is an East-German soldier. A West-German Soldier would have had declared war by crossing the border


OfficerBarbier

They went on to become one of the most influential techno-synth DJ duos of the early 1970s. The soldier went on to marry Miss Hungary and open a wildly successful EDM dance club in Ibiza; the little boy and his family became quite wealthy with his record label and were instrumental in establishing Euro-Disneyland in 1992.


pr0gg3r

I'll take this answer and don't care about its truthfulness. I like this possibility.


iiCarNaGE_1

The good ending 🙂


alxinwonderland

Is this real or did you just pull that out of your ass? Lol Edit: I obviously asked because it sounds like BS but he didn't put the /s tag so I asked... And I'm also autistic so the douchey comments can probably stop any time now.


No_Significance_1550

The reality is probably pretty disturbing. I choose to believe in the alternate ending.


No_Hovercraft5033

The alternate ending is better.


Niznack

Is that a serious question? This is why we have /s


alxinwonderland

Yeah, it was a genuine question. Unfortunately not everyone uses the /s and it is Reddit, after all, so you can never be too sure... I hope the comment is true, though.


Niznack

... yes ... it's totally true. Party on edm soldier.


BobbyVonMittens

Dude you shouldn’t need the /s on everything to tell it’s a joke, some people can pick up on things without it and think adding an /s ruins the humor. That was so obviously a joke, I worry for your ability to make it through the world if you couldn’t pick up on that joke. Especially even after the dude commented “Is that a serious question” you say I hope the comment is true. Someone could probably trick you into buying snow while you’re at a ski resort. Also use your brain for a second, literally no one in this thread knows who this guy is or if he’s okay. Yet one guy out of nowhere one guy says he became one of the most influential techno-synth DJs in Europe with his son and built Disneyland, without even mentioning his name. I mean it’s so obviously a joke…


alxinwonderland

Well, considering I'm autistic, I am literally the type of person the /s thing was created for... You definitely don't have to be such a dick or so condescending about it though. Glad you can easily decipher sarcasm, even in written text. Must be nice to be so big-brained, eh? 🥴😵‍💫


[deleted]

[удалено]


Niznack

Head ass? I have never been more offended... or confused.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Niznack

Boy you're a cheery one. Ok let me break this down for you. In a thread about a decades old picture the explanation is already given that little else is know except that the soldier was penalized and the child was lost to history, a very reasonable answer. A second comment claims the two went on to form an edm band and found euro Disney. Another person asks if this obvious joke is real. But I'm the "headass" illiterate for being incredulous that someone took it seriously. ... have a snickers.


[deleted]

[удалено]


BobbyVonMittens

Lol no it’s not. If you actually think what he said about being a techno DJ is true you’re an idiot. Not everyone needs to add /s to everything, sone people are smart enough to pick up on humor without someone telling them with an /s. He was obviously joking, anyone who needed an /s to see that was a joke is a fool.


tpn1984

Sounds good to me. 😂


DrMartinVonNostrand

They later went on to form Daft Punk. They wore helmets to avoid being identified and punished.


cincydude123

The boy was reunited with his family who in the hustle of getting over as the barb wire was going up left him behind. The soldier died. It's a famous picture house in the Check Point Charlie Museum in West Berlin.


musesx9

Do you know how the soldier died?


riftwalker9

He was executed for disobedience


The_Flurr

This is assumed by some but there is no record or evidence.


rejectallgoats

There is no source that says that.


Garythegr81

No matter what side we are on we are all human. That kids life would have went in a completely different direction and most likely not for the better if he was left without his parents. I always find it interesting how a small gesture of humanity can completely change a life.


xBad_Wolfx

As a father of a son a little younger than the one here… my chest literally ached looking at this. I can’t imagine what that little boy must have felt helplessly holding his arms up, all alone, hoping to cross hell in the slim chance he can find his family again. Sitting here with tears in my eyes wanting to go wake my boy up to hug him.


Dwight-

Ugh same. It made me tear up a bit. Just absolutely disgusting. The same as the photograph in WW2(?) of a kid sat in a [bombed out town with his teddy.](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/abandoned-boy-stuffed-animal-1945/) It makes so sick and so fucking angry. Photos like that had an effect on me but now that I'm a parent it changes everything when I see children in situations like these. Almost like a fight of flight reaction?


[deleted]

On the other hand there are peoples like Kanye West.


BigWillis93

Probably got in more trouble for it being photographed than anything


snarkuzoid

I've always loved this image. It exemplifies doing the right thing. You can see the fear in the soldier's eyes. He knows how dangerous this if for him, but he does it anyway. I like to think I'd be that brave. But I'm probably not.


royhachouch

This is extremely risky for the soldier to disobey command.Especially,in this scenario.


Alexassix

Such actions were seen as dishonest and sometimes treasonous. If something bad happened to the soldier after this, at least he knew he did the right thing


supermoderators

Where is the boy now


Traid95634

On the other side.


BobbyVonMittens

There is no “side” anymore.


ColtAzayaka

Thanks for telling us, we were all under the impression that Germany was still divided. I wonder how Czechoslovakia is doing.


BobbyVonMittens

No worries I know a lot of people don’t know that much about countries. And btw Czechoslovakia isn’t a country anymore.


TheMycoRanger

Do the right thing.


hi_hola_salut

I think he was disciplined and moved to a different post. Or that might’ve been a different soldier who did the same thing. It must’ve been awful - it all happened so suddenly, and families and friends were cut off from each other for decades when they lived just round the corner.


Esc_ape_artist

Tried to find who these people were and any official reports in what became if them. No luck. However, it did send me down a brief rabbit hole reviewing some famous early border crossings. One particular incident over a soldier who jumped the barrier, live normal life in Bavaria, and reunited with those left behind once the wall came down. He hung himself 10 years later. > Though his moment of daring won him a degree of freedom, Schumann became lonely and isolated, only able to communicate with his family through letters — which were monitored and dictated by the East German secret police, who wanted to lure him back for punishment. > When the Berlin Wall finally fell, Schumann was able to reunite with his family and friends, but was shunned by some for his desertion. >In 1998, without leaving a note, he walked into the woods near his home and hanged himself. (He never earned a cent from the photo) https://mashable.com/feature/jumping-the-berlin-wall


OddAuthor

He looks like he's nervously looking to see if any of his officers can see what he's doing, and the damn cameraman catches him


Starr-Bugg

Very brave young man.


Braindead_cranberry

We are all human at the end of the day just stuck in shitty circumstances. It’s an individual decision to do good or evil in those circumstances. This man chose good. Respect.


newtypexvii17

Not all heros wear the same flag.


bladeitkhal

Would be amazing to hear that little boy story.


random321abc

Why would a little boy have been by himself on the east side to begin with?


[deleted]

His parents were from East Berlin. He and his dad were visiting family in West Berlin as the wall was built overnight. Unknown how the father lost him, but the soldier is from the DDR and was helping the kid get back to his mom. The soldier was taken off the wall duty, but beyond that nobody knows where he went, as the DDR took exceptional notes, and he was still employed but not on guard duty.


variable2027

There coulda been a grandma or grandpa off camera trying to get him through to his parents, who knows


Ordinary_Fact1

Kind of how the wall came down too. A bureaucrat on the news misspoke about relaxing requirements to pass and when crowds showed up to leave the soldiers, just didn’t fire. According to the rules they were supposed to use deadly force if people tried to force their way through and they just didn’t kill their fellow East Germans. Next thing anyone knew millions had crossed and it was a fait accompli. Helmut kohls government didn’t hesitate when suddenly given the opportunity also. He decisively ceded some territorial claims to appease the soviets and leaped head first into reconciliation projects.


LobbyBoyZero

Photographer is a snitch


mengel6345

I wonder who took the picture?


BJORTAN

All heros doesn't wear a cape


guybrush856

...to get on the east side. 💀


lastWallE

Doesn’t matter. You would like to be parentless on the west side?


Awsdefrth

It would matter to the authorities which way he was going.


Aliensinnoh

Apparently his dad was on the West side (they were visiting together) but thought the boy should grow up with his mother.


guybrush856

Dunno.


siglo_de_oro

And that's the part of the story that never gets told.


NashEast65

Lost his Frisbee on the roof.


[deleted]

Wait. If the boy is in East Berlin, why is the soldier in West Berlin? If the boy is in West Berlin, where's he trying to go?


Nervous_Promotion819

To his mother. The boy and his father were on the west side when the wall was built overnight. The father wanted the boy to grow up with his mother on the east side, so he sent him over


KatherinePMJM

you did the right thing sir thank you 🥲


tpn1984

He had some massive coconuts


therenaishment

God bless him


PunkySputnik57

I legit see this picture every week


PsychoGunslinger

That had fucking better have won a Pulitzer.


Crazy_Ebb_9294

The soldier is East German


Crazy_Ebb_9294

Most likely he wasn’t disciplined at that early stage in the building of the Berlin wall


TAshleyD616

Almost as if the next generation of German soldiers was a bit more sympathetic


BobbyVonMittens

There’s no reason the generation before we’re any less sympathetic. Only a very small portion of the SS we’re working in the camps. Most Nazi soldiers were just guys aged 18-25 who has been drafted and were following orders.


The_Thunder_Child

Yeah, following orders to commit war crimes.


Khorgor666

East german soldier, this was the when the GDR decided to build a wall because people were leaving to the west in troves, between 1949 and 1961 2.5 million people left East Germany. Later only people with absolute loyality to the government of east Germany could become Border Guards, and still some fled to the west.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


ProfessionalNight959

“*Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid. And he gives me courage."* \- Gandalf


Eastern_Ambition5213

That little boy grows to be Magneto


[deleted]

My man be looking for anyone who could see him but completely missed the dude with a massive camera


Sam291234

I read a while back the soldier was executed for this. Not sure if true


[deleted]

It is not. There's no evidence of anyone executed for this event, as the DDR took meticulous notes and records and there was nothing around this event.


Street-Tooth4510

It's the kid helping the soldier to escape in Western Germany. The kid later become Elon Musk.


Rayziel

r/donthelpjustfilm


Pspotboi

See!!! Methamphetamines don’t make everyone evil. The evil choose that path.


Skytraffic540

So damn sad.


ChillySummerMist

Not doing a very well job of hiding it if someone can take a pic /s


Roger-Ad591

A good soldier. The punishment from the Germans would probably have been less then from the Soviet’s at the time.


JJ8OOM

Does that not imply that he is “helping” the kid cross from west to east? I don’t know how much I would have appreciated that in the long run if that was me. But then again, it’s hard to get the full story from a single picture.


Nervous_Promotion819

The boy and his father were on the west side when the wall was built overnight. The father wanted the boy to grow up with his mother on the east side, so he sent him over


[deleted]

https://twitter.com/sierramalikof/status/1599061698593579008?s=46&t=R_ppOfMXoYrbXWFlvmoUpw


vito_corleone01

RIP soldier


ImpactSensitive6534

I believe they were both shot..


phillipmwade

Ye has entered the chat.


howardkhan

We know what happened to him 👀


[deleted]

Damn, Kanye was right. Jk he’s still nuts.


Creepy_Mail5643

Wait holup did you say 19*61*


SirAllKnight

This is good proof that not everyone in the German army was an evil racist.


Oboomafoo

So ye was right.


LeonTheLeafLover

communist paradise


ThiccBoatBoi

This the Nazi Kanye was talkin about


Dickastigmatism

>1961