User:Munhoeo~enwiki/Franz Krieger

Franz Krieger (? ? 1914 – ? ? 1993) was a photojournalist in Salzburg, Austria who worked for the Nazi party in the Salzburg reichsgau, a territorial subdivision in the Nazi controlled areas.

His work and life
After graduating with a business degree from the University of Vienna, Krieger opened a business in Salzburg. But he wanted to be a photojournalist. Between 1935 and 1937, he photographed the Salzburg Festival — and stars like Marlene Dietrich. Following the German annexation of Austria, Krieger went to work for the Salzburg reichsgau. Krieger joined the Nazi Party and the Schutzstaffel, the Nazi special police, but left the SS in 1941 and became a member of the Propagandakompanie, a propaganda unit of the Wehrmacht. In August 1941, he set out on the trip to the Eastern Front. In Minsk, he took pictures of Soviet prisoners of war and he also visited the Jewish ghetto and photographed the people there. On his way back to Berlin, he took pictures of Hitler meeting Adm. Miklós Horthy in Marienburg.

After that, Krieger left the Propagandakompanie and became a simple soldier. He began training in Bregenz, Austria, in November 1941. By August 1942, Krieger was back in Russia, this time as a supply driver. That placed him near Stalingrad. In what might be considered a lucky break, he developed jaundice and was evacuated by train before the momentous Battle of Stalingrad began.

After the war, Krieger picked up his business career again and left professional photography behind. He would later say that some of his wartime photographs had been given away by his mother.