NUREMBERG leurs femmes et leurs enfants font d’ultimes démarches – “Nuremberg – their wives and children take last-minute steps” – Issue of the French weekly Bref dated October 19, 1946, presents in its central pages street photographs capturing the family members of the Nazi war criminals who were at that time being sentenced in the Nuremberg Trials, some of whom were executed shortly thereafter.
The magazine’s camera “caught” in the street the family members of the Nazi war criminals who were at that time being tried before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, and the issue describes them in a mocking tone. A photograph appears of the son of Erich Raeder, the German admiral who was sentenced to life imprisonment, described as: “A less militant figure is the son of Erich Raeder, former head of the German Navy. Admiral Raeder’s case is not without hope; he was only sentenced to life imprisonment. The Führer promised Germany eternal glory just the same… Nothing is eternal on this earth, is it?” Next to it appears a photograph of the son of Julius Streicher (one of the leading figures in antisemitic Nazi propaganda, sentenced to death and executed in October 1946), with the caption: “Julius Streicher, the fanatical antisemite, is also about to die. Throughout the trial, he remained indifferent. He stopped chewing his gum only to hear the sentence. Then he returned to his indifferent state. His son, who came to pay him final respects, wears a costume that immediately brings to mind a werewolf.” Also featured is a photo of Mrs. Frick, the wife of Nazi Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick: “Mrs. Frick sits sorrowfully beside her beautiful blond children. Did she know that her husband, the protector of Bohemia and Moravia, executed his ‘vassals’—those who were sick or elderly? Today, Mrs. Frick must show her papers to an indifferent officer – a German serving the Americans.” And: “Mrs. Frank is already dressed in mourning. She was a queen, almost in Poland. A sorrowful reign indeed, that of Gauleiter Hans Frank: ‘The Poles, ’ he said, ‘will be slaves of the German Empire.’ Mrs. Frank no doubt praised these dangerous words, for which their author paid with his life.” Also included is: “Miss Annelies Henkell married von Ribbentrop in 1920. Her father ran the great champagne house that her fiancé represented abroad. Mrs. von Ribbentrop has three sons and two daughters. Her husband’s petition for clemency was denied; she has lost all hope. What revenge is her son dreaming of, as his face suddenly hardens?” A photograph also appears of Mrs. von Papen: “Mrs. von Papen walked 70 kilometers to hear the verdict. Her husband was acquitted. She became a beacon of hope, and Sauckel’s wife and children gathered around her, as if her very presence would shield them from disaster. It was all in vain; Sauckel, former head of the Labor Front, was to be hanged.” And finally: “Franz von Papen is looking for a residence for his father. Where will the former Reich Chancellor go: to Ravensburg, near Lake Constance, or to his daughter-in-law’s home in Hamburg? Since von Papen himself mentioned both possible locations to the press, it is likely that his son is preparing a third, more discreet option.”
Later in the issue appears an article addressing the public support expressed by President Truman for the Zionist enterprise, as well as reactions from around the world.
The French weekly ״Bref״ was a popular publication that emerged in the early years following World War II, focusing on fast-paced, visual, and sensational coverage of current affairs, trials, purges, crime, and media exposés. It was aimed at an urban readership hungry for information, shaken by political and social upheaval, and demanding direct access to material that the traditional press tended to present with restraint. Bref had a practical and sharp character, with an emphasis on photographs, short headlines, and a tone of “on-the-ground investigation.” Within the journalistic landscape of the time, it marked the need for an intermediate format between the serious newspaper and the entertainment paper, and it contributed to the establishment of the genre of popular news weeklies in postwar France of the late 1940s.
23 pages. Complete issue. Good condition.
