Sylwester Braun (code-name "Kris", 1 January 1909,
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
– 2 February 1996, Warsaw) was a Polish
photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs.
Duties and types of photographers
As in other ...
,
Home Army
The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...
officer. He is known as the author of photography evidencing the
Nazi Occupation of Poland
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
and the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...
.
Braun was born on 1 January 1909 in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. During the Warsaw Uprising he took 3000 photographs of battles, people, destruction, and everyday life in the fighting city. Generally he operated in the
Śródmieście district. After
the capitulation of Warsaw, he escaped from the city, returning in January 1945 to retrieve his negatives. After that he fled to Sweden, and in 1964 he immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. In 1981 he delivered archives of his photographs to the
Historical Museum of Warsaw
Museum of Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Warszawy) (in 1948–2014 ''Historical Museum of Warsaw'', pl, Muzeum Historyczne m.st. Warszawy) is a museum in the Old Town Market Place in Warsaw, Poland. It was established in 1936.
History of the museum
The ...
. Sylwester Braun died in Warsaw on the 2nd of February, 1996.
See also
*
Bureau of Information and Propaganda of Armia Krajowa
External links
Gallery of his photographs (pol)
1909 births
1996 deaths
Photographers from Warsaw
Home Army members
Polish emigrants to the United States
Warsaw Uprising insurgents
Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
{{Poland-photographer-stub