A Serviceman and His Siberian Husky

In March 1946 the world was recovering from World War II, but the seeds of coming wars were already taking root.

On March 3, 1946, Ho Chi Minh was elected president of Vietnam. The same day, British forces withdrew from Iran under the terms of a treaty signed by the Allied powers and Iran. A treaty signed in 1942 during the height of the war.

But, the Soviet Union ignored the treaty and remained in Iran.

Three days later, Winston Churchill gave his famous Iron Curtain speech in Fulton, Missouri. As he stood before the crowd at Westminster College, he issued the following warning:

“It is my duty, however, to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe. From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. The safety of the world, ladies and gentlemen, requires a unity in Europe, from which no nation should be permanently outcast.”

The United States, Europe, and the Soviet Union were firing what proved to be the opening shots of the Cold War.

Taken at the Northway Army Airfield in Northway, Alaska. Handwriting on the back of the photo states, “Husky at Northway, Mar ‘46.” There is no further information about the photo.

But, on a cold day in Northway, Alaska things were peaceful. Everything was winding down from the tension of previous years. During World War II the Northway Army Airfield had been in use by the United States and Canada. As a valuable staging link on the Northwest Staging Route for the Pacific front, the airfield bustled with activity. By 1946 however, the airfield had been turned over to the War Assets Administration for disposition. Within another year, they turned it over to private ownership.

The featured photo positions itself at this moment in history. Lodged between World War II and the coming Cold War. On a cold and snowy day in Northway Alaska a serviceman posed for a moment with his Siberian Husky for a photo.

And that’s the only information we can gather from it.

These are the photos I usually find myself wishing I had more information on. No matter how much research I do, I am always left with more questions. What was his name? How long was he stationed there? Was he stationed there? Did he serve during World War II? The questions go on and on.

It’s photos like these that I hope one day someone will happen to come across and know the person in them. It’s my hope they’d be able to provide the rest of the story. And better yet, it can be united with a family member or friend who cherishes it much more than I.

The Destruction of France's Sculptures and Statues by Nazi Germany

If you read the previous post about the photo of the two kids from 1919, you’ll remember that the Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye was signed that same year. The participants of the Paris Peace Conference met and signed the treaty in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The treaty recognized the independence of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary. In addition, it officially ended the Habsburg empire.

Postcard I purchased in Joplin, MO — back of postcard is blank with no other information.

St. Germain-en-Laye is French town northwest of Paris with a rich, royal history. During World War II it attracted the Nazi’s, who used the town as a hub for much of the occupation’s operations. If you visit today, there are a twenty-two old, empty bunkers scattered throughout the town. The locals mostly ignore them and there are no plans to remove them. Yet, they serve as an ever present reminder of a time when life in St. Germain-en-Laye was turned upside down by occupying forces.

At the start of World War II, the town had a population around 20,000. When Germany invaded France, it had as many as 10,000 to 15,000 forces within its city limits. The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and many mansions within its borders proved attractive to the Nazi’s. Louis Louis-Dreyfus of the Louis Dreyfus group owned one of those mansions. The Nazi’s confiscated it after he fled. Today, we know his great-granddaughter Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfeld — GET OUT!

Different postcard, same location and statue. I don’t own this particular card, but wanted to share it to provide a different look.

As I researched the postcard’s subject for a story, I expected to be sharing St. Germain-en-Laye’s storied history of royalty, noblemen, Napoleon, and others. As things often go, once you start researching something, you end up learning there’s more to the story.

I searched for information on the statue that featured prominently in the postcard, but I ran into one road block after another. The only photos or artist renditions of the statue were all pre-World War II. I found many more old postcards of the scene, but nothing recent.

Statue of Marquis de Condorcet, Enlightenment philosopher and mathematician.

That’s when I began finding current day photos of the walkway and discovered the statue was no longer there.

My research led me to photographer Pierre Jahan. His photography during the occupation of Nazi forces is remarkable. I knew the Nazi’s destroyed or stole priceless artifacts during the occupation of France, but I didn’t realize the magnitude of the destruction. Nor, had I seen photos of the condemned artifacts.

I urge you to check out Pierre Jahan’s photographdocumentation of the occupation. It is powerful. The photos I’m sharing in this post don’t touch the surface of his work.

The sheer volume of statues and sculptures the Nazi’s destroyed during the occupation is staggering. It’s estimated they destroyed some 17,000 artifacts throughout France. If it was bronze, it would be melted. If it was anything else, it would survive at the discretion of the Vichy government and Nazi forces.

A broken and limbless Jean-Paul Marat.

Pierre Jahan’s photos don’t reveal the statue I was searching for from the postcard. But, they may have provided us a clue about what happened to it. Was it taken down and destroyed by the invading forces who for a time occupied St. Germain-en-Laye? I don’t have an answer, but the evidence I’ve been able to uncover seems to suggest they did.

If new information comes to my attention, I’ll be sure to provide an update. But, for now this seems to be where the story ends. In a broken, twisted pile of metal as World War II rages on.

Our featured postcard is an old memory of better days in St. Germain-en-Laye.

The statue of Marquis de Condorcet, seen here before World War II.