Sylwester Braun (code-name "Kris", 1 January 1909,
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
– 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 uses a camera to make photographs.
Duties and types of photograp ...
,
Home Army
The Home Army (, ; 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) established in the ...
officer. He is known for taking photos during the
Nazi Occupation of Poland
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...
and the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...
.
Braun was born on 1 January 1909 in
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
. 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. In 1981 he delivered archives of his photographs to the
Historical Museum of Warsaw. Sylwester Braun died in Warsaw on 2 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
Polish emigrants to Sweden