We've compiled some frequently asked questions and answers about the Höcker album, Here There Are Blueberries, and the Museum.
How did the Museum figure out the album contained real photos taken at Auschwitz?
Is the Museum still discovering new artifacts or collecting new items?
How did different Museum offices work together to solve the mystery of this album?
What happened to Karl Höcker and the other Nazis in this album?
How did the Museum figure out the album contained real photos taken at Auschwitz?
There wasn’t much of a question about the album’s authenticity. The album’s first page was captioned with a location (Auschwitz) and date (June 21, 1944). The Museum’s conservators confirmed that all the album’s components were of the type used in Europe in the 1940s. The album contained new images of familiar historical figures. Museum staff used historical records to confirm events depicted in the album. The donor claimed to have had the album in his possession since about 1945–1946 and freely donated it to the Museum.
Is the Museum still discovering new artifacts or collecting new items?
The Museum is still collecting new materials. If you have something you think the Museum might be interested in, you can learn more and contact the Museum’s curators on our Donate to the Collections page. The Museum is specifically interested in photographs, film footage, oral testimony, documents, artifacts, and more that document the experiences of survivors and victims. These materials help us understand how and why the Holocaust happened.
Where can I see Here There Are Blueberries?
You can find more about upcoming shows on the Here There Are Blueberries website.
How can I view all 116 photographs in the album?
You can see them all here, in the Museum’s online collections catalog.
How did different Museum offices work together to solve the mystery of this album?
Researching the Höcker album involved staff from around the Museum. The conservators pointed out details about the album’s creation. Photographic specialists used their databases to help with identifications. Museum historians advised on the specific historical context of Nazi bureaucracy and events taking place at Auschwitz. Librarians found specialized books on uniform identification. It was very much a team effort.
What happened to Karl Höcker and the other Nazis in this album?
Some of the SS officials depicted in Karl Höcker’s album were arrested after the liberation of concentration camps and the defeat of Nazi Germany. For example, Josef Kramer, who appears in photos of the SS party at the Solahütte resort, left Auschwitz to become the commandant of Bergen-Belsen. He was arrested by the British when they liberated that camp. Others—including Rudolf Höss, the original commandant of Auschwitz—attempted to hide but were soon captured. These men were tried and executed for their crimes. Some, like Josef Mengele, managed to escape and were never brought to trial.
Karl Höcker spent some time in a British prisoner-of-war camp after Germany’s defeat but was not identified for his crimes at Auschwitz. He was finally tried for those crimes in the early 1960s and for his crimes at the Majdanek camp in the 1980s. Höcker died a free man in January 2000.
How were women a key to the Nazi regime’s power?
Women were absolutely critical to the Nazi regime. Nazi propaganda valued so-called traditional gender roles—with women responsible for maintaining the household, raising many children, and teaching them Nazi ideology. They were the backbone of a functioning Nazified society. But women also participated more directly in Nazi goals—as propaganda leaders, as communications specialists (like the women depicted in Höcker’s album), and even as concentration camp guards. Nazi control depended on the efforts of both men and women.
Who took these images for Karl Höcker?
By examining the edges and the quality of the photographs, the Museum believes several different photographers likely took the photographs in Karl Höcker’s album. Auschwitz had a professional photographer on staff, who almost certainly took the staged, promotional photos of Höcker on the first few pages. This professional photographer, or a prisoner photographer, likely also took the images of some official gatherings and events. Other SS officers who were amateur photographers likely took some of the candid shots in the album and passed them off to Höcker because he was in the picture.
Still have questions?
If you still have questions about the Höcker album or the Museum, please email us at learnmore@ushmm.org. Please note: Depending on the volume of inquiries received, responding to every email may not be possible. However, we will continue to post commonly posed questions and answers on this page.
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