Mat Ames found some negatives in a thrift store in Roanoke, Virginia. After digitizing them, a lot of the photos seemed to belong to a couple's vacation in Naples, Italy, in 1938. Among all the scenic Italian vignettes there was a creepy surprise—a sinister figure sitting in a car under the sun. It was Adolf Hitler.

In 2013 I found several rolls of negatives in a thrift store in Roanoke, Virginia. They were standard 35mm, black and white and some of the rolls were clearly nitrate film. The film was still supple so I had the rolls digitized the following day. Much to my surprise the film included photographs of Hitler and King Emmanuel on parade, other Nazi images from Naples, Italy in the Spring of 1938, numerous photos of Naples city life, a Mobil Oil plant there, Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii and photos of Manhattan. I've presented the images at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, Virginia; discussing steps to understanding found artifacts. There are over 400 images in the collection, these are just a few. I still don't know who took the photographs.


The mysterious couple. One of them may have worked for Mobil Oil.

I can perfectly imagine Mat's face when he first saw those two photos featuring one of the bloodiest killers in the history of humanity, happily enjoying the sun in a parade. One year later, he invaded Poland and started World War II. Damn Nazis. They ruin everything.


Check out the rest of Mat's photos here.

Via Philip Bump