The Nazis in color: Rare Kodachrome snaps by Hitler's beloved personal photographer give an insider's view of despot's reign




Rarely seen color photographs of the Third Reich by Der Fuhrer's own beloved personal photographer Hugo Jaeger give a startling glimpse into the larger than life celebrations from Hitler's heinous reign.

Jaeger collected took nearly 2,000 as he traveled with the loathed dictator during the late 1930s and 40s.

Hitler loved the photographer's work and even commented on first seeing Jaeger's photos: 'The future belongs to color photography.'

Thankfully, the future did not belong to Hitler. Though, the prints survive because Jaeger successfully buried his film, as the Americans closed in at the end of the war, for fear his friendship with Hitler would get him arrested.

Jaeger remained free and by the 1970s he'd been able to retrieve all his film along with their simultaneously brilliant and revolting content. He sold the prints to LIFE, who wrote of Jaeger's upon the publication of his work: 'We do not usually give so much space to the work of men we admire so little.'

Startling loyalty: League of German Girls Dancing during the Reichs Party Congress. The group was the girls branch of Hitler's youth, into which girls were initiated through peer pressure and propaganda at the age of 14. Up until 1936, membership in the group was optional but became compulsory that year

Massive crowds: Nazi leader Adolf Hitler saluting leaders and men of the Legion Condor, troops of the German Luftwaffe, an airborne wing of the military Hitler founded despite the Treaty of Versailles stipulation that Germany could have no such force

Terrifying imagery: Propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels speaking at the Lustgarden in Berlin. The master of mass psychology helped Hitler mold Germany into a nation bent on resisting the Allied forces

Art of power: Here, Hitler and Goebbels are seen in the Charlottenburg Theater's honor box as everyone salutes. A failed playwright himself Goebbels saw to it that no Jewish writers practiced their craft under Hitler's reign

Fierce loyalty: Crowds cheer Hitler's Austrian election campaign.In 1938, Hitler--who'd always seen Austria as a part of German--annexed the smaller country into greater Germany

United in hate: Annual midnight swearing-in of SS recruits. The SS was basically Hitler's personal Army who, led by Heinrich Himmler, followed his orders alone

Dangerous sport: Hitler Youth seen here at the Reichs' Party Congress in Nuremburg showing off their physical prowess. While the young men of the Hitler Youth could enjoy games and sports with fellow boys, they were also indoctrinated into the Nazi beliefs via the group and its activities

'The Peoples Car': A thrilled crowd salutes Hitler and other Nazi officials along roadway to the Fallersleben Volkswagen Works cornerstone ceremony. The Volkswagen, long before its brief American popularity in the 1960s, came out of the struggle to create a cheap German car of the 20s and 30s

At the 1939 Fallersleben Volkswagen Works cornerstone laying ceremony, Hitler praised the Beetle and used it as part of his nationalist propaganda

Storm troops: Nazi Brown Shirts, soldiers from Germany's Sturmabteilung or SA. This was the Third Reich's storm division whose terrifyingly violent and ruthless methods helped pave the way to power for Hitler after he founded the group in 1921



