This photo does not show a German orphan during World War II -- it was staged for a photoshoot in 2014

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 8, 2020 at 05:00
Updated on January 8, 2020 at 07:16
1 min read
By AFP Pakistan

A photo has been shared repeatedly in multiple Facebook and Twitter posts that claim it shows a Russian soldier breastfeeding a German orphan during World War II. The claim is false; the photo was staged by a Russian photographer in 2014.

The photo was published in this Facebook post by a Pakistan-based Facebook page on December 24, 2019. It has been shared over 40 times.

The post’s caption states: “A Soviet Red Army soldier breastfeed an orphaned German baby who lost the parents in World War 2.....”

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post

The same photo was also shared hundreds of times after being published alongside similar claims on Facebook here and here.

It was also shared on Twitter here.

The claim is false; the picture was published here on 35PHOTO, a photography blog, in 2014 and was part of a photo series by Russian photographer Natalia Zakonova.

The Russian-language caption translates to English as: “Dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory! Natalya Zakonova. Russian Federation (Saint Petersburg).”

Below is a screenshot of the photo published on the blog:

Screenshot of 35photo.pro website where Zakonova has uploaded the same photo

The photo was uploaded on August 25, 2014, according to the page's timestamp.

The image in the misleading posts was also debunked on Twitter here by Fake History Hunter.

“Staged photo taken by photographer Natalia Zakonova in 2014, not 1944," the tweet reads. "Not sure where the story comes from about the German orphan."

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