Although the common use of this this word seems recent, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that it dates from the 17th century. It has now been appropriated by some social movements to describe a person who stands up against anything that is wrong,  but particularly bullying. The Urban Dictionary adds an important element; it generally means to stand alone when others present are not acting. Those others are therefore,”Bystanders”.

This famous photograph is thought to be of August Landmesser, then a Hamburg dockyard worker who, surrounded by his colleagues saluting in the approved Nazi style, stands with his arms crossed and a less than euphoric look on his face. Unsurprisingly, he and his Jewish, Irma Eckler, wife did not survive World War II, but the backstory  to this photograph is worth reading.

Landmesser was a member of the Nazi Party from 1931, when he joined, apparently believing that it would help him work. In 1935, he became engaged to Eckler, in contravention to the Nazi’s racial policies and subsequent laws and was expelled from the Nazi Party. Their formal registration to be married was refused.

The photograph was taken in Hamburg on 13 June 1936.

Their first daughter was born in late 1936. Fleeing to Denmark in 1937, they were arrested and Landmesser was charged with crimes against the Nuremberg Race Laws. He was released with a warning, but when he and Eckler remained together he was again arrested and sentenced to two and a half years in Börgermoor concentration camp. Eckler was taken by the Gestapo and ultimately arrived in Ravensbrück, a women’s camp. Landmesser was released in 1941 and was allowed to work in a transport company. Until early 1942 letters came from Eckler, but it is thought that she was killed by the notorious T4 euthanasia unit in February of that year. In 1944, Landmesser was conscripted into a penal battalion that contained many anti-Nazi activists. He was killed in Croatia in October 1944.

The marriage of Landmesser and Eckler was recognised by Hamburg in 1951. Their two daughters survived the war. (1)

This photograph is a powerful statement of the loneliness of Upstanding. Eckler and Landmesser’s story is, unfortunately, only one of many from that time and may not have been much noticed but for this extraordinarily powerful photograph.

(1)  Irene Eckler, Die Vormundschaftsakte 1935-1958: Verfolgung einer Familie wegen “Rassenschande” : Dokumente und Berichte aus Hamburg (The Guardianship: Persecution of a family for “racial shame”: documents and reports from Hamburg), (Hamburg: Horneburg, 1996)