History in Your Hands: Deutsches Jungvolk Photo Album, 1937

This exhibit presents pages from a photograph album created by Fritz Steves, the director of a German Youth camp, for Georg Sponsel, a Nazi official who had visited the camp. The album consists of 37 unnumbered loose leaves with mounted photographs in a tan cloth portfolio. A number of the photographs are stamped to indicate that they were taken by photographer Klaus Hartmann. 

Each rare book and every archival collection holds a story. Manuscripts and artifacts bear witness to past events, but only a careful researcher can piece together the facts of history and reveal the narrative within the collection. When historical materials relate to difficult or painful events, study of these objects can help us understand their meaning within the context of the relevant time period, even when we disagree with the views such materials may express.

VCU Libraries Special Collections and Archives houses many fascinating rare books and primary source materials that wait for inquisitive minds to study them. History in Your Hands exhibits present featured manuscript collections that we believe merit further research. Only when you take "history in your hands" can you begin the process that will allow the full story to be shared.

If you have any questions or comments regarding these materials or this exhibition, please contact the Special Collections and Archives staff in James Branch Cabell Library.