Ideal "Aryan" child
This is a photograph of an American professor, Hessi Taft, at six months of age. It turns out that in Nazi Germany they used this photo as an image of an ideal Aryan child. The fascists were deeply mistaken!
Taft’s parents, Jacob and Polina Levinson, were Jews.
In 1935, anti-Jewish pogroms were in full swing in Germany. It was then that the famous Berlin photographer Hans Ballin had taken this photo, and soon Polina Levinson was horrified to find a picture of Hessi on the cover of a Nazi magazine.
The photographer did this on purpose: knowing that they were Jews, he decided to prove that Nazis’ race theory was not worth a damn, because the leaders of the Third Reich themselves could not distinguish a Jewish child from an Aryan one… and he succeeded!
This is the famous Russian Alyonka, who can be seen on the wrapper of the Alyonka chocolate.
The girl was 8 months old when she was photographed. The candymakers had spent a long time looking for a suitable image for their packaging—even going so far as to announce a competition.
In the end, they settled on a photo of the daughter of the artist Alexander Gherinas. Once again, this photogenic child was Jewish!
Another interesting story. My father Gershkovich Moses Aronovich went through the whole war, rose to the rank of captain, and continued to serve in the Soviet Army until 1947 in Germany. He managed to bring over his wife and daughter there. Larisa was only a few months old; she was a nice girl and well-liked by everyone. Mom decided to take a photo for posterity.
Our family photo turned out great! The young parents and baby looked great! My mother was pregnant with me, so even I was in the picture! My mother had a beautiful brooch on her dress, which, by the way, is still with us and reminds us of our parents.
A German photographer decided to display this photo in his storefront. The Germans, passing by the store, admired the beauty of a blonde child. It never occurred to them that they were admiring a Jewish girl!