Finally, a Book About Nazi Soldiers Taking a Shit

This article originally appeared on VICE France

Erik Kessels’ new book, Shit, is literally a collection of pictures of German soldiers taking a shit during WWII. In many of them, they’re doing their business side-by-side, squatting on a wooden bar that’s nicknamed the “Donnerbalken” (bar of thunder).

“About a year ago, I stumbled upon some of the photos on eBay,” remembers the Dutch artist and designer. “I’m not sure why, but there’s a pretty big second-hand market for these sorts of images from WWII.”

The book starts with a short introduction on the historical origins of the photos. According to Kessels, despite wanting to add a bit of academic weight to the project, he wasn’t able to find a historian who specialises in both faecal matter and Nazis.

Scroll down to see more photos from Shit (RVB books), which is out on the 26th of November.