We will conclude with some pictures of nudists, because we know people like to see pictures of nudists, which should increase “readership” for this article. Item 315 is In Licht und Sonne (In Light and Sun), by Kurt Reichert, published circa 1935. It is a portfolio of mounted photographs with preface, the second part (only) of a larger work. The photographs are of the German naturist movement, nudists who believed people should not be ashamed of their bodies. The movement seemed to get something of a mixed review by the Nazis who had by then seized control of Germany. In 1933, Hermann Goering issued a decree saying the “naked culture movement” was “one of the greatest dangers for German culture and morality.” The naturist movement did speak of their persecution, though there seems to have been little serious effort to shut them down. The Nazis had contempt for the movement, but also had an instinct for celebrating the Aryan body. Reichert emphasized health and beauty, and its association with racial purity, as opposed to eroticism to make the movement more acceptable. £650 (US $1,070).
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