Henry Ries

Who was Henry Ries?

Henry Ries was a photographer who worked for New York Times. His most famous photo was of "The Berlin Air Lift" which was later made into a U.S. Postage Stamp commemorative.

Ries was born in Berlin and grew up in Germany, but sensed the impending doom of Hitler's political style and, as a Jew, emigrated to the United States in 1937. Immigration officials in New York sent him back to Nazi Germany because of technical problems with his papers. Fortunately, Ries was permitted to enter America in January 1938, having crossed the Atlantic twice to do so.

When America entered World War II, Ries immediately joined the army and fought in the Asian Theater, humorously pointing out that he served in Asia due to his "good German" skills. He was stationed in India with an aerial reconnaissance unit. After the war, in August 1945, Ries, still a soldier, returned to Berlin. He soon resigned from the army in order to work for the OMGUS Observer as a photojournalist. Two years later, he begin to work for The New York Times as a European photographer, photographing many of the scenes of destroyed post-war Germany including the destruction and Berlin blockade which have become iconic images.