Today in Labor History July 26, 1937: Photojournalist and antifascist Gerda Taro was killed while covering the Spanish Civil War. She was 26. Thousands attended her funeral. Tara was a German Jew, who had to flee Germany after being imprisoned for her anti-Nazi activism. While living in exile, in France, she met another Jewish exile and photojournalist, Endre Ernő Friedmann. Together they published their work under the pseudonym Robert Capa. Scholar Hanno Hardt described their work as such: "Taro and Capa helped invent the genre of modern war photography while fueling the vicarious experience of the spectator by offering an approximation of life in the conflict zone."[
After Taro’s death, Friedmann would retain the name Robert Capa and go on to become recognized as one of the greatest photojournalists ever. In 1947, he cofounded the great Magnum photojournalism cooperative, which included other great photographers, like Maria Eisner, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and William and Rita Vandivert.
Madrid and Paris both named streets for Taro, Calle Gerda Taro and Rue Gerda Taro, respectively.
Helena Janeczek portrayed Taro in her historical novel, The Girl With the Leica (1917).
#workingclass #LaborHistory #fascism #nazis #antifascism #jewish #antisemitism #hitler #franco #gerdataro #robertcapa #journalism #photography #photojournalism #spain #civilwar #fiction #historicalfiction #novel #books #author #writer @bookstadon