These are some of the famous photographs in history that are heavily altered to satisfy the whim of a dictator or for other reasons. The crazy thing about this is that there was no Photoshop back then, so editing most of these photos took plenty of skill and time.
See for yourself.
1. Hitler removes Joseph Goebbels in this 1937 photo. It remains unclear why Goebbels fell out of favor with Hitler.
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2. Watch removed from WWII Russian flag raising photograph in 1945. The reason? The watch suggests that ‘looting’ may have occurred before this photo was taken.
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3. Winston Churchill’s cigar was removed after smoking was deemed unhealthy.
Kings of War
4. Leon Trotsky was removed from this photograph after being denounced by Vladmir Lenin for siding with the opposition.
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5. A good portrait of Ulysses S. Grant was hard to come by, so this image was made up of three different Grant photographs.
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6. Nikolai Yezhov was Joseph Stalin’s head of secret police. Much less secret is his removal from this photograph after proving disloyal to the leader of the Soviet Union.
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7. Abraham Lincoln’s body in this photograph is actually that of John Calhoun.
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8. Senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party Bo Gu was removed from this photograph after having a falling out with founding father of the People’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong.
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9. Benito Mussolini’s horse handler was removed from this photograph to make the dictator appear to be more of a striking, independent figure.
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10. Grigoriy Nelyubov was chosen to be part of the “Sochi Six,” a group of Soviet cosmonauts who were to explore space. Nelyubov was removed from the photographer after he was dismissed from the program for alcohol-related misconduct.
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11. Even family isn’t safe from North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. His uncle, Jang Song-thaek, was removed from this photograph after he was executed by his nephew’s order.
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12. Canadian PM William Lyon Mackenzie King removes King George VI, 1939
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13. Carlos Franqui was removed from most photos after he left Cuba, cut ties with Castro and signed a letter condemning the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
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14. Kent State Massacre Fencepost Removal, 1970
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15. US Olympic Hockey Team adds missing players, 1960
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16. General Francis P. Blair Added to Photograph of General Sherman Posing with his Generals, circa 1865
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