The Great Depression hit the world hard in the 1930s. The Nazis took advantage of this situation and came to power in Germany, established their first concentration camp, and began a systematic persecution of Jews in Europe. In 1939, they invaded Poland and sparked the beginning of World War II.
Other news in the 1930s included the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart over the Pacific, a wild and murderous crime spree by Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, and the imprisonment of Chicago mobster Al Capone for income tax evasion.
Nude photographers of the mid-20th century include Walter Bird, John Everard, Horace Roye, Harrison Marks and Zoltán Glass. Roye’s photograph Tomorrow’s Crucifixion, depicting a model wearing a gas mask while on a crucifix caused much controversy when published in the English Press in 1938. The image is now considered one of the major pre-war photographs of the 20th century.
