U.S. Army uniform tan necktie worn by a Signal Corps photographer for the war crimes trials

Raymond (Ray) D’Addario was born on August 18, 1920, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, to Vincent (1881-1964) and Antonetta (b. 1893) D’Addario. His parents were both born in Italy and immigrated to the United States, Vincent in 1902 and Antonetta in 1919. The couple married shortly after her arrival. Vincent was a grocer. Ray had one younger brother, Vincent (1930 - 2011). In 1938, Ray graduated from high school and began working as a freelance photographer for several newspapers in Springfield, Massachusetts. He also taught photography in local schools for the WPA (Works Progress Administration).
Soon after the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered World War II. On November 17, 1942, Ray enlisted in the Army and was assigned to the Pictorial Service, Signal Corps, which was responsible for documenting the war and for recording training and propaganda films. After basic training in early 1943, Ray’s company was deployed to London, England, where all US Army photographic material was sent for processing. His company was in London for just over a year before being dispatched in 1944 to Wiesbaden, Germany. On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered.

In August 1945, the United Nations War Crimes Commission authorized a military tribunal to be conducted by the four major powers, the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union in Nuremberg, Germany. The purpose of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) was to prosecute those responsible for violence against the civilian population and for crimes against humanity, evidenced by the Holocaust, perpetrated by Nazi Germany. Ray was one of a dozen Pictorial Service soldiers sent to Nuremberg to document the IMT. Before any trials began, Ray helped move the still and video camera equipment to the Palace of Justice, where it was installed in two rooms on the second floor. One room served as a small staff space, while the other was set-up as a dark room.

The first trial indictments were announced in October 1945 for the Major German War Criminals trial. The 24 defendants were charged with four counts: crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit these crimes. The trial began on November 20, 1945, and the verdicts were delivered on October 1, 1946. Once the trial began, Ray was kept very busy, capturing both still photos and film recordings of the defendants, prosecutors, and translators in courtroom 600. Ray captured shots of individuals coming and going from the courtroom, and of the prisoners in their cells. He took more photographs than any of the other photographers, including a series of photos of the defendants in the dock, flanked by military police. Copies of his photos and those taken by other photographers were circulated for no charge to news agencies and magazines. Ray’s mother sent him several rolls of Kodachrome film, which allowed Ray to be the first photographer to capture the courtroom in color. The color film was difficult to develop, and had to be sent to the Pictorial Service’s main laboratory to be processed. Ray was the first photographer to have full color photographs of the courtroom published. In early 1946, Ray became eligible for discharge from the Army, but opted to stay in the service and continue documenting the trial. Around this time, he met Margarete Borufka, a Czech refugee, who was working as a secretary and translator at the Palace of Justice. The two started dating.

In fall 1946, following the end of the military tribunal, Ray was honorably discharged. Ray was offered the chance to stay in Nuremberg by Telford Taylor, the newly appointed US chief war crimes prosecutor. He hired Ray as a civilian contractor to be chief photographer of the twelve subsequent war crimes trials held by the US. These trials prosecuted 200 plus German officials and collaborators, such as concentration camp guards and doctors, police, soldiers, and civilians. While covering the trials, Ray married Margarete. In December 1948, Margarete left for America. Ray stayed in Germany until the trials ended in April 1949. Ray returned to his hometown and opened a camera shop. Ray and Margarete had two children. Ray’s photographs of the Nuremberg defendants in the dock were the most widely circulated images from the first trial. Much of his work from the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials has been published and distributed all over the world. Ray, 90, died on February 13, 2011, in Holyoke.