Captioned simply 'Austrian House,' this photograph from the WWII collection of Norman Baget, a soldier of the 44th Infantry Division, depicts American GIs alongside local villagers at a public fountain in front of an elaborately frescoed Tyrolean farmhouse. The 44th Infantry Division advanced through southern Germany into Austria in the final weeks of the war in Europe during the spring of 1945. Images like this document both the historic Alpine architecture of the region and the everyday interactions between American soldiers and local civilians during the closing days of the conflict and the early occupation period. Project: 218401