This image well represents the blending of new artistic themes and the public representation of power. Note the "sphinxes" at left and right: they seem to come from a science fiction film of the time. And if you notice, they have a style well-attuned to the "synthetic Duce" of Fasullo I' ve already posted. The balcony too, is a contemporary representation of contemporary ancient political-heroic themes (with the Duce on horseback), with clear references to the art of the Roman emperors, but under a modern new "futuristic" look. DVX

Futuristic dictator

This painting, named "Sintetic Duce", is a good example of the works of art of the Futurism (or Modernism as it's known abroad), in the late 30's.
The author, Italo Fasullo, like other predecessors of this artistic movement in WWI (for example Boccioni, Sant'Elia...), when it was his time enlisted as a volounteer and fell on the field. DVX

Sintetic Duce

Heinkel He 162 "Volksjager" inceptor/fighters in production in a facility of the Junkers firm in a facility tunneled out of salt in the vicinity of Tarthun, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, April, 1945.  A substantial number of "Volksjager" aircraft were in production in the dying days of the Reich; more than ever took to the air.

The He 162 was conceived as an aircraft capable of being flown by Hitlerjugend trained on gliders.  This never happened and, in any case, while the He 162 was a surprisingly capable jet aircraft, developed in a very short time, it required well-trained, experienced pilots to crew it competently.  Another case of misdirected German energy, arriving much too late to make a difference.

Sachsen-Anhalt was a location of the "Second Ruhr", a concept that vital war industries could be moved into the interior of Germany, beyond the effective range of Allied bombers.  A substantial number of such industries was, in fact, so located.  Aircraft production and synthetic oil plants featured prominently.  Unfortunately for the Germans, technological advances allowed the Allies to bomb this area effectively by mid-1943.  This probably explains why many of the later production facilities in the notably salty Sachsen-Anhalt region were located in artificial  underground salt caves - in many cases carved out by forced labourers enjoying less-than-optimum conditions of work ... Best regards, JR.  