This Soldier’s 31 Rolls of Film Were Finally Discovered 70 Years After He Died In WWII

By | May 14, 2016

In 2014, photographer Levi Bettweiser, the man behind the Rescued Film Project, stumbled upon a collection of 31 undeveloped film rolls at an auction in Ohio.

Seeing that the rolls have been exposed to elements, he wasn't really sure what to expect.

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But Bettweiser goes through the task of developing and processing each one of the undeveloped film.

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

Almost half of the rolls had notes hand-written on the side of the canisters/boxes. There were different location names (i.e. LaHavre Harbor, Boston Harbor, Lucky Strike Beach) most probably where the pictures were shot.

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

"I get the most nervous while developing the very first batch because that will be an indicator of the types of images I'm going to get in the rest of the batch", says Bettweiser.

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

"There is a large possibility that I may not recover a single image from any of these rolls of film."

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

There is much to know about these film rolls, but the person who took the shots remains unknown. What's clear is that he was a World War II soldier who took 31 film rolls of photos to document the experiences he had during his service.

We may never know him, but what he left behind is a treasure of memories from a time long gone, and for that we are thankful. And we are also grateful for The Rescued Film Project for sharing the photographs to the rest of us.

Let's check out the photos...

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

rescued film photos taken by WWII soldier (5)

The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

rescued film photos taken by WWII soldier (6)

The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

rescued film photos taken by WWII soldier (7)

The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

rescued film photos taken by WWII soldier (8)

The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

rescued film photos taken by WWII soldier (10)

The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

rescued film photos taken by WWII soldier (11)

The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

rescued film photos taken by WWII soldier (12)

The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

rescued film photos taken by WWII soldier (13)

The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

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The Rescued Film Project │ via BoredPanda

Watch the short film about The Rescued Film Project. It's worth your time.

Credit: The Rescued Film Project