Early Life

Pohorylle was born to a middle-class Jewish family on August 1^st,  1910. In 1929, with her father’s business failing due to economic conditions in Germany, the family moved to Leipzig, seeking a fresh start.

As Germany descended further into economic and political chaos, antisemitism intensified. In 1933 she was arrested after distributing anti-Nazi leaflets. At age 23, to escape Hitler’s Germany and the persecution of the Jews,  she fled to France, joining the thousands of political and intellectual exiles also seeking refuge in the country. Her parents also left for Palestine, and her brothers went to England. She never saw her family again.

Inventing Robert Capa

In Paris, Pohorylle met Endre Friedmann, a Hungarian jew and became his assistant. Friedmann taught her photography, and they fell in love. In 1936 they invented the pseudonym Robert Capa for Friedman, and Friedmann claimed to be his agent. Both Friedman and Pohorylle took news photographs and sold them as the work of the non-existent American photographer Robert Capa. The ruse was a way of overcoming the rising antisemitism in Europe and breaking into the lucrative American market with a more commercial name.

The name Capa came from Friedmann’s Budapest street nickname “Cápa”, which means “Shark” in Hungarian. However, their secret did not last long, and Friedmann then officially adopted the more commercial name “Capa” as his own. Meanwhile, Pohorylle took the name Gerda Taro. Her name came from avant-garde Japanese artist Tarō Okamoto and Swedish actress Greta Garbo. Robert Capa and Gerda Taro worked together as photojournalists to cover the events surrounding the coming-to-power of the Popular Front in 1930s France.

Spanish Civil War

Just two weeks after the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, the couple moved to Barcelona, arriving in Barcelona on August 5th 1936. Over the next twelve months, Taro photographed the civilian population’s suffering and soldiers on the frontline. In February 1937, Taro and Capa travelled to the Andalusian coast and the city of Malaga, covering the thousands of civilians fleeing a nationalist advance. In May, she photographed the civilian population after they had endured the nightly bombing of Valencia.

Battle of Brunette

The battle of Brunete was pivotal for the Spanish civil war. General Franco’s forces had retaken the town, and the republican troops were retreating. General Walters warned Taro to get out of Brunette as her safety could not be guaranteed. However, Taro refused to leave and continued shooting^. as bombs fell and planes strafed the ground. Witnesses said she was smiling and taking photo after photo, which she said were her “best pictures yet”.  

Running out of film, she hopped onto the running board of General Walters’ car carrying wounded soldiers. Unfortunately, an out of control tank crashed into the side of the car and crushed her abdomen. Nevertheless, she was still conscious when she arrived at the British hospital in El Escorial. New Zealand surgeon Dr Douglas Jolly operated on her. However, she passed away that night.

Epilogue

Gerda Taro had been due to return to France the next day. Unfortunately, her photographs of the battle and equipment disappeared soon after the collision with the tank. Taro was considered a martyr to the anti-fascist movement, and the French communist party provided her with a magnificent funeral that drew thousands of people; she was laid to rest at Pere Lachaise Cemetary in Paris on what would have been her 27th birthday. 

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