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GALLERY: Incredible photos of Afghanistan before the wars

Dr Bill Podlich took hundreds of photos while working with UNESCO in 1967 and 1968. Here’s what he saw.

BEFORE THE AMERICAN invasion, before the Russian war, and before the Marxist revolution, Afghanistan used to be a pretty nice place.

An astonishing collection of photos from the 1960s was recently featured by the Denver Post.

Amateur photographer, and college professor, Dr. William Podlich took a leave of absence from his job at Arizona State to work with UNESCO in Kabul, bringing his wife and daughters with him.

Later, son-in-law Clayton Esterson revived the later doctor’s photos and put them on the web.

The response was amazing. Esterson told the Denver Post:

Many Afghans have written comments [on our website] showing their appreciation for the photographs that show what their country was like before 33 years of war. This makes the effort to digitize and restore these photographs worthwhile.

Esterson has kindly given us permission to reproduce Dr Podlich’s photographs here on TheJournal.ie.

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More of Dr Bill Podlich’s photographs of Afghanistan, taken in 1967 and 1968, can be seen at his son-in-law Clayton Esterson’s website here.

- Geoffrey Ingersoll

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    Mute Mick Power
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    Jan 12th 2017, 8:07 AM

    If she’s not careful she’ll be Dora the executed.

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    Mute rendams
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    Jan 12th 2017, 3:32 PM

    @mickpower, only when you are a drug pusher and will be resisting arrest that you could be in trouble, otherwise it’s now considerably a safe country to visit

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    Mute Kieran OKeeffe
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    Jan 12th 2017, 6:51 AM

    No way man..Did Bart Simpson advise her..

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    Mute Noel Barnes
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    Jan 12th 2017, 12:08 PM

    Google El Nido Palawan. One of the mostly beautiful places in the world.
    Up to a few years ago it was untouched by tourism.

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    Mute Alex Falcone
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    Jan 12th 2017, 10:38 AM

    Quite right.
    Look at what has happened here regards Hollywood and cultural heritage sites such as Skellig Michael.

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    Mute John B
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    Jan 12th 2017, 11:57 AM

    Did something happen to Skellig? Other than appearing in a movie I mean and generating tourist interest?

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    Mute Alex Falcone
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    Jan 12th 2017, 3:22 PM

    @John B:
    Allowing access to world heritage sites such as Skellig Michael to Trekkies who want a selfie on the site is a barbaric policy which could only have been dreamed up by a Philistine driven by financial priorities.

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    Mute Awkward Seal
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    Jan 12th 2017, 1:48 PM

    I don’t understand why Viacom just announced this like it was a done deal. Hopefully it will be stopped. The world’s coral reefs are diminishing fast.

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    Mute dstaffx
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    Jan 12th 2017, 8:21 PM

    Well they just showed her the Dora

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