A group of typical miners of the Saar district, the mining areas of which were completely evacuated by the German authorities during the early weeks of World War II as the French Army advanced into the area. Miners were moved instead by the trainload to the heavily industrialised Ruhr area. The Sphere, from which this photograph is taken comments about the miners' 'independent attitude in pre-Nazi days' and the fact they were noted for their independent and radically-inclined politics.