A lot of people don’t actually know where their ancestors came from, but a simple heredity DNA test can usually point the way. However, a few lucky people have a great sense of their roots and shared their personal photos of their grandparents in various situations. Some of these photos are quite old and show a great deal of history behind each and every one of them.
The following images were shared from every corner of the globe, showing how robust and rich a culture can be, and proves how beautiful humanity can be regardless of our differences.
1) IRAN: This person shared a photo of her grandmother posing for the camera in a studio (featured on the left of this photo). Apparently, her grandmother was a Persian Jew.
2) JAPAN: This user uploaded a photo of her grandmother and grandfather from Japan trying to take a nice family photo with their children. Notice how the children don’t seem interested in posing for the shots!
3) ITALY: This photo was shared by an internet user whose grandparents came from Italy in the early 1920s. Her grandmother (little girl on the left) and her two siblings came over to the new world to start a new life.
4) EUROPE AND RUSSIA: This person uploaded a photo of her great-great-grandmother who once lived in a Ruska Roma (Russian-Romani) camp in the late 1800s.
5) FINLAND: This user happened to find this old photo absolutely randomly, and noticed from a relative that her great-grandmother was the woman at the very top. What a whimsical photo with an amazing background!
6) NEW ZEALAND: This internet user shared a photo of her grandmother who was a Maori, who used to carry around her child like this. The tribal tattoos and a beautiful feather in her hair are a beautiful tradition.
7) INDONESIA: This person shared a photo of some relatives in traditional wedding dresses around the early 1940s.
8) ARMENIA: This internet user shared a photo of her great-grandmother seen on the right, who ended up surviving the Armenian genocide.
9) NIGERIA: This internet user shared how this was one of the very few pictures of her grandmother that she owned, and explained that her grandmother and grandfather were in a Muslim-Christian relationship, which was looked down upon back in the day. Shortly after the user’s father was born, her grandmother disappeared.
10) INDIA: This person uploaded a photo of their grandfather in the 70s posing in front of the Taj Mahal. Note how proud he is of his new shoes.
11) SCOTLAND: This internet user uploaded a photo of their grandfather wearing a kilt. This was taken during the First World War.
12) MEXICO: This person uploaded a photo of their grandmother and grandfather posing with their arms during the Mexican Revolution. Notice how many bullets each of them is wearing? They’re certainly well armed for a revolution!
13) CHINA: This internet user uploaded a photo of her grandparents and her father. Her grandmother apparently was a military nurse, and her grandfather was a tanker.
14) SWEDEN AND FINLAND: This internet user uploaded a photo of their grandfather, apparently named Johan Knutson Stoor, who spoke the rare native language of Sami. Here he is standing outside a famous Swedish ice hotel.
15) OSSETIA: This person uploaded a photo of her grandmother, and her grandmother’s husband’s two sisters. They came from a region known as Ossetia, which would later become part of Russia.
16) RUSSIA: These two pioneers came from Russia, and the person who uploaded them said that they were their great-grandmother and great-grandfather! What kind of products do you think their great-grandmother is holding?
17) SOUTH KOREA: This is this internet user’s grandfather and grandmother at a traditional Korean wedding around the early 1950s.
18) NORTH AMERICA: This person’s great-grandfather was named Mad Bear, and he was apparently the tribesman of the Assiniboine.
19) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: An internet user shared this photo of their red-headed grandparent, making it hard to believe that our grandparents were just as carefree and fun as we were in the early 1950s/1960s.
20) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This internet user shared a photo of her grandmother, waving down cars with a bundle of flowers, giving new meaning to “flower power.”
