These historical photographs show Black conscripts stripped naked during military recruitment medical examinations under colonial rule. Young men stand before officials, weighed, inspected, and observed in groups, often in humiliating conditions that stripped them of privacy and dignity.

These images show Indonesian military recruits during medical checks, where officers inspect every detail of their bodies. Recruits are stripped to white shorts, lined up, and examined under strict supervision. Even the anus is checked with a flashlight, making the process thorough and humiliating.

Hungarian conscripts, freshly shaved and stripped before their medical examination, are taken for a collective shower under strict supervision. The scene is highly exposing and considered deeply humiliating, as young men stand naked together under watch, facing the vulnerability of army life.

This photo shows young Israeli soldiers showering outdoors using a simple water pipe setup near their barracks. With limited facilities, they improvise bathing in the open, some fully nude, others partially dressed. Such scenes reflect the rough and modest living conditions of conscript life.

This archival photo from Italy shows young men in their underwear waiting in line for a compulsory military medical examination. Holding papers, they stand quietly in the corridor, preparing to be inspected by army doctors. Such examinations were a routine but often humiliating part of conscription.

These archival photos from the Soviet era show a military medical commission examining conscripts. Young men were required to strip fully naked and present themselves before officers and doctors. The process was formal, clinical, and intimidating.

In Latvia, military medical examinations require young men to strip completely and undergo checks in front of doctors. They are inspected for issues such as foot fungus and their height is measured. While the process is medical, it is often an embarrassing experience for the recruits.

Young recruits stand nervously in underwear before female officers and doctors, awaiting their turn. The presence of women adds to their embarrassment, knowing once inside the examination room, even their last layer—their briefs—will come down for a full inspection, testing their composure.

Photos show young Chinese conscripts during mandatory medical examinations. Naked recruits are inspected by military doctors, sometimes required to bend forward for spinal and rectal checks. The process, carried out in groups, emphasizes discipline and uniformity, though it often feels humiliating.

After their heads are shaved and medical exams completed, the young conscripts are sent to wash. Once clean, they are issued standard underwear and garments, marking their transition into uniformed military life.

This 1994 Hungarian article highlights peacetime military abuses, noting 279 cases of hazing and humiliation against conscripts. The photo shows naked recruits before an officer, symbolizing vulnerability, strict hierarchy, and the dangers posed more by fellow soldiers than by weapons.

This Hungarian newspaper shows a young recruit standing naked for conscription procedures, while another soldier prepares his bag and a photographer documents the moment. The caption explains that over 300 recruits entered the Budaörs Petőfi barracks, for nine months of mandatory military service.

This photograph from Austria shows a young man standing naked while undergoing a conscription medical examination. Doctors measure his height and record details as officials sit at a desk noting results. Such scenes were routine during military drafts, ensuring recruits met service requirements.

In Russia, conscripts stand in a long outdoor line at dusk with their trousers lowered, exposing their bare butts for inspection. Under the watch of officers, this mass check is carried out publicly, reflecting both discipline and humiliation in the strict environment of compulsory military service.

In Russia, conscripts line up naked in a long corridor for inspection. Soldiers stand shoulder to shoulder, raising their arms on command while an officer observes closely. The scene shows strict discipline and the humiliating, collective nature of military medical checks during compulsory service.

In China, military medical examinations are very detailed. Male conscripts are required to undress completely and undergo physical checks by doctors. To detect issues like scoliosis or hernias, they perform forward-bending tests. These procedures often take place in groups, under observation.

Russian conscripts are punished during morning training, forced to stand in only their underwear. Because their shorts did not meet uniform standards, the commander cut them and made them train in public, humiliating them in front of their peers as part of strict military discipline.

During military medical examinations, young men were photographed fully nude from the front and side before the check-up. These images served as official records in the archive, documenting their physical condition prior to service.

Young conscripts line up nervously in their underwear, holding medical papers as the doctor inspects them one by one. The oral check in underwear is just the start; soon, they’ll step into the adjoining room where full examinations continue totally naked.

A surreal moment in the barracks: soldiers hide their faces with plastic basins as if playing a strange game. Yet everything else is exposed, turning a basic shower routine into something absurd, almost comic, but still deeply uncomfortable.

Russian conscripts face harsh toilet conditions with no privacy. Soldiers squat in open wooden stalls or sit side by side on toilets without partitions, reflecting the primitive and humiliating aspects of daily army life.

In Russia, conscripts line up naked with shaved heads for the weekly infirmary check. Privacy is absent as the nurse inspects each soldier in turn. This routine, meant for discipline and health, often leaves the young men exposed, embarrassed, and stripped of any sense of individuality.

In Russia, conscripts are herded into communal showers under the watch of the barracks orderly. He ensures their heads are shaved to zero, supervises their washing, and later cleans the space. The scene shows the strict control, lack of privacy, and humiliating routines of compulsory military life.

In Russian disciplinary barracks, soldiers are sometimes forced to wash under a hose once a week, directed by their commanders. Stripped naked in the yard, the men endure the cold spray together, a harsh ritual that reflects the punitive and humiliating side of military discipline.

Russian conscripts in a communal military bathhouse, washing together in cramped conditions with benches and metal buckets scattered around. The lack of privacy and the collective nature of the routine reflect the harsh environment of compulsory service in Russia.

This image is from the Polish National Digital Archives (Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe). During compulsory military medical examinations in Poland, young men were required to strip completely and be examined by doctors in turn. The photo starkly reflects the discipline and lack of privacy of the era.

This image shows new recruits in the French Foreign Legion standing in their underwear, being directed by a uniformed instructor. Clothing and personal items are on the floor, suggesting a mandatory strip-down during initial intake procedures.

A Russian conscript stands in only his underwear during a medical check, while the examining officer, himself serving his military duty, appears overly casual and unconcerned about the recruit’s discomfort, highlighting the degrading atmosphere of the process.

Russian conscripts sleep side by side in cramped quarters on thin mattresses, with no privacy. In the confined space, one soldier’s testicles are exposed, highlighting the lack of dignity and personal boundaries in these harsh mandatory service conditions.

Russian conscripts are seen in a communal shower, fully naked under cold water pipes. The cramped, rundown facility offers no privacy, reinforcing the humiliating and dehumanizing conditions they endure during mandatory military service.

Russian soldiers subject new conscripts to a “butt whipping” ritual: bending them over, pulling down underwear, and beating them with a belt until bruised. This hazing inflicts pain and humiliation, asserting dominance while others watch and mock.

In Kazakhstan, military conscripts must stand in their underwear before a panel of officers and officials during the enlistment process. This public examination, carried out in a formal setting, is often considered an embarrassing and humiliating moment for the young men.

If you are a young Hungarian man conscripted into military service, you may be stripped naked in front of others during medical checks—and even find your bare image published in the newspaper, as shown in this photo from a border guard enlistment report.

Russian conscript soldiers are subjected to initiation rituals where their buttocks are deliberately reddened—often through strikes or pressure—by fellow servicemen. In this case, it is done while the newcomer is positioned beneath another soldier, considered as a “tradition”.

These photos show Russian military bathhouses, where conscripts bathe on scheduled days. They are fully naked, washing themselves with small plastic basins in communal areas without privacy. This practice is considered part of military discipline and equality among conscripts.

In Thailand’s military initiation rituals, naked new conscripts are ordered to lie on the ground in rows, heads positioned near the buttocks of the man in front. This degrading practice, framed as tradition, serves no training purpose and constitutes humiliating treatment.

This photo shows a Russian Orthodox Epiphany tradition in the army, where soldiers immerse themselves in icy water. It is performed completely naked in front of the entire battalion, symbolizing purification and endurance, and is considered both a religious ritual and a test of fortitude.

The sign says: “For examination by the surgeon: 1. Remove all clothing (including socks and underwear). 2. Stand on the wooden platform facing the doctor.” Russian conscripts wait in their underwear, then enter naked for the check-up, exactly as written in the sign.

In Russian military barracks, evening roll calls often combine official hygiene checks with informal hazing. Conscripts stand naked in line before lights out, a practice that, while part of regulations, is used by senior soldiers to exert dominance over newcomers.

In Russia’s conscription system, many young men experience “dedovshchina” — a hazing culture where senior soldiers humiliate newcomers. Scenes like this, involving spanking or other degrading acts, reflect the harsh initiation rituals nearly every male conscript faces.

A group of male recruits stands fully naked with their underwear around their ankles during a military inspection. They are lined up in a brightly lit room with instructional boards on the wall, while a uniformed soldier observes from the background.

A military doctor conducts a physical examination of young male recruits, most standing in underwear and holding papers. The presence of a seated young woman, possibly the doctor’s daughter, adds an unusual and awkward dynamic, heightening the recruits’ visible discomfort.

A Ukrainian recruit stands naked during a medical examination, facing two female military doctors. The stark, tiled room and the recruit’s posture highlight the formal yet uncomfortable nature of the process, captured by Reuters as part of a documentation of military conscription procedures.

Young Russian conscripts undergo medical examinations before starting service. In crowded hallways and small offices, they wait in their underwear, holding documents, as doctors and staff process each recruit. The atmosphere is tense yet routine, marking the beginning of their military journey.

In Thailand, conscripts undergo a nighttime drill where they are kept naked with underwear over their heads, standing in the yard until morning as part of a humiliating disciplinary exercise.

Russian conscripts line up for the nightly routine inspection. When it’s their turn, each lowers their white trousers as part of the mandatory hygiene check before sleep.

Russian youths, stripped and lined up during military conscription, are registered by a female officer and soldiers before being sent for washing and prepared for placement in their barracks.

The image shows a group of shaved-headed young men standing in their underwear with shoe covers, lined up in front of a uniformed officer. The scene evokes a sense of strict control and vulnerability, resembling the treatment of stripped-down, submissive recruits or “slaves” under authority.

A fit young recruit stands nude with his hands behind his head as a soldier prepares to spray him with a delousing gun. The scene, common in mid-20th century military processing, reflects the strict and impersonal nature of induction, prioritizing hygiene over modesty.

A young conscript stands nude on a large scale while a soldier records his weight. The military check-up focuses on documenting the recruit’s physical condition—essentially noting “how many kilos of flesh and bone” he brings into service.