J. Malan Heslop

Portrait of J Malan Heslop. — courtesy of J Malan Heslop, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

J Malan Heslop (18 June 1923 in Taylor, Weber County, Utah – 29 July 2011 Salt Lake City, Utah) was a World War II combat photographer with Arnold E. Samuelson's Combat Assignment Unit #123 of the 167th Signal Photographic Company who documented evidence of Nazi war crimes. He later served as editor of the Church News and managing editor of the Deseret News.

Heslop served as a freelance photographer in his native Utah and was employed at the Ogden Standard Examiner before setting off to California, where he studied the craft at Los Angeles City College.

Early life J Malan Heslop was born on June 18, 1923, in Taylor, Utah. He was the oldest of three children of Jesse and Zella Malan Heslop. His family relocated to a farm in West Weber, Utah when he was three years old. Jesse Heslop encouraged and inspired J Malan Heslop's photography career. Using his father's camera, Heslop practiced taking photos and developing prints. He enlisted in the United States Army Reserve in October 1942. In November, he started studying at Paramount Studios with the Signal Corps Photographers School. He was part of the 167 Signal Photographic Company.

LDS Church Heslop was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among the positions he held in the church were bishop of the Salt Lake 26th Ward, counselor in the stake presidency of the Salt Lake Pioneer Stake, president of the Salt Lake Stake, member of the YMMIA General Board, regional representative, president of the Chicago North Mission, and stake patriarch.

Heslop also wrote several books and plays with Dell Van Orden. He was involved in the formation of the group that eventually became the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation.

Publications From the Shadow of Death: Stories of POWs (with Dell R. Van Orden) Deseret Book, 1973. Joseph Fielding Smith: A Prophet Among the People. Deseret Book, 1971. How to Compile Your Family History. Bookcraft, 1978.