Soviet Soldier Firing Captured German Panzerfaust at Night

Accession Number
2012/2.69

Title
Soviet Soldier Firing Captured German Panzerfaust at Night

Artist(s)
Dmitri Baltermants

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1942; printed 2003

Medium & Support
gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
16 in x 20 in (40.64 cm x 50.8 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Agah, Class of 1989 (BBA)

Subject matter
At the center of this photograph, a Soviet soldier fires off a panzerfaust—a type of early German personal rocket launcher—at night. This figure is barely visible amid the almost entirely black field of the photograph. Bright white smoke plumes emanate from both ends of the cylindrical weapon like pale butterfly wings. The pitch silhouette of another Soviet soldier is set in stark relief against one of these clouds of smoke. This image forms part of Baltermants’s larger project as an official photographer to the Kremlin which, spread across numerous portfolios, aimed to document scenes from the Soviet Union’s fight against Nazi Germany during World War II (1939-1945), known in the USSR as the Great Patriotic War.

Physical Description
A soldier fires off a panzerfaust at night; the silhouette of a second soldier is visible against the weapon's white smoke plume.  

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
firearms
journalistic photography
night photography
smoke (material)
soldiers
war photography

3 Related Resources

Dmitri Baltermants photographs from WWII
(Part of 3 Learning Collections)
Combat, Battle, Warfare
(Part of 3 Learning Collections)
World War II Images 
(Part of: Examples of Student Research in the Exchange)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved