Accession Number
2012/2.73

Title
The Red Army Crosses the Oder River into Germany, December

Artist(s)
Dmitri Baltermants

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1944

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
In this photograph, the viewer looks down onto six Soviet soldiers as they labor to pull an antitank gun across a shallow section of the Oder River. Much of the top register of the image is obscured by a screen of smoke. Though the image represents a seemingly insignificant moment during World War II (1939-1945), the location is noteworthy: the Oder River forms the part of the eastern border between Germany and Poland. Thus, this photograph points to the beginning of the Soviet invasion of Nazi Germany and the latter’s final collapse. This image, in fact, 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, known in the USSR as the Great Patriotic War.

Physical Description
A group of soldiers drag a piece of artillery through shallow water. 

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
antitank guns
gelatin silver prints
journalistic photography
rivers
smoke (material)
soldiers
war photography