Accession Number
2012/2.78

Title
The Junction is Recaptured

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, a young soldier wrapped in a white, protective coat holds an automatic gun as he looks toward the left-hand side of the image. He stands next to a train, which has evidently fallen under attack (as indicated by several damaged or destroyed cars). Bodies are littered about in the snowy foreground. The precise location and event remain ambiguous. 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 in winter gear holds a firearm next to an unmoving train while dead soldiers lie in the snow around him.

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
dead (people)
journalistic photography
snow (precipitation)
soldiers
trains (vehicle groupings)
war photography
winter
world wars