Two German POWs

Accession Number
2012/2.79

Title
Two German POWs

Artist(s)
Dmitri Baltermants

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1945

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, two German prisoners of war cast their eyes downward and appear lost. They wear bulky, ill-fitting clothing and have cloth tied with rope around their feet in place of shoes. Gone is any material or insignia that would identify them as soldiers in the Nazi military. The tall, gaunt body of the leftmost figure traces the left-hand edge of the photograph and contrasts to his much shorter companion. Both stand in a rocky, barren landscape at the base of a hill or ravine. 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
Two men in tattered winter clothing and cloth-wrapped feet stand amid rocky terrain. 

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
German (culture or style)
journalistic photography
prisoners of war
soldiers
war photography

8 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)
Human Rights
(Part of 8 Learning Collections)
F20 Dischler, et al - GERMAN 231 / 221 - Heimat (Belonging)
(Part of: Resources Made by Isabel Engel)
F20 GERMAN 231-003 (Gell): Identity
(Part of 2 Learning Collections)
GERMAN 221/231: Identität
(Part of: Kunst und Identität in deutschsprachigen Ländern)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved