Accession Number
2013/2.329

Title
Soviet Policewoman Directing Traffic, Berlin

Artist(s)
Dmitri Baltermants

Artist Nationality
Russian (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1945; 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 Thomas Wilson '79 and Jill Garling '80

Subject matter
A young woman in a Soviet Red Army uniform—a buttoned-up wool coat and a fur cap—looks toward the right-hand side of the photograph as she points a triangular flag in the same direction. She apparently stands at a street corner or intersection, as the hollowed and burning shells of once-elegant apartment buildings behind her form the backdrop of the scene. Near this woman’s left shoulder a cluster of street signs further signal that this area may have been a prominent intersection in the German capital of Berlin. This image forms part of Baltermants’ 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 woman in a fur cap and wool coat holds a triangular flag in the lower-right foreground while buildings burn and stand in ruins behind her.

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
armies
battles
fires (events)
journalistic photography
ruins
traffic
war photography
wars