Downed German Plane, Breslau

Accession Number
2015/2.105

Title
Downed German Plane, Breslau

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
In this photograph, two Soviet soldiers in the lower-right corner look on the tattered carcass of a destroyed German plane which leans against the façade of a bombed-out building. The entire city street, which forms the backdrop for this scene, is a shambles. Save for these two evidently gleeful soldiers, a visible smile crosses the face of the leftmost figure who points toward the plane. The city of Breslau appears deserted. 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
Street scene with two soldiers who look at the remains of a destroyed plane that leans against a bombed-out building façade.

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
airplanes
bombers
journalistic photography
military aircraft
ruins
soldiers
war photography

5 Related Resources

Aviation
(Part of 4 Learning Collections)
Dmitri Baltermants photographs from WWII
(Part of 3 Learning Collections)
War, trauma, memory
(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

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