V-day

[Evgeny S]

No politics, just wish to congratulate you with this day (the capitulation of Faschist Germany) and the end of the war in Europe!
In connection with the photography I'd like to mention one guys, who were known as military photoreporters, and on whose photos were looking at, remembering that days.
On the photos there are some of them (Soviet and American photoreportes selebrating the V-day, Oder river, May 1945; and Soviet photoreporters against a background of the destroyed Reichstag in Berlin, May 1945).

P.S. This day starts the history of the Kiev RF cameras, from the certain angle of view

 

[lushd]

Thanks Evgeny - great pictures. Are those Leicas or Zorkis?

It makes you think hard, seeing this post. All that death and destruction. Those men's sons would see Germany rise again and MacDonalds open a branch in Moscow.

 

[Jocko]

Thanks Evgeny - great pictures.

Absolutely, Thank You Evgeny. We easily forget that combat photographers were perhaps the most vunerable of all front-line soldiers. On the Italian front British Army photographers suffered 50% fatalities: there were no long lenses and no "distance" in any sense. Their American and Soviet counterparts most certainly suffered on an equal scale.

To the peace of the world!

 

[lubitel]

I think I read somewhere that Yevgeny Chaldei, the famous russian war photographer actually used a leica.

 

[drmatthes]

When the Americans arrived in my mothers little home town in Northern Germany on April 11th, 1944, my Grandma sighed: Finally, war is over for us. The American officer responded immediately: Well, for us it's still going, next we're off to Japan. Afterwards, all weapons, including my Grandpa's air pressure rifle, were collected, next thing, all cameras including my Great-Grandaunts Leica III and Contax II. Then, the house became the American headquarters, of which Grandpa was really proud as he had been strongly opposed to the Nazi Party. All the Big Nazi Cheese had to show up and be interrogated in his house.

There is also a big gap in private photo albums from 1944 to 1947 due to lack of film, cameras and people who had the time and money to do the printing and development, so private photos from that time have gained value on the flea-markets over here - if you are lucky enough to find any. But the allied forces did a great job at that particular time, not only Jevgenyi Chaldei.

There is a great book by Tony Vaccaro called "Entering Germany" (ISBN 3-8228-5908-7),

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=2-3822859087-1

covering this period with great photos, from the disastrous Huerthgenwald Battle to American night club scenes.

Well, when the Americans left Grandpa's house (only to give way for the English, the Canadians and finally the Russians), he proudly prohibited his wife to clean off the crayon marks from the doors, "Section 1, Section 2" etc.

Finally, the Americans left a poster near the town hall, displaying two pigs hanging upside-down from their hooks, one of them stamped with a Swastika, the other one with the Hammer-and-Sickle and a line underneath, stating "We slaughtered the wrong pig first". No comment on that one, it was the Cold War starting immediately after the hot one.

Then, there are the photographs from the Concentration Camps being freed. Shame on this my country. Not much more to say about that, either, on a private basis, a moment of silence seems more adequat.

What photographers and soldiers and civilians have suffered (and some of them committed) at that time is unspeakable.

Let's be glad that most of us are living in times of peace - unless we are sent away to serve our country somewhere on this crazy globe. Iraq? Afghanistan?

I have heard that War Photography is selling well at high prices. Shudder.

Jesko

 

[reagan]

Evgeny ~ Great photos! Brave lads, every one.

Interesting story, Jesko. Truly touching. Thanks for sharing.

 

[clarence]

If anyone's interested in how war / crisis photographers get affected by their job, there are some interesting threads on Lightstalkers.org:

http://www.lightstalkers.org/human-nature#25901
http://www.lightstalkers.org/wartime-crisis-shooters-what-makes-you-tick#24050

Clarence

 

[Evgeny S]

Friends,
I'was going to post several another photographs here, but I've found the Really Great Gallery, displaying the photos of the Soviet combat photoreporters: Borodulin war collection . It's in English!
Damn, how could this be??? "In the death camp. 1945"

 

[Evgeny S]

Thanks Evgeny - great pictures. Are those Leicas or Zorkis?

Usually Soviet combat photographers used Leicas and Contaxes. Somebody used FEDs. The production of Zorkis started in 1948.

P.S. For those, who is interested in Soviet photography (1917-1991), surf the complete Borodulin's collection.

 

[ZorkiFan]

Thanks for the links, The U.S. was so cut off from the FSU (at least here in the middle) that I have seen few pictures of that time, other than American and British.

Now I look back and wonder how much was the government not wanting us to know that Russian people aren't all like Vlad the Impaler, Atilla or Rasputin. (or Stalin)

I'm serious, it seems like they pounded an image into us of Boris from the Bullwinkle cartoon, only a real guy who wanted to turn all us kiddies into evil comunists who eat babies and kill old people.

Even if we did learn about the Germans and the death camps, they taught us that the regular people of Germany didn't know about the camps, it was just a few bad guys. We at least saw pictures of normal everyday people, not just Soldiers and Government officials.

The Russians they just played up as evil Commies, and that was pretty much it. Of course in high school there was a little more infomation, but not much. I learned more about Russia in R.O.T.C. history than anywhere, and that was mostly about wars.

At any rate, good job!

 

[Jocko]

Now I look back and wonder how much was the government not wanting us to know that Russian people aren't all like Vlad the Impaler, Atilla or Rasputin. (or Stalin)

I'm serious, it seems like they pounded an image into us of Boris from the Bullwinkle cartoon, only a real guy who wanted to turn all us kiddies into evil comunists who eat babies and kill old people.

Hallo Keith! Whilst governments undoubtedly manipulate opinion, I think we can really blame the way historical memory works. For example, in the UK, even in the depths of the cold war, the Soviet contribution to victory was never forgotten. If anything, for many years, the American part was downplayed. Why? Because everyone knew that victory in the west depended on the United States and Great Britain was a second-rate power. It's intriguing to compare British movies made in the 1940s - A Canterbury Tale, A Matter of Life and Death or The Way to the Stars - which celebrate American involvement - with those of the 1950s, in which it is barely acknowledged. Likewise the immense contribution of African, West Indian and Indian troops - not to mention the completely unsung Canadian navy - was ignored. Faced with national decline we embraced the myth that "we (unaided) won the war".

It was much the same in the USSR. I collect Soviet photobooks. Suddenly, in about 1987, you start seeing photographs of Soviet troops in British Bren-Gun Carriers or Valentine tanks, in American M3s and M4s, of aircrew in Hurricanes, Bostons and Aerocobras. The Red Army drove to Berlin in American trucks, wearing American-made uniforms and fed with American food - facts which were erased from Soviet history. These pictures had been deliberately repressed - but even without the censor, nations take refuge in convenient legends. That's why those fellows in the photographs are so important: through them we can see - at least to some extent - "how it really was".

Cheers. Ian

 

[lushd]

Usually Soviet combat photographers used Leicas and Contaxes. Somebody used FEDs. The production of Zorkis started in 1948.

P.S. For those, who is interested in Soviet photography (1917-1991), surf the complete Borodulin's collection.

Hi Evgeny - yes of course you are right about the Zorkis!

Thank you for the gallery - very interesting and the captions are great.

 

[Evgeny S]

It was much the same in the USSR. I collect Soviet photobooks. Suddenly, in about 1987, you start seeing photographs of Soviet troops in British Bren-Gun Carriers or Valentine tanks, in American M3s and M4s, of aircrew in Hurricanes, Bostons and Aerocobras. The Red Army drove to Berlin in American trucks, wearing American-made uniforms and fed with American food - facts which were erased from Soviet history. These pictures had been deliberately repressed - but even without the censor, nations take refuge in convenient legends. That's why those fellows in the photographs are so important: through them we can see - at least to some extent - "how it really was".

Yes, you're right. The help from abroad was very useful. The US lend-lease program supports the fighting Red Army with a different equipment, e.g. 10% of the tanks and 18% of the planes in Red Army was US-made.
But practically everyone forgot to mention, that the relations between USA and USSR, regarding lend-lease program was very capitalistic. I mean that for every tin of US canned meat USSR government paid by gold. Up to the 2000es Soviet and Russian government was paying the USSR lend-lease debt. As I remember the lend-lease costed for USSR approx. $13 billion (in 1940es dollars, not current).
But the most negative was the US claim to return to them all undamaged equipment after the war end. But actually US didn't want to get all these trucks and tanks. All returned equipment was destroyed and was sunk into the sea. It was the real pain for the USSR, 25% of territory of which was laid in ruines, to return the equipment which could be used in civilian life to help to restore the country.
Just my $0.02.

 

[ZorkiFan]

My father was in the U.S. Airforce in WWII and the things he talked about the most, were how nice the British were, How cold England was, and a Russian aircraft called the YAK 9. He said that the Yak 9 could go past stall and hover like a helicopter by moving the elevator up and down wiggling the tail back and forth, and go back to forward flight if the pilot knew what he was doing. They called it a saber dance. Pretty cool story, may be kind of exaggerated, but it was clear he admired the pilots and airplanes.

The other thing he used to talk about is how sick he got of orange marmalade. I don't know what the deal was, but he wouldn't eat it. It is different from our jellies and jams though.

I have a huge box of pictures from airbases in England and N. Africa that I should get around to scanning one of these days. Pretty cool stuff. There are some pictures of London too. He was stateside before viictory in Europe, so nothing of Berlin, except maybe from the air.

 

[Jocko]

Keith,
That's very interesting indeed - those photographs are priceless! The Yak-9 was indeed an extraordinary aeroplane - in Korea the USAF regarded it as at least the equal of the P-51: the latter had superior armament and altitude performance, but the Yak had an better rate of climb and extraordinary manoeuverability.

I presume your father was involved in the "shuttle raids", when B-17s "commuted from the UK to bases in the USSR and back again - or perhaps he encountered the Soviet Yak-9/Dakota squadron which flew alongside the RAF/USAAF from Bari, Italy in 1944, aiding the Yugoslav partisans: Either way, fascinating stuff.

Incidentally, Orange Marmalade comes in several textures from smooth to coarse, the latter containing large chunks of peel. It generally has an intense, often bitter-sweet taste, and I'm sure the war-time version was absolutely foul!

Cheers, Ian

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Great photos Evgeny. I was scrutinizing the second photo closely because it was so sharp and contrasty. Then I saw a "folder" in one photographer's hands (far right) and wondered if it was a Moskva.

Can anyone tell?

 

[wlewisiii]

The Moskva 1 didn't come out till 1947, IIRC. That one is a ZI - Super Ikonta B (532/16). Possibly liberated, but given the full flash kit, I'd bet it's something the government purchased before June 1941.

William

 

[JimG]

Evengy, It might be worth mentioning that the U.S. government knew that the more damage the USSR could do against the fascist the fewer U.S. soldiers would have to die. Lend lease was of enormous benefit to the US as well as to all those nations fighting against Germany.

 

[Evgeny S]

...I was scrutinizing the second photo closely because it was so sharp and contrasty. ....

Actually another photo is reasonably sharp and contrasty too. I had bad scan, but in the "Borodulin collection" I've found another one with better quality.

 

[lushd]

Keith,
T

Incidentally, Orange Marmalade comes in several textures from smooth to coarse, the latter containing large chunks of peel. It generally has an intense, often bitter-sweet taste, and I'm sure the war-time version was absolutely foul!

Cheers, Ian

They couldn't get oranges in the UK during the war. I have a vague idea that the marmalade was made from root vegetables. Sugar was in short supply too ...

Also - check this amazing story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4757181.stm