Volga River, Volgograd
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Photograph
Volga River, Volgograd
Motherland
June 2005
Chromogenic development print
1/3
Image: 18.2 x 22.7 cm
Overall: 20.3 x 25.3 cm
Purchase with funds from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, 2010
2010.0008.0137
Inscriptions verso (handwritten in black ink): edition 1/3 [signed]
(printed in black): Spectrum 2007/05/23 428 +3 +0 +0 +0 428.tif (1) 19:13:40
(printed in black): Spectrum 2007/05/23 428 +3 +0 +0 +0 428.tif (1) 19:13:40
TextDuring World War II the city of Volgograd, formerly known as Stalingrad, became the centre of one of the costliest battle in human history. From July 1942, when the German army laid siege to the city, to February 1943 when the Soviet army captured the last remaining German soldier, the two sides fought bitterly. The death toll is calculated to have been 1,109,000, the greatest number of deaths ever in a single battle. In 1961 the city's name was changed to Volgograd (meaning 'Volga City') as part of Nikita Krushchev's programme of 'de-Stalinization'. There is now local support for reverting to 'Stalingrad', several proposals have been put to the Kremlin, but none approved. [page 167.]
