Freshly dug mass graves near an older existing cemetery near Kharkiv
Description
- Creator
- Wienerberger, Alexander, 1891-1955, Photographer
- Media Type
- Image
- Text
- Item Types
- Photographs
- Photograph albums
- Description
- In the foreground are several new mass graves near an existing cemetery where we see several wooden crosses of the Orthodox Christian faith, acknowledging the persistence of Christianity in spite of Communism. The marked sites also acknowledge the dignity of personal identity even in death, versus the unmarked mass graves containing the bodies of those whose identities were now forever lost.
From 1929-1930, the attack on all religious institutions intensified,resulting in the closing and destruction of churches and the arrest of hundreds of clergy. The practice of religion was both publicly ridiculed and demonized in all venues of Party indoctrination. Nevertheless, most people still held to their beliefs and traditions in private and the remnants of religious practice were still visible. Thus one would still see, as photographed here, homemade crosses on the older individual gravesites in many cemeteries. These were often taken down by Party functionaries, only to reappear again later.
For further information on: Death and burial of famine victims in the city, see "Context Note" under Related Features at right.
- Notes
- Photo source: Wienerberger, Alexander. Das Arbeiterparadies. U.d.S.S.R. (also known as the Red Album). Unpublished and undated album in the private collection of Samara Pearce. p.15b.
For further details and a listing of originals and versions published through 1939 with their captions, see Related Features at right. - Inscriptions
- Handwritten caption on photo: “Massengräber für die Verhungerten.” [Mass graves for the victims of starvation.]
- Date of Original
- spring-summer 1933
- Image Dimensions
-
Image Width: 23cm
Image Height: 17cm
- Subject(s)
- Local identifier
- PD109
- Collection
- Alexander Wienerberger: Beyond the Innitzer album
- Language of Item
- German
- Geographic Coverage
-
-
Kharkiv, Ukraine
Latitude: 49.98081 Longitude: 36.25272
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- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Copyright Holder
- Samara Pearce https://www.samarapearce.com/
- Recommended Citation
- Wienerberger, Alexander. 1933. “Massengräber für die Verhungerten.” Das Arbeiterparadies. U.d.S.S.R. (also known as the Red Album). Private collection of Samara Pearce, n.d. p.15b. Retrieved from: http://vitacollections.ca/HREC-holodomorphotodirectory/3636293/data
- Location of Original
- Private collection of Samara Pearce. Please contact Ms. Pearce for reproductions from the original.
- Terms of Use
- Rightsholder requests that the name of the photographer, Alexander Wienerberger, accompany each authentic reproduction of his work.
- Reproduction Notes
- Reproduced with the permission of rightsholder Samara Pearce. Source: Private collection of Samara Pearce.
