A posted sign in a Kharkiv city park reads: “It is strictly forbidden to bury the dead here”
Description
- Creator
- Wienerberger, Alexander, 1891-1955, Photographer
- Media Type
- Image
- Text
- Item Types
- Photographs
- Photograph albums
- Description
- Wienerberger calls our attention to a sign posted on a tree in a Kharkiv city park. The sign reads in Russian: “Здесь категорически воспрещается производить похорон,” which translates as: “It is strictly forbidden to bury the dead here.” Apparently this is in response to people attempting to provide a respectful burial for their loved ones in the park, because local cemeteries were overflowing and they had no private yard. In other instances, perhaps the family did not have the means to transport the deceased family member back to their home village.
As a side note: The sign in Russian provides evidence that the earlier “Ukrainization” policy of requiring the Ukrainian language to be used in official communications had been dropped in practice by this time (Martin, Action Empire, 122). As of December 1932, Ukrainization was officially halted; in essence, the Politburo decided that Ukrainization in fact promoted anti-Bolshevik nationalism (Martin, 307-8).
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. Die Hungertragödie in Südrussland 1933; also known as the Innitzer Album, 1934. p.24.
This is one of 25 photographs depicting life and death in and around Kharkiv during the Holodomor that the photographer put together in a small album with a handwritten title: Die Hungertragödie in Südrussland 1933 [The Tragedy of Famine in South Russia 1933.] He presented the album to the Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodor Innitzer of Vienna in 1934 as an expression of appreciation for the Cardinal’s efforts in trying to organize an international campaign to assist the victims of starvation in 1933. The album is housed in the collections of the Diözesanarchiv, Vienna, Austria.
For essays and a listing of originals and versions published through 1939 with their captions, see menus at right. - Inscriptions
- Handwritten caption in album: “ ‘Das Begraben von Menschen ist hier strengstens verboten’ !!!” [Burial of the dead is strictly forbidden here!!!]
- Date of Original
- spring-summer1933
- Image Dimensions
-
Image Width: 10.8cm
Image Height: 7.9cm
- Subject(s)
- Local identifier
- PD25
- Collection
- Alexander Wienerberger: Innitzer album
- Language of Item
- German; Russian
- Geographic Coverage
-
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Kharkiv, Ukraine
Latitude: 49.98081 Longitude: 36.25272
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- Copyright Statement
- Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Copyright Holder
- Samara Pearce https://www.samarapearce.com/
- Recommended Citation
- Wienerberger, Alexander. 1933. “‘Das Begraben von Menschen ist hier strengstens verboten’!!!” in: Die Hungertragödie in Südrussland. Vienna: Diözesanarchiv der Erzdiözese, [1934]. p.24. Retrieved from: http://vitacollections.ca/HREC-holodomorphotodirectory/3636395/data
- Location of Original
- Diözesanarchiv - Bibliothek, Vienna, Austria. Please contact this archive for official reproductions.
- 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 and the Diözesanarchiv - Bibliothek, Vienna, Austria.
