Alexander Wienerberger: Beyond the Innitzer album

Alexander Wienerberger: Beyond the Innitzer album

Alexander Wienerberger’s photos from his time in Kharkiv (1933) were used to illustrate several pamphlets, newspaper articles, and books in the period 1934-1939. To date, we have identified nine such publications, which are listed at the end of this Note. We have also confirmed the existence of one other album containing numerous Holodomor-related original prints. We present here all of these known published and unpublished Wienerberger photographs depicting Holodomor-related conditions in Ukraine during 1933 that did not appear in the album Die Hungertragödie in Südrussland 1933, also known as the “Innitzer album.”

Wienerberger probably compiled the album mentioned above in 1934 and gave it the title Das Arbeiterparadies. U.d.S.S.R. [The Workers’ Paradise. U.S.S.R.] The ironic intent of the title is confirmed by the words appearing on the inside cover to the album shown here: “Proletarier aller Länder vereinigt euch!...(in Massengrab.)” [Proletarians of all countries, unite!...(in mass graves.)]

This album, sometimes referred to as the “Red Album” because of its red cover, includes some prints that also appear in the Innitzer Album and some that appeared as illustrations for a variety of publications between 1934-1939, in addition to eight photos that our research indicates were never published. The album also contains photographs that fall outside the purview of the Directory, depicting scenes from Wienerberger’s convalescent stay in Crimea in the fall of 1933 and his weeks in Moscow during the winter of 1933-1934. These not only portray locations outside Ukraine’s political boundaries at that time but are primarily of a sight-seeing or personal nature. (Only one photo from Crimea is included in this Directory). The Red Album is in the possession of Samara Pearce, great-granddaughter of Alexander Wienerberger. It is thanks to her devoted study of his life and care for his work that these photographs have survived and can continue to shed light on the devastating consequences of the Holodomor and Stalin’s policies more generally.

Described below are the publications that featured Wienerberger’s photographs as illustrations. Worth noting is that only two of those attribute the photographs to Wienerberger: his memoir, Hart auf hart, published in 1939, and its serialized version “Abenteuer in Sowjetrussland,” which appeared in late 1938 in the daily Salzburger Volksblatt. In nearly every instance, however, the unattributed photos can be verified against the original prints in Wienerberger’s albums or the photos he includes in his memoir. For additional background on why it was prudent for Wienerberger to remain anonymous upon leaving the USSR and about the publications themselves, please see “Alexander Wienerberger, a biographical essay” in this Directory.

About the photographs in this collection: Where possible, we have used copies generously scanned by Ms. Pearce directly from the original prints in her collection. When not available, unless otherwise noted at the photo entry level, we include here copies from copies made somewhat informally directly from the published sources.

Each photograph is accompanied by the captions provided by either the editors or the photographer, along with full citation information. As in the case of the “Innitzer Album” photos, many were specific to a district of Kharkiv known as “Холодна Гора” (“Cold Mountain” or “Kalten Berg” in German), where the factory that he managed was located.

In a small number of cases, we offer two versions of the same photo where the difference in cropping is enough to present differing perspectives on what is seen in the photograph. In one case, the same scene was shot at two different times, and we present both versions.

Currently known works published from 1934-1939 containing Alexander Wienerberger’s photographs:

Please note: Each photo record in both the "Innitzer" and "Beyond the Innitzer" Collections includes a Photo History which details which publications listed below included a version of that photo.

Ammende, Ewald, and Alexander Wienerberger. Muss Russland hungern? : Menschen- und Völkerschicksale in der Sowjetunion. Wien: W. Braumüller Universitäts-Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1935.

All 21 photos are represented in the Directory and were taken by Wienerberger but unattributed.

Ammende, Ewald. Human Life in Russia. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1936. (Reprinted in the US with added preface by James E. Mace, as: Ammende, Ewald and James E. Mace. Human Life in Russia. Cleveland: Zubal, 1984.)

The text of this book is the English translation of Muss Russland hungern? above; however, only the photos appearing on the following facing pages were taken by Wienerberger and represented in this Directory: 32; 33 (lower); 96; 97; 128; 224 (upper); none of the photos are attributed.

“Як Живуть Люди в СРСР, а Як Комісари.” Iliustrovanyi Kaliendar Ukrainskoho Holosu(Калєндар Українського Голосу). Winnipeg, 1935, 32.

2 out of the 2 photos are represented in the Directory; both are by Wienerberger but unattributed.

Luithle, Eduard, ed. Brüder in Not! Lasst Sie nicht verhungern! Bilder aus dem Leben der russlanddeutschen Kolonisten in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Berlin: Reichsausschuss Brüder in Not, 1934.

Only the 7 photos appearing on pages 11-14 were taken by Wienerberger and are represented in this Directory; all are unattributed.

“Найбільший Злочин в Історії.” Iliustrovanyi Kaliendar Ukrainskoho Holosu (Калєндар Українського Голосу). Winnipeg, 1935, 193-199.

All 5 photos are represented in the Directory; all were taken by Wienerberger but unattributed.

Russland wie Es wirklich ist! Wien: Vaterländische Front, 1934.

17 of the 18 photos are included in the Directory; all are by Wienerberger but unattributed.

Ukrainskyi Holos = Ukrainian Voice (Український Голос). Winnipeg, Canada.

A single photograph without an associated article appears on the first page of section 2 (p. 9) on Dec. 26, 1934, and Jan. 2, 9, and 16, 1935; these photos are represented in the Directory, and were taken by Wienerberger but unattributed.

Wienerberger, Alexander. “Abenteuer in Sowjetrussland (in 28 Installments).” Salzburger Volksblatt. Salzburg, Austria. Online edition: http://anno.onb.ac.at/

A total of 7 photos appear Nov. 29, Dec. 3, and Dec. 21, 1938. All are attributed to Wienerberger and are represented in the Directory.

Wienerberger, Alexander. Hart auf hart. 15 Jahre Ingenieur in Sowjetrussland. Ein Tatsachenbericht; mit 52 Original-Leicaaufnahmen des Verfassers. Salzburg, Leipzig: Pustet, 1939.

42 photos out of 52 are represented in this Directory; all are attributed to Wienerberger.