Soviet Leaflet on the Battlefield – Wolchow 1942

Original photograph taken by Kriegsberichter Nussbaumer during an encirclement battle near the Wolchow (Volkhov) in July 1942.

What makes this photograph absolutely unique is the original Soviet leaflet lying in the foreground. The leaflet shows a Soviet soldier, described as a “Bolshevist”, attacking and killing a German soldier.

The text on the leaflet reads:

“Comrades, soldiers of the Red Army and sailors of the Red Fleet, commanders and political workers, partisans and female partisans!

The whole world is looking to you as the force capable of destroying the gangs of German occupiers. The subjugated peoples of Europe, who have fallen under the yoke of the German occupiers, look to you as their liberators. A great mission of liberation has fallen to you…”

The fact that this leaflet was photographed lying directly on the battlefield makes this an exceptionally unusual wartime photograph. It combines German frontline photography and an actual piece of Soviet propaganda captured within the same frame.

Photographer: Kriegsberichter Nussbaumer
Location: Wolchow / Volkhov
Date: July 1942
Format: approx. 13 × 18 cm