Graffiti

On 23 April, close to the 65th anniversary of the end of the war the LIFE magazine published a photo series of fifteen pictures on the occupied Berlin, primarily on the bunker of Hitler. The pictures were taken by the renowned photographer William Vandivert – later co-founder of Magnum Photos – who had worked for the magazine since the middle of the 30s. He was the only American photographer who obtained permission from the Soviets to enter the by then already completely sacked bunker where at that time some Soviet military experts were doing investigations.

Move the cursor above the tiles for a small picture or click for a large one.

The captions of a number of the above photos emphasize that they have never been published. I have not checked this, but even if it is so, almost all of them can be found in the public picture archive of LIFE as well. The ones I have found there at the first survey I have included as larger images to be displayed by clicking on the mosaic tiles. But of course the archive contains several photos on the bunker that were not selected for the above set.






The allegedly unpublished photos also include the thirteenth picture of the series which represents the interior of the ruined Reichstag, densely decorated with the names of the winners. Vandivert accurately went around this theme. The inscriptions are mostly of Russian soldiers, but the only one caught red-handed by Vandivert happened to be an Englishman.

Detail of the previous photo

The inscriptions remained intact for fifty years in the closed and isolated Reichstag. It was only in the 90s that they were discovered by Karin Felix, a collaborator of the restorations. She prepared a first, complete catalog of the inscriptions and she has made inquiries about the persons and the stories behind the names.

“To the great Stalin who hoisted the flag on the Reichstag: HURRAH! Saransk–Berlin, L. T.
Torhovin.” – For the blood of our fellow countrymen, those from Nikopol,
Moscow, Orlov, Kuban, Tambov, Orehovo-Zuyevo – we have
taken revenge.” – „I came from Stalingrad to Berlin!”

The inscription on the wall of the Reichstag behind Marshall Zhukov says: “Мишин, мы из
Калуги! – Mishin, we are from Kaluga!” To the right, the portraits of the
radioman Mishin and the “son of the company” Stasik

The first person to be identified in 2001 was Boris Sapunov from Leningrad, today retired senior research fellow of the Hermitage and doctor of historical sciences. Wolfgang Tirse, President of the Bundestag composed a festive document for the occasion and deposited it in the archive of the Bundestag.

Artilleryman Sergei Ivanovich Platov writes his name on a column of the Reichstag.
Photo by Anatoli Morozov, photographer of the journal Фронтовая
иллюстрация (Pictures from the front), 10 May 1945, from here

Egor Usachev writes his name

Ivan Minovich Tryl writes his name on the top of a living column, from here

“We have defended Odessa and Lenigrad, we have come to Berlin”, from here

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mironinko in front of the Reichstag and his signature somewhere at the bottom, a little bit to the right. Two blog posts on this.

Volodya Tarnovski, “son of the company” writing his name on the walls of the Reichstag, and with his companions. from here

The citizens of the Soviet Union, however, never forgot the glory of having reached, in a war that at the beginning almost appeared lost, to the heart of the enemy empire and to have written their names right there in the interieur of the “local Kreml”. Wartime memoires also remember this, such as Ivan Frolovich Klochko’s “Мы штурмовали рейхстаг – We laid siege to the Reichstag” published in 1986. This volume even includes a poem written on the way home by artilleryman K. N. Andreev which has become the official song of the company.

Бой затихал. Смолкала канонада. В Тиргартене еще свинец хлестал, А на стене разбитого рейхстага Солдат штыком автограф написал. С годами надпись на стене поблекла, Оставленная мной в чужом краю. Но тех солдат, что были вместе в пекле, Я сердцем чувствую и всюду узнаю. И как бы ни был путь солдата, труден, В каком бы ни был дальнем он краю, На стройке мирных напряженных буден — Он созидатель. Он всегда в строю!..

The war is over. The gutfire has stopped. In the Tiergarten the lead is still whipping, but the soldier with a bayonet has written his name on the wall of the collapsed Reichstag. During the years the inscription fades out which I have left in a foreign country, but I always keep in my mind and heart the comrades that were with me in the inferno. And however difficult the soldier’s way was, however far away he was from his home, of the coming, peaceful workdays he’ll be a builder. He serves forever!…

Soldiers of the 88th Artillery Division in front of the Reichstag, from here

Day of Victory post card, with a “We will reach Berlin” poster as well as a “We have reached
Berlin!” and “Glory to the victorious people” graffiti imitation in the background.

In spite of the expectations of the artilleryman-poet, however, the inscriptions have not faded out. During the restoration of the Reichstag they were conserved in situ.