Soviet Bloc (1 results)

Condition: Very Good. [Druskininkai, Lithuania?]: 1968. Large oblong folio (30x41.50cm.); commemorative postbound photo album of brown blind-embossed cloth; [29] grey card leaves to which are mounted 30 original photographs measuring ca.15x24cm (or the inverse) to 30x24cm, all captioned in neat manuscript Russian, though the opening statement on front pastedown in manuscript Lithuanian of the same hand. Corners a bit bumped, pastedown endpapers starting to peel from boards, light occasional soil to leaves, leaves cockled from exposure to glue, else Very Good, the photographs all in near fine condition. Collection of neatly compiled but rather amateurish photographs taken during the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution celebration in the Lithuanian spa town of Druskininkai, featuring members of both the military, the Young Leninists (Komsomol), and the Pioneers. The earliest photos show the visit of Anna Vasil'evna, mother of the fallen hero Petr Naboichenko at the company with which he served, her face shown weeping before an oversized portrait of her son. Vasil'evna reappears in one more photograph towards the end of the album, sitting in a classroom surrounded by listeners as she wipes her eyes with a handkerchief. The photos also depict the march to the burial place of Naboichenko at which is held a rally of soldiers and members of the Pioneers in memory of those who fell during the liberation of Druskininkai. Other photos show members of the party in an empty field, "the site of a fierce battle" (our translation). The final photographs promote the importance of the press, as a man in military uniform reads from the day's newspaper to a small cluster of soldiers, some of them looking as young as fourteen. The final photo, taken at the evening's banquet, show a four-man military band on maracas, bass, accordion, and guitar, the caption describing them as the prizewinners of a televised competition. (Kind thanks to our colleague Dr. Joseph Kellner for his assistance in the translating and cataloging of this item.).