On the occasion of the anniversary of the liberation from Nazism and fascism and the end of the war in Berlin, Galerie Buchkunst is showing photographs by the Soviet front photographer Valery Faminsky of the last days of the war and the beginning of peace in the city in the virtual exhibition "Berlin May 1945 - Valery Faminsky".
Valery Faminsky arrived in embattled Berlin with the first soldiers on 16 April 1945. His actual task was to document the medical care and logistics of transports of wounded soldiers for the Red Army's military medical institutes.
Faminsky's photographs depict the completely destroyed city, the exhausted population and the everyday life of the Russian troops without any propaganda or pathos, but with a deeply humanistic view. Faminsky shows in his pictures the deep longing for peace. He is always interested in the individual fates of people on both sides of the front. Foreign workers on their way home, German refugees, civilians in search of relatives, food and water. Everyday life between the ruins, consisting of extreme living situations. In these pictures, people meet each other, not the victors and the defeated.
Digital tours with photography lecturer and publisher Thomas Gust will take place on 01, 08 and 30 May 2021. Photojournalist Arthur Bondar will be on hand for an interview from Moscow and provide insights into the discovery of the archive. Participation in the online tours is free of charge and held in German.
© Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Jacopo La Forgia
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