NKVD reprint photos of WWII

[mattc]

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[F L Clemens]

I wonder if there actually was such a thing as a KGB photo archive that these photos supposedly came from - or is that part of the fabrication to make these repro photos more exciting?

[mattc]

I'm sure there was a photo archive within the nkvd or kgb, or else they would be the only intelligence agency in the world to never have on.

[F L Clemens]

Maybe I should restate my question - does anyone have any evidence that these photos that are purported to come from a KGB archive, actually are from those archives? My suspicion is that these are repros that are simply stamped and signed so as to look like they are from a "secret" archive and therefore get a higher price.

Back in the early 80's, I bought WW2 photo reprints at the photo archive of the Society of German-Soviet Friendship in East Berlin. There was nothing secret about them and they were dirt cheap.

[mattc]

These photos I bought from the coin show had some duplicates that I seen from the guy. As far as being so called secret original stash photos from the first batch taken, most likely not. But, they are interesting to view. The photos that are interesting to point out is the kia photos. There was a known propaganda value in displaying fallen German soldiers to boost soviet morale. Especially displaying the SS soldiers. Look in the SS photo the camo jacket was removed to show the ss mans insignia on his tunic.

Matt

[F L Clemens]

I didn't mean to detract from your post. The photos are interesting, but they raise a number of questions that I haven't seen discussed.

Where are these photos coming from? (I don't just mean yours - these things have been all over - I have a few myself.)

If they really are from an archive, what was their purpose?

As someone who collected a lot of East German and Soviet publications on WW2 during the Cold War, I can say that these kind of photos simply weren't published, especially in the clarity of these shots. Photos of Wehrmacht soldiers were typically retouched to look especially ugly and the same shots were recycled. You just didn't see anything that was attractive or interesting in the way of photos.

[paddywhack]

nice pics but the otto kumm one is pretty well know!! still nice though!

[Bob Clark]

That's the point with these "nkvd" reprints....these are neither secret nor soviet...most of the photos, as just pointed out with the example of the well-known otto kumm studio portrait....are reprints of well-known third reich press photos and published material. My favorites are the b/w terrible reprints of walter frentz's elegant color portraits, like otto guensche portrait. This particular photo was never made into a b/w photo and was published 30+ years after the war ended. The nkvd would not have had access to frentz's glass slides as they were hidden until the 1990s...by then this organization was now called KGB.

The real tell-tale about these post-soviet fake photos on poor xerox-style card stock is the backs are all the same, with little to no variation...but the same pencil/quick scrawl to denote something of importance.

I spoke to a ukrainian dealer at a show in 2002 concerning these photos..when I expressed interest in some SS photos, he told me that "they can make anything I like...himmler, SS, Foreign legions...." Yes, I could put a request in and he would create the photos for me and ship them to me.......
Oi, the mysterious NKVD PHOTO MYSTERY had come to an abrupt conclusion for me on that hot August afternoon in '02.
I always thought everyone knew that these are what they always were...poor knock-offs designed to look secret and old, but just bad copies(sometimes you can see the edges of the original photo inside the frame of the copy).

In the end...great subject matter/poor post-war xerox style copies/conclusion-invest in better current reprints or the originals of the photos for your collection.
imho,
Bob

[AVRORA]

These photos are on sale, as archival. But it`s known, that is the copies.

[besslein]

every photo thaty you have show here is a crap,the are without any problem to buy on all europe military shows for 2 euro each,sorry all bad

[mattc]

Hello,

I knew the pictures were copies of originals. My main question I would have is
where would they get the posed German kia photos. These are definite propaganda style photos as used during the war. For interest sake I would like to be able to see all photos that came from the soviet sources.

Thanks,
Matt