Pastelfarve, akryl, akvarel. Avispapir, karton.

Til venstre: Tysk mundharpe fundet i en kælder i Stalingrad. Til højre: To halsmedaljoner af jern.  Stalingrad var omringet af den russiske hær. Det var kun muligt at forlade byen med fly.

Kun to grupper fik tilladelse til at komme med flyene:

• Stærkt sårede soldater (formentlig kun værdifuldt personel bl.a. officerer), samt
• Højtstående officerer, der skulle til Tyskland for at aflægge beretning og modtage instrukser).

Hver af grupperne fik udleveret en af de angivne halsmedaljoner af jern. Mange soldater forsøgte illegalt – med eller uden held – at komme med flyene. Når flyene ankom fra Stalingrad til tyske flyvepladser blev de kørt til udkanten af lufthavnsområdet. Personer uden halsmedaljoner blev henrettet på stedet, da de blev anset for at være desertører. De to angivne og rustne jernmedaljoner, er fundet på en tidligere tysk flyveplads i Stalingrad og formentlig mistet af to soldater, der måske er kommet med flyene og efterfølgende blevet henrettet ved ankomst til Tyskland. Det ved vi dog ikke.

Pastel color, acrylic, watercolor. Newspaper, carton.

Left: German mouth harp found in a basement in Stalingrad.

Right: Two iron neck medallions. The German army in Stalingrad was surrounded by the Russians. It was only possible to leave the city by plane.

Only two groups were allowed out on the planes:

• Severely wounded soldiers (probably only valuable personnel), and
• Senior officers who were going to Germany to retire, report and receive instructions.

Each of the groups was given one of the specified iron neck medallions. Many soldiers tried illegally – with or without luck – to leave with the planes. When the planes arrived in the German airports from Stalingrad they were driven to the outskirts of the airport area. Anyone without a neck medallion was executed on the spot because they were considered deserters. These two rusty iron medallions were found on a former German airfield in Stalingrad and presumably lost by two soldiers, who may have come with the planes and subsequently been executed on arrival in Germany – but we don’t know.

Pastellfarbe, Acryl, Aquarell. Zeitung, Karton.