My Grandfather's Photo Stash 2

[poliphilo]

This is Grandpa's finest hour- as a member of the first delegation of Western industrialists to be admitted to the USSR after the war. These pictures are from a set showing them being given a tour of the Kremlin.



Grandpa is on the front row, second from the left. I'm thinking the man in the middle with the moustache may be their guide or minder; he looks nervous- as well one might be when one is dealing with wicked western capitalists and is answerable to Comrade Beria.


Here they are on the steps in front of the Cathedral of the Assumption. Grandpa is in the back row, second from the right.


And here they are next to the Tsar Bell- the biggest bell in the world- which fell to bits when it was being cast and has therefore never been rung. Grandpa is the figure in the middle, a step or two in front of everybody else.

Comments

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

He looks like you. Did he spend any time being peed on by Russian prostitutes? I hear it's quite the thing to do there.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough he never mentioned the prostitutes.

[tagryn]

Wow. Any idea about the approximate year of their trip?

I note that the mural on the front of the church is unchanged:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormition_Cathedral,_Moscow#/media/File:Moscow_July_2011-3a.jpg
which I guess shouldn't be surprising...since we're only talking ~50-75 years. The B&W photo format always makes things seem further back they they were...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I can't give you an exact date but it'll be the second half of the 1940s.

I learned quite a bit about the Kremlin while researching these images.

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying all these photos (catching up after a few days away) but this bunch is particularly fascinating.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I'm learning quite a lot as I work my way through the material.