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[UKRAINIAN CONSTRUCTIVIST ARCHITECTURE DESTROYED IN WWII] Kharkov

Moscow: Editions en langues etrangeres, 1943. Item #1218

32 pp., 2 ills. 19,5x13,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Very good, slightly rubbed, spots occasionally, ink signature in French (J. Kléur. 5 Mars 1944. Ville Armavir) on p. 3.

South Russian city Armavir twice became the scene of wartime actions: in August 1942 and in January 1943. About six months the city was occupied by Nazis. It was of interest because Armavir was a kind of a gateway to the oil-bearing regions of Maykop and the Black Sea coast of the North Caucasus. Some Southern territories of Russia were liberated with the help of foreign military units, so this book might have belonged to a French officer.
First and only edition. One of 5600 copies. In French.
Very rare and notable wartime edition about Kharkov in World War II. The book was printed in September 1943, after a victory in the Fourth Battle of Kharkov [the Belgorod-Kharkov operation].
Book design referred to both a strategic Soviet success and significant losses. The back cover features two bird’s eye views. The upper photograph depicts the well-known Derzhprom building after Nazis had blown it up. Constructed in 1928, Derzhprom became the first reinforced concrete skyscraper in the USSR and one of the key constructivist buildings in Ukraine as well. After the attack, only its walls remained. The lower picture shows the Tractorobud (Tractor Plant) territory where most buildings had been destroyed and only the main structure remained in some state. The reconstruction of the plant began almost immediately in fall 1943.
This collection of materials were devoted to the Belgorod-Kharkov operation and its role in the war chronicle. As the final stage of the Battle of Kursk, it was the most triumphal Soviet offensive in 1943. The book included 5 essays, photographs of soldiers during an attack and after the victory, generals in charge of the operation, the liberated population walking through the city.
Similar pictures were printed on the front cover: vehicles with leisured soldiers and celebration salutes above the river.
Promoting the victory, Foreign Languages Publishing House published such editions in English, French and German at the same time.

Worldcat shows copies located in LoC, University of California.

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