Asmus Remmer, a German photographer specializing in portraiture, genre, and landscape photography. During the WWII from 1940 to 1945 was a Wehrmacht soldier. Being serving in the infantry in 1942-1943 he made a series of pictures about Soviet villages in the Kaluga region.
In his diary Asmus Remmer wrote:
‘We were dropped off at a station in Pavlinovo (Kaluga region) in a forest near Moscow. We were moving all night long and then before the sunrise we saw the first Russian village. Snow-covered houses appeared unexpectedly. Smoke from chimneys was lifting to the morning pink sky. A Russian woman was taking water from a well. I felt like I am reading the Bible, and I said, ‘And we wage war here?’.
At that moment I felt sick and my companions brought me into the house. When I woke up, I saw a Russian woman standing on the knees right in front of me and giving me hot milk with honey in a teaspoon. I told her, ‘I could kill your husband, and you are caring about me’.
When we were visiting other Russian villages I realized that it would be right to make peace with Russians as soon as possible. On my photos you can see that Russian people don’t pay attention to my military uniform, and welcome me very friendly.
We passed more than 1000 kilometers into the Soviet Union and all this time I kept thinking about what will be happening to this country when we leave it..’
The Photographer: Asmus Remmer
