American Martin Manhoff flew to Moscow during the restoration of the Union after World War II.
He took with him only a suitcase full of photographic equipment to the brim, and a great desire to try it out as soon as possible. Most often, Martin traveled by train in the company of his wife Jen, who recorded everything happening to them in her diary.
In 1954 Martin Manhoff was deported from the country on suspicion of espionage, and the pictures were thrown into the back box for a good 60 years. As usual, masterpieces become public, after the death of their creators. These photos were no exception and were made public by historian Douglas Smith.
1. A picture of Moscow at night.
On the horizon is a new building of the Moscow State University.
2. Schoolgirls in Kolomenskoye, a former royal residence in the south of Moscow.
The girls are now over 70.
3. The market in the Crimea, a few years before the peninsula was "gifted" to Ukraine by Stalin's successor.
Jen wrote that "the peninsula has always been a resort not only for the common people, but also for the" top "of power."
4. One of the central streets of Kiev.
5. Another street in Kiev after heavy rain.
Jen described Ukraine as an independent unit of the Soviet Union ... In this country they lived not only under Soviet laws ...
6. Public transport and several cars, stuck due to heavy rainfall in Kiev, Ukraine.
7. Grandmother's transactions. The shot is taken from the train window.
In her notes, Jen noted that traveling by train was the only way to communicate with ordinary people, but precaution prevented anything other than a shallow conversation.
8. Urban settlement, shot from the window of a passing train.
This picture perfectly demonstrates the life of a small town far from Moscow.
9. Officers. The city of Murmansk.
10. Parade on the Red Square.
After a time after Douglas Smith discovered these pictures, he realized what treasure he had been able to find.
11. Parade in the center of Moscow, not far from the building of the former US Embassy.
A signboard on the left welcomes "brothers from the Republic of China".
12. Flowers, dances and flags of North Korea. The parade in Moscow.
The frame perfectly depicts the life of the Soviet people in the 50s of the 20th century.
13. The Novospassky Monastery.
Religion under the Soviet regime was largely suppressed, which is why many churches and temples were used not for their intended purpose, but as warehouses.
14. Boys who did not expect to get into the frame. The Novospassky Monastery.
15. Palace of Ostankino, in the north of Moscow.
During the Soviet period, most residences and palaces were recognized as public parks.
16. A queue at the grocery store, Moscow.
17. Dark swimming pool, the location is unknown.
Manhoff photographed a 35-millimeter Kodak camera and AGPA color film. This technology was very popular in America at that time, but it is absolutely unknown in the USSR.
18. A rare color frame from the funeral of JV Stalin, shot from the window of a building that was once the American embassy (1953).
Manhoff was an assistant to the military attaché at the embassy.
19. Stalin's coffin on Red Square.
A white speck on the leader's coffin is a small window through which his face could be viewed.
20. A wagon passing the Kremlin. Photo taken from the entrance to the old US Embassy.
21. View from the roof of the new US Embassy.
Skyscraper in the distance - hotel "Ukraine" in the process of construction.
22. A scene on Pushkin Square. Below Tverskaya Street and the Kremlin towers.
23. Lovers take a look at the shop windows in Moscow.
Jen's first impression of the frame at the store was sarcastic: "Everything does not match the appropriate level - neither the sellers, nor the furnishings in the store, and the goods look second-hand."
24. Girls reading books near the Moscow Novodevichy Convent.
25. The building of the central telegraph in Moscow.
26. Cinema in the center of Moscow. The 1953 film "Lights on the River".
27. The gamblers from Kuskovo.
The possession of the counts of the Sheremetyevs before the October Revolution.
28. A woman with a bucket.
Manhoff and his wife were forbidden to leave the train except for long stops, but even then they were obliged to stay solely on the platform.
29. A tiny village.
The Americans raised the hype by going to a local cafe. Jen shared her thoughts: "after the stranger greeted us with his playing on the accordion, one Russian bought him a bottle of beer, and we added a second. Well, then it raced ... The barman came up to us and said that the cafe was closing. In response, the man heard indignant "why?". The harmonizer was surprised - this happened for the first time, and then exclaimed: "Well, I'll play you a march!", And to the sound of the Russian march, we released the premises. "
30. Shop number 20. Meat and fish.
In the same diary, Jen commented on the outcome of the October Revolution, during which the working class overthrew the autocracy and the capitalist system: "it is obvious that the proletariat gained power, but did not know what to do with it."
31. On the way to the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. A couple of hours' drive from Moscow.
32. Rural workers watching the passing train.
One of the headlines in the New York Times: "Americans have never been to so remote areas of Siberia."
33. A truck passing by the US Embassy in Moscow.
In the cabin there are two bald men shaven.
34. A woman from Petrovka.
During Stalin's stay in power, millions of people were accused of treason to the Soviet regime, and after that they were exiled to Siberia or shot.
35. The policeman.
Short meetings, like this one, could not show the life of a Soviet man from within. In addition, because of communication with foreigners, Russians could have serious problems. "We have never visited any Soviet family in the house, later we lost all hope for this," Jen wrote.
36. A child walking along an abandoned street near the Moscow river.
37. Rural area. View from the train window.
The journey of Martin Manhoff across Siberia in 1953 was the last for him and three other colleagues. Foreigners were accused of illegal filming of airfields and oil wells, dubbed as spies and deported from the country.