Red Spots
2020War kills everyone, even those who survive it. History shapes
its own heroes, creating and destroying them by rendering them incapable of
living without suffering in a society they have helped to form. Human societies
advance
– the living will achieve their ends, yet a death of a person, a tiny
wisp swept away by history remains like an unanswered question, posing no
threat but allowing us to see everything in a new light: history is tragic.
Despite devoting most of his life to the military, of Soviet
Army colonel Semyon Grinberg’s life only three months of information remains accessible. My father’s memories of a summer spent working for him as a student
in Kiev. Being a retired militant, he told war stories, one of which was about
the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
![]()
Red Spots
2021
18 x 22 cm
Red Spots2021
18 x 22 cm
Photographing members of the Russian-Soviet Re-enactment
Association of Budapest, I’ve gathered and reimagined information to find out
what my uncle’s dreams, aspirations and memories could be, at a time and place
in history where participation in the army and its effects were an
unquestionable, natural part of life.
1, 1, 1-2-1
2020
HD video, 8”30’
2020
HD video, 8”30’
Europe was “pregnant” not only with political, but also with military confrontation... As for the problem of optimality of the social and state system, mankind has not yet resolved it.
The tank regiment, which was moving next to us, could demolish this settlement from the face of the earth, but there was no revenge for the killed and wounded. We had a rule: you don’t shoot – we don’t shoot.
There were many of our comrades – the fallen soldiers – there is eternal memory to them, they were fulfilling their mission: they were extinguished in the center of the civil war in Hungary.
The texts above are edited excerpts from a found blog post “Eyewitness Testimony” written by Boris Bratenkov, a retired colonel.