#ViennaMemories #4: Ernst Haas: prisoners of war

During my first posting to Vienna 1984-87, as now, I used to admire the number of fascinating exhibitions in the city.

Occasionally, I would be so impressed that I bought a souvenir.

One such souvenir was this poster advertising an exhibition of the works of the famous Austrian photographer Ernst Haas, from October 1986. He had died the month before, aged 65.

The poster commemorates one of photography’s great pioneers. Haas covered many of the 20th century’s great events, working for Life, Vogue and other magazines, and became president of Magnum Photos.

Truly an Austrian who reached the peak of his profession, to become known across the world.

The poster is striking for its powerful – and possibly tragic – subject. It shows a mother at a Vienna railway station meeting prisoners of war returning from captivity. She holds up a picture of a young man in uniform – perhaps her son – in the hope that one of those returning will be that boy, or at least might know what has become of him. She looks pleadingly at a returning soldier. But he does not seem to see her – his gaze, full of joy at his return home, is directed towards something else, outside the picture.

The photograph is a reminder both of the immense suffering brought about by war and the large numbers of German and Austrian prisoners of war captured by the Soviet Union – around 2.4 million Germans and 157,000 Austrians, according to Soviet figures. Some did not return from captivity until 1956.

I recommend a browse through the internet for more striking images by Ernst Haas in his prolific 40-year career.

The poster now hangs, with others from the 1980s, in my living room in Vienna.