After the defeat of the White Army, a new white peril threatens Russia in the form of the typhus louse, against which the Red soldiers fight by washing themselves and their clothes vigorously. Colour lithograph, ca. 1921.

Date:
[1921?]
Reference:
545744i
  • Pictures
  • Online

Available online

view After the defeat of the White Army, a new white peril threatens Russia in the form of the typhus louse, against which the Red soldiers fight by washing themselves and their clothes vigorously. Colour lithograph, ca. 1921.

In copyright

It is possible this item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You may be able to use this digital item under a copyright exception, otherwise you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). These may be identified elsewhere in the catalogue record. Read more about copyright.

Read further guidance on copyright exceptions in the UK.

Credit

After the defeat of the White Army, a new white peril threatens Russia in the form of the typhus louse, against which the Red soldiers fight by washing themselves and their clothes vigorously. Colour lithograph, ca. 1921. Wellcome Collection. In copyright. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Selected images from this work

View 1 image

About this work

Description

Top, the soldiers of the defeated "White" army lie dead. From them, a gigantic white louse (Pediculus humanus) emerges through the darkness and threatens the battlements of the fortress in which the Red soldiers are based. A Lenin-like figure, holding Red Cross supplies, raises the alarm. Within the battlements, soldiers protect themselves by pouring cold water over each other's bodies, beating their clothes with paddles, and washing their clothes in soapy water

Publication/Creation

[Russia] : [publisher not identified], [1921?]

Physical description

1 print : lithograph, printed in colours ; sheet 52 x 33.5 cm

Lettering

Rossiĭskai︠a︡ Sotsialisticheskai︠a︡ Federativnai︠a︡ Sovetskai︠a︡ Respublika. Proletarii vsekh starn, soediniaitesʹ. Krasnai︠a︡ Armi︠︡ia razdavila belogvardeĭskikh parazitov - I︠u︡denicha, Denikina, Kolchaka. Novai︠a︡ beda nadvinulasʹ na neë - Tifoznai︠a︡ voshʹ. Tovarishchi! Boritesʹ s zarazoĭ! Uhichtozhaĭte boshʹ! Translation of lettering: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Workers of all lands unite! The Red Army has scattered the White parasites - Yudenich, Denikin, Kolchak. A new calamity has taken over - lice carrying typhus! Comrades! Fight this pest! Destroy this pest!

References note

Naomi Baumslag, Murderous medicine: Nazi doctors, human experimentation, and typhus, Westport, Conn., 2005, p. 9 (reproduced)

Reference

Wellcome Collection 545744i

Type/Technique

Languages

Subjects

Where to find it

  • LocationStatusAccess
    Closed stores

Permanent link