This piece is wartime Soviet propaganda, produced in 1942by Goskinoizdat (the State Publishing House for cinema and mass-printed visual materials). It belongs to a series called “Герои и подвиги” — “Heroes and Feats”, which published short, illustrated stories about heroic actions on the front.
Heroes and Feats
Combat Episodes of the Great Patriotic War
The Terrifying Account of Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko
Across the entire front, glory resounds for the tank-hunters — the heroic tank crews of the Guards Tank Brigade of General Katukov. They never retreat. They accept battle with any enemy forces! They always fight bravely, decisively — and win! The rumble of battle follows them everywhere, wherever the selfless Guards tank crews appear!
With love and pride, the brigade speaks of Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko. The Germans fear him. Lavrinenko’s flaming death score grows day by day. On any section of the front, wherever he appears, Lavrinenko strikes the enemy with sudden, crushing blows. The Germans call him the “invisible fire phantom.”
This is how he fights: he boldly bursts into enemy positions, strikes precisely and powerfully. Lavrinenko is calm in the fiercest battle. His tank, as if alive, feels the enemy’s weak points and attacks exactly where it hurts most. In battle, he tries to approach the enemy as closely as possible — and then delivers the most decisive blow.
During one of the battles, he alone destroyed four German tanks, routing an entire enemy group. On December 7, in another battle he destroyed six more. In total, Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko has already destroyed a large number of enemy tanks, self-propelled guns, and armored vehicles.
The fascists hate him, fear him, and consider him one of the most dangerous tankers of the Red Army. His comrades love him, trust him, and believe in him.
Comrade Stalin himself proposed to award Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Live long, fearless warrior Lavrinenko, dear friend — burn the enemy!
⸻
(Bottom text: “Artist: G. Mavrikiev. Price 30 kopecks. Issue No. 24. Circulation 300,000. Goskinoizdat, 1942. Printed at the Motor Vehicle Factory Printing House.”)
** There are two museum stamps and hand writing on the back. They mean and are translated per the following according to ChatGPT:
First stamp:
“Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the USSR
Item of the Scientific Collection”
The handwritten numbers (like Б-12346 and Б-4/3314) are:
•Inventory number(s)
•Likely category or sub-collection numbers
•Assigned by the museum staff
What this stamp means
This poster was once part of the official collection of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces in Moscow, one of the largest military museums in Russia/Soviet Union.
Second Stamp:
“Reproduction without permission is forofferden.
File/Part No. …”
The handwritten part (№ 435008/12) is another control or accession number.
What this stamp means
This is an archival restriction stamp stating the poster could not be copied or reproduced without permission from the museum.
It confirms the item was cataloged, stored, and controlled as museum property.
