Rows of Corpses in the Open Air

This watercolor shows two rows of corpses stretching to the left-hand edge of the image. The dead are lying in a forest clearing, and the birch in the foreground can be interpreted as a reference to the location of this gruesome scene. In Russia, Finland and Poland the birch is regarded as a national symbol. The pool of blood in which the dead are lying suggests that they are victims of a mass shooting. In 1941 reports of mass shootings already circulated in the Allied press and German-language newspapers published abroad.