The University of Nottingham's Windows on War is one of the world's premier collections of WWII Soviet posters related to their war with the Nazis on the eastern front. The scholarly notes that accompany the exhibit are a treat, though they are presented in a way that makes it nearly impossible to read them. But the entire collection has been scanned and posted, and is available for viewing at very high resolutions.
The posters in this exhibition were a gift to the University from Vivian De Sola Pinto. Professor of English at the University of Nottingham between 1938 and 1961, Pinto left his post during the war to serve in the Intelligence Service. He served primarily in France, where he was wounded in 1940.
The circumstances enabling Pinto to acquire these posters are unfortunately not known. However, Pinto had co-translated a collection of Soviet war poems, published in 1945, and it is possible that he was given the posters as a gift from the Soviet government during a visit to Moscow around this time.
After the war, Pinto donated the posters to the University of Nottingham's Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections.
