'Kiitos tov. Stalinille onnellisesta lapsuudesta!' (Thanks to Comrade Stalin for a happy childhood): banner over a hut door, Vidlitsa
A cloth banner hung over a log hut's open door reads 'Kiitos tov. Stalinille onnellisesta lapsuudesta!', the Finnish-language form of the Soviet slogan 'Thank you, Comrade Stalin, for a happy childhood'. The banner names the leader as the giver of a virtue word ('happy childhood') and asks the reader to feel gratitude to him for it. It was photographed by a Finnish military photographer at Vidlitsa on 12 September 1941.
- Date
- September 12, 1941
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Soviet slogan on a banner at Vidlitsa (Vitele), banner's author not named; photographed by the Finnish Defence Forces
- Region
- Eastern Europe and Eurasia
- Country
- Soviet Union
- Medium
- Photograph
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Soviet Union
- Leader
- Joseph Stalin
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Theme
- Home front
- Techniques
- Glittering generalitiesTransfer
- Regime
- Soviet Union under Stalin
- Leader
- Joseph Stalin
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive, SA-Kuva 48189), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- CC BY 4.0 (SA-Kuva, Finnish Defence Forces); also public domain in Finland
SA-Kuva, Finnish Defence Forces, L. Johnsson, no. 48189 (CC BY 4.0)
Text on the object
Kiitos tov. Stalinille onnellisesta lapsuudesta!
Thanks to Comrade Stalin for a happy childhood!
Read from the banner over the door. The lettering of the first word is stylised; 'Kiitos' is the reading that fits the slogan. Text visible on the curtain in the doorway is illegible. The SA-Kuva logo is archive branding, not part of the object.
