Junior Lieutenant Nikolai Pavlovich Kryukov. Postwar identification photograph with pre-reform Red Army insignia, 1955

[Tavria]

This interesting Soviet identification photograph depicts Junior Lieutenant Nikolai Pavlovich Kryukov. Although the reverse side bears the postwar date of January 26, 1955, the portrait itself is clearly much older and was most likely taken during the late prewar or wartime period.

The photograph was later reused for official paperwork after the war, which explains the visible administrative stamp and handwritten certification text on the reverse side.

Particularly notable is the round seal of the Kaganovich District Military Commissariat of Krasnoyarsk Krai, USSR. The reverse side also mentions the military commissar named Shpak, who certified the photograph for identification purposes.

The portrait itself belongs to the transitional era of Soviet military uniforms. The officer is wearing the older Red Army style tunic with collar insignia rather than shoulder boards. Before the major Soviet military reforms of 1943, the Red Army used collar tabs and rank insignia commonly known as “kubari” instead of the Imperial-style shoulder boards later reintroduced during World War II.

After the reforms initiated in 1943, the Soviet military officially returned to shoulder boards and a more traditional rank system. Because of this, the photograph itself was likely taken before or during the early years of the war, while the document certification belongs to the postwar Soviet period.

The image therefore captures two different historical layers at once:

the wartime appearance of a Red Army junior officer;
and the bureaucratic reality of the USSR in the 1950s, when older photographs were often reused for identification documents and military paperwork.

One of the most striking aspects of this portrait is the simple realization that the man survived the war. The photograph passed through the years of World War II, remained in official use after 1945, and was still being certified by Soviet military authorities in 1955.

Reverse side inscription:
“Junior Lieutenant Kryukov Nikolai Pavlovich”
Certified by the Kaganovich District Military Commissariat of Krasnoyarsk Krai, USSR.
Date: January 26, 1955.
Military Commissar: Shpak.