Soviet Army Christmas and New Year cards and photos

While the Soviet Union was officially an atheist state, that didn't mean that they weren't any Christmas cards. But there were New Year cards--which served as de facto Christmas greetings. Here are a few from Mrs. Marathon Pundit's family photos.

All of these photos are of my wife's cousin, Gunnars Masulis of Līvbērze, Latvia.

This card reads in Russian, "Hello from the North."

Masulis died last year of stomach cancer.

This one says, "Happy New Year."

Another "Happy New Year" card. On the reverse side it reads, "Komi ASR, 22 December 1956." He was referring to the former Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which is now the Komi Republic in the Russian Federation. At the northern end of Komi lies the Arctic Circle, the eastern part of republic borders the Urals.

Boreal forests, known as Taiga in Russia, cover seventy-five percent of Komi.

Another photo op and another tree. I wonder if the soldiers were allowed to call it a Christmas tree?

Boring technical notes on the photographs: Any smudges on the pictues are from age and the use of inferior communist-era photographic chemicals. I used PhotoShop Elements 10 to sharpen the images a tad.