Known as “The Pioneers Defense,” this creepy historical image was captured in 1937 by Russian photographer Viktor Bulla.
While certainly an ominous sight, the men, women, and children depicted here were merely members of the Young Pioneers, the Soviet youth group that was akin to the Boy Scouts.
They’re seen here donning gas masks during a military preparation drill in the Leningrad area — uncertain of what tomorrow might bring in the years just before World War II, while their home country was seeing waves of death and terror under dictator Joseph Stalin.
