In October 1930 Käthe Kollwitz received a letter asking her to join a demonstration against the arrest of Russian scientists. In a letter of 8 October 1930 she wrote to Albert Einstein asking for his comment:
I am sure you will be informed about the matter […]. Are you supporting the protests? The reason why I would so much like to know your opinion is that I know or believe that you are not a communist yourself, but have great sympathy for Soviet Russia.«
Einstein initially signed the declaration, but later, in autumn 1931, publicly withdrew his support in this ambiguous matter. Therefore, Kollwitz chose, in 1932, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the USSR, a different form of declaration of solidarity – not a public declaration, but her lithograph »We are protecting the Soviet Union«. The refrain is from the so-called propeller song of the Soviet air-force, which became the general battle song of the Russian working class.
The folio was published in the ›Tribunal‹ journal in 1932. In 1933 she adopted the work in a portfolio called ›Das Neue Kollwitz Werk‹ and referred to it as the »essence of impressions of a journey to Moscow« in 1927. The artist explained the genesis of the work:
[I was] asked by the Russians to document my comment on an imperialist war against Russia, so I made this lithograph […].«
This folio – listed under the title »Solidarity« in the catalogue raisonné – is a transfer of the print.
