Yevgeny Anan’evich Khaldei was a Red Army naval officer and the wars official photographer.
Born to a Jewish family in present-day Ukraine, Khaldei was obsessed with photography since childhood.
One of his earliest cameras was a primitive box that he fashioned himself using his grandmother’s eyeglasses.
He also photographed the Potsdam Conference, and later the Nuremberg Trials.
During the final days of the war, the Red Army smashed its way into the German capital.
One of the targets was the Reichstag building, the former seat of power of the German Empire.
Ruins of the Reichstag in Berlin, 3 June 1945.
Photo credit: Imperial War Museums.
It was night time so nobody could photograph it.
Adolf Hitler had committed suicide two days before, and the Germans had surrendered.
But Yevgeny Khaldei knew he had to take the photo.
This is what I was waiting for for 1,400 days, helater said.
Khaldei tried several places.
The first photo is taken atTempelhof Airport, and the second at Brandenburg Gate.
Khaldei shot an entire roll of film, 36 images.
One of these was published in the magazineOgoniokon 13 May 1945.
Throughout his life, Khaldei defended his photo manipulation.
It is a good photograph and historically significant, he once said.
Heknew it was propaganda, but he believed the cause was just.
Two different versions of the flag raising.
The original raising of the flag photograph at Iwo Jima.
Reichstag building as it is today.
Photo credit:Roman Lashkin/Flickr
