April 30, 1945 Raising a Flag over the Reichstag
Item # 725683
May 01, 1945
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, Boston, May 1, 1945
* Raising a Flag over the Reichstag - WWII
* Soviet's Union's victory over Nazi Germany
* Battle of Berlin - World War II (Europe) ending
The front page has a banner headline: "Soviets Hoist Victory Flag Over Reichstag" with subheads. (see images)
Complete with all 12 pages, light toning at the margins, nice condition.
background: The hoisting of the Soviet "Victory Banner" over the Reichstag on May 1, 1945, stands as the definitive visual coda to the Third Reich, yet the famous image captured by Yevgeny Khaldei was a meticulously crafted piece of historical recreation. While several red banners were thrust from the building's windows and roof during the final, desperate hours of the Battle of Berlin—most notably a late-night placement on April 30—the intensity of the combat and the shroud of darkness prevented any immediate photographic documentation. To provide the Soviet Union with a symbolic masterpiece for International Workers' Day, Khaldei staged the scene on May 2 using a flag he had improvised from tablecloths and recruited soldiers Meliton Kantaria and Mikhail Yegorov to pose atop the ruins. The resulting photograph was later edited to add dramatic smoke and to remove a second wristwatch from a soldier's arm to mask evidence of looting, successfully transforming a staged reenactment into an eternal icon of the Red Army's triumph over Nazi Germany.
* Raising a Flag over the Reichstag - WWII
* Soviet's Union's victory over Nazi Germany
* Battle of Berlin - World War II (Europe) ending
The front page has a banner headline: "Soviets Hoist Victory Flag Over Reichstag" with subheads. (see images)
Complete with all 12 pages, light toning at the margins, nice condition.
background: The hoisting of the Soviet "Victory Banner" over the Reichstag on May 1, 1945, stands as the definitive visual coda to the Third Reich, yet the famous image captured by Yevgeny Khaldei was a meticulously crafted piece of historical recreation. While several red banners were thrust from the building's windows and roof during the final, desperate hours of the Battle of Berlin—most notably a late-night placement on April 30—the intensity of the combat and the shroud of darkness prevented any immediate photographic documentation. To provide the Soviet Union with a symbolic masterpiece for International Workers' Day, Khaldei staged the scene on May 2 using a flag he had improvised from tablecloths and recruited soldiers Meliton Kantaria and Mikhail Yegorov to pose atop the ruins. The resulting photograph was later edited to add dramatic smoke and to remove a second wristwatch from a soldier's arm to mask evidence of looting, successfully transforming a staged reenactment into an eternal icon of the Red Army's triumph over Nazi Germany.
Category: World War II
