The legendary Second World War victory moment captured as an image featuring an allied flag raised over the Reichstag was painstakingly reconstructed in video to commemorate 75 years since the iconic moment. “Raising a Flag Over the Reichstag” has been transformed into a short commemorative film bringing the scene to life by reconstructing parts of the buildings’ 1945 rooftop and surrounding area. The original image, that became iconic both in the U.S.S.R. and abroad, was taken by a Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei.
Boris Gorlov, Head of RT’s Creative Department, the team behind the work stated: “We wanted to do something truly special to mark such a momentous moment in the collective history of the modern world. As a broadcaster specialising in high quality video content, we could think of no better homage to history to commemorate encapsulate our Victory Day campaign than deploying our expertise to inspire audiences around the world to revisit such a poignant, and important moment for us all.”
All historically available photographs taken on the roof of the Reichstag by Khaldei, as well as more than 40 supporting photographs of the Reichstag, surrounding buildings, panoramas and architecture were carefully analysed in order to recreate the exact moment when the picture was taken. In addition, all photos of Yevgeny Khaldei as well as the three flag-bearers Alexey Kovalev, Abdulkhakim Ismailov and Leonid Gorichev from this period of time were examined.