10 More Famous Photographs That Fooled Everyone

2. Reichstag Flag

Reichstag Flag
Wikipedia

Like an accompaniment piece for Joe Rosenthal's Iwo Jimo stunt, this image shows Russian soldiers Meliton Kantaria and Mikhail Yegorov raising the flag of the Soviet Union atop the Reichstag building in Germany. Unlike Rosenthal's work, Yevgeny Khaldei's photo was doctored after being taken.

Several elements were added or removed to make the scene more dramatic, and Khaldei even later said he had asked passing soldiers to help him stage the entire thing. For years, his image was viewed as a symbol of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, but the reality wasn't quite so stirring.

When his work was published in 1945 by Ogonjok magazine, Khaldei found the smoke in the scene's background had been darkened and a wrist watch had been removed from one of the soldiers due to fears he had been looting.

Propaganda, eh?

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