Media Essay
Photographer Yevgeny Khaldei
Soviet photographer and renowned photojournalist Yevgeny Khaldei covered the events of World War II in a series of compelling photos that were not widely exhibited until the mid-1990s.
Khaldei was born to a Jewish family living in Ukraine in 1917. He developed an early interest in photography and became a photojournalist at a young age. In the first year of World War II, he covered the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland. In October 1941, while Khaldei was deployed with the Red Army, the Germans overran his hometown. Some of the town’s Jewish population—including most of Khaldei’s family—were murdered. Moving with Soviet forces through Europe, Khaldei documented the Soviet experience of war in photographs. Some of his better known images include pictures of the Soviets conquering Budapest, Vienna, and Berlin in 1945.
Unit of Soviet soldiers
A unit of Soviet soldiers walks along a narrow strip of land that juts into the water while on a reconnaissance mission in Murmansk. Photograph taken by Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei. Murmansk, Soviet Union, 1941.
Item ViewScene in the destroyed city of Murmansk
A woman walks along a road past a line of chimneys in the destroyed city of Murmansk. Photograph taken by Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei. Murmansk, Soviet Union, 1942.
Item ViewTwo men standing in a doorway in the former Budapest ghetto
Portrait of two men standing in a doorway in the former Budapest ghetto, one of whom is wearing a painted yellow star on his jacket. Photograph taken by Yevgeny Khaldei. Budapest, Hungary, 1945.
Item ViewA Soviet soldier amidst destruction in Budapest
Portrait of a Soviet soldier standing on a heavily damaged street in Budapest. Photograph taken by Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei. The location is Apponyi Square. On either side of the street are the ruins of the Clotild Palaces. In the background is the Erzsebet (Elizabeth) bridge. Budapest, Hungary, 1945.
Item ViewYevgeny Khaldei views the destruction of Budapest
Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei views the destruction of Budapest from a rooftop. Budapest, Hungary, February 1945.
Item ViewSoviet tanks in Vienna
Soviet tanks roll down a street in Vienna during the Soviet conquest of the Austrian capital at the end of World War II. Photograph taken by Yevgeny Khaldei. Vienna, Austria, 1945.
Item ViewSoviet troops trample a Nazi flag
Soviet troops trample a Nazi flag as they march past a burning house on a street in the outskirts of Vienna. Photograph taken by Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei. Vienna, Austria, April 1945.
Item ViewSoviet planes fly over Berlin
Soviet planes fly over the destroyed Reichstag (German parliament) building in Berlin. Photograph taken by Yevgeny Khaldei. Berlin, Germany, ca. April 1945.
Item ViewYevgeny Khaldei standing on top of the Brandenburg Gate
Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei stands on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin where he, along with a few Soviet soldiers, raised the Soviet flag. Berlin, Germany, May 1945.
Item View