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TASS reporter’s camera that captured Victory Banner over Reichstag to be sold in Hong Kong

LONDON, July 09. /ITAR-TASS/. The photo camera of renowned ITAR-TASS war correspondent Yevgeny Khaldei, who captured the hoisting of the Victory Banner over the Reichstag, will be put up for sale, a spokesperson for the London-based Bonhams Auction Gallery said on Wednesday, July 9.

The assessed value of the camera ranges from $390,000 to $580,000. The auction will take place in Hong Kong on November 30.

Khaldei used his Leica camera throughout the war, capturing crucial moments of history for posterity. His photos made on June 22, 1941 show Muscovites listening with taut faces to a radio announcement about the beginning of the war.

His photo of the Victory Banner over the Reichstag made on May 2, 1945 became known throughout the world almost instantly. The Bonhams official said the photo was one of the most famous pictures made during World War II.

The image showing Soviet soldiers hoisting the Victory Banner on top of the Reichstag became one of the most frequently reproduced war-time photos in the world, auction gallery specialists said.

The gallery press service could not say how the camera had been obtained for sale. It said the auction was still far away, the catalogue had not been printed, and there was no relevant information yet.

However, Jon Baddeley, head of the gallery’s department of scientific instruments, told ITAR-TASS that before his death, Khaldei had gifted the camera to the organizer of a major exhibition of his works in New York’s Jewish Museum in July 1995.

The Leica III camera’s serial number is 257492, its Elmar f3.5 lens’ serial number is 471366.