Soldiers of the Red Army taking cover under the tank battle of Kursk 1943

Pull Your Head Down

The flipside of the coin: on another (propaganda-) photo of this section you can see two smiling female snipers of the Red Army. Here's the reality: the Soviet female sniper was killed by a German counter sniper, the scoped rifle at her side. The impact of the explosive bullet totally destroyed the lower part of the woman's face. Due to the Hague Convention of the laws of war Germany did not produce explosive rifle-ammunition. So the German snipers in the field equipped themselves with looted Soviet and Yugoslavian bullets and rifles. The rare explosive ammo was used for &quot;important shots&quot; on enemy officers and especially counter-sniper action.

Dead russian female sniper

April 30th 1945
This flag was made from tablecloths the night by Yevgeni Khaldei and his uncle before this picture was taken. The reason for targeting the Reichstag is unclear, since it served no political, strategic or military purpose at all. Perhaps this was for symbolism. It indeed had the symbolic effect for the Soviets since this staged photo was inspired by the Rosenthal photo taken at Iwo Jima. The photo is normally thought of as doctored, and it is. But this shot is a much clearer shot and taken from a different angle than the more famous photo. here you can see the two wristwatches that were so controversial due to the thievery \" conduct unbecoming of an officer\". 
Also interesting to note: This phot was taken two days before the last nazi was finally removed from the building.