Victory Europe Day

Last summer I was on a business trip to Berlin and staying in a hotel on Alexanderplatz. Now my room was in the twenty-sometingth floor and offered a magnificent view to the north and east since there were no taller buildings in those directions. I had to get up early the next morning and was able to see the sun rise over Berlin from my room. And I could not help thinking how different this vista must have looked in early May 1945. OK, only birds would have the same vista since the building had not been build back then, but you know what I mean. The fire, the smoke, the explosions, tanks advancing over the wide avenues. It is strange how such a nice view can give you such strange thoughts if you are historically educated. And how much our lives have changed over the past 67 years.

What I was reminded of were the photographs by Sergey Larenkov. He took photos of Berlin in 2010 and combined them with photos taken by warphotographers (from the same spots and angles). I decded to share them with you on this day and here are his works:

Берлин, 1945/2010. Плоцадь Большой Звезды
Berlin, 1945/2010. Grosser Stern Platz

Берлин, 1945/2010, Мехрингдамм
Berlin, 1945/2010, Mehringdamm

Берлин 1945/2010 Бой у станции метро Франкфуртер аллее.
Berlin 1945/2010 Fight at U-bahn station Frankfurter Allee.
Berlin 1945/2010 Der Kampf bei der U-Bahnhof Frankfurter Allee

Мир — добродетель цивилизации, война — ее преступление. Виктор Гюго
Peace is the virtue of civilization. War is its crime. Victor Hugo
[Infront of the Reichstag]

Берлин 1945/2010. Солдат-победитель.
Berlin 1945/2010. Soldier-winner. He walked to victory four years, he lost many comrades.
[Again infront of the Reichstag]

Берлин 1945/2010. Подбитый танк “Тигр” в парке Тиргартен.
Berlin 1945/2010. Wrecked tank “Tiger” in Tiergarten park.

Регулировщица на площади у Бранденбургских ворот.
[Unter den Linden]

Штурм Рейхстага
[Reichstag]

He has done similar shots from Moscow, Leningrad / St. Petersburg (his hometown), Normandy, Prague, Vienna, Vyborgand other places and cities from the WWII era. I highly recommend checking his site out, but here are some of my favourites (which are milestones on the way to VE-Day, so they are fitting IMHO)

1941/2010 Москва. “Националь”.
1941/2010 Moscow. Hotel National

:

Выборг 1944/2011 Пересечение проспекта Ленина и Ленинградского проспекта. Танк Т-34 с поврежденным катком.
Vyborg 1944/2011 T-34 tank with a damaged roller is moving on the street.

Санкт-Петербург 1910-е/2012 Боровая улица
St.Petersburg 1910/2012 Borovaya st.

Гатчина (Красногвардейск) 1942-2011 Соборная улица
Gatchina 1942-2011 Sobornaya Street

1941/2010 Москва. Большой Устьинский мост
1941/2010 Moscow

Терийоки / Зеленогорск, 1939/2011. Разрушенный железнодорожный мост.
Soviet-Finnish War(1939-1940).
Destroyed railway bridge in Terijoki / Zelenogorsk, 1939/2011

Оборона Москвы, 1941/2009. Ленинский, 28. Противотанковые надолбы.
Defense of Moscow.1941/2009. Anti-tank obstacles.

June 6, 1944, D-day, Normandy. The landing of US troops on Omaha beach.
Нормандия, 6 июня 1944. Высадка американских десантников на пляже Омаха.

D-day, June 6, 1944, Normandy. The landing of US troops on Omaha beach. Monument “Les Braves”, Omaha beach, 2010.
6 июня 1944, Нормандия. Высадка американских десантников на пляже Омаха. Памятник на месте высадки, 2010.