The Picture of the Last Man to Die

The Picture of the Last Man to Die is a black and white photograph taken by Robert Capa during the battle for Leipzig, depicting an American soldier, Raymond J.

He was a member of a platoon of machine gunners who entered a building in Leipzig and set positions to cover foot soldiers of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division who were arriving to the Zeppelin Bridge.

[2] War photographer Robert Capa climbed through the balcony window to the flat and he took a picture of the dead soldier, who lay in the open door with the Luftwaffe sheepskin helmet he had looted still on his head.

[3] The photographs were published in Life magazine on 14 May 1945, shortly after Germany surrendered, with the caption The Picture of the Last Man to Die, which became the official title.

[5] There are prints of this photograph at the International Center of Photography, in New York, the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne.