NEW YORK: The woman in an iconic photo shown kissing an ecstatic sailor in Times Square celebrating the end of World War II has died.
Greta Zimmer Friedman was 92. Friedman, who fled Austria during the war as a 15-year-old, died on Thursday at a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, from complications of old age, her son, Joshua Friedman, said.
Greta Friedman was a 21-year-old dental assistant in a nurse’s uniform when she became part of one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century. On Aug 14, 1945, known as V-J Day, the day Japan surrendered to the United States, people spilled into the New York City streets from restaurants, bars and movie theatres, celebrating the news.
That’s when George Mendonsa spotted Friedman, spun her around and planted a kiss. The two had never met.
In fact, Mendonsa was on a date with an actual nurse, Rita Petry, who would later become his wife. The photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt is called “V-J Day in Times Square,” but is known to most simply as “The Kiss.” Mendonsa said that in some photos of the scene, Petry could be seen smiling in the background.
Another image from a different angle was taken by US Navy photographer Victor Jorgensen but it was Eisenstaedt’s photo that became seared in people’s minds.
His photo was first published in Life magazine, buried deep within its pages. Over the years, the photo gained recognition, and several people claimed to be the kissing couple.
Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2016
