Start of the “Universum History” series “Images, the story wrote” with “Vietnam-a photo and the war”

It was a photo of many that came to the public from the Vietnam War, but none who had seen it could forget it – it shows a young girl who flees naked and with a contemporary cloud of smoke. The photo went around the world and became a symbol of the brutality of the Vietnam War – the first so -called “media war”. It heralded the end of American military intervention in Vietnam. The United States had participated in the fight against Vietcong and the influence of North Vietnam in South Vietnam for more than a decade. Her warfare was cruel and had devastating consequences for the population and nature. When recordings from Vietnam were shown on American television, the first resistance was excited among the American population. He escalated with the photo of the “Napalm Girls”, the then nine -year -old Kim Phuc. The girl had suffered large fire injuries and fled the Napalm bombs on June 8, 1972, which the South Vietnamese army had dropped over Kim Phucs Dorf. The South Vietnamese army was not ordered for the bombing, but a US officer.

At the start of the new “Universum History” series “Pictures that wrote history”, Kim Phuc, Nick Ut and Press representative who were personally on site, the dramatic events from back then on Friday, July 4, 2025, at 10:35 p.m. in ORF 2 and on ORF ON again in gripping interviews. At the same time, in the documentary “Vietnam-a photo and the war” by Patrick Cabouat (ORF editing: Andrea Lehner) scientists describe the background of the decades of conflict and the political consequences, which resulted in the publication of the photo. “Universum History” takes a previously unknown look behind the scenes of the famous picture and lets Kim Phuc impressively describe her story from then to this day.

Several journalists, photographers and camera teams from the international press were witnesses to this tragedy. Until recently, the then 21-year-old Vietnamese photographer Nick Ut from Associated Press was considered the author of the picture. In 1973 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. At the beginning of 2025, however, the documentary “The Stringer” questioned the authorship, which is why World Press Photo now describes the author as anonymous. However, the role that Nick Ut played when the girl was rescued was completely undisputed. He took Kim Phuc and her brother to a hospital, ensured that she got professional medical treatment and keeps close contact with her to this day.

The other consequences of the new “Universum History” series: “The Moon Landing-A Big Stand for Humanity” (July 11), “Che Guevara-icon of resistance” (July 18), “Queen of the Affected-The Tragic End of the Concorde” (July 25), “The race for the atomic bomb” (August 8) and “Dianas last night” (August 22).