April 30, 1945. The German parliament building was stormed. For any Russian, this phrase looks even shorter - the storming of the Reichstag. It means the end of the war, Victory. And, although the complete victory came a little later, it was this assault that became the apogee of the whole long war ...

The assault on the Reichstag is a military operation of the Red Army units against German troops to seize the building of the German parliament. Held at the final stage of the Berlin offensive operation from April 28 to May 2, 1945 by the forces of the 150th and 171st rifle divisions of the 79th rifle corps of the 3rd shock army of the 1st Belorussian Front.

In preparation for repelling the Soviet offensive, Berlin was divided into 9 defense sectors. The central sector, which included the buildings of government offices, including the imperial office, the Gestapo building and the Reichstag, was well fortified and defended by elite SS units.

It was to the central sector that the armies of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts. As you get closer Soviet troops to specific institutions, the command of the front and the armies set the task of mastering these objects.

On the afternoon of April 27, the task of capturing the Reichstag was assigned to the 11th Guards Tank Corps of the 1st Guards tank army. However, on the following day, the tankers failed to fulfill it due to the strong resistance of the German troops.

The 3rd Shock Army under the command of V.I. Kuznetsov, operating as part of the 1st Belorussian Front, was not originally intended to storm the central part of the city. However, as a result of seven days of fierce fighting, it was on April 28 that she was the closest to the Reichstag area.

It should be said about the aspect ratio in this operation:

The Soviet group included:
79th Rifle Corps (Major General S. N. Perevertkin) consisting of:
150th Infantry Division (Major General Shatilov V.M.)
756th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Zinchenko F.M.)
1st Battalion (Captain Neustroev S.A.)
2nd Battalion (Captain Klimenkov)
469th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Mochalov M.A.)
674th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Plekhodanov A.D.)
1st Battalion (Captain Davydov V.I.)
2nd Battalion (Major Logvinenko Ya. I.)
328th Artillery Regiment (Major Gladkikh G.G.)
1957th Antitank Regiment
171st Rifle Division (Colonel Negoda A.I.)
380th Infantry Regiment (Major Shatalin V.D.)
1st Battalion (St. Lieutenant Samsonov K. Ya.)
525th Rifle Regiment
713th Rifle Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel M. G. Mukhtarov)
357th Artillery Regiment
207th Rifle Division (Colonel V. M. Asafov)
597th Rifle Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Kovyazin I.D.)
598th Rifle Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Voznesensky A. A.)

Attached parts:

86th Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade (Colonel Sazonov N.P.)
104th howitzer brigade of high power (Colonel Solomienko P.M.)
124th howitzer brigade of high power (Colonel Gutin G. L.)
136th Cannon Artillery Brigade (Colonel Pisarev A.P.)
1203rd self-propelled artillery regiment
351st Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
23rd Tank Brigade (Colonel Kuznetsov S.V.)
tank battalion (major Yartsev I. L.)
tank battalion (Captain Krasovsky S.V.)
88th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Mzhachikh P.G.)
85th Tank Regiment

The Reichstag was defended by:

Part of the forces of the 9th defense sector of Berlin.
Consolidated battalion of cadets naval school from Rostock
In total, the Reichstag area was defended by about 5,000 people. Of these, the Reichstag garrison was about 1000 people.

You can talk about the capture of the Reichstag by the minute, since each of them was performed by the fighters and performed a feat! I will try to restore the chronology by day ..

So:

By the evening of April 28, units of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army occupied the Moabit area and from the northwest approached the area where, in addition to the Reichstag, the building of the Ministry of the Interior, the Krol-Opera Theater, the Swiss embassy and a number of other structures were located. Well fortified and adapted for long-term defense, together they were a powerful center of resistance.

The task of capturing the Reichstag was set on April 28 at the disposal of the commander of the 79th Rifle Corps, Major General S. N. Perevertkin:

... 3. 150th Infantry Division - one rifle regiment - defense on the river. Spree. With two rifle regiments, continue the offensive with the task of forcing the river. Spree and master western part Reichstag...

4. The 171st Infantry Division to continue the offensive within its borders with the task of forcing the river. Spree and take possession of the eastern part of the Reichstag ...

Before the advancing troops lay another water barrier - the Spree River. Its three-meter reinforced concrete shores excluded the possibility of crossing on improvised means. The only way to the south coast lay across the Moltke bridge, which, when the Soviet units approached, was blown up by German sappers, but did not collapse, but only deformed.

At both ends, the bridge was covered with reinforced concrete walls a meter thick and about one and a half meters high. It was not possible to capture the bridge on the move, since all approaches to it were shot through by multi-layered machine-gun and artillery fire. It was decided to undertake a second assault on the bridge after careful preparation. Strong artillery fire destroyed the firing points in the buildings on the Kronprinzen Ufer and Schlieffen Ufer embankments and suppressed the German batteries that were shelling the bridge.

By the morning of April 29, the advanced battalions of the 150th and 171st rifle divisions under the command of Captain S. A. Neustroev and Senior Lieutenant K. Ya. Samsonov crossed to the opposite bank of the Spree. After the crossing, the Soviet units began fighting for the quarter located southeast of the Moltke bridge.

Among other buildings in the quarter was the building of the Swiss Embassy, ​​which overlooked the square in front of the Reichstag and was an important element in common system German defense. On the same morning, the building of the Swiss embassy was cleared of the enemy by the companies of Senior Lieutenant Pankratov and Lieutenant M.F. Grankin. The next target on the way to the Reichstag was the building

Ministry of the Interior, nicknamed by the Soviet soldiers "Himmler's House". It was a huge six-story building that occupied an entire block. The solid stone building was additionally adapted for defense. To capture Himmler's house at 7 o'clock in the morning, a powerful artillery preparation was carried out, immediately after which Soviet soldiers rushed to storm the building.

For the next day, units of the 150th Infantry Division fought for the building and captured it by dawn on April 30. The way to the Reichstag was open.

The assault on the Reichstag began before dawn on 30 April. The 150th and 171st rifle divisions, commanded by General Shatilov V.M., rushed to the building of the German parliament. and Colonel Negoda A.I. The attackers were met with a sea of ​​fire from various kinds weapons, and soon the attack bogged down.

The first attempt to take possession of the building on the move ended in failure. A thorough preparation of the assault began. To support the infantry attack only for direct fire, 135 guns, tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts were concentrated. Dozens more guns, howitzers and rocket launchers fired from closed positions. From the air, the attackers were supported by squadrons of the 283rd Fighter Aviation of the division of Colonel Chirva S.N.

At 12 o'clock artillery preparation began. Half an hour later the infantry went on the assault. She had only 250 m left to reach her intended goal, and it seemed that success had already been ensured.

“Everything roared and rumbled around,” recalled Colonel F.M. Zinchenko, whose regiment was part of the 150th Infantry Division. goals... So the reports flew on command. After all, everyone so wanted to be the first! .. "

General Shatilov V.M. first by telephone, and then in writing, he informed the commander of the 79th rifle corps, General Perevertkin S.N., that at 14:25 the rifle battalions under the command of captains Neustroev S.A. and Davydova V.I. broke into the Reichstag and hoisted a banner on it. At this time, units continue to clear the building from the Germans.

Such long-awaited news rushed further - to the headquarters of the 3rd shock army and the 1st Belorussian Front. This was reported by Soviet radio, followed by foreign radio stations. The Military Council of the 1st Belorussian Front, by order of April 30, already congratulated the soldiers on their victory, expressed gratitude to all soldiers, sergeants, officers of the 171st and 150th rifle divisions and, of course, General Perevertkin S.N. and ordered the Military Council of the Army to present the most distinguished for awards.

After receiving the news about the fall of the Reichstag, military cameramen, photojournalists, journalists rushed to him, among them famous writer Gorbatov B.L. What they saw was disappointing: the assault battalions were still fighting on the outskirts of the building, where there was not a single Soviet soldier and not a single flag.

The third attack began at 18:00. Together with the attacking battalions of the 674th and 380th rifle regiments, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Plekhanov A.D., Colonel Zinchenko F.M., two groups of volunteers advanced, led by the adjutant of the commander of the 79th rifle corps, Major Bondar M.M. and the commander of the battery of control of the commander of the artillery of the corps, captain Makovetsky V.N. At the initiative of the command and the political department of the corps, these groups were created specifically for hoisting flags made in the corps over the Reistag.

"This attack was a success: the battalions of captains Neustroev S.A., Davydov V.I., senior lieutenant Samsonov K.Ya. and a group of volunteers broke into the building, about which Zinchenko F.M. reported to General Shatilov V.M. in the afternoon, he repeatedly demanded to break into the Reichstag and, which worried him most of all, to hoist a banner on it.

The report pleased the division commander and at the same time upset him: the banner had not yet been installed. The general ordered to clear the building of the enemy and "immediately install the banner of the Military Council of the Army on its dome"! To speed up the task, the division commander appointed Zinchenko F.M. commandant of the Reichstag". (R. Portuguese V. Runov "Boilers of the 45th", M., "Eksmo", 2010, p. 234).

However, Colonel Zinchenko F.M. he understood, as he wrote after the war, "that neither in the evening nor during the night the Reichstag can be completely cleared, but the banner must be installed at any cost! ..". He ordered to recapture as many rooms as possible from the enemy before dark, and then give the personnel a rest.

The banner of the Military Council of the 3rd shock army was instructed to hoist the regiment's scouts - M.V. Kantaria and M.A. Egorov. Together with a group of fighters led by Lieutenant Brest, with the support of Syanov's company, they climbed onto the roof of the building and at 21:50 on April 30, 1945 hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag.

M.V. Kantaria

Two days later, the banner was replaced by a large red banner. The removed flag was sent to Moscow on a special flight with military honors on June 20.

On June 24, 1945, the first parade of troops of the active army, the Navy and the Moscow garrison took place on Red Square in Moscow to commemorate the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War. After participating in the parade, the Banner of Victory is still kept in Central Museum Armed Forces.

It should also be noted that in addition to the banner of the Military Council of the Army, many other flags were strengthened on the Reichstag building. The first flag was hoisted by a group of Captain Makov V.N., who attacked together with Neustroev's battalion. Volunteers headed by the captain, senior sergeants Bobrov A.P., Zagitov G.K., Lisimenko A.F. and Sergeant Minin M.P. they immediately rushed to the roof of the Reichstag and fixed the flag on one of the sculptures on the right tower of the house. It happened at 22:40, which was two or three hours before the hoisting of the flag, which history was destined to become the Banner of Victory.

For skillful leadership of the battle and heroism, V.I. Davydov, S.A. Neustroev, K.Ya. Union.

The battle inside the Reichstag continued with great tension until the morning of May 1, and individual groups of fascists who settled in the cellars of the Reichstag continued to resist until May 2, until the Soviet soldiers finally finished with them. In the battles for the Reichstag, up to 2,500 enemy soldiers were killed and wounded, 2,604 prisoners were captured.

During the Great Patriotic War, when the battle for Berlin was going on, the Soviet troops stormed the walls of the Reichstag and on May 1, 1945, the Victory Banner was hoisted.

On the walls of the greatness of the Aryan nation, Soviet soldiers left a large number of inscriptions, some of them were left during the restoration work.
After German reunification in October 1990, the German federal assembly, the Bundestag, moved to Berlin and took up residence in the Reichstag building.

"... A particularly fierce battle broke out for the Reichstag. Its building was one of the most important points of defense in the center of Berlin; the hoisting of the Soviet red banner over it marked our historic victory. At 13:30, the battalions of captains S. A. Neustroev, V. I. Davydova, K. Ya. Samsonova stormed the Reichstag ... with a swift attack, Soviet troops broke into the Reichstag ...

By the end of the day on May 1, the Reichstag was completely taken.
(from the memoirs of Captain S. A. Neustroev)

From the memoirs of an eyewitness of the events V.M. Shatilova:

The intensity of the battle huge building did not weaken. In the darkness (the windows were walled up, and the small slits let in very little light), here and there fierce skirmishes broke out - in the rooms, on the stairs, on the platforms. Grenades burst, machine-gun bursts scattered. Oriented by sounds, one group of fighters came to the aid of another. Fires broke out in some rooms. Cupboards with papers and furniture flared up. They were extinguished as best they could - with overcoats, padded jackets, raincoats.

Meanwhile, Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria, under the cover of a small group of Berest, began to climb up. Each step had to be taken with care and caution. Several times they ran into the Nazis. And then the machine gun began to knock, grenades were thrown.

The day was running out. But the cannonade did not stop. The dust in the air tickled my nostrils. All my thoughts were now in the Reichstag.

And there the entire second floor had already been cleared. Egorov and Kantaria, under the cover of Berest's group, continued to make their way to the upper floors. Suddenly, the stone staircase broke off - the whole march was broken. The confusion was short-lived. “I am now,” Kantaria shouted and darted down somewhere. Soon he appeared with a wooden ladder. And again the fighters stubbornly climbed up.

Here is the roof. They walked along it to a huge rider. Beneath them lay houses shrouded in smoky twilight. There were flashes all around. Shards rattled on the roof. Where to put the flag? Near the statue? No, it doesn't fit. After all, it was said - on the dome. The staircase leading to it staggered - it was broken in several places.

Then the fighters climbed along the rare ribs of the frame, which was exposed from under the broken glass. Moving was difficult and scary. They climbed slowly, one after another, clinging to the iron with a death grip. Finally reached the top platform. They fastened the banner to the metal crossbar with a belt - and down the same way. The return journey was even more difficult and took longer.

The building crowned with a scarlet cloth caused a quite definite reaction from the enemy - he began his artillery shelling. Yes, they themselves opened fire on the Reichstag, which the Germans defended so stubbornly and which we fired on quite recently.

Each fighting company set up its assault flag here. One even flutters on the pediment, next to the figure of the rider. And above the dome, above all - the Banner of Victory.

The surrendered marched through the Brandenburg Gate - in formation, led by officers, and without formation, in small groups. And in front of each group floated a white flag. On the other side of the gate, a pile of abandoned weapons grew and grew - about 26 thousand people piled them there. And on this side, as far as the Reichstag, as far as the Moltke bridge, an unarmed crowd kept arriving, dispersing at the beckon of the girls traffic controllers into separate streams, towards the commandant's offices.

“Yes, your soldiers,” I began, carefully selecting german words have committed a heinous crime. But we are not Nazis, we are Soviet people. We are not going to take revenge on the German people ... You need to quickly get down to work on cleaning the streets so that you can start up public transport, open shops, restore normal life ...

At first, the townspeople did not understand me. But then, when the meaning of my words finally reached them, their faces brightened, smiles appeared on many.

Lidia Ruslanova performs "Katyusha" on the steps of the fallen Reichstag.

The infantry soldier reached Berlin.

Already peaceful post-war Berlin.

Reichstag today.

From April 28 to May 2, 1945, the forces of the 150th and 171st rifle divisions of the 79th rifle corps of the 3rd shock army of the 1st Belorussian Front carried out an operation to capture the Reichstag. This event is dedicated to this collection of facts, old photos and videos.

Everyone heard about the capture of the Reichstag by Soviet soldiers. But what do we really know about him? We will talk about who was sent against the Red Army, how they searched for the Reichstag and how many banners there were.

Who goes to Berlin

Those who wanted to take Berlin in the Red Army were more than enough. Moreover, if for the commanders - Zhukov, Konev, Rokossovsky, this was also a matter of prestige, then for ordinary soldiers who were already "one foot at home" this was another terrible battle. Participants in the assault will remember it as one of the most difficult battles of the war.

Nevertheless, the idea that their detachment would be sent to Berlin in April 1944 could only cause jubilation among the soldiers. The author of the book: "Who Took the Reichstag: Heroes by Default", Yamskoy N. talks about how they were waiting for a decision on the composition of the offensive troops in the 756th regiment:

“Officers gathered at the headquarters dugout. Neustroev burned with impatience, offering to send someone for Major Kazakov, who was supposed to arrive with the results of the decision. One of the officers joked: “What are you, Stepan, spinning around in place? Take off your boots - and go! During the time that you run back and forth, already, go, you would be near Berlin!”

Soon the cheerful and smiling Major Kazakov returned. And it became clear to everyone: we are going to Berlin!”

Attitude

Why was it so important to take the Reichstag and hoist a banner on it? This building, where the highest legislative body of Germany sat since 1919, during the years of the Third Reich, de facto, did not play any role. All legislative functions were performed in the Krol-Opera, the building opposite. However, for the Nazis, this is not just a building, not just a fortress. For them, this was the last hope, the capture of which would demoralize the army. Therefore, during the storming of Berlin, the command focused precisely on the Reichstag. Hence Zhukov's order to the 171st and 150th divisions, which promised gratitude and government awards those who set a red flag over a gray, unprepossessing and half-ruined building.
Moreover, its installation was a paramount task.

“If our people are not in the Reichstag and a banner is not installed there, then take all measures at any cost to hoist a flag or a flag at least on the column of the main entrance. At any cost!"

- was an order from Zinchenko. That is, the banner of victory should have been installed even before the actual capture of the Reichstag. According to eyewitnesses, when trying to fulfill the order and install a banner on the building still defended by the Germans, many “lone volunteers, the bravest people” died, but this is what made the act of Kantaria and Yegorov heroic.

"Sailors of the SS Special Forces"

Even as the Red Army advanced towards Berlin, when the outcome of the war became obvious, Hitler either panicked or wounded pride played a role, but he issued several orders, the essence of which was that all of Germany should perish along with the defeat of the Reich. The "Nero" plan was carried out, which meant the destruction of all cultural property on the territory of the state, the evacuation of residents was difficult. Subsequently, the high command will utter the key phrase: "Berlin will defend itself to the last German."

So, for the most part, it didn't matter who they sent to their deaths. So, in order to detain the Red Army at the Moltke Bridge, Hitler transferred to Berlin "sailors of the SS Special Forces Detachment", who were ordered to delay the advance of our troops to government buildings at any cost.

They turned out to be sixteen-year-old boys, yesterday's cadets maritime school from the city of Rostock. Hitler spoke to them, calling them heroes and the hope of the nation. His order itself is interesting: “to throw back a small group of Russians that broke through to this bank of the Spree and prevent it from reaching the Reichstag. It takes quite a bit to hold on. Soon you will receive new weapons of great power and new planes. Wenck's army approaches from the south. The Russians will not only be driven out of Berlin, but also driven back to Moscow.”

Did Hitler know about the real number of "a small group of Russians" and about the state of affairs when he gave the order? What did he expect? At that time, it was obvious that for an effective battle with Soviet soldiers, a whole army was needed, and not 500 young boys who did not know how to fight. Perhaps Hitler expected positive results from separate negotiations with the allies of the USSR. But the question of what secret weapon was discussed, and hung in the air. One way or another, hopes were not justified, and many young fanatics died without benefiting their homeland.

Where is the Reichstag?

During the assault, there were incidents. On the eve of the offensive, at night it turned out that the attackers did not know what the Reichstag looked like, and even more so, where it was located.

This is how the battalion commander, Neustroev, who was ordered to storm the Reichstag, described this situation: “The colonel orders:

"Come out quickly to the Reichstag!". I hang up. Zinchenko's voice still sounds in my ears. And where is he, the Reichstag? The devil knows! It's dark and deserted ahead."

Zinchenko, in turn, reported to General Shatilov: “Neustroev’s battalion took up its starting position in the semi-basement of the southeastern part of the building. Only now some house interferes with him - the Reichstag closes. We will bypass it on the right. " He replies in bewilderment: "What other house? crawl opera? But he should be on the right from the "Himmler's house". There can be no building in front of the Reichstag ... ".

However, the building was Squat in two and a half floors with towers and a dome at the top. Behind him, two hundred meters away, the outlines of a huge, twelve-story house could be seen, which Neustovev took as his final goal. But the gray building, which they decided to bypass, was suddenly met with advancing solid fire.

It is rightly said that one head is good, but two is better. The mystery of the location of the Reichstag was resolved upon arrival at Neustroev Zinchenko. As the commander himself describes:

“Zinchenko looked at the square, and at the hidden gray building. And then, without turning around, he asked: "So what's stopping you from going to the Reichstag?" "This is a low building," I replied. "So this is the Reichstag!"

Battles for rooms

How was the Reichstag taken? The usual reference literature does not go into details, describing the assault as a one-day “attack” by Soviet soldiers on a building, which, under this pressure, was just as quickly surrendered by its garrison. However, things were different. The building was defended by selected SS units, which had nothing more to lose. And they had an advantage. They were well aware of its plan and the layout of all its 500 rooms. Unlike the Soviet soldiers, who had no idea what the Reichstag looked like. As the private of the third company I.V. Mayorov said: “We knew practically nothing about the internal location. And this made it very difficult to fight with the enemy. In addition, from the continuous automatic and machine-gun fire, explosions of grenades and faustpatrons in the Reichstag, such smoke and dust from the plaster rose that, mixing, they obscured everything, hung in the rooms with an impenetrable veil - nothing is visible, as in the dark. How difficult the assault was can be judged by the fact that Soviet command set the task on the first day to capture at least 15-10 rooms out of the mentioned 500.

How many flags were

The historical banner hoisted on the roof of the Reichstag was the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division of the Third Shock Army, set by Sergeant Yegorov and Kantaria. But it was far from the only red flag over the German parliament. The desire to reach Berlin and set the Soviet flag over the defeated enemy lair of the Nazis was dreamed of by many, regardless of the order of the command and the promise of the title of "Hero of the USSR". However, the latter was another useful incentive.

According to eyewitnesses, there were neither two, nor three, nor even five victory banners on the Reichstag. The whole building literally "blushed" from Soviet flags, both homemade and official ones. According to experts, there were about 20 of them, some were shot down during the bombing. The first was set up by senior sergeant Ivan Lysenko, whose detachment built a banner from a mattress of red matter. Ivan Lysenko's award list reads:

“April 30, 1945 at 2 p.m. Comrade. Lysenko was the first to break into the Reichstag building, exterminated more than 20 German soldiers, reached the second floor and hoisted the banner of victory. For the heroism and courage shown in battle, he is worthy of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Moreover, his detachment fulfilled its main task at the same time - to cover the standard-bearers, who were instructed to hoist the victorious banners on the Reichstag.

In general, each detachment dreamed of setting its own flag on the Reichstag. With this dream, the soldiers went all this way to Berlin, each kilometer of which cost lives. Therefore, is it really so important whose banner was the first, and whose "official". All of them were equally important.

The fate of autographs

Those who failed to hoist the banner left reminders of themselves on the walls of the taken building. As eyewitnesses describe: all the columns and walls at the entrance to the Reichstag were covered with inscriptions in which the soldiers expressed feelings of joy of victory. They wrote to everyone - with paints, charcoal, a bayonet, a nail, a knife:

“The shortest way to Moscow is through Berlin!”

“And we girls were here. Glory to the Soviet soldier!”; “We are from Leningrad, Petrov, Kryuchkov”; “Know ours. Siberians Pushchin, Petlin"; "We are in the Reichstag"; "I walked with the name of Lenin"; "From Stalingrad to Berlin"; "Moscow - Stalingrad - Orel - Warsaw - Berlin"; "Got to Berlin."

Some of the autographs have survived to this day - their preservation was one of the main requirements for the restoration of the Reichstag. However, today their fate is often called into question. So, in 2002, representatives of the conservatives Johannes Singhammer and Horst Günther proposed to destroy them, arguing that the inscriptions "aggravate modern Russian-German relations."

1. Fireworks in honor of the Victory on the roof of the Reichstag. Soldiers of the battalion under the command of the Hero of the Soviet Union S. Neustroev.

2. View of the Reichstag after the end of hostilities.

3. Soviet trucks and cars on a ruined street in Berlin. Behind the ruins you can see the Reichstag building.

4. Rear Admiral Fotiy Ivanovich Krylov (1896-1948), head of the River Emergency Rescue Directorate of the USSR Navy, awards a diver with an order for clearing mines on the Spree River in Berlin. In the background is the Reichstag building.

6. View of the Reichstag after the end of hostilities.

7. Group Soviet officers inside the Reichstag.

8. Soviet soldiers with a banner on the roof of the Reichstag.

9. The Soviet assault group with the banner moves to the Reichstag.

10. The Soviet assault group with the banner is moving towards the Reichstag.

11. Commander of the 23rd Guards Rifle Division, Major General P.M. Shafarenko in the Reichstag with colleagues.

12. Heavy tank IS-2 against the backdrop of the Reichstag

13. Soldiers of the 150th Rifle Idritsko-Berlin, Order of Kutuzov, 2nd degree, division on the steps of the Reichstag (among the depicted scouts are M. Kantaria, M. Egorov and the Komsomol organizer of the division, Captain M. Zholudev). In the foreground is the 14-year-old son of the regiment, Zhora Artemenkov.

14. The Reichstag building in July 1945.

15. The interior of the Reichstag building after the defeat of Germany in the war. On the walls and columns there are inscriptions of Soviet soldiers left as a keepsake.

16. The interior of the Reichstag building after the defeat of Germany in the war. On the walls and columns there are inscriptions of Soviet soldiers left as a keepsake. Pictured is the south entrance of the building.

17. Soviet photojournalists and cameramen at the Reichstag building.

18. Fragments of the inverted German fighter Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in front of the Reichstag.

19. Autograph of Soviet soldiers on the column of the Reichstag: “We are in Berlin! Nikolay, Peter, Nina and Sasha. May 11, 1945.

20. A group of political workers of the 385th Infantry Division, headed by the head of the political department, Colonel Mikhailov, near the Reichstag.

21. German anti-aircraft guns and a dead German soldier at the Reichstag.

23. Soviet soldiers on the square near the Reichstag.

24. Red Army signalman Mikhail Usachev leaves his autograph on the wall of the Reichstag.

25. A British soldier leaves his autograph among the autographs of Soviet soldiers inside the Reichstag.

26. Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria go out with a banner to the roof of the Reichstag.

27. Soviet soldiers hoist a banner over the Reichstag on May 2, 1945. This is one of the banners installed on the Reystag in addition to the official hoisting of the banner by Yegorov and Kantaria.

28. The famous Soviet singer Lidia Ruslanova performs "Katyusha" against the backdrop of the destroyed Reichstag.

29. The son of the regiment Volodya Tarnovsky puts his autograph on the column of the Reichstag.

30. Heavy tank IS-2 against the backdrop of the Reichstag.

31. A captured German soldier at the Reichstag. The famous photograph, often published in books and on posters in the USSR under the name "Ende" (German: "The End").

32. Fellow soldiers of the 88th Separate Guards Heavy Tank Regiment near the wall of the Reichstag, in the storming of which the regiment took part.

33. Banner of Victory over the Reichstag.

34. Two Soviet officers on the steps of the Reichstag.

35. Two Soviet officers on the square in front of the Reichstag building.

36. Soviet mortar soldier Sergei Ivanovich Platov leaves his autograph on the column of the Reichstag.

37. Banner of Victory over the Reichstag. A photograph of a Soviet soldier hoisting the Red Banner over the Reichstag taken, which later became known as the Banner of Victory - one of the main symbols of the Great Patriotic War.

38. Commander of the 88th separate heavy tank regiment P.G. Mzhachikh against the backdrop of the Reichstag, in the storming of which his regiment also took part.

39. Fellow soldiers of the 88th separate heavy tank regiment at the Reichstag.

40. Soldiers who stormed the Reichstag. Reconnaissance platoon of the 674th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Idritskaya Infantry Division.

41. Mikhail Makarov, infantryman who reached Berlin. in front of the Reichstag.

How Nazi Germany Surrendered

The last act of the Great Patriotic War stretched out in time, from which some discrepancies arise in its interpretation.

So how did Nazi Germany actually surrender?

German disaster

By the beginning of 1945, Germany's position in the war had become simply catastrophic. The rapid offensive of the Soviet troops from the East and the allied armies from the West led to the fact that the outcome of the war became clear to almost everyone.

From January to May 1945, the agony of the Third Reich actually took place. More and more units rushed to the front, not so much with the aim of turning the tide, but with the aim of delaying the final catastrophe.

Under these conditions in german army uncharacteristic chaos reigned. Suffice it to say that there is simply no complete information about the losses suffered by the Wehrmacht in 1945 - the Nazis no longer had time to bury their dead and draw up reports.

On April 16, 1945, Soviet troops launched an offensive operation in the direction of Berlin, the purpose of which was to capture the capital of Nazi Germany.

Despite the large forces concentrated by the enemy and his defensive fortifications in depth, in a matter of days, Soviet units broke through to the outskirts of Berlin.

Not allowing the enemy to be drawn into protracted street battles, on April 25, Soviet assault groups began advancing towards the city center.

On the same day, on the Elbe River, Soviet troops joined with American units, as a result of which the Wehrmacht armies that continued to fight were divided into groups isolated from each other.

In Berlin itself, units of the 1st Belorussian Front advanced towards the government offices of the Third Reich.

Parts of the 3rd shock army broke into the Reichstag area on the evening of April 28. At dawn on April 30, the building of the Ministry of the Interior was taken, after which the way to the Reichstag was opened.

Capitulation of Hitler and Berlin

Adolf Hitler, who was at that time in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery, "surrendered" in the middle of the day on April 30, committing suicide. According to the testimony of the Fuhrer's comrades-in-arms, last days his greatest fear was that the Russians would bombard the bunker with sleep gas shells, after which he would be put up in a cage in Moscow for the amusement of the crowd.

Around 21:30 on April 30, units of the 150th Infantry Division captured the main part of the Reichstag, and on the morning of May 1, a red flag was raised over it, which became the Banner of Victory.

The fierce battle in the Reichstag, however, did not stop, and the units defending it stopped resistance only on the night of May 1-2.

On the night of May 1, 1945, the commander arrived at the location of the Soviet troops general staff German ground forces, General Krebs, who reported Hitler's suicide, and requested a truce for the duration of the entry into the powers of the new German government. The Soviet side demanded unconditional surrender, which was refused around 18:00 on May 1.

By this time, only the Tiergarten and the government quarter remained under German control in Berlin. The refusal of the Nazis gave the Soviet troops the right to start the assault again, which did not last long: at the beginning of the first night of May 2, the Germans requested a ceasefire on the radio and announced their readiness to surrender.

At 6 am on May 2, 1945, the commander of the defense of Berlin, General of Artillery Weidling, accompanied by three generals, crossed the front line and surrendered. An hour later, while at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army, he wrote a surrender order, which was duplicated and, using loud-speaking installations and radio, brought to enemy units defending in the center of Berlin. By the end of the day on May 2, resistance in Berlin had ceased, and individual German groups that continued to fighting, were destroyed.

However, Hitler's suicide and the final fall of Berlin did not mean the surrender of Germany, which still had more than a million soldiers in the ranks.

Eisenhower's soldierly honesty

The new government of Germany, headed by Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, decided to "save the Germans from the Red Army", continuing the fighting on Eastern Front, simultaneously with the flight of civilian forces and troops to the West. The main idea was capitulation in the West in the absence of capitulation in the East. Since, in view of the agreements between the USSR and Western allies, it is difficult to achieve surrender only in the West, a policy of private surrenders at the level of army groups and below should be pursued.

On May 4, the German group in Holland, Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and North-West Germany capitulated to the army of the British Marshal Montgomery. On May 5, Army Group G surrendered to the Americans in Bavaria and Western Austria.

After that, negotiations began between the Germans and the Western Allies for a complete surrender in the West. However, the American General Eisenhower disappointed the German military - surrender must take place both in the West and in the East, and the German armies must stop where they are. This meant that not everyone would be able to escape from the Red Army to the West.

The Germans tried to protest, but Eisenhower warned that if the Germans continued to play for time, his troops would forcibly stop everyone fleeing to the West, whether soldiers or refugees. In this situation, the German command agreed to sign an unconditional surrender.

Improvisation by General Susloparov

In this form, the act of surrender of Germany was signed on the German side by the Chief of the Operational Staff of the OKW, Colonel General Alfred Jodl, on the Anglo-American side, Lieutenant General of the US Army, Chief of the General Staff of the Allied Expeditionary Forces Walter Smith, on behalf of the USSR - by the representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command at command of the Allies, Major General Ivan Susloparov. As a witness, the act was signed by the French brigadier general Francois Sevez. The signing of the act took place at 2:41 on May 7, 1945. It was supposed to come into force on May 8 at 23:01 CET.

The signing of the act was to take place at General Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims. On May 6, members of the Soviet military mission, General Susloparov and Colonel Zenkovich, were summoned there, and they were informed of the impending signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Germany.

Nobody would envy Ivan Alekseevich Susloparov at that moment. The fact is that he did not have the authority to sign the surrender. Having sent a request to Moscow, he did not receive a response by the beginning of the procedure.

In Moscow, they rightly feared that the Nazis would achieve their goal and sign a capitulation to the Western allies on favorable terms for them. Not to mention the fact that the very execution of the surrender at the American headquarters in Reims categorically did not suit the Soviet Union.

The easiest thing for General Susloparov at that moment was not to sign any documents at all. However, according to his memoirs, an extremely unpleasant conflict could have developed: the Germans surrendered to the allies by signing the act, and they remain at war with the USSR. Where this situation will lead is unclear.

General Susloparov acted at his own peril and risk. In the text of the document, he made the following note: this protocol on military surrender does not exclude the further signing of another, more perfect act of the surrender of Germany, if any allied government declares so.

In this form, the act of surrender of Germany was signed on the German side by the Chief of the Operational Staff of the OKW, Colonel General Alfred Jodl, on the Anglo-American side, Lieutenant General of the US Army, Chief of the General Staff of the Allied Expeditionary Forces Walter Smith, on behalf of the USSR - by the representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command at Command of the Allies, Major General Ivan Susloparov. As a witness, the act was signed by the French brigadier general Francois Sevez. The signing of the act took place at 2:41 on May 7, 1945. It was supposed to come into force on May 8 at 23:01 CET.

Interestingly, General Eisenhower declined to participate in the signing, citing the low status of the German representative.

Temporary effect

Already after the signing, an answer was received from Moscow - General Susloparov was forbidden to sign any documents.

The Soviet command believed that 45 hours before the entry into force of the document, the German forces use to escape to the West. This, in fact, was not denied by the Germans themselves.

As a result, at the insistence of the Soviet side, it was decided to hold another ceremony of signing the unconditional surrender of Germany, which was organized on the evening of May 8, 1945 in the German suburb of Karlshorst. The text, with few exceptions, repeated the text of the document signed in Reims.

From the German side, the act was signed by Field Marshal General, Chief of the Supreme High Command Wilhelm Keitel, Air Force representative - Colonel General Stupmf and Navy - Admiral von Friedeburg. Unconditional surrender was accepted by Marshal Zhukov (from the Soviet side) and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Force, British Marshal Tedder. US Army General Spaats and French General de Tassigny put their signatures as witnesses.

It is curious that General Eisenhower was going to come to sign this act, but was stopped by the objection of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill: if the allied commander had signed the act in Karlshorst without signing it in Reims, the significance of the Reims act would have seemed insignificant.

The signing of the act in Karlshorst took place on May 8, 1945 at 22:43 CET, and it entered into force, as agreed back in Reims, at 23:01 on May 8. However, according to Moscow time, these events occurred at 0:43 and 1:01 on May 9.

It was this discrepancy in time that caused the Victory Day in Europe to be May 8, and in the Soviet Union - May 9.

To each his own

After the entry into force of the act of unconditional surrender, the organized resistance of Germany finally ceased. This, however, did not prevent individual groups solving local problems (as a rule, a breakthrough to the West) from engaging in battles after May 9th. However, such fights were short-lived and ended in the destruction of the Nazis who did not comply with the terms of surrender.

As for General Susloparov, Stalin personally assessed his actions in the current situation as correct and balanced. After the war, Ivan Alekseevich Susloparov worked at the Military Diplomatic Academy in Moscow, died in 1974 at the age of 77, and was buried with military honors at the Vvedensky cemetery in Moscow.

The fate of the German commanders Alfred Jodl and Wilhelm Keitel, who signed the unconditional surrender at Reims and Karlshorst, was less enviable. The International Tribunal at Nuremberg recognized them as war criminals and sentenced them to death penalty. On the night of October 16, 1946, Jodl and Keitel were hanged in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg prison.

That's how it all ended. But it was very interesting for me to look at these photos - the end point of the route to the West for our soldiers.

On May 1, 1945, the Victory flag was hoisted on the Reichstag building. On May 2, after fierce fighting, the Red Army completely cleared the building of the enemy. Over the next weeks, thousands of soldiers of the Soviet Army and many of the allies signed there.

After the unification of the two Germanys in 1990, it was decided to move the united parliament to the Reichstag.

The English architect Norman Foster, who carried out the reconstruction, along with the construction of a new glass dome, decided to preserve some of the Red Army graffiti. The inscriptions on the outer walls were erased, leaving several fragments in the gallery around the plenary hall and on the ground floor - with a total length of about 100 meters. The Germans claim that they transferred the original inscriptions to the inner walls of the Reichstag using a unique technology.

In the early 2000s, conservative deputies from the Christian Social Union tried to pass a decision to eliminate some of the inscriptions, but did not succeed. "These are not heroic monuments created by order of the authorities," said the Social Democrat Eckard Bartel on this occasion, "but a manifestation of the triumph and suffering of a little man."

The assault on the Reichstag is a military operation of the Red Army units against German troops to seize the building of the German parliament.

It was carried out at the final stage of the Berlin offensive operation from April 28 to May 2, 1945 by the forces of the 150th and 171st rifle divisions of the 79th rifle corps of the 3rd shock army of the 1st Belorussian Front ...
The Reichstag was never Hitler's refuge - since the last remnants of parliamentary democracy were destroyed in Germany in 1935, the Reichstag has lost any significance.


The Reichstag building was built in 1894 according to the design of the architect Paul Vallo.
The Fuhrer, before his appointment as Reich Chancellor, appeared in this building only a few times - in principle, he despised the Reichstag building as a symbol of parliamentarism and the Weimar Republic. Therefore, during the existence of the Third Reich, the meetings of the puppet "parliament" were held in the back of the nearby Kroll Opera.


The meeting of the Nazi "Reichstag" in the hall "decorated" with a swastika Kroll Opera.
Why did the call of Soviet soldiers sound exactly like this - “To the Reichstag!”? Why did the Red Army receive an order to hoist the red banner of Victory here?
The answers to these questions can be found in the memoirs of Colonel Fyodor Zinchenko, commander of the 756th Infantry Regiment, who directly stormed the Reichstag.
“From here in 1933 the Nazis began their bloody campaign against communism before the eyes of the whole world,” wrote Fyodor Zinchenko. - Here we must confirm the fall of fascism. There is only one order for me - the flag must fly over the Reichstag!
The Reichstag has been a symbol of German Nazism since 1933, when Hitler, in power for only four weeks, decided to use the fire in the plenary hall that broke out on February 27, 1933, as an excuse to destroy supporters of the Communist Party and Social Democrats.


Burnt Reichstag. In the same 1933, the Berlin police detained the mentally ill Dutchman Marinus van der Lubbe for this crime, who confessed to the crime in court.
Thousands of political opponents of the NSDAP were detained within 48 hours, most of them were tortured in the following weeks, dozens were killed.
The real Hitler's bunker was located in the garden of the Reich Chancellery, about a kilometer southeast of the Reichstag. As it turned out, until the very last moment, its location was unknown to either Soviet or American intelligence. Only on May 2, Soviet soldiers in search of trophies stumbled upon underground facility, and only a week later it became known about the location of the Fuhrer's bunker.


The Red Army are advancing.

So they stormed the Reichmtag
The assault on the Reichstag began on the evening of April 28, when Soviet troops of the 150th division of the 1st Belorussian Front approached the Spree River in the area of ​​the Moltke Bridge. The fighters of the division were separated from the Reichstag by no more than a kilometer.
The width of the Spree in the area of ​​the bridge was not very large - no more than 50 meters. However, high banks lined with granite served as an obstacle to the crossing on improvised means. The fighters had to cross the river along the bridge, which was shot and mined.


Soviet IS-2 tanks of the 7th Guards Tank Brigade at the Reichstag.
The attack was preceded by artillery, which hit the enemy positions on the south coast with direct fire. Two platoons of the 756th Infantry Regiment immediately slipped onto the other side, then sappers came out onto the bridge.


A Soviet soldier walks past a slain SS Hauptsturmfführer.
By morning, the soldiers of the 756th regiment had cleared most of the Swiss embassy building and some other buildings located in the quarter closest to the Moltke bridge from the enemy. Particularly fierce battles unfolded for the "Himmler's house" - the building of the Ministry of the Interior, for the Krol Opera Theater.
The Germans even made an attempt to counterattack: about 500 cadet sailors from Rostock tried to break through to the Moltke bridge in order to cut off the Soviet units on the south bank of the Spree from the main forces. The battle turned out to be very fleeting: the Soviet soldiers crumbled the cadets like cabbage.

A broken German 88 mm FlaK 37 anti-aircraft gun next to the destroyed Reichstag.
The artillery preparation was scheduled for 11.00 on April 30, the assault on the Reichstag at 13.30. A total of 89 barrels were aimed at the massive gray building of the Reichstag, including tanks and self-propelled guns. Several groups were instructed to hoist the banner on the dome, including the fighters of the reconnaissance platoon of the 756th regiment: Sergeant Mikhail Yegorov and Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantaria. A small group led by Lieutenant Berest was entrusted with covering the standard-bearers.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, after artillery preparation, the infantry of the 674th, 713rd and 756th regiments rushed into the attack through the ditch filled with water. Some people crossed it by swimming, some along pipes and rails sticking out of the water.


The Soviet assault group with the banner is moving towards the Reichstag.
At 2:20 p.m., the first Soviet soldiers fought their way through the German trenches to the southwestern corner of the Reichstag. Five minutes later, our soldiers also occupied the main - triumphal - entrance. The fighters who stormed the Reichstag had to clear room after room almost blindly: the windows were walled up, and small loopholes let in very little light.

A captured German soldier at the Reichstag.
From the defectors it became known that the Reichstag garrison has about one and a half thousand soldiers and officers, most of whom are in the basements. At the same moment, there were almost 10 times fewer Soviet soldiers in the Reichstag. But the Nazis, who were sitting in the dungeon, no longer had the fortitude or selflessness to make a breakthrough.
At about 4 p.m., the Germans, trying to unblock the Reichstag, launched another counterattack from the Brandenburg Gate, but were destroyed by the forces of the 33rd Infantry Division. By 21.00, the entire second floor was cleared. At 21.50, Colonel Zinchenko, commander of the 756th regiment, reported to the commander of the 150th division, Shatilov, that the Banner of Victory had been hoisted on the dome of the Reichstag.
Later it turned out that it was an assault group consisting of senior sergeants M. Minin, G. Zagitov, A. Lisimenko and sergeant A. Bobrov under the command of Captain V. Makov. The assault group of Yegorov and Kantaria made their way to the dome of the Reichstag at one in the morning on May 1.


Mikhail Yegorov and Meliton Kantaria go out with a banner to the roof of the Reichstag. Although this was not the first red banner installed on the Reichstag, it was it that became the Banner of Victory.

Banner of Victory on the defeated Reichstag on May 1, 1945


Banner of Victory over the Reichstag. Lesser known photo.
The enemy units remaining in Berlin began to surrender en masse only a day later.


German soldiers in Berlin surrender to Soviet troops.

View of Hermann Goering Strasse in Berlin after the end of the fighting for the city. The building in the background is the destroyed Reichstag. The picture was taken from the top of the Brandenburg Gate.

Wounded Soviet infantrymen on the T-34-85 tank in Berlin.


Officers of the 136th cannon artillery brigade are resting near the Reichstag building.


View of the Reichstag after the end of hostilities.

Two Soviet officers on the steps of the Reichstag.

The interior of the Reichstag building.

Interior of the Reichstag.

Interior of the Reichstag.

Autograph of Soviet soldiers on the column of the Reichstag: “We are in Berlin! Nikolay, Peter, Nina and Sasha. May 11, 1945.


Autographs of Soviet soldiers.

Soviet mortar soldier Sergei Ivanovich Platov leaves his autograph.

Red Army signalman Mikhail Usachev leaves his autograph.

The son of the regiment Volodya Tarnovsky puts his autograph on the column of the Reichstag. He wrote: "Seversky Donets - Berlin", and signed - for himself, the regiment commander and his brother-soldier, who supported him from below: "Artillerymen Doroshenko, Tarnovsky and Sumtsov."


The commander of the 23rd Guards Rifle Division, Major General Pavel Mendeleevich Shafarenko (far right) in the Reichstag with colleagues.


British soldier leaves his autograph.

A group of Soviet officers inside the Reichstag.


Berlin residents walk down Hermann Goering Street past broken military equipment.


The Reichstag building in July 1945. The picture clearly shows bricked window openings with loopholes left in them to defend the building. The inscription above the entrance: "Dem Deutschen Volke" - "To the German people."

Lydia Ruslanova performs "Katyusha" in front of the destroyed Reichstag.

The capture of the Reichstag was the culmination of World War II. A citadel of evil falling into the hands of the victors, a dictator shooting a bullet into himself - it is difficult to imagine a more spectacular final chord of the largest armed conflict in human history. Meanwhile, the epic of the storming of Berlin contains quite a few curious and non-trivial nuances.

Fortress with cracked walls

Berlin was preparing for a stubborn defense for a long time, and at the end of April its defenders had something to repel attacks, although the garrison forces still did not meet their tasks. Long before the start of the final offensive of the Russians, Berlin was brutally bombed by the allies, so various shelters and fortifications were arranged in advance in the capital of the Reich. True, they protected mainly from air raids. The system of fortifications protecting against a ground offensive was built anyhow, ditches, shelters and trenches were erected without a single plan, and warehouses, by an absurd mistake, were located on the outskirts - the Russians quickly got them in the battle.

Air defense towers became a specific masterpiece of fortification - huge concrete structures in which anti-aircraft guns and shelters for thousands of people were mounted. Despite their exotic appearance and design, these structures turned out to be pretty tough nuts: not one of them was destroyed either from the air or from the ground. It was in one of these towers that the commandant of Berlin, Helmut Weidling, sat during the assault.

In addition to the towers, there were hundreds of conventional air defense positions in Berlin with anti-aircraft artillery of all calibers. These anti-aircraft guns have become perhaps the most serious obstacle to the attackers. However, on engineering structures and a powerful air defense system, the list of advantages of Berlin as a fortress was exhausted. In the city, battalions of elderly Volkssturmists were urgently created, many of whom were not young men already in the previous world war, firefighters, policemen, Hitler Youth, etc. and so on. Tens of thousands of armed men gathered in Berlin, but only a minority of them could actually be considered soldiers. Some organization was given to this horde by the remnants of the 56th Panzer Corps retreating to Berlin from the east. Numbering only 13-15 thousand soldiers and officers, the remnants of the divisions defeated on the Oder line became the core around which irregular units gathered. In total, according to various estimates, there were from 60 to 140 thousand defenders in Berlin, which, of course, is not enough for such a city.

More than 400 thousand soldiers and officers burst into the streets from the Soviet side. It should be noted that the Russians purposefully created such a favorable balance of power: the powerful 9th ​​Wehrmacht army, consisting of regular units, was cut off from Berlin in the forests south of the city, engulfed from all sides and defeated in a large "boiler". The Fuhrer had great hopes for her divisions, but at the moment when Soviet tanks entered Berlin from different sides, the 9th Army died ingloriously surrounded.

Entered the streets of Berlin Soviet armies aspired to the Reichstag. As a political center, this building, built for the German parliament, had no significance for a long time. Hitler himself was in the Reich Chancellery. However, as a massive building in the city center, the Reichstag was stubbornly held by the detachments of the Berlin garrison, it was he who was a guide for the attackers and a symbol of the defense of Berlin.

The need for a quick assault on Berlin was largely dictated by the personality of the Nazi leader. Hitler's will soldered together the remaining forces of the Wehrmacht, the Berlin garrison was too weak to pose a serious threat to the advancing. The main danger came not from the youths clutching faustpatrons in Berlin attics, but from the large regular forces of the German army outside of Berlin, capable of independent operations, so the rapid destruction of the Third Reich's "think tank" was a reasonable decision. Moreover, they carefully prepared for the offensive. Berlin was carefully filmed by aerial reconnaissance, even platoons were supplied with plans for the city.

Fight in the streets

The Reichstag did not have conquerors originally assigned to this role. For a number of reasons, as a result, the troops of the 3rd shock army, advancing on the city from the north, made their way to it. Meanwhile, on April 23, when the troops entered Berlin, the commander of this army, General Kuznetsov, was dissatisfied with the low pace of the offensive. On this day, he gave a real dressing down to the commanders of his own corps for the poor organization of the battle and the loss of control of the advancing units.

Meanwhile, the army really had objective reasons for conducting an offensive relatively slowly: it operated in a densely built-up zone against stubbornly defending units. A separate problem was the numerous rivers and canals that had to be overcome in battle. The channel itself is much less convenient for forcing than the river: the sheer walls of the embankments created problems for sappers. Nevertheless, the 3rd shock had infantry well prepared for assault operations, strong sapper units and a terrible artillery fist, so the advance was steady, albeit unhurried.

Soon, a bridgehead was captured on the other side of the Berlin-Spandauer Canal. The 150th Infantry Division, whose banner would soon be over the Reichstag, crossed the canal separately, bypassing the German resistance center. However, the Spree, which lay further in the way of the army, again slowed down the advance. Again an artillery raid, detours, the work of sappers to build crossings - and continuous sweeps of quarters from a desperately defending enemy. As a kind of training before the final assault, parts of two divisions of the 3rd shock liberated the Moabit prison, which was intended for political prisoners in the Reich.

The attack was carried out carefully and methodically. chief actor in street fighting became an assault detachment. A single staff of such a unit did not exist, detachments were put together on the fly for specific tasks, but a typical assault detachment included a rifle company or battalion, a platoon or company of sappers, a separate platoon of submachine gunners, heavy machine guns, flamethrowers, several self-propelled guns or tanks, mortars and field guns that rolled on their hands. Heavy artillery was added as needed. Such a detachment was divided into several assault groups, which, in fact, solved tactical tasks: to capture a house, a bridge, a sewer, a building, to suppress a firing point.

The meaning of this division was to create small, but heavily armed units that could not waste time asking for support, but would immediately have their own means of fighting against any enemy. The assault group had its own means to knock out a tank, set fire to what is burning, blow up what is not burning, maneuver under the cover of a smoke screen. As a rule, such a group, before the main attack, "softened" the enemy by hitting guns or tanks on embrasures and windows. Mortars suppressed the enemy in open places and cut off from anyone's attempts to come to the rescue. Passages for infantrymen were made by sappers who undermined in right places barriers and walls, then the infantry penetrated the object that they were supposed to capture. Large-caliber machine guns were placed on the upper floors of already passed buildings and hit their shooters over the head, preventing them from raising their heads. The attackers immediately sought to capture the upper floors of buildings in order to cut off the Germans trying to counterattack with fire from above, or vice versa, to prevent the garrison from escaping.

As you can see, the set of techniques is complex, requiring clear interaction. But the Soviet soldiers of 1945 were very different from themselves four years earlier, and really could show a high class assault operation.

heart of Darkness

By the evening of April 28, only hundreds of meters remained before the Reichstag. The 3rd shock came ashore on the Spree from the north, and was preparing to force it. At night, the 171st division of Colonel Negoda crossed the river and captured the bridgehead. Under the cover of artillery, Negoda achieved the main success of that night - the capture of the bridge over the Spree. The undamaged crossing became a valuable acquisition; the main forces of the 171st and 150th divisions crossed over it to the Reichstag. However, the first attempt to immediately take the Reichstag failed: several thousand German soldiers with armored vehicles, including a pair of Tigers, defended themselves on the approaches, one of which was shot down right in the middle of the square.

No one was going to storm the Reichstag at any cost, and so far the attackers have limited themselves to the adjacent Gestapo building. Only Koenigs-Platz separated the attackers from the Reichstag. The decisive assault was planned for April 30, but for now the Russians were conducting reconnaissance and pulling up the rear with artillery. In addition to the Reichstag itself, the target was the Kroll Opera, which remained on the right: from there, the Germans could threaten the flank and rear of those advancing on the Reichstag itself. The Reichstag was already becoming an island in the stormy sea of ​​the advancing Soviet troops: units of the 8th Guards Army were moving towards the 3rd shock from the south.

The final assault began at 11-30. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Russians began to bombard the Reichstag itself with guns of all calibers, including 203-mm siege howitzers. The building was stormed by units of two divisions at once. It should be noted that the rifle divisions by the end of the war were extremely small in number, and rather resembled regiments, that is, we are not talking about the participation of tens of thousands of people in the assault on one building. The first to break into the Reichstag were the soldiers of the 171st Rifle. It was they who were the first to hang the red banner in the window of the Reichstag. However, inside the attackers had to make their way through the desperately defended ruins. Here the artillery could no longer help, close combat was going on in the building. Meanwhile, while in the twilight of the Reichstag assault groups were making their way with grenades and hand weapons, there were important events nearby, in the Reich Chancellery.

On April 29, Hitler sent inquiries about where they were and what they were doing German troops outside of Berlin. He counted on salvation from the 9th and 12th field armies. The answers were disappointing for the dictator. The remnants of the 9th Army fought their way out of the encirclement to the west with difficulty and were not going to rescue the Fuhrer, the 12th Army was bogged down in battles with the barriers of Soviet troops to the west of the city, and also had no way to break into Berlin. Soviet troops at that moment were less than half a kilometer from the Reich Chancellery. These news are predetermined further developments: the unlucky conqueror of the world committed suicide.

The last Chief of the General Staff of the Reich, Hans Krebs, went to the 8th guards army to General Vasily Chuikov and began negotiations on surrender. All this was not yet known in the Reichstag. There was a fight going on inside. At least 1,500 soldiers of the garrison were driven into the basement by the Russians and now they were knocking them out with explosives and grenades. On May 1, they tried to break into the lobby, but they were met and thrown back.

It is interesting that this battle was going on when the red banner was already fluttering over the Reichstag. Moreover, the banners were hoisted on the roof of the building several times. In general, many tried to symbolically consolidate their primacy, so there were about forty different flags and banners on the Reichstag. The "classic" banner hoisted on the dome was originally hoisted by Yegorov and Kantaria from the eastern side of the building. But it was transferred to the dome a little later, on the 2nd.

“On April 30, 1945, the Fuhrer committed suicide, leaving us, who had given him the oath, to ourselves.

Do you think that, according to the Fuehrer's order, you still have to fight for Berlin, despite the fact that the lack of heavy weapons, ammunition and general position make further struggle pointless.

Every hour of your struggle increases the terrible suffering of the civilian population of Berlin and our wounded. Everyone who is now dying for Berlin is making a vain sacrifice.

Therefore, in agreement with the High Command of the Soviet Forces, I call on you to immediately end your resistance.

Weidling, General of Artillery and Commander of the Defense of Berlin.

At this time, in the Reichstag, the situation of the besieged became completely hopeless. The building was on fire. On the morning of May 2, the remnants of the garrison capitulated. In total, 2,500 German soldiers were killed in the Reichstag, another 1,650 were captured. The Krol-Opera building fell the day before, where about 850 German soldiers and officers surrendered. In turn, for the entire time of the Berlin operation, that is, not only in the city itself, but also during the breakthrough to it, the 3rd shock army lost 4244 people dead and missing.

The Reichstag became a symbol of not just a military triumph, but the end of a very long journey for the soldiers and officers who stormed it. Lieutenant Berest, whose soldiers hoisted the Banner of Victory over the dome, participated in Finnish war. Sergeant Mikhail Yegorov joined the active army in December 1944 after fighting for several years in the partisans in the Smolensk region. The biography of Meliton Kantaria was just as long and stormy - he served as a reconnaissance officer of the 150th division since December 1941. Far from random people entered the dome of the Reichstag: they really were worthy of the glory of the conquerors of Berlin. Finally, General Vasily Kuznetsov did not just fight from the very beginning: in June 1941 he made his way with the remnants of his army from the first encirclement of the war in Belarus. By some irony of fate, that army that died in the forests also had number 3.

We can say that the Reichstag in 1945 was no longer the center political power in the Reich, and it's true. However, it was his capture that became a symbol of the end of four years of suffering, and the final triumph of the winners. Whatever one may say, the Reichstag area was one of the most important nodes of the defense of Berlin, and even in a purely military aspect, its assault was important. Now, in modern non-Nazi Germany, the Reichstag has regained its old meaning - the center of German politics. The banner over the dome became not only a symbol of the end of the Third Reich, but also marked the beginning new Germany, and without exaggeration - a new order of the world.