On April 16, 1945, the last, decisive military operation of the Red Army in the Great Patriotic War began. The final destination is Berlin. It turned into a race of fronts, illuminated by the spotlights of Georgy Zhukov.

When did the war end?

The Red Army could have started the operation to capture Berlin as early as early February 1945, at least that’s what the Allies thought. Western experts believe that the Kremlin postponed the attack on Berlin in order to prolong hostilities. About the opportunity Berlin operation in February 1945, many Soviet commanders also spoke. Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov writes:

“As for risk, in war you often have to take it. But in this case the risk was completely justified.”

The Soviet leadership deliberately delayed the attack on Berlin. There were objective reasons for this. The position of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts after the Vistula-Oder operation was complicated by a lack of ammunition and fuel. The artillery and aviation of both fronts were so weakened that the troops were not able to advance. Postponing the Berlin operation, the headquarters concentrated the main efforts of the Belarusian and Ukrainian fronts on the defeat of the East Pomeranian and Silesian enemy groups. At the same time, it was planned to carry out the necessary regrouping of troops and restore the dominance of Soviet aviation in the air. It took two months.

Trap for Stalin

At the end of March, Joseph Stalin decided to speed up the attack on Berlin. What prompted him to force the issue? Fears grew among the Soviet leadership that the Western powers were ready to begin separate negotiations with Germany and end the war “politically.” Rumors reached Moscow that Heinrich Himmler was seeking, through Red Cross Vice-President Folke Bernadotte, to establish contacts with representatives of the Allies, and SS Oberstgruppenführer Karl Wolf began negotiations in Switzerland with Allen Dulles about the possible partial surrender of German troops in Italy.
Stalin was even more alarmed by a message from the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Western powers, Dwight Eisenhower, dated March 28, 1945, that he was not going to take Berlin. Previously, Eisenhower had never informed Moscow about his strategic plans, but now he went into the open. Stalin, expecting a possible betrayal by the Western powers, indicated in his response message that the areas of Erfurt-Leipzig-Dresden and Vienna-Linz-Regensburg should become the meeting place for Western and Soviet troops. Berlin, according to Stalin, had lost its former strategic importance. He assured Eisenhower that the Kremlin was sending secondary forces to the Berlin direction. The second half of May was called the potential date for the start of the main attack of the Soviet troops on the Western powers.

Whoever came first gets Berlin

According to Stalin's estimates, the Berlin operation should have begun no later than April 16 and completed within 12-15 days. The question remained open of who should capture Hitler's capital: Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov and the 1st Belorussian Front or Ivan Stepanovich Konev and the 1st Ukrainian Front.

“Whoever breaks through first, let him take Berlin,” Stalin told his commanders. The third commander of the Soviet armed forces, Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, and his 2nd Belorussian Front were supposed to advance north from Berlin, reach the sea coast and defeat the enemy group there. Rokossovsky, like the rest of the officers of his regiment, was annoyed that he would not be able to take part in the capture of Berlin. But there were objective reasons for this; their front was not ready for an offensive operation.

Zhukov's optical "miracle weapon"

The operation began at five o'clock in the morning (three o'clock in the morning Berlin time) with artillery preparation. Twenty minutes later, the searchlights were turned on, and the infantry, supported by tanks and self-propelled guns, rose to attack. With their powerful light, more than 100 anti-aircraft searchlights were supposed to blind the enemy and ensure a night attack until dawn. But in practice they had the opposite effect. Colonel General Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov later recalled that it was impossible to observe the battlefield from his observation post.

The reason was unfavorable foggy weather and a cloud of smoke and dust formed after the artillery barrage, which even the light of searchlights could not penetrate. Some of them were faulty, the rest switched on and off. This greatly hampered the Soviet soldiers. Many of them stopped at the first natural obstacle, waiting for dawn to cross some stream or canal. The “inventions” of Georgy Zhukov, successfully used earlier in the defense of Moscow, brought only harm near Berlin instead of benefit.

Commander's "oversight"

The commander of the 1st Belarusian Army, Marshal Georgy Zhukov, believed that during the first days of the operation he did not make a single mistake. The only mistake, in his opinion, was to underestimate the difficult nature of the terrain in the Seelow Heights area, where the main defensive forces and equipment of the enemy were located. The battles for these heights cost Zhukov one or two days of battle. These heights slowed down the advance of the 1st Belorussian Front, increasing Konev's chances of being the first to enter Berlin. But, as Zhukov expected, the Seelow Heights were soon taken by the morning of April 18, and it became possible to use all the tank formations of the 1st Belarusian formation on a wide front. The path to Berlin was open and a week later Soviet soldiers stormed the capital of the Third Reich.

The assault on Berlin was the final part of the offensive operation of 1945, at the end of which the Red Army captured the capital of Germany, Berlin, with the fall of which the Second World War ended. This operation began on April 25 and ended on May 2.

The beginning of the assault on Berlin

At 12 noon in 1945, the Red Army closed its ring around Berlin. It is worth noting that the main striking force in the assault was the 1st Ukrainian Front and the 1st Belorussian Front. The Nazis were firmly entrenched in their capital, with approximately 325 square kilometers under their control. The entire length of the front line was a little more than 100 km.

Organization for the Defense of the German Capital

The total number of allied formations was 200 thousand people, about 3 thousand guns and 300 tanks. The visible advantage of the Allies did not help to immediately take the city, since its defense was well prepared. It was built on the principle of heavy fire, resistance centers and strongholds. The total number of defense sectors in Berlin was 8 around the circumference and one central, not far from the “Wolf Bed” (where the leader of the Nazis, A. Hitler, was located).

In addition to a well-thought-out defense, additional difficulties during the assault on the capital were created by its stone buildings with thick walls. The buildings were not destroyed by small-caliber guns. Therefore, snipers and infantry put up fierce resistance. Residential buildings turned into huge multi-story pillboxes with machine guns, and there were a large number of barricades and anti-tank hedgehogs on the streets.

The metro played a special role in the defense of the city. The Germans knew well and took advantage of underground passages to move troops unnoticed. Therefore, it often happened that the attackers were attacked from behind, as a result of which many allies died.

Berlin was also well protected from air attacks. Almost every bombing raid by Soviet pilots was not without casualties. The German anti-aircraft guns were located in the very center of the city, which made it possible to protect any extreme point of the capital.

The wide streets of the city turned into narrow ones to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of their numerical advantage. The Nazis especially tried to defend the Spree River, which actually became one fortress. Soviet troops broke through this section with difficulty, but could not advance further, because the main strike and assault force - tanks - were helpless in the narrow streets of Berlin. They became easy prey for the Nazis. Soviet troops suffered significant losses of equipment after the breakthrough of the Spree River - about 60 tanks were disabled.

On April 27, Soviet troops managed to break through the first line of defense of the city, and they came close to the center of the capital. Under Nazi control there was a small zone 2-3 kilometers wide and 16 kilometers long. Allied troops actively bombed this area, but the Germans continued to fiercely resist: they made fruitless forays (obviously out of helplessness in understanding their fate). Adolf Hitler ordered that even boys be armed (“Hitler Jugents”). The children fought bravely, but due to inexperience and artillery fire, many of them died.

The shooting went on day and night. Soviet troops destroyed everything in their path: the buildings in which German units and equipment were located were not taken prisoner.

By the evening of April 28, the Allied troops were in the Reichstag area. The Nazis stubbornly refused to give up administrative building and at night they dropped a landing party of cadets maritime school. In history books, this operation, if you can call it that, became last operation Luftwaffe.

From April 29 to 30, thanks to the desperate actions of Captain Neustroev and Lieutenant Samonov, Soviet troops under their command captured the Moltke Bridge, and at dawn, with a desperate assault, they managed to take possession of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After capturing these key positions, the path to the Reichstag opened.

The first assault of the Red Army was unsuccessful (the landing played a role, thanks to which the number of defenders increased to 5 thousand people) and the allies suffered big losses. It was not possible to break through the defense with tanks, because at the entrance the Nazis dug a ditch filled with water, and at that time there was no large-caliber artillery near the Reichstag that could make a hole in the wall.

Soviet commanders decided to gather everyone into one garrison and attack frontally. On the evening of April 30, sappers managed to make a hole in the wall, and a group of Soviet soldiers broke into the building. The assault on the Reichstag took place simultaneously in two directions: they stormed the main entrance and the gap in the wall. Late in the evening at 22:00, Soviet soldiers under the command of Major General V. Shatilov managed to completely take possession of the first floor of the building. Now all the Nazis were doomed, because there was no longer any way to retreat. All the defenders of the Reichstag were divided into two groups - some settled in the basement, while others occupied upper floors. The operation to destroy the remaining Nazis ended on the morning of May 1, when Soviet troops raised a red flag over the Reichstag.

Negotiation

The German side initiated the negotiations; late in the evening of April 30, they asked for a ceasefire. The representative from the Soviet soldiers was General Chuikov; General Krebs arrived from the Nazi side, who spoke about the details of Hitler’s death. Adolf Hitler committed suicide with a pistol shot in the mouth, and Eva Braun followed his example. J. Goebbels, faithful until the end of his life, also shot himself. During the negotiations, Krebs read out the will of the Nazi leader, which told about the life of the Aryan leader and the reasons for the start of the war.

The request for peace was immediately delivered to Zhukov, and from him it went to Stalin, who demanded only unconditional surrender. Such demands did not satisfy the Nazis, and at 18:00 on May 1, Soviet troops resumed the assault with redoubled force. In addition to the cleansing by the infantry, constant artillery fire was carried out on the city blocks.

Surrender of Nazi Germany

Active military operations on the part of the Soviet troops led to the fact that only Tiergarten and some part of the government quarter remained under German control. In this place there was a bunker in which A. Hitler and his immediate circle were hiding.

The Soviet troops attacked in two directions - from the north and south. On May 1, an important event took place at the other end of the city - two key defense centers of the capital surrendered: the Spandau citadel and the Zoo tower, where all the German air defense was located.

On May 2, Soviet troops managed to flood the Berlin metro, thus cutting off the possibility of secretly transporting troops anywhere in the city. True, there were also casualties on the part of the civilian population who were in the metro at the time it was flooded with water. Modern scientists have not yet calculated the number of victims of this disaster.

Some say that between 50 and 15 thousand died. civilians and the wounded. The most objective figure can be considered approximately 100 people, because there were mainly military personnel in the tunnels, and the water did not spread through the metro very quickly, so many had a chance to escape. Later, documents stated that the water level did not exceed half a meter. Therefore, the debate about the atrocities of Soviet soldiers eventually ceased.

On the night of May 1st to 2nd, the radio station of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian, where the Germans persistently asked for a ceasefire and reported that they had sent a group of envoys to the Potsdam Bridge. A German officer came to the appointed place and reported on behalf of General Weidling that the German side was ready to stop resistance. As proof of his intentions to end the war, General Weidling surrendered early in the morning of May 2nd. Already at 7 am he agreed to sign a document of complete surrender. With the help of loud-speaking installations, they began to spread it throughout the city. As soon as the news of surrender reached the German soldiers, they immediately stopped resistance and surrendered.

Curiously, some units continued to resist and did not want to surrender. They decided to break through to the western part of Berlin, but were almost completely destroyed by superior forces of Soviet soldiers. The Germans chose the path to the breakthrough in the suburb of Pandau, where two bridges across the Havel River remained intact. At that time, the bridges were under the control of the Hitler Youth, who, despite the capitulation, continued to hold their positions. It is worth noting that not only soldiers took part in the breakthrough; among them there were also civilians who were afraid of Goebbels’ propaganda about the alleged atrocities of Soviet soldiers. The refugees managed to break through to the Havel Bridge, but Soviet soldiers were waiting for them there, who began the full-scale destruction of German units.

Completion of the assault on Berlin

“At one point the shooting stopped, we didn’t understand what was happening or what was going on. On May 2 at 10 o'clock we saw white sheets everywhere hanging from the windows of the Reichstag, from the Chancellery building. As if on cue, the Germans came out to surrender. With the pedantry characteristic of the Germans, the columns were divided into generals, officers and ordinary soldiers. Finally, it’s all over,” - memories of A. Bessarab, one of the participants in the storming of the Reichstag.

The last pockets of resistance were suppressed until May 7. Some Germans still managed to break through and cross the Elbe, but these were only a few. The Germans, fleeing the “atrocities of Soviet soldiers,” tried with all their might to get into the area of ​​occupation of American units. They believed that they would surrender to people who would adhere to the laws of military morality.

Results of the capture of Berlin

The result of the capture of Berlin was the further advance of Soviet troops towards the Elbe, where they managed to connect with their allies - the Americans and the British. After the fall of the capital, Germany lost a vital center of resistance, and there was only one thing left for it - complete surrender. After the successful completion of the operation to capture Berlin, Soviet troops easily defeated the last enemy groups in Czechoslovakia and Austria.

Number of victims

It is difficult to give an exact figure, since a large number of German and Soviet soldiers died under the ruins of the city, in the metro and simply went missing. Some scientists put the number at 125 thousand out of 2 million Berliners. It is known that a significantly smaller number of civilians and soldiers died from the weapons of Soviet soldiers. Even before the arrival of the Red Army, famine began in Berlin, caused by severe devastation from the bombing carried out by the Americans. They continued the bombing until April 20.

A. Orlov, Doctor of Historical Sciences noted: “history knows no examples of such short time Such an excellently fortified city was taken. Berlin was taken in 5 days! Can you imagine it? It took Soviet troops exactly 5 days to break the last center of German resistance.”

As for losses among Soviet equipment, it lost 46 combat vehicles. This is approximately 23% of the equipment available at that time. Among the tank losses, the losses here were insignificant, just some tanks got stuck in anti-tank hedgehogs or ditches, but over time they were returned to service.

The local population was not affected smaller city: they were forced by their own Germans to dig ditches, old people and teenagers were enrolled in resistance units. Accurate data on civilian casualties has not been preserved. The only thing that is known is that at the time the assault operation began, there were approximately 3 million civilians in the capital (including 500 thousand “Ostarbeiters”).

Thus, the operation to capture Berlin has no analogues in world history. After all, the capital of Germany was taken between April 23 and May 2.

Charity wall newspaper for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg “Briefly and clearly about the most interesting things.” Issue No. 77, March 2015. Battle for Berlin.

Battle of Berlin

Wall newspapers of the charitable educational project “Briefly and clearly about the most interesting things” (site site) are intended for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg. They ship free to most educational institutions, as well as to a number of hospitals, orphanages and other institutions in the city. The project's publications do not contain any advertising (only founders' logos), are politically and religiously neutral, written in easy language, and well illustrated. They are intended as informational “inhibition” of students, awakening cognitive activity and the desire to read. Authors and publishers, without claiming to be academically complete in presenting the material, publish interesting facts, illustrations, interviews with famous figures of science and culture and thereby hope to increase the interest of schoolchildren in the educational process. Please send your comments and suggestions to: pangea@mail.. We thank the Education Department of the Kirovsky District Administration of St. Petersburg and everyone who selflessly helps in distributing our wall newspapers. Our special thanks go to the team of the “Battle for Berlin” project. The Feat of the Standard Bearers" (website panoramaberlin.ru), who kindly allowed us to use the site materials for her invaluable assistance in creating this issue.

Fragment of the painting “Victory” by P.A. Krivonosov, 1948 (hrono.ru).

Diorama “Storm of Berlin” by artist V.M. Sibirsky. Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War (poklonnayagora.ru).

Berlin operation

Scheme of the Berlin operation (panoramaberlin.ru).


"Fire on Berlin!" Photo by A.B. Kapustyansky (topwar.ru).

The Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation is one of the last strategic operations of Soviet troops in the European Theater of Operations, during which the Red Army occupied the capital of Germany and victoriously ended the Great Patriotic War and the Second world war in Europe. The operation lasted from April 16 to May 8, 1945, the width of the combat front was 300 km. By April 1945, the main offensive operations of the Red Army in Hungary, East Pomerania, Austria and East Prussia were completed. This deprived Berlin of support from industrial areas and the ability to replenish reserves and resources. Soviet troops reached the border of the Oder and Neisse rivers, only a few tens of kilometers remained to Berlin. The offensive was carried out by the forces of three fronts: the 1st Belorussian under the command of Marshal G.K. Zhukov, the 2nd Belorussian under the command of Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky and the 1st Ukrainian under the command of Marshal I.S. Konev, with the support of the 18th Air Army, Dnieper Military Flotilla and Red Banner Baltic Fleet. The Red Army was opposed by a large group consisting of Army Group Vistula (generals G. Heinrici, then K. Tippelskirch) and Center (Field Marshal F. Schörner). On April 16, 1945, at 5 a.m. Moscow time (2 hours before dawn), artillery preparation began in the zone of the 1st Belorussian Front. 9,000 guns and mortars, as well as more than 1,500 BM-13 and BM-31 installations (modifications of the famous Katyushas) crushed the first line of German defense in the 27-kilometer breakthrough area for 25 minutes. With the start of the attack, artillery fire was transferred deep into the defense, and 143 anti-aircraft searchlights were turned on in the breakthrough areas. Their blinding light stunned the enemy, neutralized night vision devices and at the same time illuminated the way for the advancing units.

The offensive unfolded in three directions: through the Seelow Heights directly to Berlin (1st Belorussian Front), south of the city, along the left flank (1st Ukrainian Front) and north, along the right flank (2nd Belorussian Front). The largest number of enemy forces were concentrated in the sector of the 1st Belorussian Front, and the most intense battles broke out in the Seelow Heights area. Despite fierce resistance, on April 21 the first Soviet assault troops reached the outskirts of Berlin, and street fighting broke out. On the afternoon of March 25, units of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian Fronts united, closing a ring around the city. However, the assault was still ahead, and the defense of Berlin was carefully prepared and well thought out. It was a whole system of strongholds and resistance centers, the streets were blocked with powerful barricades, many buildings were turned into firing points, underground structures and the metro were actively used. A formidable weapon in the conditions of street fighting and limited space Faust cartridges were used for maneuver; they caused especially heavy damage to tanks. The situation was also complicated by the fact that all German units and individual groups of soldiers who retreated during the battles on the outskirts of the city were concentrated in Berlin, replenishing the garrison of the city’s defenders.

The fighting in the city did not stop day or night; almost every house had to be stormed. However, thanks to superiority in strength, as well as the experience accumulated in past offensive operations in urban combat, the Soviet troops moved forward. By the evening of April 28, units of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front reached the Reichstag. On April 30, the first assault groups broke into the building, unit flags appeared on the building, and on the night of May 1, the Banner of the Military Council, located in the 150th Infantry Division, was hoisted. And by the morning of May 2, the Reichstag garrison capitulated.

On May 1, only the Tiergarten and the government quarter remained in German hands. The imperial chancellery was located here, in the courtyard of which there was a bunker at Hitler's headquarters. On the night of May 1, by prior agreement, the Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, General Krebs, arrived at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army. He informed the army commander, General V.I. Chuikov, about Hitler’s suicide and the proposal of the new German government to conclude a truce. But the categorical demand for unconditional surrender received in response by this government was rejected. Soviet troops resumed the assault with renewed vigor. The remnants of the German troops were no longer able to continue resistance, and in the early morning of May 2, a German officer, on behalf of the commander of the defense of Berlin, General Weidling, wrote an order for surrender, which was duplicated and, with the help of loudspeaker installations and radio, communicated to the German units defending in the center of Berlin. As this order was communicated to the defenders, resistance in the city ceased. By the end of the day, the troops of the 8th Guards Army cleared the central part of the city from the enemy. Individual units that did not want to surrender tried to break through to the west, but were destroyed or scattered.

During the Berlin operation, from April 16 to May 8, Soviet troops lost 352,475 people, of which 78,291 were irretrievable. In terms of daily losses of personnel and equipment, the Battle of Berlin surpassed all other operations of the Red Army. The losses of German troops, according to reports from the Soviet command, were: about 400 thousand people killed, about 380 thousand people captured. Part of the German troops was pushed back to the Elbe and capitulated to the Allied forces.
The Berlin operation dealt the final crushing blow to the armed forces of the Third Reich, which, with the loss of Berlin, lost the ability to organize resistance. Six days after the fall of Berlin, on the night of May 8-9, the German leadership signed the act of unconditional surrender of Germany.

Storming of the Reichstag

Map of the storming of the Reichstag (commons.wikimedia.org, Ivengo)



The famous photograph “Prisoned German soldier at the Reichstag”, or “Ende” - in German “The End” (panoramaberlin.ru).

The storming of the Reichstag is the final stage of the Berlin offensive operation, the task of which was to capture the building of the German parliament and hoist the Victory Banner. The Berlin offensive began on April 16, 1945. And the operation to storm the Reichstag lasted from April 28 to May 2, 1945. The assault was carried out 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 addition, two regiments of the 207th Infantry Division were advancing in the direction of the Krol Opera. By the evening of April 28, units of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army occupied the Moabit area and from the north-west approached the area where, in addition to the Reichstag, the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Krol-Opera theater, the Swiss embassy and a number of other buildings were located. Well fortified and adapted for long-term defense, together they represented a powerful unit of resistance. On April 28, the corps commander, Major General S.N. Perevertkin, was assigned the task of capturing the Reichstag. It was assumed that the 150th SD should occupy the western part of the building, and the 171st SD should occupy the eastern part.

The main obstacle before the advancing troops was the Spree River. The only one possible way It remained to be overcome by the Moltke Bridge, which the Nazis blew up when the Soviet units approached, but the bridge did not collapse. The first attempt to take it on the move ended in failure, because... Heavy fire was fired at him. Only after artillery preparation and the destruction of firing points on the embankments was it possible to capture the bridge. By the morning of April 29, the forward 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, that same morning the Swiss embassy building, which faced the square in front of the Reichstag, was cleared of the enemy. The next goal on the way to the Reichstag was the building of the Ministry of the Interior, nicknamed “Himmler’s House” by Soviet soldiers. The huge, strong six-story 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. Over the next 24 hours, units of the 150th Infantry Division fought for the building and captured it by dawn on April 30. The path to the Reichstag was then open.

Before dawn on April 30, the following situation developed in the combat area. The 525th and 380th regiments of the 171st Infantry Division fought in the neighborhoods north of Königplatz. The 674th Regiment and part of the forces of the 756th Regiment were engaged in clearing the Ministry of Internal Affairs building from the remnants of the garrison. The 2nd battalion of the 756th regiment went to the ditch and took up defense in front of it. The 207th Infantry Division was crossing the Moltke Bridge and preparing to attack the Krol Opera building.

The Reichstag garrison numbered about 1,000 people, had 5 units of armored vehicles, 7 anti-aircraft guns, 2 howitzers (equipment, the location of which has been accurately described and photographed). The situation was complicated by the fact that Königplatz between “Himmler’s house” and the Reichstag was an open space, moreover, crossed from north to south by a deep ditch left over from an unfinished metro line.

Early in the morning of April 30, an attempt was made to immediately break into the Reichstag, but the attack was repulsed. The second assault began at 13:00 with a powerful half-hour artillery barrage. Units of the 207th Infantry Division with their fire suppressed the firing points located in the Krol Opera building, blocked its garrison and thereby facilitated the assault. Under the cover of artillery barrage, the battalions of the 756th and 674th rifle regiments went on the attack and, immediately overcoming a ditch filled with water, broke through to the Reichstag.

All the time, while preparations and assault on the Reichstag were underway, fierce battles were fought on the right flank of the 150th Infantry Division, in the zone of the 469th Infantry Regiment. Having taken up defensive positions on the right bank of the Spree, the regiment fought off numerous German attacks for several days, aimed at reaching the flank and rear of the troops advancing on the Reichstag. Artillerymen played an important role in repelling German attacks.

The scouts from S.E. Sorokin’s group were among the first to break into the Reichstag. At 14:25 they installed a homemade red banner, first on the stairs of the main entrance, and then on the roof, on one of the sculptural groups. The banner was noticed by soldiers on Königplatz. Inspired by the banner, more and more new groups broke into the Reichstag. During the day on April 30, the upper floors were cleared of the enemy, the remaining defenders of the building took refuge in the basements and continued fierce resistance.

On the evening of April 30, the assault group of Captain V.N. Makov made its way into the Reichstag, and at 22:40 they installed their banner on the sculpture above the front pediment. On the night of April 30 to May 1, M.A. Egorov, M.V. Kantaria, A.P. Berest, with the support of machine gunners from I.A. Syanov’s company, climbed onto the roof and hoisted the official Banner of the Military Council, issued by the 150th, over the Reichstag rifle division. It was this that later became the Banner of Victory.

At 10 a.m. on May 1, German forces launched a concerted counterattack from outside and inside the Reichstag. In addition, a fire broke out in several parts of the building; Soviet soldiers had to fight it or move to non-burning rooms. Heavy smoke formed. However, the Soviet soldiers did not leave the building and continued to fight. The fierce battle continued until late in the evening; the remnants of the Reichstag garrison were again driven into the basements.

Realizing the pointlessness of further resistance, the command of the Reichstag garrison proposed to begin negotiations, but with the condition that an officer with the rank of no lower than colonel should take part in them from the Soviet side. Among the officers present in the Reichstag at that time, there was no one older than the major, and communication with the regiment did not work. After a short preparation, A.P. Berest as a colonel (the tallest and most representative), S.A. Neustroev as his adjutant and Private I. Prygunov as a translator went to the negotiations. The negotiations took a long time. Not accepting the conditions set by the Nazis, the Soviet delegation left the basement. However, in the early morning of May 2, the German garrison capitulated.

On the opposite side of Königplatz, the battle for the Krol Opera building continued all day on May 1. Only by midnight, after two unsuccessful assault attempts, the 597th and 598th regiments of the 207th Infantry Division captured the theater building. According to a report from the chief of staff of the 150th Infantry Division, during the defense of the Reichstag, the German side suffered the following losses: 2,500 people were killed, 1,650 people were captured. There is no exact data on the losses of Soviet troops. On the afternoon of May 2, the Victory Banner of the Military Council, hoisted by Egorov, Kantaria and Berest, was transferred to the dome of the Reichstag.
After the Victory, under an agreement with the allies, the Reichstag moved to the territory of the British occupation zone.

History of the Reichstag

Reichstag, photo late XIX century (from the “Illustrated Review of the Past Century”, 1901).



Reichstag. Modern look(Jürgen Matern).

The Reichstag building (Reichstagsgebäude - “state assembly building”) is a famous historical building in Berlin. The building was designed by Frankfurt architect Paul Wallot in the Italian High Renaissance style. The first stone for the foundation of the German parliament building was laid on June 9, 1884 by Kaiser Wilhelm I. Construction lasted ten years and was completed under Kaiser Wilhelm II. On January 30, 1933, Hitler became head of the coalition government and chancellor. However, the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party) had only 32% of the seats in the Reichstag and three ministers in the government (Hitler, Frick and Goering). As chancellor, Hitler asked President Paul von Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call new elections, hoping to secure a majority for the NSDAP. New elections were scheduled for March 5, 1933.

On February 27, 1933, the Reichstag building burned down as a result of arson. The fire became for the National Socialists, who had just come to power, led by Chancellor Adolf Hitler, a reason to quickly dismantle democratic institutions and discredit their main political opponent, the Communist Party. Six months after the fire in the Reichstag, the trial of accused communists begins in Leipzig, among whom were Ernst Torgler, chairman of the communist faction in the parliament of the Weimar Republic, and the Bulgarian communist Georgi Dimitrov. During the trial, Dimitrov and Goering had a fierce argument that went down in history. It was not possible to prove guilt in the arson of the Reichstag building, but this incident allowed the Nazis to establish absolute power.

After this, rare meetings of the Reichstag took place in the Krol Opera (which was destroyed in 1943), and ceased in 1942. The building was used for propaganda meetings and, after 1939, for military purposes.

During the Berlin operation, Soviet troops stormed the Reichstag. On April 30, 1945, the first homemade Victory Banner was hoisted at the Reichstag. Soviet soldiers left many inscriptions on the walls of the Reichstag, some of which were preserved and left during the restoration of the building. In 1947, by order of the Soviet commandant's office, the inscriptions were “censored.” In 2002, the Bundestag raised the question of removing these inscriptions, but the proposal was rejected by a majority vote. Most of the surviving inscriptions of Soviet soldiers are in interior spaces Reichstag, now only accessible with a guided tour by appointment. There are also traces of bullets on inside left pediment.

On September 9, 1948, during the blockade of Berlin, a rally was held in front of the Reichstag building, attracting over 350 thousand Berliners. Against the backdrop of the destroyed Reichstag building with the now famous call to the world community “Peoples of the world... Look at this city!” Mayor Ernst Reiter addressed.

After the surrender of Germany and the collapse of the Third Reich, the Reichstag for a long time remained in ruins. The authorities could not decide whether it was worth restoring it or whether it would be much more expedient to demolish it. Since the dome was damaged during the fire and was practically destroyed by aerial bombing, in 1954 what was left of it was blown up. And only in 1956 it was decided to restore it.

The Berlin Wall, erected on August 13, 1961, was located in close proximity to the Reichstag building. It ended up in West Berlin. Subsequently, the building was restored and, since 1973, was used for the exhibition of a historical exhibition and as a meeting room for the bodies and factions of the Bundestag.

On June 20, 1991 (after German reunification on October 4, 1990), the Bundestag in Bonn ( former capital Germany) decides to move to Berlin to the Reichstag building. After a competition, the reconstruction of the Reichstag was entrusted to the English architect Lord Norman Foster. He managed to preserve the historical appearance of the Reichstag building and at the same time create premises for a modern parliament. The huge vault of the 6-story building of the German parliament is supported by 12 concrete columns, each weighing 23 tons. The Reichstag dome has a diameter of 40 m, weight 1200 tons, of which 700 tons steel structures. The observation deck, equipped on the dome, is located at an altitude of 40.7 m. Being on it, you can see both the all-round panorama of Berlin and everything that happens in the meeting room.

Why was the Reichstag chosen to hoist the Victory Banner?

Soviet artillerymen writing on shells, 1945. Photo by O.B. Knorring (topwar.ru).

The storming of the Reichstag and the hoisting of the Victory Banner over it for every Soviet citizen meant the end of the most terrible war in the entire history of mankind. Many soldiers gave their lives for this purpose. However, why was the Reichstag building chosen, and not the Reich Chancellery, as a symbol of victory over fascism? There are various theories on this matter, and we will look at them.

The Reichstag fire in 1933 became a symbol of the collapse of the old and “helpless” Germany, and marked the rise to power of Adolf Hitler. A year later, a dictatorship was established in Germany and a ban was introduced on the existence and founding of new parties: all power is now concentrated in the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party). The power of the new powerful and “strongest in the world” country was henceforth to be located in the new Reichstag. The design of the building, 290 meters high, was developed by Industry Minister Albert Speer. True, very soon Hitler’s ambitions will lead to the Second World War, and the construction of the new Reichstag, which was assigned the role of a symbol of the superiority of the “great Aryan race,” will be postponed until indefinite time. During World War II, the Reichstag was not the center of political life; only occasionally did speeches about the “inferiority” of Jews sound and the issue of their complete extermination was decided. Since 1941, the Reichstag only played the role of a base for the air force of Nazi Germany, led by Hermann Goering.

Back on October 6, 1944, at a solemn meeting of the Moscow Soviet in honor of the 27th anniversary of the October Revolution, Stalin said: “From now on and forever, our land is free from Hitler’s evil spirits, and now the Red Army faces its last, final mission: to complete the job together with the armies of our allies. defeat the fascist German army, finish off the fascist beast in its own lair and hoist the Victory Banner over Berlin.” However, over which building should the Victory Banner be hoisted? On April 16, 1945, the day the Berlin offensive operation began, at a meeting of the heads of political departments of all armies from the 1st Belorussian Front, Zhukov was asked where to place the flag. Zhukov forwarded the question to the Main Political Directorate of the Army and the answer was “Reichstag”. For many Soviet citizens, the Reichstag was the “center of German imperialism,” the center of German aggression and, ultimately, the cause of terrible suffering for millions of people. Every Soviet soldier considered it his goal to destroy and destroy the Reichstag, which was comparable to victory over fascism. Many shells and armored vehicles had the following inscriptions written in white paint: “According to the Reichstag!” and “To the Reichstag!”

The question of the reasons for choosing the Reichstag to hoist the Victory Banner still remains open. We cannot say for sure whether any of the theories are true. But the most important thing is that for every citizen of our country, the Victory Banner on the captured Reichstag is a reason for great pride in their history and their ancestors.

Victory Standard Bearers

If you stop a random passer-by on the street and ask him who hoisted the Banner on the Reichstag in the victorious spring of 1945, the most likely answer will be: Egorov and Kantaria. Maybe they will also remember Berest, who accompanied them. The feat of M.A. Egorov, M.V. Kantaria and A.P. Berest is known today throughout the world and is beyond doubt. It was they who erected the Victory Banner, Banner No. 5, one of 9 specially prepared banners of the Military Council, distributed among the divisions advancing in the direction of the Reichstag. This happened on the night of April 30 to May 1, 1945. However, the topic of hoisting the Victory Banner during the storming of the Reichstag is much more complex; it is impossible to limit it to the history of a single banner group.
The red flag raised over the Reichstag was seen by Soviet soldiers as a symbol of Victory, a long-awaited point in a terrible war. Therefore, in addition to the official Banner, dozens of assault groups and individual fighters carried banners, flags and flags of their units (or even homemade ones) to the Reichstag, often without even knowing anything about the Banner of the Military Council. Pyotr Pyatnitsky, Pyotr Shcherbina, the reconnaissance group of Lieutenant Sorokin, the assault groups of Captain Makov and Major Bondar... And how many more could there be that remained unknown, unmentioned in the reports and combat documents of the units?

Today, it is perhaps difficult to establish exactly who was the first to hoist the red flag on the Reichstag, and even more so to create a chronological sequence of appearance in different parts buildings of different flags. But we also cannot limit ourselves to the history of only one, official, Banner, highlight some and leave others in the shadow. It is important to preserve the memory of all the heroic standard-bearers who stormed the Reichstag in 1945, who risked themselves in the last days and hours of the war, just when everyone especially wanted to survive - after all, Victory was very close.

Banner of the Sorokin group

Reconnaissance group S.E. Sorokina at the Reichstag. Photo by I. Shagin (panoramaberlin.ru).

Newsreel footage of Roman Karmen, as well as photographs of I. Shagin and Y. Ryumkin, taken on May 2, 1945, are known all over the world. They show a group of fighters with a red banner, first on the square in front of the main entrance to the Reichstag, then on the roof.
These historical footage depicts soldiers of the reconnaissance platoon of the 674th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant S.E. Sorokin. At the request of correspondents, they repeated for the chronicle their path to the Reichstag, fought through on April 30. It so happened that the first to approach the Reichstag were units of the 674th Infantry Regiment under the command of A.D. Plekhodanov and the 756th Infantry Regiment under the command of F.M. Zinchenko. Both regiments were part of the 150th Infantry Division. However, by the end of the day on April 29, after crossing the Spree via the Moltke Bridge and fierce battles to capture “Himmler’s House,” units of the 756th Regiment suffered heavy losses. Lieutenant Colonel A.D. Plekhodanov recalls that late in the evening of April 29, the division commander, Major General V.M. Shatilov, called him to his OP and explained that in connection with this situation, the main task of storming the Reichstag fell on the 674th regiment. It was at that moment, having returned from the division commander, Plekhodanov ordered S.E. Sorokin, the commander of the regimental reconnaissance platoon, to select a group of fighters who would go in the forward chain of the attackers. Since the Military Council Banner remained at the headquarters of the 756th Regiment, it was decided to make a homemade banner. The red banner was found in the basements of “Himmler’s house.”

To complete the task, S.E. Sorokin selected 9 people. These are senior sergeant V.N. Pravotorov (platoon party organizer), senior sergeant I.N. Lysenko, privates G.P. Bulatov, S.G. Oreshko, P.D. Bryukhovetsky, M.A. Pachkovsky, M.S. Gabidullin, N. Sankin and P. Dolgikh. The first assault attempt, made in the early morning of April 30, was unsuccessful. After the artillery barrage a second attack was launched. The “House of Himmler” was separated from the Reichstag by only 300-400 meters, but it was an open space in the square, and the Germans fired multi-layered fire at it. While crossing the square, N. Sankin was seriously wounded and P. Dolgikh was killed. The remaining 8 scouts were among the first to break into the Reichstag building. Clearing the way with grenades and machine gun fire, G.P. Bulatov, who carried the banner, and V.N. Pravotorov climbed to the second floor along the central staircase. There, in the window overlooking Königplatz, Bulatov secured the banner. The flag was noticed by the soldiers who fortified themselves in the square, which gave new strength to the offensive. Soldiers from Grechenkov's company entered the building and blocked the exits from the basements, where the remaining defenders of the building settled. Taking advantage of this, the scouts moved the banner to the roof and secured it on one of the sculptural groups. It was at 14:25. This time of hoisting the flag on the roof of the building appears in combat reports along with the names of Lieutenant Sorokin’s intelligence officers, and in the memoirs of participants in the events.

Immediately after the assault, the fighters of Sorokin’s group were nominated for the rank of Heroes Soviet Union. However, they were awarded the Order of the Red Banner for the capture of the Reichstag. Only I.N. Lysenko a year later, in May 1946, was awarded the gold star of the Hero.

Makov Group Banner

Soldiers of the group of captain V.N. Makov. From left to right: Sergeants M.P. Minin, G.K. Zagitov, A.P. Bobrov, A.F. Lisimenko (panoramaberlin.ru).

On April 27, two assault groups of 25 people each were formed as part of the 79th Rifle Corps. The first group was led by Captain Vladimir Makov from artillerymen of the 136th and 86th artillery brigades, the second group was led by Major Bondar from other artillery units. Captain Makov's group operated in the battle formations of Captain Neustroyev's battalion, which on the morning of April 30 began to storm the Reichstag in the direction of the main entrance. Fierce fighting continued all day with varying success. The Reichstag was not taken. But some fighters still entered the first floor and hung several red kumacs near the broken windows. It was they who became the reason that individual leaders rushed to report the capture of the Reichstag and the hoisting of the “flag of the Soviet Union” over it at 14:25. A couple of hours later, the whole country was notified about the long-awaited event by radio, and the message was transmitted abroad. In fact, by order of the commander of the 79th Rifle Corps, artillery preparation for the decisive assault began only at 21:30, and the assault itself began at 22:00 local time. After Neustroev’s battalion moved towards the main entrance, four from Captain Makov’s group rushed forward along the steep stairs to the roof of the Reichstag building. Paving the way with grenades and machine gun fire, she reached her goal - against the background of the fiery glow, the sculptural composition of the “Goddess of Victory” stood out, over which Sergeant Minin hoisted the Red Banner. He wrote the names of his comrades on the cloth. Then Captain Makov, accompanied by Bobrov, went down and immediately reported by radio to the corps commander, General Perevertkin, that at 22:40 his group was the first to hoist the Red Banner over the Reichstag.

On May 1, 1945, the command of the 136th Artillery Brigade presented Captain V.N. for the highest government award - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Makov, senior sergeants G.K. Zagitov, A.F. Lisimenko, A.P. Bobrov, sergeant M.P. Minin. Successively on May 2, 3 and 6, the commander of the 79th Rifle Corps, the artillery commander of the 3rd Shock Army and the commander of the 3rd Shock Army confirmed the award request. However, the conferment of hero titles did not take place.

At one time, the Institute of Military History of the Russian Defense Ministry conducted a study of archival documents related to the hoisting of the Victory Banner. As a result of studying this issue, the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation supported the petition for awarding the title of Hero Russian Federation group of the above-mentioned warriors. In 1997, the entire five Makovs received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union from the Permanent Presidium of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. However, this award could not have full legal force, since the Soviet Union no longer existed at that time.

M.V. Kantaria and M.A. Egorov with the Victory Banner (panoramaberlin.ru).



Victory Banner - 150th Rifle Order of Kutuzov, II degree, Idritsa Division, 79th Rifle Corps, 3rd Shock Army, 1st Belorussian Front.

The banner installed on the Reichstag dome by Egorov, Kantaria and Berest on May 1, 1945 was not the very first. But it was this banner that was destined to become the official symbol of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The issue of the Victory Banner was decided in advance, even before the storming of the Reichstag. The Reichstag found itself in the offensive zone of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front. It consisted of nine divisions, and therefore nine special banners were made for transmission to the assault groups in each of the divisions. The banners were handed over to political departments on the night of April 20-21. The 756th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Division received banner No. 5. Sergeant M.A. Egorov and Junior Sergeant M.V. Kantaria were chosen to carry out the task of hoisting the Banner in advance, as experienced intelligence officers who had often acted in pairs, friends in battle. Senior Lieutenant A.P. Berest was sent by battalion commander S.A. Neustroyev to accompany the scouts with the banner.

During the day of April 30, Banner No. 5 was at the headquarters of the 756th regiment. Late in the evening, when several homemade flags had already been installed on the Reichstag, by order of F.M. Zinchenko (commander of the 756th regiment), Egorov, Kantaria and Berest climbed to the roof and secured the Banner on the equestrian sculpture of Wilhelm. After the surrender of the remaining defenders of the Reichstag, on the afternoon of May 2, the Banner was moved to the dome.

Immediately after the end of the assault, many direct participants in the assault on the Reichstag were nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. However, the order to award this high rank came only a year later, in May 1946. Among the recipients were M.A. Egorov and M.V. Kantaria, A.P. Berest was awarded only the Order of the Red Banner.

After the Victory, according to an agreement with the allies, the Reichstag remained on the territory of the British occupation zone. The 3rd Shock Army was being redeployed. In this regard, the Banner, hoisted by Egorov, Kantaria and Berest, was removed from the dome on May 8. Today it is kept in the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow.

Banner of Pyatnitsky and Shcherbina

A group of soldiers of the 756th Infantry Regiment, in the foreground with a bandaged head - Pyotr Shcherbina (panoramaberlin.ru).

Among the many attempts to hoist the red flag on the Reichstag, not all, unfortunately, were successful. Many fighters died or were wounded at the moment of their decisive throw, without achieving their cherished goal. In most cases, even their names were not preserved; they were lost in the cycle of events of April 30 and the first days of May 1945. One of these desperate heroes is Pyotr Pyatnitsky, a private in the 756th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Division.

Pyotr Nikolaevich Pyatnitsky was born in 1913 in the village of Muzhinovo, Oryol province (now Bryansk region). He went to the front in July 1941. Many difficulties befell Pyatnitsky: in July 1942 he was seriously wounded and captured, only in 1944 the advancing Red Army freed him from the concentration camp. Pyatnitsky returned to duty; by the time of the storming of the Reichstag he was the liaison officer of the battalion commander, S.A. Neustroev. On April 30, 1945, soldiers of Neustroev’s battalion were among the first to approach the Reichstag. Only the Königplatz square separated the building, but the enemy fired constantly and intensely at it. Pyotr Pyatnitsky rushed through this square in the advanced chain of attackers with a banner. He reached the main entrance to the Reichstag, had already climbed the steps of the stairs, but here he was overtaken by an enemy bullet and died. It is still unknown exactly where the hero-standard-bearer is buried - in the cycle of events of that day, his comrades in arms missed the moment when Pyatnitsky’s body was taken from the steps of the porch. The alleged location is a common mass grave of Soviet soldiers in Tiergarten.

And the flag carried by Pyotr Pyatnitsky was picked up by junior sergeant Shcherbina, also Pyotr, and secured on one of the central columns when the next wave of attackers reached the porch of the Reichstag. Pyotr Dorofeevich Shcherbina was the commander of a rifle squad in I.Ya. Syanov’s company; late in the evening of April 30, it was he and his squad who accompanied Berest, Egorov and Kantaria to the roof of the Reichstag to hoist the Victory Banner.

The correspondent of the division newspaper V.E. Subbotin, a witness to the events of the storming of the Reichstag, in those May days made a note about Pyatnitsky’s feat, but the story did not go further than the “division”. Even Pyotr Nikolaevich’s family considered him missing for a long time. They remembered him in the 60s. Subbotin’s story was published, then even a note appeared in “History of the Great Patriotic War” (1963. Military Publishing House, vol. 5, p. 283): “...Here the flag of the soldier of the 1st battalion of the 756th rifle regiment, junior sergeant Peter Pyatnitsky, flew up , struck by an enemy bullet on the steps of the building...” In the fighter’s homeland, in the village of Kletnya, a monument was erected in 1981 with the inscription “Brave participant in the storming of the Reichstag”; one of the streets of the village was named after him.

Famous photo of Evgeniy Khaldei

Evgeny Ananyevich Khaldey (March 23, 1917 - October 6, 1997) - Soviet photographer, military photojournalist. Evgeny Khaldey was born in Yuzovka (now Donetsk). During the Jewish pogrom on March 13, 1918, his mother and grandfather were killed, and Zhenya, a one-year-old child, was shot in the chest. He studied at cheder, began working at a factory at the age of 13, and then took his first photograph with a homemade camera. At the age of 16 he began working as a photojournalist. Since 1939 he has been a correspondent for TASS Photo Chronicle. Filmed Dneprostroy, reports about Alexei Stakhanov. Represented the TASS editorial office in the Navy during the Great Patriotic War. He spent all 1418 days of the war with a Leica camera from Murmansk to Berlin.

The talented Soviet photojournalist is sometimes called the “author of one photograph.” This, of course, is not entirely fair - during his long career as a photographer and photojournalist, he took thousands of photographs, dozens of which became “photo icons.” But it was the photograph “Victory Banner over the Reichstag” that went around the whole world and became one of the main symbols of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. The photograph of Yevgeny Khaldei “Victory Banner over the Reichstag” in the Soviet Union became a symbol of victory over Nazi Germany. However, few people remember that in fact the photograph was staged - the author took the picture only the next day after the real hoisting of the flag. Largely thanks to this work, in 1995 in France, Chaldea was awarded one of the most honorable awards in the world of art - “Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.”

When the war correspondent approached the shooting location, the fighting had long since died down, and many banners were flying at the Reichstag. But pictures had to be taken. Yevgeny Khaldei asked the first soldiers he met to help him: climb the Reichstag, set up a banner with a hammer and sickle and pose for a bit. They agreed, the photographer found a winning angle and shot two tapes. Its characters were soldiers of the 8th Guards Army: Alexey Kovalev (installing the banner), as well as Abdulkhakim Ismailov and Leonid Gorichev (assistants). Afterwards, the photojournalist took down his banner - he took it with him - and showed the pictures to the editorial office. According to the daughter of Evgeniy Khaldei, TASS “received the photo as an icon - with sacred awe.” Evgeny Khaldey continued his career as a photojournalist, photographing the Nuremberg trials. In 1996, Boris Yeltsin ordered that all participants in the commemorative photograph be presented with the title of Hero of Russia, however, by that time Leonid Gorichev had already passed away - he died from his wounds shortly after the end of the war. To date, not a single one of the three fighters immortalized in the photograph “Victory Banner over the Reichstag” has survived.

Autographs of the Winners

Soldiers sign on the walls of the Reichstag. Photographer unknown (colonelcassad.livejournal.com).

On May 2, after fierce fighting, Soviet soldiers completely cleared the Reichstag building of the enemy. They went through the war, reached Berlin itself, they won. How to express your joy and jubilation? To mark your presence where the war began and where it ended, to say something about yourself? To indicate their involvement in the Great Victory, thousands of victorious fighters left their paintings on the walls of the captured Reichstag.

After the end of the war, it was decided to preserve a significant part of these inscriptions for posterity. Interestingly, during the reconstruction of the Reichstag in the 1990s, inscriptions were discovered that were hidden under a layer of plaster by the previous restoration in the 1960s. Some of them (including those in the meeting room) have also been preserved.

For 70 years now, the autographs of Soviet soldiers on the walls of the Reichstag have reminded us of the glorious exploits of our heroes. It is difficult to express the emotions that you feel while being there. I just want to silently examine each letter, mentally saying thousands of words of gratitude. For us, these inscriptions are one of the symbols of Victory, the courage of heroes, the end of the suffering of our people.

“We defended Odessa, Stalingrad, and came to Berlin!”

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People left autographs at the Reichstag not only for themselves personally, but also for entire units and subunits. A fairly well-known photograph of one of the columns of the central entrance shows just such an inscription. It was made immediately after the Victory by pilots of the 9th Guards Fighter Aviation Odessa Red Banner Order of Suvorov Regiment. The regiment was based in one of the suburbs, but on one May day the personnel specially came to look at the defeated capital of the Third Reich.
D.Ya. Zilmanovich, who fought as part of this regiment, after the war wrote a book about the military path of the unit. There is also a fragment that tells about the inscription on the column: “The pilots, technicians and aviation specialists received permission from the regiment commander to go to Berlin. On the walls and columns of the Reichstag they read many names scratched with bayonets and knives, written with charcoal, chalk and paint: Russian, Uzbek, Ukrainian, Georgian... More often than others they saw the words: “We’ve arrived! Moscow–Berlin! Stalingrad-Berlin! The names of almost all cities in the country were found. And signatures, many inscriptions, names and surnames of soldiers of all branches of the military and specialties. They, these inscriptions, turned into tablets of history, into the verdict of the victorious people, signed by hundreds of its valiant representatives.

This enthusiastic impulse - to sign the verdict of defeated fascism on the walls of the Reichstag - gripped the guards of the Odessa fighter. They immediately found a large ladder and placed it against the column. Pilot Makletsov took a piece of alabaster and, climbing the steps to a height of 4-5 meters, wrote the words: “We defended Odessa, Stalingrad, we came to Berlin!” Everyone clapped. A worthy end to the difficult battle path of the glorious regiment, in which 28 Heroes of the Soviet Union fought during the Great Patriotic War, including four who were twice awarded this high title.

“Stalingraders Shpakov, Matyash, Zolotarevsky”

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Boris Zolotarevsky was born on October 10, 1925 in Moscow. At the start of the Great Patriotic War, he was only 15. But age did not prevent him from standing up for his homeland. Zolotarevsky went to the front and reached Berlin. Returning from the war, he became an engineer. One day, while on an excursion in the Reichstag, the veteran’s nephew discovered his grandfather’s signature. And so on April 2, 2004, Zolotarevsky again found himself in Berlin to see his name, left here 59 years ago.

In his letter to Karin Felix, a researcher of preserved autographs of Soviet soldiers and the subsequent fate of their authors, he shared his experience: “A recent visit to the Bundestag made such a strong impression on me that I did not then find the right words to express my feelings and thoughts. I am very touched by the tact and aesthetic taste with which Germany preserved the autographs of Soviet soldiers on the walls of the Reichstag in memory of the war, which became a tragedy for many peoples. It was a very exciting surprise for me to be able to see my autograph and the autographs of my friends: Matyash, Shpakov, Fortel and Kvasha, lovingly preserved on the former smoky walls of the Reichstag. With deep gratitude and respect, B. Zolotarevsky.”

"I. Ryumkin filmed here"

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There was also such an inscription on the Reichstag - not only “arrived”, but “filmed here”. This inscription was left by Yakov Ryumkin, a photojournalist, the author of many famous photographs, including the one who, together with I. Shagin, photographed S.E. Sorokin’s group of scouts with a banner on May 2, 1945.

Yakov Ryumkin was born in 1913. At the age of 15, he came to work as a courier for one of the Kharkov newspapers. Then he graduated from the workers' department of Kharkov University and in 1936 became a photojournalist for the newspaper "Communist" - the printed organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (at that time the capital of the Ukrainian SSR was in Kharkov). Unfortunately, during the war the entire pre-war archive was lost.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Ryumkin already had considerable experience working in a newspaper. He went through the war from its very first days to the end as a photojournalist for Pravda. He filmed on different fronts, his reports from Stalingrad becoming the most famous. Writer Boris Polevoy recalls this period: “Even among the restless tribe of war photojournalists, during the war days it was difficult to find a more colorful and dynamic figure than Pravda correspondent Yakov Ryumkin. During the days of many offensives, I saw Ryumkin in the advanced attacking units, and his passion to deliver a unique photograph to the editorial office, without hesitating either in labor or in means, was also well known.” Yakov Ryumkin was wounded and concussed and was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and the Red Star. After the Victory, he worked for Pravda, Soviet Russia, Ogonyok, and the Kolos publishing house. I filmed in the Arctic, on virgin lands, made reports on party congresses and a large number of very diverse reports. Yakov Ryumkin died in Moscow in 1986. The Reichstag was only a milestone in this large, intense and vibrant life, but a milestone, perhaps, one of the most significant.

“Platov Sergey. Kursk - Berlin"

“Platov Sergey Iv. Kursk - Berlin. 10.5.1945". This inscription on one of the columns in the Reichstag building has not survived. But the photograph that captured her became famous and went around a huge number of various exhibitions and publications. It is even reproduced on the commemorative coin issued for the 55th anniversary of the Victory.

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The photo was taken on May 10, 1945 by Front-line Illustration correspondent Anatoly Morozov. The plot is random, not staged - Morozov stopped by the Reichstag in search of new personnel after sending a photo report to Moscow about the signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany. The soldier captured by the photographer, Sergei Ivanovich Platov, has been at the front since 1942. He served in rifle and mortar regiments, then in reconnaissance. He began his military career near Kursk. That is why - “Kursk - Berlin”. And he himself is originally from Perm.

There, in Perm, he lived after the war, worked as a mechanic at a factory and did not even suspect that his painting on the Reichstag column, captured in the photograph, became one of the symbols of Victory. Then, in May 1945, the photograph did not catch the eye of Sergei Ivanovich. Only many years later, in 1970, Anatoly Morozov found Platov and, having specially arrived in Perm, showed him the photograph. After the war, Sergei Platov visited Berlin again - the GDR authorities invited him to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Victory. It is curious that on the anniversary coin Sergei Ivanovich has an honorary neighbor - on the other side the meeting of the Potsdam Conference of 1945 is depicted. But the veteran did not live to see its release - Sergei Platov died in 1997.

"Seversky Donets - Berlin"

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“Seversky Donets – Berlin. Artillerymen Doroshenko, Tarnovsky and Sumtsev” was the inscription on one of the columns of the defeated Reichstag. It would seem that this is just one of thousands and thousands of inscriptions left in the May days of 1945. But still, she is special. This inscription was made by Volodya Tarnovsky, a boy of 15 years old, and at the same time, a scout who had come a long way to Victory and experienced a lot.

Vladimir Tarnovsky was born in 1930 in Slavyansk, a small industrial town in the Donbass. At the start of the Great Patriotic War, Volodya was barely 11 years old. Many years later, he recalled that this news was not perceived by him as something terrible: “We, boys, are discussing this news and remembering the words from the song: “And on enemy soil we will defeat the enemy with little blood, with a mighty blow.” But everything turned out differently...”

My stepfather immediately, in the first days of the war, went to the front and never returned. And already in October the Germans entered Slavyansk. Volodya's mother, a communist and party member, was soon arrested and shot. Volodya lived with his stepfather’s sister, but did not consider it possible for himself to stay there for a long time - the time was difficult, hungry, besides him, his aunt had her own children...

In February 1943, Slavyansk was briefly liberated by advancing Soviet troops. However, then our units had to withdraw again, and Tarnovsky went with them - first to distant relatives in the village, but, as it turned out, conditions there were no better. In the end, one of the commanders involved in the evacuation of the population took pity on the boy and took him with him as the son of the regiment. So Tarnovsky ended up in the 370th artillery regiment of the 230th rifle division. “At first I was considered the son of the regiment. He was a messenger, delivering various orders and reports, and then he had to fight in full force, for which he received military awards.”

The division liberated Ukraine, Poland, crossed the Dnieper, Oder, took part in the battle for Berlin, from its very beginning with artillery preparation on April 16 until its completion, took the buildings of the Gestapo, post office, and imperial chancellery. Through all these major events Vladimir Tarnovsky also passed. He speaks simply and directly about his military past and his own sensations and feelings. Including how scary it was at times, how difficult some tasks were. But the fact that he, a 13-year-old teenager, was awarded the Order of Glory, 3rd degree (for his actions in rescuing a wounded division commander during the fighting on the Dnieper) can express how good a fighter Tarnovsky became.

There were some funny moments too. Once, during the defeat of the Yasso-Kishinev group of Germans, Tarnovsky was tasked with single-handedly delivering a prisoner - a tall, strong German. For the soldiers passing by, the situation looked comical - the prisoner and the guard looked so contrasting. However, not for Tarnovsky himself - he walked the whole way with a cocked machine gun at the ready. Successfully delivered the German to the division reconnaissance commander. Subsequently, Vladimir was awarded the medal “For Courage” for this prisoner.

The war ended for Tarnovsky on May 2, 1945: “By that time I was already a corporal, a reconnaissance observer of the 3rd division of the 370th artillery Berlin regiment of the 230th infantry Stalin-Berlin division of the 9th Red Banner Brandenburg Corps of the 5th Shock Army . At the front, I joined the Komsomol, had soldier’s awards: the medal “For Courage”, the Order of “Glory 3rd degree” and “Red Star” and the especially significant “For the Capture of Berlin”. Front-line training, soldier friendship, education received among elders - all this helped me a lot in later life.”

It is noteworthy that after the war Vladimir Tarnovsky was not accepted into Suvorov School- due to the lack of a metric and a certificate from the school. Neither awards, nor the combat path traveled, nor the recommendations of the regiment commander helped. The former little intelligence officer graduated from school, then college, became an engineer at a shipbuilding plant in Riga, and eventually its director.

"Sapunov"

panoramaberlin.ru

Perhaps one of the most powerful impressions from visiting the Reichstag for every Russian person is the autographs of Soviet soldiers that have survived to this day, the news of the victorious May 1945. But it’s difficult to even try to imagine what a person, a witness and direct participant in those great events, experiences, decades later, looking among many signatures at the only one - his own.

Boris Viktorovich Sapunov was the first to experience such a feeling in many years. Boris Viktorovich was born on July 6, 1922 in Kursk. In 1939 he entered the history department of Leningrad State University. But the Soviet-Finnish War began, Sapunov volunteered for the front and was a nurse. After the end of hostilities he returned to Leningrad State University, but in 1940 he was again drafted into the army. By the time the Great Patriotic War began, he served in the Baltic states. He went through the entire war as an artilleryman. As a sergeant in the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, he participated in the Battle of Berlin and the storming of the Reichstag. He completed his military journey by signing on the walls of the Reichstag.

It was this signature on the southern wall, facing the courtyard of the northern wing, at the level of the plenary hall, that Boris Viktorovich noticed - 56 years later, on October 11, 2001, during an excursion. Wolfgang Thierse, who was the President of the Bundestag at that moment, even ordered that this case be documented, since it was the first.

After demobilization in 1946, Sapunov came to Leningrad State University again, and the opportunity finally arose to graduate from the Faculty of History. Since 1950, a graduate student at the Hermitage, then a research fellow, and since 1986, a chief research fellow at the Department of Russian Culture. B.V. Sapunov became a prominent historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences (1974), and a specialist in ancient Russian art. He was an honorary doctor of Oxford University and a member of the Petrine Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Boris Viktorovich passed away on August 18, 2013.

To conclude this issue, we present an excerpt from the memoirs of Marshal of the Soviet Union, four times Hero of the Soviet Union, holder of two Orders of Victory and many other awards, Minister of Defense of the USSR Georgy Zhukov.

“The final attack of the war was carefully prepared. On the banks of the Oder River we concentrated a huge striking force; the number of shells alone was delivered to a million rounds on the first day of the assault. And then came this famous night of April 16th. Exactly at five o'clock it all started... The Katyushas hit, more than twenty thousand guns began to fire, the roar of hundreds of bombers was heard... One hundred and forty anti-aircraft searchlights flashed, located in a chain every two hundred meters. A sea of ​​light fell on the enemy, blinding him, snatching objects from the darkness for attack by our infantry and tanks. The picture of the battle was huge, impressive in strength. In my entire life I have never experienced an equal sensation... And there was also a moment when in Berlin, above the Reichstag in the smoke, I saw the red banner fluttering. I’m not a sentimental person, but I got a lump in my throat with excitement.”

List of used literature:
1. History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945. In 6 volumes - M.: Voenizdat, 1963.
2. Zhukov G.K. Memories and reflections. 1969.
3. Shatilov V. M. Banner over the Reichstag. 3rd edition, corrected and expanded. – M.: Voenizdat, 1975. – 350 p.
4. Neustroev S.A. The path to the Reichstag. – Sverdlovsk: Central Ural Book Publishing House, 1986.
5. Zinchenko F.M. Heroes of the storming of the Reichstag / Literary record of N.M. Ilyash. – 3rd ed. -M.: Military Publishing House, 1983. - 192 p.
6. Sboychakov M.I. They took the Reichstag: Dokum. Tale. – M.: Voenizdat, 1973. – 240 p.
7. Serkin S.P., Goncharov G.A. Standard Bearer of Victory. Documentary story. – Kirov, 2010. – 192 p.
8. Klochkov I.F. We stormed the Reichstag. – L.: Lenizdat, 1986. – 190 p.
9. Merzhanov Martyn. So it was: The last days of fascist Berlin. 3rd ed. - M.: Politizdat, 1983. – 256 p.
10. Subbotin V.E. How wars end. – M.: Soviet Russia, 1971.
11. Minin M.P. Difficult roads to Victory: Memoirs of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War. – Pskov, 2001. – 255 p.
12. Egorov M. A., Kantaria M. V. Banner of Victory. – M.: Voenizdat, 1975.
13. Dolmatovsky, E.A. Autographs of Victory. – M.: DOSAAF, 1975. – 167 p.
When researching the stories of Soviet soldiers who left autographs at the Reichstag, materials collected by Karin Felix were used.

Archival documents:
TsAMO, f.545, op.216338, d.3, pp.180-185; TsAMO, f.32, op.64595, d.4, pp.188-189; TsAMO, f.33, op.793756, d.28, l.250; TsAMO, f.33, op.686196, d.144, l.44; TsAMO, f.33, op.686196, d.144, l.22; TsAMO, f.33, op.686196, d.144, l.39; TsAMO, f.33, op.686196(box.5353), d.144, l.51; TsAMO, f.33, op.686196, d.144, l.24; TsAMO, f.1380(150SID), op.1, d.86, l.142; TsAMO, f.33, op.793756, d.15, l.67; TsAMO, f.33, op.793756, d.20, l.211

The issue was prepared based on material from the website panoramaberlin.ru with the kind permission of the project team "Battle for Berlin. The feat of the standard bearers."

Strengths of the parties Soviet troops:
1.9 million people
6,250 tanks
more than 7,500 aircraft
Polish troops: 155,900 people
1 million people
1,500 tanks
more than 3,300 aircraft Losses Soviet troops:
78,291 killed
274,184 injured
215.9 thousand units. small arms
1,997 tanks and self-propelled guns
2,108 guns and mortars
917 aircraft
Polish troops:
2,825 killed
6,067 injured Soviet data:
OK. 400 thousand killed
OK. 380 thousand captured

Great Patriotic War

Invasion of the USSR Karelia Arctic Leningrad Rostov Moscow Sevastopol Barvenkovo-Lozovaya Kharkov Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad Rzhev Stalingrad Caucasus Velikie Luki Ostrogozhsk-Rossosh Voronezh-Kastornoye Kursk Smolensk Donbass Dnieper Right Bank Ukraine Leningrad-Novgorod Crimea (1944) Belarus Lviv-Sandomir Iasi-Chisinau Eastern Carpathians Baltics Courland Romania Bulgaria Debrecen Belgrade Budapest Poland (1944) Western Carpathians East Prussia Lower Silesia Eastern Pomerania Upper Silesia Vein Berlin Prague

Berlin strategic offensive operation- one of the last strategic operations of Soviet troops in the European Theater of Operations, during which the Red Army occupied the capital of Germany and victoriously ended the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War in Europe. The operation lasted 23 days - from April 16 to May 8, 1945, during which Soviet troops advanced westward to a distance of 100 to 220 km. The width of the combat front is 300 km. As part of the operation, the following frontal offensive operations were carried out: Stettin-Rostok, Seelow-Berlin, Cottbus-Potsdam, Stremberg-Torgau and Brandenburg-Ratenow.

The military-political situation in Europe in the spring of 1945

In January-March 1945, troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, during the Vistula-Oder, East Pomeranian, Upper Silesian and Lower Silesian operations, reached the line of the Oder and Neisse rivers. The shortest distance from the Küstrin bridgehead to Berlin was 60 km. Anglo-American troops completed the liquidation of the Ruhr group of German troops and by mid-April advanced units reached the Elbe. The loss of the most important raw material areas caused a decline in industrial production in Germany. Difficulties in replacing the casualties suffered in the winter of 1944/45 have increased. Nevertheless armed forces Germany still represented an impressive force. According to the intelligence department of the General Staff of the Red Army, by mid-April they included 223 divisions and brigades.

According to the agreements reached by the heads of the USSR, USA and Great Britain in the fall of 1944, the border of the Soviet occupation zone was supposed to pass 150 km west of Berlin. Despite this, Churchill put forward the idea of ​​getting ahead of the Red Army and capturing Berlin, and then commissioned the development of a plan for a full-scale war against the USSR.

Goals of the parties

Germany

The Nazi leadership tried to prolong the war in order to achieve a separate peace with England and the USA and a split anti-Hitler coalition. At the same time, holding the front against the Soviet Union became crucial.

USSR

The military-political situation that had developed by April 1945 required the Soviet command to prepare and carry out an operation in the shortest possible time to defeat a group of German troops in the Berlin direction, capture Berlin and reach the Elbe River to join the Allied forces. The successful completion of this strategic task made it possible to thwart the plans of the Nazi leadership to prolong the war.

• Capture the capital of Germany, Berlin
• After 12-15 days of the operation, reach the Elbe River

• Deliver a cutting blow south of Berlin, isolate the main forces of Army Group Center from the Berlin group and thereby ensure the main attack of the 1st Belorussian Front from the south
• Defeat the enemy group south of Berlin and operational reserves in the Cottbus area
• In 10-12 days, no later, reach the Belitz - Wittenberg line and further along the Elbe River to Dresden

• Deliver a cutting blow north of Berlin, protecting the right flank of the 1st Belorussian Front from possible enemy counterattacks from the north
• Press to the sea and destroy German troops north of Berlin

• Two brigades of river ships will assist the troops of the 5th Shock and 8th Guards Armies in crossing the Oder and breaking through enemy defenses on the Küstrin bridgehead
• The third brigade will assist the troops of the 33rd Army in the Furstenberg area
• Ensure mine defense of water transport routes.

• Support the coastal flank of the 2nd Belorussian Front, continuing the blockade of Army Group Courland pressed to the sea in Latvia (Courland Pocket)

Operation plan

The operation plan provided for the simultaneous transition of troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts to the offensive on the morning of April 16, 1945. The 2nd Belorussian Front, in connection with the upcoming major regrouping of its forces, was supposed to launch an offensive on April 20, that is, 4 days later.

When preparing the operation special attention focused on issues of camouflage and achieving operational and tactical surprise. The front headquarters developed detailed action plans for disinformation and misleading the enemy, according to which preparations for an offensive by the troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts were simulated in the area of ​​​​the cities of Stettin and Guben. At the same time, intensified defensive work continued in the central sector of the 1st Belorussian Front, where the main attack was actually planned. They were carried out especially intensively in areas clearly visible to the enemy. It was explained to all army personnel that the main task was stubborn defense. In addition, documents characterizing the activities of troops in various sectors of the front were planted at the enemy’s location.

The arrival of reserves and reinforcement units was carefully disguised. Military echelons with artillery, mortar, and tank units on Polish territory were disguised as trains transporting timber and hay on platforms.

When conducting reconnaissance, tank commanders from the battalion commander to the army commander dressed in infantry uniforms and, under the guise of signalmen, examined crossings and areas where their units would be concentrated.

The circle of knowledgeable persons was extremely limited. In addition to army commanders, only the chiefs of army staffs, heads of operational departments of army headquarters and artillery commanders were allowed to familiarize themselves with the Headquarters directive. Regimental commanders received tasks verbally three days before the offensive. Junior commanders and Red Army soldiers were allowed to announce the offensive task two hours before the attack.

Regrouping of troops

In preparation for the Berlin operation, the 2nd Belorussian Front, which had just completed the East Pomeranian operation, had to transfer 4 combined arms armies at a distance of up to 350 km from the area of ​​​​the cities of Danzig and Gdynia to the border of the Oder River and change the armies of the 1st Belorussian Front there. Poor condition railways and an acute shortage of rolling stock did not allow full use of the opportunities railway transport Therefore, the main burden of transportation fell on motor transport. The front was allocated 1,900 vehicles. The troops had to cover part of the route on foot.

Germany

The German command foresaw the offensive of the Soviet troops and carefully prepared to repel it. From the Oder to Berlin, a deeply layered defense was built, and the city itself was turned into a powerful defensive citadel. First-line divisions were replenished with personnel and equipment, and strong reserves were created in the operational depths. A huge number of Volkssturm battalions were formed in Berlin and near it.

Nature of defense

The basis of the defense was the Oder-Neissen defensive line and the Berlin defensive region. The Oder-Neissen line consisted of three defensive lines, and its total depth reached 20-40 km. The main defensive line had up to five continuous lines of trenches, and its front edge ran along the left bank of the Oder and Neisse rivers. A second defense line was created 10-20 km from it. It was the most equipped in engineering terms at the Seelow Heights - in front of the Kyustrin bridgehead. The third stripe was located 20-40 km from the front edge. When organizing and equipping the defense, the German command skillfully used natural obstacles: lakes, rivers, canals, ravines. All settlements were turned into strong strongholds and were adapted for all-round defense. During the construction of the Oder-Neissen line, special attention was paid to the organization of anti-tank defense.

The saturation of defensive positions with enemy troops was uneven. The greatest density of troops was observed in front of the 1st Belorussian Front in a zone 175 km wide, where the defense was occupied by 23 divisions, a significant number of individual brigades, regiments and battalions, with 14 divisions defending against the Kyustrin bridgehead. In the 120 km wide offensive zone of the 2nd Belorussian Front, 7 infantry divisions and 13 separate regiments defended. There were 25 enemy divisions in the 390 km wide zone of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

In an effort to increase the resilience of their troops in defense, the Nazi leadership tightened repressive measures. Thus, on April 15, in his address to the soldiers of the eastern front, A. Hitler demanded the execution on the spot of everyone who gave the order to withdraw or would withdraw without an order.

Composition and strengths of the parties

USSR

Total: Soviet troops - 1.9 million people, Polish troops - 155,900 people, 6,250 tanks, 41,600 guns and mortars, more than 7,500 aircraft

Germany

Following the orders of the commander, on April 18 and 19 the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front marched uncontrollably towards Berlin. The rate of their advance reached 35-50 km per day. At the same time, the combined arms armies were preparing to eliminate large enemy groups in the area of ​​Cottbus and Spremberg.

By the end of the day on April 20, the main strike group of the 1st Ukrainian Front was deeply wedged into the enemy’s position and completely cut off the German Army Group Vistula from Army Group Center. Sensing the threat caused by the rapid actions of the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front, the German command took a number of measures to strengthen the approaches to Berlin. To strengthen the defense, infantry and tank units were urgently sent to the area of ​​​​the cities of Zossen, Luckenwalde, and Jutterbog. Overcoming their stubborn resistance, Rybalko’s tankers reached the outer Berlin defensive perimeter on the night of April 21. By the morning of April 22, Sukhov's 9th Mechanized Corps and Mitrofanov's 6th Guards Tank Corps of the 3rd Guards Tank Army crossed the Notte Canal, broke through the outer defensive perimeter of Berlin, and by the end of the day reached the southern bank of the Teltow Canal. There, encountering strong and well-organized enemy resistance, they were stopped.

At 12 noon on April 25, west of Berlin, the advanced units of the 4th Guards Tank Army met with units of the 47th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front. On the same day, another significant event occurred. An hour and a half later, General Baklanov's 34th Guards Corps of the 5th Guards Army met with American troops on the Elbe.

From April 25 to May 2, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front fought fierce battles in three directions: units of the 28th Army, 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies took part in the assault on Berlin; part of the forces of the 4th Guards Tank Army, together with the 13th Army, repelled the counterattack of the 12th German Army; The 3rd Guards Army and part of the forces of the 28th Army blocked and destroyed the encircled 9th Army.

All the time from the beginning of the operation, the command of Army Group Center sought to disrupt the offensive of the Soviet troops. On April 20, German troops launched the first counterattack on the left flank of the 1st Ukrainian Front and pushed back the troops of the 52nd Army and the 2nd Army of the Polish Army. On April 23, a new powerful counterattack followed, as a result of which the defense at the junction of the 52nd Army and the 2nd Army of the Polish Army was broken through and German troops advanced 20 km in the general direction of Spremberg, threatening to reach the rear of the front.

2nd Belorussian Front (April 20-May 8)

From April 17 to 19, troops of the 65th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, under the command of Colonel General P.I. Batov, conducted reconnaissance in force and advanced detachments captured the Oder interfluve, thereby facilitating subsequent crossings of the river. On the morning of April 20, the main forces of the 2nd Belorussian Front went on the offensive: the 65th, 70th and 49th armies. The crossing of the Oder took place under the cover of artillery fire and smoke screens. The offensive developed most successfully in the sector of the 65th Army, which was largely due to engineering troops army. Having established two 16-ton pontoon crossings by 1 p.m., the troops of this army captured a bridgehead 6 kilometers wide and 1.5 kilometers deep by the evening of April 20.

We had a chance to observe the work of sappers. Working up to your neck in ice water Among the explosions of shells and mines, they made a crossing. Every second they were threatened with death, but people understood their soldier’s duty and thought about one thing - to help their comrades on the west bank and thereby bring victory closer.

More modest success was achieved on the central sector of the front in the 70th Army zone. The left-flank 49th Army met stubborn resistance and was unsuccessful. All day and all night on April 21, front troops, repelling numerous attacks by German troops, persistently expanded bridgeheads on the western bank of the Oder. In the current situation, front commander K.K. Rokossovsky decided to send the 49th Army along the crossings of the right neighbor of the 70th Army, and then return it to its offensive zone. By April 25, as a result of fierce battles, front troops expanded the captured bridgehead to 35 km along the front and up to 15 km in depth. To build up striking power, the 2nd Shock Army, as well as the 1st and 3rd Guards Tank Corps, were transported to the western bank of the Oder. At the first stage of the operation, the 2nd Belorussian Front, through its actions, shackled the main forces of the 3rd German Tank Army, depriving it of the opportunity to help those fighting near Berlin. On April 26, formations of the 65th Army took Stettin by storm. Subsequently, the armies of the 2nd Belorussian Front, breaking enemy resistance and destroying suitable reserves, stubbornly advanced to the west. On May 3, Panfilov's 3rd Guards Tank Corps, southwest of Wismar, established contact with the advanced units of the 2nd British Army.

Liquidation of the Frankfurt-Guben group

By the end of April 24, formations of the 28th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front came into contact with units of the 8th Guards Army of the 1st Belorussian Front, thereby encircling the 9th Army of General Busse southeast of Berlin and cutting it off from the city. The surrounded group of German troops began to be called the Frankfurt-Gubensky group. Now the Soviet command was faced with the task of eliminating the 200,000-strong enemy group and preventing its breakthrough to Berlin or to the West. To accomplish the last task, the 3rd Guards Army and part of the forces of the 28th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took up active defense in the path of a possible breakthrough of German troops. On April 26, the 3rd, 69th, and 33rd armies of the 1st Belorussian Front began the final liquidation of the encircled units. However, the enemy not only put up stubborn resistance, but also repeatedly made attempts to break out of the encirclement. By skillfully maneuvering and skillfully creating superiority in forces on narrow sections of the front, German troops twice managed to break through the encirclement. However, each time the Soviet command took decisive measures to eliminate the breakthrough. Until May 2, the encircled units of the 9th German Army made desperate attempts to break through the battle formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front to the west, to join the 12th Army of General Wenck. Only a few small groups managed to penetrate through the forests and go west.

Assault on Berlin (April 25 - May 2)

A salvo of Soviet Katyusha rocket launchers hits Berlin

At 12 noon on April 25, the ring closed around Berlin when the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army crossed the Havel River and linked up with units of the 328th Division of the 47th Army of General Perkhorovich. By that time, according to the Soviet command, the Berlin garrison numbered at least 200 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and 250 tanks. The city's defense was carefully thought out and well prepared. It was based on a system of strong fire, strongholds and resistance units. The closer to the city center, the denser the defense became. Massive stone buildings with thick walls gave it particular strength. The windows and doors of many buildings were sealed and turned into embrasures for firing. The streets were blocked by powerful barricades up to four meters thick. The defenders had a large number of faustpatrons, which in the context of street battles turned out to be a formidable anti-tank weapon. Of no small importance in the enemy’s defense system were underground structures, which were widely used by the enemy to maneuver troops, as well as to shelter them from artillery and bomb attacks.

By April 26, six armies of the 1st Belorussian Front (47th, 3rd and 5th shock, 8th Guards, 1st and 2nd Guards Tank armies) and three armies of the 1st Belorussian Front took part in the assault on Berlin. th Ukrainian Front (28th, 3rd and 4th Guards Tank). Taking into account the experience of capturing large cities, assault detachments were created for battles in the city, consisting of rifle battalions or companies, reinforced with tanks, artillery and sappers. The actions of assault troops, as a rule, were preceded by a short but powerful artillery preparation.

By April 27, as a result of the actions of the armies of two fronts that had deeply advanced to the center of Berlin, the enemy grouping in Berlin stretched out in a narrow strip from east to west - sixteen kilometers long and two or three, in some places five kilometers wide. The fighting in the city did not stop day or night. Block after block, Soviet troops advanced deeper into enemy defenses. So, by the evening of April 28, units of the 3rd Shock Army reached the Reichstag area. On the night of April 29, the actions of the forward battalions under the command of Captain S. A. Neustroev and Senior Lieutenant K. Ya. Samsonov captured the Moltke Bridge. At dawn on April 30, the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, adjacent to the parliament building, was stormed at the cost of considerable losses. The path to the Reichstag was open.

On April 30, 1945 at 14:25, units of the 150th Infantry Division under the command of Major General V.M. Shatilov and the 171st Infantry Division under the command of Colonel A.I. Negoda stormed the main part of the Reichstag building. The remaining Nazi units offered stubborn resistance. We had to fight for literally every room. In the early morning of May 1, the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division was raised over the Reichstag, but the battle for the Reichstag continued all day and only on the night of May 2 did the Reichstag garrison capitulate.

Helmut Weidling (left) and his staff officers surrender to Soviet troops. Berlin. May 2, 1945

On May 1, only the Tiergarten and the government quarter remained in German hands. The imperial chancellery was located here, in the courtyard of which there was a bunker at Hitler's headquarters. On the night of May 1, by prior agreement, the Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, General Krebs, arrived at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army. He informed the army commander, General V.I. Chuikov, about Hitler’s suicide and the proposal of the new German government to conclude a truce. The message was immediately transmitted to G.K. Zhukov, who himself called Moscow. Stalin confirmed his categorical demand for unconditional surrender. At 18:00 on May 1, the new German government rejected the demand for unconditional surrender, and Soviet troops were forced to continue the assault with renewed vigor.

At one o'clock in the morning on May 2, the radio stations of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian: “We ask you to cease fire. We are sending envoys to the Potsdam Bridge.” A German officer who arrived at the appointed place, on behalf of the commander of the defense of Berlin, General Weidling, announced the readiness of the Berlin garrison to stop resistance. At 6 a.m. on May 2, Artillery General Weidling, accompanied by three German 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, with the help of loudspeaker installations and radio, delivered to enemy units defending in the center of Berlin. As this order was communicated to the defenders, resistance in the city ceased. By the end of the day, the troops of the 8th Guards Army cleared the central part of the city from the enemy. Some units that did not want to surrender tried to break through to the west, but were destroyed or scattered.

Losses of the parties

USSR

From April 16 to May 8, Soviet troops lost 352,475 people, of which 78,291 were irretrievable. The losses of Polish troops during the same period amounted to 8,892 people, of which 2,825 were irretrievable. The losses of military equipment amounted to 1,997 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2,108 guns and mortars, and 917 combat aircraft.

Germany

According to combat reports from the Soviet fronts:

• Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front in the period from April 16 to May 13

killed 232,726 people, captured 250,675

Disputes continue between Russian and foreign historians about when the war with de jure and de facto ended. Nazi Germany. On May 2, 1945, Soviet troops took Berlin. This was a major success in military and ideological terms, but the fall of the German capital did not mean the final destruction of the Nazis and their accomplices.

Achieve surrender

At the beginning of May, the leadership of the USSR set out to achieve the adoption of the act of surrender of Germany. To do this, it was necessary to come to an agreement with the Anglo-American command and deliver an ultimatum to representatives of the Nazi government, which since April 30, 1945 (after the suicide of Adolf Hitler) was headed by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz.

The positions of Moscow and the West diverged quite strongly. Stalin insisted on the unconditional surrender of all German troops and pro-Nazi formations. The Soviet leader was aware of the Allies' desire to preserve part of the Wehrmacht's military machine in combat-ready condition. Such a scenario was absolutely unacceptable for the USSR.

In the spring of 1945, Nazis and collaborators left their positions on the Eastern Front en masse to surrender to Anglo-American troops. War criminals were counting on leniency, and the allies were considering using the Nazis in a potential confrontation with the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). The USSR made concessions, but ultimately achieved its goal.

On May 7, the first act of surrender was signed in Reims, France, where Army General Dwight Eisenhower had his headquarters. The chief of the Wehrmacht operational headquarters, Alfred Jodl, put his signature on the document. The representative of Moscow was Major General Ivan Susloparov. The document came into force on May 8 at 23:01 (May 9 at 01:01 Moscow time).

The act was drawn up in English and provided for the unconditional surrender of only the German armies. May 7 Susloparov, without receiving instructions from headquarters Supreme Commander, signed a document with the proviso that any allied country may demand to conclude another similar act.

• Signing of the act of surrender of Germany in Reims

After the signing of the act, Karl Dönitz ordered all German formations to fight their way to the west. Moscow took advantage of this and demanded to immediately conclude a new act of comprehensive surrender.

On the night of May 8–9, in the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the second act of surrender was solemnly signed. The signatories agreed that the Reims document was preliminary, and the Berlin document was final. The representative of the USSR in Karlshorst was Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Marshal Georgy Zhukov.

Be proactive

Some historians consider the liberation of Europe by Soviet troops from the Nazi occupiers to be “a cakewalk” compared to the battles that were fought on the territory of the USSR.

In 1943, the Soviet Union solved all the main problems in the military-industrial complex and received thousands of modern tanks, aircraft and artillery pieces. The army command staff had gained the necessary experience and already knew how to outplay the Nazi generals.

In mid-1944, the Red Army, part of Europe, was perhaps the most effective land military machine in the world. However, politics began to actively interfere in the campaign for the liberation of European peoples.

The Anglo-American troops that landed in Normandy sought not so much to help the USSR defeat Nazism as to prevent the “communist occupation” of the Old World. Moscow could no longer trust its allies with its plans and therefore acted proactively.

In the summer of 1944, the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief determined two strategic directions of attack against the Nazis: northern (Warsaw - Berlin) and southern (Bucharest - Budapest - Vienna). The regions between the main wedges remained under Nazi control until mid-May 1945.

In particular, Czechoslovakia turned out to be such a territory. The liberation of the eastern part of the country - Slovakia - began with the crossing of the Red Army of the Carpathians in September 1944 and ended only eight months later.

In Moravia (the historical part of the Czech Republic), Soviet soldiers appeared on May 2-3, 1945, and on May 6 the Prague War began strategic operation, as a result of which the capital of the state and almost the entire territory of Czechoslovakia were liberated. Large-scale hostilities continued until May 11-12.

• Soviet troops cross the border of Austria during the Great Patriotic War
• RIA Novosti

Rush to Prague

Prague was liberated later than Budapest (February 13), Vienna (April 13) and Berlin. The Soviet command was in a hurry to capture key cities in Eastern Europe and the German capital and thus move as far west as possible, realizing that the current allies could soon turn into ill-wishers.

The advance into Czechoslovakia was not of strategic importance until May 1945. In addition, the advance of the Red Army was slowed down by two factors. The first is the mountainous terrain, which sometimes negated the effect of the use of artillery, aircraft and tanks. The second is that the partisan movement in the republic was less massive than, for example, in neighboring Poland.

At the end of April 1945, the Red Army needed to finish off the Nazis in the Czech Republic as soon as possible. Near Prague, the Germans guarded Army Groups “Center” and “Austria” in the amount of 62 divisions (more than 900 thousand people, 9,700 guns and mortars, over 2,200 tanks).

The German government, led by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, hoped to preserve the “Center” and “Austria” by surrendering to Anglo-American troops. Moscow was aware of the preparation by the allies of a secret plan for war with the USSR in the summer of 1945, called “The Unthinkable.”

To this end, Great Britain and the United States hoped to preserve as many Nazi units as possible. Naturally, the lightning defeat of the enemy group was in the interests of the Soviet Union. After a not without difficulty regrouping of forces and means, the Red Army launched several massive attacks on the “Center” and “Austria”.

Early in the morning of May 9, the 10th Guards Tank Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army was the first to enter Prague. On May 10-11, Soviet troops completed the destruction of the main centers of resistance. In total, over almost a year of fighting in Czechoslovakia, 858 thousand enemy troops surrendered to the Red Army. USSR losses amounted to 144 thousand people.

• A Soviet tank is fighting in Prague. 1st Belorussian Front. 1945
• RIA Novosti

"Defense against the Russians"

Czechoslovakia was not the only country on whose territory fighting continued after May 9. In April 1945, Soviet and Yugoslav troops were able to clear most of Yugoslavia from Nazis and collaborators. However, the remnants of Army Group E (part of the Wehrmacht) managed to escape from the Balkan Peninsula.

The Red Army carried out the liquidation of Nazi formations on the territory of Slovenia and Austria from May 8 to May 15. In Yugoslavia itself, battles with Hitler's accomplices took place until about the end of May. Scattered resistance by Germans and collaborators in liberated Eastern Europe lasted about a month after the surrender.

The Nazis offered stubborn resistance to the Red Army on the Danish island of Bornholm, where infantrymen of the 2nd Belorussian Front landed on May 9 with fire support from the Baltic Fleet. The garrison, which, according to various sources, numbered from 15 thousand to 25 thousand people, hoped to hold out and surrender to the allies.

The commandant of the garrison, Captain 1st Rank Gerhard von Kamtz, sent a letter to the British command, which was stationed in Hamburg, asking for a landing on Bornholm. Von Kamptz emphasized that “until this time I am ready to hold the line against the Russians.”

On May 11, almost all the Germans capitulated, but 4,000 people fought with the Red Army until May 19. Exact quantity There are no known dead Soviet soldiers on the Danish island. You can find data on tens and hundreds of people killed. Some historians say that the British nevertheless landed on the island and fought with the Red Army.

This was not the first incident in which the Allies conducted joint operations with the Nazis. On May 9, 1945, German units stationed in Greece under the leadership of Major General Georg Bentack surrendered to General Preston's 28th Infantry Brigade, without waiting for the main British forces to arrive.

The British were locked in fighting with the Greek communists, who had banded together to form the People's Liberation Army ELAS. On May 12, the Nazis and the British launched an offensive against the partisan positions. It is known that German soldiers participated in the battles until June 28, 1945.

• British soldiers in Athens. December 1944

Foci of resistance

Thus, Moscow had every reason to doubt that the Allies would not support the Wehrmacht fighters who found themselves both on the front line and in the rear of the Red Army.

Military publicist and historian Yuri Melkonov noted that powerful Nazi groups in May 1945 were concentrated not only in the Prague area. The 300,000-strong German troops in Courland (western Latvia and part of East Prussia) posed a certain danger.

“German groups were scattered throughout Eastern Europe. In particular, large formations were located in Pomerania, Königsberg, and Courland. They tried to unite, taking advantage of the fact that the USSR threw its main forces at Berlin. However, despite the difficulties in supply, the Soviet troops defeated them one by one,” Melkonov told RT.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, between May 9 and May 17, the Red Army captured about 1.5 million enemy soldiers and officers and 101 generals.

Of these, 200 thousand people were accomplices of Hitler - mainly Cossack formations and soldiers of the Russian liberation army(ROA) former Soviet military leader Andrei Vlasov. However, not all collaborators were captured or killed in May 1945.

Fairly intense fighting in the Baltic states continued until 1948. It was not the Nazis who resisted the Red Army, but the Forest Brothers, an anti-Soviet partisan movement that emerged in 1940.

Another large-scale center of resistance was Western Ukraine, where anti-Soviet sentiments were strong. From February 1944, when the liberation of Ukraine was completed, until the end of 1945, nationalists carried out about 7,000 attacks and sabotage against the Red Army.

The combat experience gained while serving in various German formations allowed Ukrainian fighters to actively resist Soviet troops until 1953.