The last defenders of the Reichstag. Storming of the Reichstag: history in photographs

The storming of the Reichstag is a military operation of Red Army units against German troops to capture the building of the German parliament.

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

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

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

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

The Red Army soldiers are advancing.

This is how they stormed the Reichmtag
The storming of the Reichstag began on the evening of April 28, when Soviet troops 150 divisions of the 1st Belorussian Front approached the Spree River in the area of the Moltke Bridge. The division's fighters were no more than a kilometer away from the Reichstag.
The width of the Spree in the area of the bridge was not very large - no more than 50 meters. However, high banks lined with granite served as an obstacle to crossing using available means. The fighters had to cross the river on a bridge that was targeted and mined.

Soviet IS-2 tanks of the 7th Guards tank brigade at the Reichstag.
The attack was preceded by artillery fire, which fired directly at enemy positions on the southern bank. Two platoons of the 756th Infantry Regiment immediately rushed to the other side, then sappers came out to the bridge.

A Soviet soldier walks past a killed SS Hauptsturmführer.
By morning, the soldiers of the 756th regiment cleared most of the Swiss embassy building and some other buildings located in the block closest to the Moltke Bridge from the enemy. Particularly fierce battles took place for the “Himmler House” - the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and for the Krol Opera Theater.
The Germans even attempted a counterattack: about 500 sailor cadets from Rostock tried to break through to the Moltke Bridge in order to cut off Soviet units on the southern bank of the Spree from the main forces. The battle turned out to be very fleeting: Soviet soldiers chopped up the cadets like cabbage.

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

A Soviet assault group with a banner is moving towards the Reichstag.
At 14.20 the first Soviet soldiers made their way through the German trenches to the southwest corner of the Reichstag. Five minutes later, our soldiers occupied the front – triumphal – entrance. The soldiers who stormed the Reichstag had to clear room by room almost blindly: the windows were walled up, and small loopholes let in very little light.

A captured German soldier at the Reichstag.
It became known from defectors that the Reichstag garrison numbers about one and a half thousand soldiers and officers, most of whom are located in the basement. At the same moment, there were almost 10 times fewer Soviet soldiers in the Reichstag. But the fascists, sitting in the dungeon, no longer had enough fortitude or dedication to make a breakthrough.
At about 16 o'clock, the Germans, trying to unblock the Reichstag, launched another counterattack from the Brandenburg Gate, but were destroyed by the forces of the 33rd Infantry Division. By 21.00, the entire second floor was cleared. At 21.50, Colonel Zinchenko, commander of the 756th regiment, reported to the commander of the 150th division, Shatilov, that the Victory Banner had been hoisted on the Reichstag dome.
Later it turned out that it was an assault group consisting of senior sergeants M. Minin, G. Zagitov, A. Lisimenko and Sergeant A. Bobrov under the command of Captain V. Makov. The assault group of Egorova and Kantaria made their way to the Reichstag dome at one in the morning on May 1.

Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria come out with a banner onto the roof of the Reichstag. Although this was not the first red banner installed on the Reichstag, it was the one that became the Victory Banner.

Victory Banner on the defeated Reichstag on May 1, 1945

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

German soldiers in Berlin surrender to Soviet troops.

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

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

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

View of the Reichstag after the end of hostilities.

Two Soviet officers on the steps of the Reichstag.

Interior of the Reichstag building.

Reichstag interior.

Reichstag interior.

Autograph of Soviet soldiers on the Reichstag column: “We are in Berlin! Nikolai, Peter, Nina and Sashka. 11.05.45.”

Autographs of Soviet soldiers.

Soviet mortar soldier Sergei Ivanovich Platov leaves his autograph.

Red Army signalman Mikhail Usachev leaves his autograph.

The son of the regiment, Volodya Tarnovsky, signs an autograph on a Reichstag column. He wrote: “Seversky Donets - Berlin,” and signed for himself, the regiment commander and his fellow soldier who supported him from below: “Artillerymen Doroshenko, Tarnovsky and Sumtsov.”

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

A British soldier leaves his autograph.

A group of Soviet officers inside the Reichstag.

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

The Reichstag building in July 1945. The picture clearly shows window openings blocked with bricks with loopholes left in them for the defense of the building. The inscription above the entrance: “Dem Deutschen Volke” - “To the German people.”

Lidia Ruslanova performs “Katyusha” against the backdrop of the destroyed Reichstag.




	Berlin, Germany
	The Red Army captured the Reichstag and installed the Victory Banner on it
Opponents
	Germany
Commanders
S. N. Perevertkin	G. Weidling
V. M. Shatilov
A. I. Negoda
Strengths of the parties
Unknown	Reichstag garrison: about 1000 people. The Reichstag area was defended by about 5,000 people.

Unknown	Destroyed: 2500 people, captured - 1650.

A military operation of Red Army units against German troops to capture the building of the German Parliament. It was carried out at the final stage of the Berlin offensive operation from April 28 to May 2, 1945 by the 150th and 171st Rifle Divisions of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front.

In preparation for repelling the Soviet offensive, Berlin was divided into 9 defense sectors. The central sector, which included government buildings including the Reich Chancellery, the Gestapo building and the Reichstag, was heavily fortified and defended by selected SS units. It was to the central sector that the armies of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts sought to break through. As the Soviet troops approached specific institutions, the command of the front and armies set tasks for the capture of these objects.

On the afternoon of April 27, the task of capturing the Reichstag was assigned to the 11th Guards Tank Corps of the 1st Guards Tank Army. However, in the next 24 hours, the tankers were unable to complete it due to strong resistance from German troops.

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

Strengths and composition of the parties

USSR

79th Rifle Corps (Major General S. N. Perevertkin) consisting of:

150th Rifle Division (Major General V. M. Shatilov)

756th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Zinchenko F. M.)

1st Battalion (Captain Neustroev S.A.)

2nd Battalion (Captain Klimenkov)

469th Rifle Regiment (Colonel Mochalov M.A.)
674th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel A. D. Plekhodanov)

1st Battalion (Captain Davydov V.I.)

2nd battalion (Major Logvinenko Ya. I.)

328th Artillery Regiment (Major G. G. Gladkikh)
1957th Anti-Tank Regiment

171st Rifle Division (Colonel Negoda A.I.)

380th Infantry Regiment (Major Shatalin V.D.)

1st battalion (senior lieutenant Samsonov K. Ya.)

525th Infantry Regiment
713th Rifle Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel M. G. Mukhtarov)
357th Artillery Regiment

207th Infantry Division (Colonel Asafov V.M.)

597th Rifle Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel I. D. Kovyazin)
598th Infantry Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel A. A. Voznesensky)

Attached parts:

86th heavy howitzer artillery brigade (Colonel Sazonov N.P.)
104th high-power howitzer brigade (Colonel P. M. Solomienko)
124th High Power Howitzer Brigade (Colonel Gutin G.L.)
136th Cannon Artillery Brigade (Colonel Pisarev A.P.)
1203rd self-propelled artillery regiment
351st Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
23rd Tank Brigade (Colonel S.V. Kuznetsov)

tank battalion (Major I. L. Yartsev)

tank battalion (captain Krasovsky S.V.)

88th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel P. G. Mzhachikh)
85th Tank Regiment

Germany

Part of the forces of the 9th Berlin Defense Sector.
Combined battalion of naval school cadets from Rostock

In total, the Reichstag area was defended by about 5,000 people. Of these, the Reichstag garrison numbered about 1,000 people.

Progress of the battle

April 28

By the evening of April 28, units of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army occupied the Moabit area and from the northwest approached the area where, in addition to the Reichstag, the building of the Ministry of 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.

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

In front of the advancing troops lay another water barrier - the Spree River. Its three-meter reinforced concrete banks excluded the possibility of crossing using available means. The only way to the southern bank was through the Moltke Bridge, which, when Soviet units approached, was blown up by German sappers, but did not collapse, but was only deformed. At both ends the bridge was covered with reinforced concrete walls one meter thick and about one and a half meters high. It was not possible to capture the bridge on the move, since all approaches to it were shot through with multi-layered machine gun and artillery fire. It was decided to undertake a second assault on the bridge after careful preparation. Powerful artillery fire destroyed the firing points in the buildings on the Kronprinzen-Ufer and Schlieffen-Ufer embankments and suppressed the German batteries that were shelling the bridge.

April 29

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, Soviet units began fighting for the block located southeast of the Moltke Bridge. Among other buildings in the quarter there was the building of the Swiss embassy, which faced the square in front of the Reichstag and was important element V common system German defense. That same morning, the Swiss embassy building was cleared of the enemy by the companies of Senior Lieutenant Pankratov and Lieutenant M.F. Grankin. 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. It was a huge six-story building that occupied an entire block. The solid stone building was additionally adapted for defense. To capture Himmler's house at 7 o'clock in the morning, powerful artillery preparation was carried out, immediately after which Soviet soldiers rushed to storm the building. 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 open.

April 30

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 was a real fortress. The windows and doors of the building were blocked with red brick, and embrasures were left in the masonry for machine-gun fire. From north to south, Königplatz was crossed by a deep ditch filled with water. Between the ditch and the Reichstag there were two rows of trenches connected to each other and the building by communication passages. In front of the Reichstag façade, four batteries of 105-mm guns and one of 88-mm guns were placed under direct fire. The defenders were supported by artillery units, tanks and assault guns, located in the Tiergarten park and at the Brandenburg Gate. The Reichstag area was defended by a 5,000-strong garrison.

The attempt made on the morning of April 30 to take possession of the Reichstag on the move was unsuccessful. The attack by units of the 756th and 674th regiments was repelled by heavy fire from the Reichstag and the Krol Opera.

The second assault was scheduled for 13:00. The infantry actions were to be preceded by a 30-minute artillery preparation. To carry it out, all the artillery of the 674th and 756th regiments of the 150th Infantry Division, part of the artillery of the 171st Infantry Division and several artillery units of corps subordination were allocated. By this time, Soviet sappers had cleared and strengthened the Moltke Bridge, damaged by the explosion, so that it could withstand heavy equipment. Some of the guns and tanks were transported to the southern bank of the Spree and aimed directly at the Reichstag. Only 89 barrels were placed for direct fire. They were to play a major role in the destruction of fortifications and suppression of firing points in the Reichstag. There was not enough free and relatively safe space to accommodate such a number of fire weapons, so some of the artillery had to be dragged to the second floor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs building. If necessary, the entire artillery of the 79th Rifle Corps - over 1000 barrels - could be brought in to suppress enemy fire.

All the time while preparations and the assault on the Reichstag were underway, fierce battles took place 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. In these battles, the commander of the artillery fire platoon of the 469th Infantry Regiment, I. F. Klochkov, distinguished himself, and was later awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.

By noon, rifle units, under cover of artillery fire, took up their starting position for the assault. At 13:00, all guns intended to support the infantry opened fire on the Reichstag, adjacent fortifications and firing points. Participating in general artillery preparation, tanks from the 23rd Tank Brigade, 85th Tank Regiment and 88th Heavy Tank Regiment fired at the Reichstag. 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 Infantry Regiments went on the attack and, immediately overcoming a ditch filled with water, began a battle in trenches and trenches in front of the Reichstag.

At 14:25 on April 30, 1945, Lieutenant Rakhimzhan Koshkarbaev and Private Grigory Bulatov crawled on their bellies to the central part of the building and attached a red flag to a column near the main entrance stairs. V. M. Shatilov recalls:

According to the memoirs of Alexander Bessarab, at the same time, through a breach in the northwestern wall of the Reichstag, made by sappers of the 171st Infantry Division, a group of Soviet soldiers burst into the building from the north.

Late in the evening of April 30, 1945, the 1st battalion of the 756th rifle regiment under the command of captain S. A. Neustroev, the 1st battalion of the 674th rifle regiment under the command of captain V. I. Davydov and the 1st battalion of the 380th rifle regiment The regiment under the command of Senior Lieutenant K. Ya. Samsonov captured the main part of the Reichstag. Separate groups under the command of Major M. M. Bondar and Captain V. N. Makov, tankmen of the 23rd Tank Brigade, also took part in the assault on the building.

On the evening of April 30, an assault group consisting of senior sergeants M.P. Minin, G.K. Zagitov, A.F. Lisimenko and Sergeant A.P. Bobrov, under the command of Captain V.N. Makov, broke into the Reichstag building. Unnoticed by the enemy, they found a locked door and knocked it down with a log; going up to the attic, the group through dormer window made her way onto the roof above the western (front) gable of the building. At 22:40 they placed the Red Banner in the hole in the crown of the sculpture of the Goddess of Victory.

Having lost upper floors, the Nazis took refuge in the basement and continued to resist, hoping to break out of the encirclement, cutting off the Soviet soldiers who were in the Reichstag from the main forces.

1st of May

Early in the morning of May 1, A.P. Berest, M.A. Egorov and M.V. Kantaria, with the support of machine gunners from I.A. Syanov’s company, hoisted the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division over the Reichstag, which later became the Victory Banner.

At 10 a.m. on May 1, German forces launched a concerted counterattack from outside and inside the Reichstag. From the Brandenburg Gate, the positions of the 674th regiment were attacked by up to 300 Nazis, supported by a dozen tanks. At the same time, the German units remaining in the Reichstag went on the attack. Exploding cartridges caused a fire to break out in several places in the building, which soon engulfed the entire first floor. Soviet soldiers had to fight the enemy and at the same time fight fire.

The battle in the burning building continued until late in the evening. Only after a successful attack to the rear of the German units, the soldiers of S. A. Neustroev managed to drive the Nazis into basements. Realizing the pointlessness of further resistance, the command of the Reichstag garrison proposed to begin negotiations 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.

Therefore, it was decided to send the tall and representative Lieutenant A. Berest to the negotiations, having previously dressed him in the uniform of a colonel. After a short preparation, A. Berest as a colonel, S. A. Neustroev as his adjutant and Private I. Prygunov as a translator went to negotiations. Negotiations began with A. Berest’s proposal to surrender. In response, the German parliamentarians announced the garrison’s readiness to lay down their arms, but on the condition that the Soviet soldiers leave their firing positions. They explained their condition by fearing that the Red Army soldiers, heated by the battle, would carry out lynchings against those who surrendered. The Soviet "colonel" categorically rejected this proposal and demanded unconditional surrender. After this, the Soviet delegation left the basement. Only in the early morning of May 2 did the German garrison capitulate.

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 attempts assault, the 597th and 598th regiments of the 207th Infantry Division took possession of the theater building and hoisted over it a red flag received from the Military Council of the 3rd Shock Army. From the Krol Opera garrison, 850 German soldiers and officers surrendered.

Losses

Germany

According to a report from the chief of staff of the 150th Infantry Division, during the capture of the Reichstag, 2,500 people were killed and 1,650 people were captured.

USSR

There is no exact data on the losses of Soviet troops incurred during the storming of the Reichstag. It is known that on April 29, the 150th Infantry Division lost 18 people killed and 50 wounded, the 171st Infantry Division - 14 killed and 31 wounded. In his memoirs, F. M. Zinchenko indicates that in the battles for the Reichstag, the division lost 63 people killed and 398 wounded.

At the memorial cemetery in Berlin, Tiergarten park, 300 m from the Brandenburg Gate and the Reistag, 2,500 Soviet soldiers are buried, incl. those who died after the war.

From April 28 to May 2, 1945, forces The 150th and 171st rifle divisions of the 79th rifle corps of the 3rd shock army of the 1st Belorussian Front carried out an operation to capture the Reichstag. To this event, my friends, I dedicate this photo collection.
_______________________

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

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

3. Soviet cargo and cars on a destroyed street in Berlin. The Reichstag building can be seen behind the ruins.

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

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

7. A group of Soviet officers inside the Reichstag.

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

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

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

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

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

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

14. The Reichstag building in July 1945.

15. Interior of the Reichstag building after Germany’s defeat in the war. On the walls and columns are inscriptions left by Soviet soldiers.

16. Interior of the Reichstag building after Germany's defeat in the war. On the walls and columns are inscriptions left by Soviet soldiers. The photo shows the southern entrance of the building.

17. Soviet photojournalists and cameramen near the Reichstag building.

18. The wreckage of an inverted German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter with the Reichstag in the background.

19. Autograph of Soviet soldiers on the Reichstag column: “We are in Berlin! Nikolai, Peter, Nina and Sashka. 11.05.45.”

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

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

23. Soviet soldiers on the square near the Reichstag.

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

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

26. Mikhail Egorov and Meliton Kantaria come out with a banner onto the roof of the Reichstag.

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

28. The famous Soviet singer Lydia Ruslanova performs “Katyusha” against the backdrop of the destroyed Reichstag.

29. The son of the regiment, Volodya Tarnovsky, signs an autograph on a Reichstag column.

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

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

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

33. Banner of Victory over the Reichstag.

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

Author
Vadim Ninov

The traces of the Nazis from the Reichstag were lost without a trace. Only from German archives can our historians restore the truth and the exact number of defenders.

Hero of the Soviet Union S. Neustroyev

In Soviet historiography, the storming of the Reichstag and the hoisting of the red flag on it became the culminating event of the entire Great Patriotic War. These events have become an absolute and indisputable symbol, glorified in art, textbooks and memoirs. In the Russian Federation it is legally determined that "The Victory Banner is the official symbol of the victory of the Soviet people and their Armed Forces above Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, a state relic of Russia".

Such a significant and unprecedented topic should be written down in history in great detail, for the edification of future generations. However, what do we know about the storming of the Reichstag? Through the efforts of Soviet official historiography, we know very little - fragmentary and distorted Soviet memoirs and confusing presentation in official sources. The words of the battalion commander who broke into the Reichstag, spoken by him in his declining years, serve as a verdict on all official Soviet historiography. Almost half a century later, S. Neustroev still did not really know with whom, in fact, he was fighting. During all this time, scientific teams led by professors and academicians never bothered to study and publish the details of the storming of the Reichstag. And if the actions of the Soviet side today can be quite accurately reconstructed, then the quantitative and qualitative composition of the Germans, not to mention the details, through the efforts of Soviet historiography remain a terra incognita.

Lieutenant Colonel S. Neustroev understood what the high ranks did not want to understand: "Only from German archives can our historians restore the truth and the exact number of defenders". To this day, the truth has not been restored, and German numbers are unknown - only confused stories and unconfirmed allegations.

However, not everything can be found out from German archives. IN last days During the battles for Berlin, the German defense was improvised, and much was no longer recorded on paper. Was there an opportunity, as Neustroyev said, to “restore the truth”? Of course, the Soviet side had such an opportunity, and given the special attitude towards the storming of the Reichstag, it was simply necessary to do so. The defense headquarters of the capital of the Third Reich, headed by a commander and documents to boot, was in the hands of the Red Army. What was not included in the documents could be clarified from German prisoners who spent up to 10 years in Soviet captivity. After the war, many former prisoners returned to the GDR, which was under Soviet influence. And finally, if desired, no one bothered to collect information from German veterans living in Germany. The Reichstag area is not like that large plot so that it cannot be thoroughly studied. There would be a desire.

20 years after the end of the war, the monumental 6-volume work “History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, 1941-1945” was published in the USSR. The compilation of this opus was carried out not by anyone, but by the special department of the history of the Second World War of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU. This department had the broadest powers, and the authors included senior military officials Soviet army. And what do we see there? We see the total collapse of Soviet official historiography. In the section dedicated to the assault on Berlin, stunning maps are laid out, where specific Soviet units are indicated, but German ones are not marked at all! Just a blue line and an inscription - "Remains of the 9th Army. Volkssturm battalions". And there are no more questions about who, how many and where - historians highest rank everything is clearly calculated - “remains”. And on the map of the storming of the Reichstag it is even more laconic - blue lines and an inscription "about 5,000 enemy soldiers and officers". The "Volkssturm battalions" have already disappeared somewhere. And think what you want. This is all that official Soviet historiography of the highest rank has mastered in 23 years of fruitful work after the war. Needless to say, this is not how military maps are drawn and history is not written. So history is kept silent. In subsequent official publications, the presentation remained at the same “residual” level of penetration and reliability. The Soviet side in the Berlin issue was generally prone to strong exaggerations and distortions, both in military documents and in post-war works. Minimum information content - maximum pathos. Exalt, not study; to be proud, and not to know - that’s what Soviet historians were guided by.

Western individual historians, unlike Soviet historical institutes and professors, did not have similar access to information and funding. As a result, today there is no reliable and complete picture of the German forces defending the Reichstag area.

And yet we will try to reconstruct the forces of the Reichstag defenders, relying on Soviet and Western sources, as well as film and photographic materials. After the battles, heavy weapons remained standing near the Reichstag for quite a long time and were recorded by journalists and amateurs in photographs and film. Unfortunately, this is the only relatively reliable evidence of what the Reichstag defenders had.

Analyzing the heavy German weapons caught in the frame near the Reichstag, you need to remember that relatively close, in the Tiergarten park, there was a collection point for broken equipment. After the end of the fighting, she was dragged there along the roads near the Reichstag, and the immediate route depended on where it was most convenient to do it at the moment, i.e. where there is less blockage, damage to the roadway, people and equipment. Thus, the frame could have captured vehicles that did not fight at the Reichstag, but were transported to the collection site for scrap equipment in Tiergarten. Today we can talk about the following German forces at the Reichstag:

1 x tank Tiger ( Pz.Kpfw. VI), Panzer Division Müncheberg (Panzer-Division Müncheberg)

1 x tank Royal Tiger ( Pz.Kpfw. VI B), 503rd SS Heavy Tank Battalion (schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 503)

1 x 20mm ZSU ( 2 cm Flak-Vierling 38 auf Selbstlafette)

1 x anti-tank vehicle Wanze ( Borgward B IV Ausführung mit Raketenpanzerbüchse 54, Wanze)

1 X StuG IV -

1 X Jagdpanzer IV/70(A) - it is not known whether he participated in the defense of the Reichstag

8 x 8mm anti-aircraft guns ( Flak 37)

2 x 150mm howitzers ( 15 cm sFH 18) - probably did not participate in the direct defense of the Reichstag

All these objects were positioned and plotted on an aerial photograph. Below is a photo of them and a brief note.

Attention! Interactive image.
The circles with numbers represent the location of heavy weapons in front of the Reichstag.
Click on them and read in more detail.

The location of German heavy weapons in the defense of the Reichstag.

Wanze near the Reichstag, Berlin, 1945. Approximately 165m from the northwest corner of the Reichstag.

On general scheme designated

This Borgward B IV Ausführung mit Raketenpanzerbüchse 54 anti-tank vehicle is located approximately 150m northwest of the Reichstag. The vehicle was badly damaged - an explosion in the engine compartment, the right track was torn off, the armored shield with six grenade launchers was missing... This Wanze is one of about 56 produced. Their more or less noticeable use occurred precisely during the Berlin battles. To the right in front of the car (in azimuth at 2 o'clock) the hospital bunker is clearly visible.

2 cm Flak-Vierling 38 auf Selbstlafette (Sd.Kfz.7/1)

Quadruple 20mm anti-aircraft gun on a self-propelled carriage - 2 cm Flak-Vierling 38 auf Selbstlafette (Sd.Kfz.7/1), approximately 60 meters west of the southwestern corner of the Reichstag.

In the general diagram it is indicated

The same quad 20mm anti-aircraft gun on a self-propelled carriage - 2 cm Flak-Vierling 38 auf Selbstlafette (Sd.Kfz.7/1), approximately 60 meters west of the southwestern corner of the Reichstag.

In the general diagram it is indicated

StuG IV

StuG IV near the Reichstag, Berlin, 1945. Approximately 30m from the southern wall, standing on the parapet of the trench.

In the general diagram it is indicated

The picture shows StuG IV 32-35m from the southern wall of the Reichstag, in the center. The starboard side and part of the stern of the self-propelled gun are visible, and the forehead is turned to the east. The right caterpillar stands on the parapet of the trench. It is noteworthy that the StuG IV does not have a barrel. It remains a mystery how the self-propelled gun lost it and whether it participated in the defense of the Reichstag. One can only make a number of assumptions. StuG IV lost its barrel in the battle of the Reichstag; or the barrel was lost even earlier, and the self-propelled gun fought at the Reichstag as a machine gun point against infantry; or a damaged car, without a trunk, was used as an improvised tractor. There are a lot of options, even to the point that the StuG ended up at the Reichstag and was captured on camera when military equipment was removed from the streets after the battles. One of the collection points for broken equipment was located in Tiergarten.

It is impossible to say reliably that this StuG IV fought near the Reichstag.

To the left of the StuG IV is an Opel Blitz with a kung. Rear side door the kunga was torn out.

In general, it is noteworthy that in almost the same place, near the Reichstag there were two self-propelled guns without barrels (see below).

Jagdpanzer IV

Jagdpanzer IV/70(A) near the Reichstag.

The top photo was taken in March 1945, before the fighting. It shows a car approximately 28m south of the southeast corner of the Reichstag (circled).

The bottom photo is after the battles.

In the general diagram it is indicated

Jagdpanzer IV/70(A), or as it was also designated Pz IV/70(A), (Sd Kfz 162/1) is located approximately 28m south of the southeast corner of the Reichstag. A remarkable detail is that the tank does not have a barrel. It can be assumed that this Jagdpanzer IV took part in the battles at the Reichstag, where it was damaged and lost its gun.

However, an earlier photograph taken from the air shows how a certain car stands in the same place, facing the Reichstag in the same way. It is not possible to determine the exact type of machine, but the location and rotation angle are identical. Therefore, we can put forward a second assumption that this Jagdpanzer IV without a barrel ended up at the indicated place near the Reichstag even before the start of the fighting. However, since it was damaged, it remained standing there all this time and did not participate in the battles for the Reichstag.

The question of how he ended up in that place, if he did not fight, is quite prosaic. For comparison, even in the courtyard of the Reich Chancellery after the battles, outdated armored vehicles remained under the jurisdiction of the Police. In the Police itself, they were part of the Technische Nothilfe - the formation that was responsible for quick repair and the functioning of objects of mass necessity (water supply, gas, etc.) Since Berlin was constantly subjected to bombing, accompanied by fires and building collapses, Technische Nothilfe employees were in dire need of equipment capable of protecting them in extreme conditions. It is possible that the damaged Jagdpanzer IV, on which it was not possible to repair the gun, was transferred, for example, to the Technische Nothilfe, where it finally failed and stood at the Reichstag during the battles. By the way, the Reichstag area was subject to heavy air raids and there was something to repair there.

Let's take a closer look. In the photo everything looks like fog, but in reality it is smoke and red dust from the ruins. The red dust that was everywhere in Berlin was noted by many participants in those bloody events. Let's look at the picture in detail - that fraction of a second that it took for the camera to take the picture left a lot for descendants interesting moments, some, just a few, of which we will look.

The frame shows the area between the Brandenburg Gate (in the background) and the Reichstag (from where the photo was taken).

Jagdpanzer IV/70(A) near the Reichstag.

Obviously the same Jagdpanzer IV/70(A) in the lower left corner of the picture. The left sloth and the absence of a caterpillar are clearly visible. Perhaps the vehicle belonged to the Müncheberg Panzer Division.

In the general diagram it is indicated

PzKpfw VI #323

Between the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag was a Tiger with tactical number 323, from the Muncheberg division.

Between the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag there was a Tiger with tactical number 323, from the Muncheberg division.

In the general diagram it is indicated

PzKpfw VI B

The Royal Tiger of the SS Unterscharführer Georg Diers from SS sPzAbt 503 took part in the battles at the Reichstag. The Reichstag does not have photographs of this tank, but Dirs himself has preserved his memories. On April 30, 1945, he received orders to arrive at the Reichstag and on the same day entered into battle with Soviet tanks. On May 1, 1945, this tank fought in the area of the Reichstag - Brandenburg Gate - Triumphal Column. He took part in the counterattack to Krol-Opera, where the Germans were still holding out. Around 19:00, Diers received orders to withdraw from the area to participate in the breakout of the remaining troops from Berlin.

indicated on the general diagram

Flak #1

Flak #1
This Flak 37 anti-aircraft gun stood approximately 120 meters from the front of the Reichstag, opposite the first and second windows to the left of the main entrance. The cannon could effectively shoot through the Soviet advance along the Moltke Bridge. The distance from this gun to the barricade blocking the exit from the Moltke Bridge is about 440 meters.

In the general diagram it is indicated

Flak #2

Flak #2
This Flak 37 is approximately 100 meters from the front of the Reichstag, opposite the right edge of the main staircase. The cannon could fire towards the Moltke Bridge. The distance from this gun to the barricade blocking the exit from the Moltke Bridge is about 477 meters.

In the general diagram it is indicated

Flak #3

Flak 37 is indicated on the general diagram

Flak #4

Flak #4
Flak 37 was located on the opposite side of the moat from the Reichstag, just next to the bridge, approximately 205m west of the southwest corner of the Reichstag.

In the general diagram it is indicated

A few traces of that deadly mistake have been preserved - they have been carefully restored and are under special protective glass. Today, 159 graffiti in Cyrillic can be seen in the Berlin Reichstag building - mainly in the northern and eastern corridors, as well as in the southwestern stairwell. In addition to inscriptions like “We lived to see the ruins of Berlin and are very happy,” there are also obscene phrases like “I fucked Hitler in the ass!”

But much more important are those few inscriptions that explain why the last battle of the Third Reich unfolded around the Reichstag building. “We were in the Reichstag, Hitler’s cave!” Captain Kokyushkin and Senior Lieutenant Krasnikov scrawled on May 15, 1945 on the wall next to the stairs. Captain Katnikov was even more succinct, leaving an inscription in the eastern corridor: “Shameful death. Hitler's hideout."

The Red Army soldiers probably considered the neo-Baroque parliament building to be the heart of the Third Reich, so they rushed to conquer it, without looking back at the possible casualties in their ranks. “The Reichstag has practically become a place of pilgrimage,” noted Soviet war writer Konstantin Simonov on May 2, 1945, about the appeal of the smoking ruins to his comrades.

Already on April 29, 1945, the first Soviet troops made their way from the northwest to the Reichstag building. On the afternoon of April 30, after hours of artillery shelling, soldiers of the 380th, 756th and 674th Soviet infantry regiments began an assault on the smoking ruins. The Red Army received an order to take the parliament building as a symbol of victory, and this was supposed to happen before May 1, the second most important Soviet holiday.

Colonel Zhinchenko, one of the regimental commanders, later described those days in his memoirs with a propaganda touch: “For me there is only one order - the flag must fly over the Reichstag!”

However, although it was heavily damaged, thanks to the massive construction inside it was still a solid building, which was defended by Wehrmacht and SS units. They desperately and tactically competently resisted the Red Army soldiers storming the building, then retreated to the basement. It is unknown how many people died during the militaryly senseless storming of the Reichstag. At least 2,000 Soviet soldiers and several hundred Germans.

For the first time, red moisture was hung on April 30, 1945, at about 11 pm, from a window on the second floor of the building - but the fighting still continued, people continued to die. Only in the afternoon of May 1st last defenders came out of the basements, apparently along the heating tunnel to the Spree. In the first half of the day on May 2, war photojournalist Evgeniy Khaldey took the very photograph that became a symbol of the Battle of Berlin - two Red Army soldiers hoisted a fluttering red banner on the roof of the Reichstag.

The huge amount of blood shed during the capture of the Reichstag building was especially senseless, since the Reichstag never served as a shelter for the German dictator, was not his “cave.” Hitler's bunker was located in the garden of the Reich Chancellery, about a kilometer to the southeast. Until the very last moment its location was unknown to the Red Army soldiers. Only on May 2, Soviet nurses, in search of trophies, stumbled upon an underground structure, and only a week later the location of the Fuhrer’s bunker became known.

The Reichstag was never Hitler's refuge; the leader of the NSDAP appeared in this building only a few times throughout his life. Although he was close to the architecture of Paul Wallot, he despised this building as a symbol of parliamentarism and the Weimar Republic.

According to the history of the party, the Fuhrer never appeared in the building built in 1894 before his appointment as Chancellor - but this was not true. It is known that on March 13, 1925, the party leader, together with seven deputies of the People's Party, visited a restaurant located in the Reichstag. But this was his only visit until January 30, 1933.

Hitler never spoke in the Reichstag. He became an elected deputy on March 5, 1933, and during the existence of the Third Reich, meetings of the German parliament were held in a hall “decorated” with swastikas in the nearby Kroll Opera - where today there is a lawn with sparsely planted trees to the south of the Chancellor’s office.

Why did the call of the Soviet conquerors of Berlin sound exactly like this - “To the Reichstag!”? Why did the Red Army receive the order to hoist the red flag here? How did it mistakenly become a symbol of victory over Nazi Germany?

The answers to these questions can be found in Zhinchenko’s memoirs. He recorded what the military commissar told his soldiers before the assault: “From here in 1933, the fascists began their bloody campaign against communism in front of the whole world. Here we must confirm the fall of fascism. This has political and military significance."

This refers, apparently, to the arson of the Reichstag on the evening of February 27, 1933. Then only four weeks in power, Hitler interpreted the fire in the plenary hall as a harbinger of the upcoming uprising of the German communists. A good reason to attack all supporters of the Communist Party and Social Democrats with all cruelty. Thousands of political opponents of the NSDAP were detained within 48 hours, most of them were tortured in the following weeks, and dozens were killed.

However, the communists had nothing to do with the arson. Following fresh leads, the mentally unstable Dutchman Marinus van der Lubbe was detained. He confessed to the crime during interrogation and in court. Van der Lubbe had no SS collaborators, as many later believed and as conspiracy theorists have maintained for over 80 years.

The first destruction of the Reichstag by arson indirectly led to the second destruction in the final battle for Berlin. Because only the trial of the Dutchman, which caused a wide international resonance, and four innocently convicted communists made the Reichstag building known throughout the world. Stalin also learned about it in Moscow.