Everyone has heard about the capture of the Reichstag by Soviet soldiers. But what do we really know about him? We will tell you about who was sent against the Red Army, how the Reichstag was searched for and how many banners were in total.
Who goes to Berlin
There were more than enough people who wanted to take Berlin in the Red Army. Moreover, if for the commanders - Zhukov, Konev, Rokossovsky it was, among other things, a matter of prestige, then for ordinary soldiers who were already “with one foot at home” this is another terrible battle. The participants in the assault will remember it as one of the most difficult battles of the war.
Nevertheless, the idea that their detachment would be sent to Berlin in April 1944 could cause only jubilation among the soldiers. The author of the book: "Who took the Reichstag: heroes by default", N. Yamskaya talks about how they waited for a decision on the composition of the offensive troops in the 756th regiment:
“Officers have gathered at the headquarters dugout. Neustroev burned with impatience, offering to send someone for Major Kazakov, who was to arrive with the results of the decision. One of the officers joked: 'Why are you, Stepan, turning around? I would take off my boots - and go! During the time that you are running back and forth, you should have been near Berlin! '
Soon the cheerful and smiling Major Kazakov returned. And it became clear to everyone: we are going to Berlin!"
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Attitude
Why was it so important to take the Reichstag and plant a banner on it? This building, where the highest legislative body of Germany has sat since 1919, de facto played no role during the Third Reich. All legislative functions were performed in the Krol-Opera, the building opposite. However, for the Nazis, this is not just a building, not just a fortress. For them, this was the last hope, the capture of which would demoralize the army. Therefore, during the storming of Berlin, the command focused precisely on the Reichstag. Hence Zhukov's order to the 171st and 150th divisions, which promised gratitude and government awards to those who set up a red flag over a gray, unsightly and half-destroyed building.
Moreover, its installation was the primary task.
“If our people are not in the Reichstag and the banner has not been installed there, then take all measures at any cost to plant a flag or a flag at least on the column of the front entrance. At any price!"
- there was an order from Zinchenko. That is, the banner of victory should have been erected even before the actual capture of the Reichstag. According to eyewitnesses, when trying to fulfill the order and set up a banner on a building still defended by the Germans, many "single volunteers, the bravest people" died, but this is what made the act of Kantaria and Yegorov heroic.
Sailors of the SS Special Forces
Even as the Red Army moved towards Berlin, when the outcome of the war became obvious, Hitler was seized by either panic, or wounded pride played a role, but they issued several orders, whose essence boiled down to the fact that all of Germany should perish along with the defeat of the Reich. The plan "Nero" was carried out, which meant the destruction of all cultural values on the territory of the state, and the evacuation of residents was made difficult. Subsequently, the high command will utter the key phrase: "Berlin will defend itself to the last German."
So, for the most part it was all the same who sent to death. So, in order to detain the Red Army at the Moltke Bridge, Hitler deployed the "SS Special Forces" sailors to Berlin, who were ordered to delay the advance of our troops to government buildings at any cost.
They turned out to be sixteen-year-old boys, yesterday's cadets of the naval school from the city of Rostock. Hitler spoke to them, calling them the heroes and hope of the nation. His order itself is interesting: “to discard the small group of Russians that broke through to this bank of the Spree, and to prevent it from reaching the Reichstag. You need to hold out quite a bit. Soon you will receive new weapons of immense power and new aircraft. Wenck's army approaches from the south. The Russians will not only be driven out of Berlin, but also driven back to Moscow."
Did Hitler know about the real number of the “small group of Russians” and the state of affairs when he gave the order? What was he counting on? At that time, it was obvious that an entire army was needed for an effective battle with Soviet soldiers, and not 500 young boys who did not know how to fight. Perhaps Hitler expected positive results from separate negotiations with the allies of the USSR. But the question of what secret weapon was in question remained in the air. One way or another, hopes were not justified, and many young fanatics died without bringing any benefit to their homeland.
Where is the Reichstag?
During the assault, there were also incidents. On the eve of the offensive, at night it turned out that the attackers did not know what the Reichstag looked like, and even more so where it was.
This is how the battalion commander, Neustroev, who was ordered to storm the Reichstag, described this situation: “The Colonel orders:
"Come out quickly to the Reichstag!" I hang up. Zinchenko's voice is still ringing in my ears. And where is he, the Reichstag? God knows! Ahead it is dark and deserted."
Zinchenko, in turn, reported to General Shatilov: “Neustroev's battalion took up its initial position in the basement of the southeastern part of the building. Only now some kind of house bothers him - the Reichstag is closed. We will go around it on the right. ' He answers in bewilderment: 'What other house? Krol-opera? But he should be to the right of the “Himmler house”. There can be no building in front of the Reichstag …”.
However, the building was there. A squat two and a half stories high with towers and a dome at the top. Behind him, two hundred meters away, could be seen the outlines of a huge, twelve-story building, which Neustovev took for the ultimate goal. But the gray building, which they decided to bypass, was unexpectedly met by the approaching continuous fire.
Correctly say, one head is good, but two is better. The mystery of the location of the Reichstag was solved upon arrival at Neustroev Zinchenko. As the battalion commander himself describes:
“Zinchenko looked at the square and at the lurking gray building. And then, without turning around, he asked: 'So what prevents you from going to the Reichstag?' “This is a low building,” I replied. "So this is the Reichstag!"
Fights for rooms
How was the Reichstag taken? The usual reference literature does not go into details, describing the assault as a one-day "swoop" of Soviet soldiers on the building, which under this pressure was just as quickly surrendered by its garrison. However, this was not the case. The building was defended by selected SS units, which had nothing more to lose. And they had the advantage. They knew very well about his plan and the location of all his 500 rooms. Unlike the Soviet soldiers, who had no idea what the Reichstag looked like. As the private of the third company IV Mayorov told: “We knew practically nothing about the internal disposition. And this made the fight with the enemy very difficult. In addition, from the incessant automatic and machine-gun fire, grenade and faust cartridge explosions in the Reichstag, such smoke and dust from the plaster rose that, mixing, they obscured everything,hung in the rooms in an impenetrable veil - nothing is visible, as in the darkness. " About how difficult the assault was, one can judge that the Soviet command set the task on the first day to capture at least 15-10 rooms out of the aforementioned 500.
How many flags were there
The historical banner hoisted on the roof of the Reichstag was the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division of the Third Shock Army, erected by Sergeant Yegorov and Kantaria. But this was far from the only red flag over the German parliament. The desire to reach Berlin and plant the Soviet flag over the destroyed enemy lair of the fascists dreamed of many, regardless of the order of the command and the promise of the title "Hero of the USSR". However, the latter was another useful incentive.
According to eyewitnesses, there were neither two, nor three, or even five victory banners in the Reichstag. The entire building was literally "reddened" from Soviet flags, both homemade and official. According to experts, there were about 20 of them, some were shot down during the bombing. The first was installed by senior sergeant Ivan Lysenko, whose detachment built a banner from a mattress of red cloth. Ivan Lysenko's award list reads:
“On April 30, 1945 at 2 pm Comrade Lysenko was the first to break into the Reichstag building, destroyed more than 20 German soldiers with grenade fire, reached the second floor and hoisted the banner of victory. For his heroism and courage in battle, he deserves the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Moreover, his detachment fulfilled its main task - to cover the standard-bearers, who were instructed to hoist the victorious banners on the Reichstag.
In general, each detachment dreamed of planting its own flag on the Reichstag. With this dream, the soldiers went all the way to Berlin, every kilometer of which cost their lives. Therefore, is it really so important, whose banner was the first, and whose "official". They were all equally important.
The fate of autographs
Those who did not manage to hoist the banner left reminders of themselves on the walls of the captured building. As eyewitnesses describe: all the columns and walls at the entrance to the Reichstag were covered with inscriptions in which the soldiers expressed feelings of the joy of victory. They wrote to everyone - with paints, coal, a bayonet, a nail, a knife:
"The shortest way to Moscow is through Berlin!"
“And we girls were here. Glory to the Soviet soldier!”; "We are from Leningrad, Petrov, Kryuchkov"; “Know ours. Siberians Pushchin, Petlin "; “We are in the Reichstag”; “I walked with the name of Lenin”; "From Stalingrad to Berlin"; Moscow - Stalingrad - Oryol - Warsaw - Berlin; "I got to Berlin."
Some of the autographs have survived to this day - their preservation was one of the main requirements during the restoration of the Reichstag. Nevertheless, today their fate is often called into question. For example, in 2002, representatives of the conservatives Johannes Zinghammer and Horst Gunther proposed to destroy them, arguing that the inscriptions "burden modern Russian-German relations."