The Battle of the Reichstag
il y a 10 minutes
Eighty years ago on 30 April 1945 was the climatic end of World War II in Europe.
It was a symbol for the victory over Germany. Stalin had issued an order that the symbolic building should be captured before the International Workers’ Day on the 1 May.
The iconic “Raising a flag over the Reichstag”photo by Yevgeny Khaldei.
The Reichstag itself was of little value as it had not been repaired since the great fire in 1933. Yet its symbolic value was unquestionable. The Germans gathered some of their best units they still had while the Red Army amassed a force for the final assault. The War Council of the 3rd Shock Army had ordered Red Banner flags for nine divisions to carry into battle and raise over the Reichstag.
Iosef Stalin II tank - also nicknamed the "Tank of Victory”
The day before, the Soviet 3rd Sock Army crossed the Moltke Bridge. The defending Germans had fortified the nearby government buildings and Kroll Opera house. These buildings had to be cleared room by room before the Reichstag could be assaulted. The first two assaults were attempted in daylight with horrendous losses from fire from the German entrenchments and support from 12.8 cm FlaK 40 guns on the roof of the Zoo flak tower. To make matters worse General-polkovnik Vasily Shatilov, commander of the 79 Corps had erroneously announced that a red flag had been hoisted on the Reichstag and this had carried up the chain of command. The Reichstag had to be captured before the first of May.
The Zoo flak tower and German soldiers during the battle of Berlin.
Since the previous attacks had failed they waited for night time to mitigate the fire of German heavy machine-guns. This time the attackers breached the Reichstag and fierce room-to-room fighting and the staircase battles were some of the hardest that day but before the end the day the Soviet flag had been hoisted on the roof. Fighting continued in the building until 2 May.
The famous photograph was taken 2 May 1945 by Yevgeny Khaldei. It was a staged photoshoot that captured the final victory over Germany.
Soviet soldiers writing graffiti inside the Reichstag after they had captured the building.
