Soviet Conquest: Berlin 1945

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Zhukov at his Seelow Heights command post.

Soviet armour and artillery in the ruins.

A Soviet self-propelled gun in action.

Soviet howitzers in action.

A Lend-Lease Sherman tank in action.

Carrying off the Soviet injured.

The Zoo Flak-tower with the Victory Column in the distance.

A Soviet tank and jeep at the Brandenburg Gate.

Destroyed Soviet armour outside the Technical University.

Preparing to attack the Reichstag.

The wreckage of the Reichstag after the battle.

Dead in the streets.

German troops surrendering from the underground railway.

The end of the battle: German prisoners being marched out of the city.

The Red Flag triumphantly but precariously displayed from the roof of the Reichstag.

Celebrating Soviet victory at the German Victory Column.

The Second World War ended in Europe as a triumph for the Allies, but especially for the Soviets with their taking of Berlin. Of course things had not gone as smoothly as the Soviets would have liked and, as always, involved massive casualties. One would have expected a flood of Soviet literature about the Second World War, but Stalin steered away from this course by banning the publication of personal accounts and having an official Soviet history compiled by a team of historians promoting Stalin’s own status as the supreme commander-in-chief. Then in 1972 Marshal Chuikov’s book was published as a critical attack on Marshal Zhukov’s handling of the battle for Berlin.

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