The spring of 1945 marked the terminal phase of the Second World War in Europe. After years of brutal conflict spanning multiple continents, the Allied forces closed in on the heart of the Third Reich. On the eastern front, the Soviet Red Army launched a massive and relentless campaign directed at the capital of Nazi Germany. This final major offensive would dictate the immediate future of the European continent and bring an end to a devastating global conflict.

Right: Armored vehicles and artillery of the 1st Belorussian Front on Frankfurter Allee in Berlin. In the center and left are T-34-85 tanks, next to it is a tractor with a 203-mm B-4 howitzer on a trailer. In the frame there are four heavy IS-2 tanks, near the car there is an ISU-152 self-propelled gun. Source: Wikimedia.

Central to this final chapter was the Battle of Berlin, an operation characterized by sheer scale and unprecedented urban destruction. The city, heavily fortified and defended by a mixture of seasoned soldiers and desperate militias, became the stage for a harrowing military engagement. For the Soviet leadership, capturing Berlin was both a strategic necessity and a supreme political objective. The city represented the epicenter of the regime that had inflicted catastrophic losses upon the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa and the subsequent years of war. 

Among the numerous government buildings and monuments scattered across the ruined cityscape, the Reichstag held particular symbolic weight. Although it had not functioned as a true parliament since the fires of 1933, the massive stone structure stood as a psychological beacon of German state power. The ultimate conquest of the Reichstag by Soviet forces on 2 May 1945 served as the definitive visual and strategic marker that the war in Europe was drawing to a resolute close.

The Battle of Berlin, officially designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by Soviet military planners, began with a large-scale invasion of the German capital in late April 1945. The offensive involved millions of Soviet soldiers, thousands of tanks, and a massive concentration of artillery. The objective was clear: encircle the city, crush the remaining defensive formations, and force a total capitulation of the German high command.

On 21 April 1945, the first Soviet military units successfully penetrated Berlin's outer defensive rings from the east. This breakthrough initiated a grueling and methodical advance toward the city center. The infrastructure of Berlin had already suffered catastrophic damage from years of relentless Allied aerial bombardment. The landscape of shattered buildings, cratered streets, and debris-choked avenues provided an environment perfectly suited for grueling urban combat. Amidst the crumbling infrastructure, the German forces mounted a fierce and desperate resistance. The defenders were a disparate group, comprising regular army personnel of the Wehrmacht, fanatical divisions of the Waffen-SS, and hastily assembled Volkssturm militias. The Volkssturm included older men and young boys of the Hitler Youth, poorly equipped but ordered to fight to the death.

The ensuing urban warfare forced Soviet troops into exhaustive house-to-house and room-by-room fighting. The intensity and proximity of the combat resulted in chaos and inflicted substantial casualties on both sides. Snipers, concealed anti-tank teams, and booby traps made every street corner a deadly obstacle. Despite the valiant and stubborn efforts of the German defenders, they lacked the manpower, armor, and logistical support to halt the overwhelming momentum of the Soviet military juggernaut.

As the Soviet artillery systematically leveled the remaining bastions of resistance, the leadership of the Third Reich faced the reality of their imminent collapse. The city above ground was besieged by chaos, marked by the constant thunder of artillery shells and the pervasive smoke of burning buildings. On 30 April 1945, the command structure of the German war effort effectively disintegrated. Adolf Hitler, along with several of his closest affiliates and high-ranking officials, had retreated to the confines of a subterranean bunker located near the Reich Chancellery. Recognizing that escape was impossible and seeking to avoid capture by the advancing Red Army, Hitler committed suicide.

Right: 30 April 1945. Soviet troops storming Berlin. Source: Wikimedia.

This act decisively removed the central figure of the Nazi regime and set forth a rapid chain of events that unfurled the inevitable military and political defeat of Nazi Germany. Without their leader, the remaining German commanders were left isolated, disorganized, and entirely surrounded.

Meanwhile, the city's beleaguered German garrison found itself increasingly compressed into a shrinking perimeter in the heart of Berlin. Numbering approximately 10,000 active combatants, these remaining forces fell under the command of General Helmuth Weidling. General Weidling recognized that further resistance would only result in the annihilation of his troops and the continued suffering of the civilian population. The supply lines were completely severed, ammunition was depleted, and medical supplies for the thousands of wounded were non-existent.

For the advancing Soviet forces, reaching the Reichstag required overcoming some of the most heavily defended sectors of the city. The German defenders utilized the massive stone architecture, deep cellars, and reinforced concrete of government buildings to establish formidable strongpoints. By the early hours of 29 April, Soviet forces achieved a critical tactical milestone. They successfully breached the defenses at the Moltke Bridge, a vital crossing over the Spree River. Securing this bridgehead was essential for moving heavy armor and infantry battalions into the immediate vicinity of the government quarter. The crossing was fiercely contested, with German artillery and machine-gun fire raining down on the Soviet advance.

Following the successful crossing of the Moltke Bridge, the Soviet troops launched a direct assault on the nearby Interior Ministry. The combat within the administrative buildings was characterized by close-quarters engagements. Victorious in overtaking the Interior Ministry and the adjacent Secret State Police (Gestapo) headquarters, the Soviet infantry secured their flanks. Their relentless advance cleared the final major obstacles, leaving a direct path toward the imposing facade of the Reichstag building itself. The battle for this emblematic edifice represented one of the most intense final struggles in the Soviet conquest of Berlin.

The engagement at the Reichstag was a ferocious affair. The building was defended by deeply entrenched SS units who utilized the ruined masonry and vast interior halls to establish overlapping fields of fire. Soviet artillery fired directly into the walls at point-blank range to create breaches for the infantry. Following a fierce and bloody engagement that raged through the corridors and stairwells of the building, Soviet soldiers managed to fight their way to the roof. Two Soviet soldiers emblematically hoisted the Soviet flag atop the Reichstag, signaling a symbolic victory over the fascist regime. However, this initial flag-raising did not mean the fighting had ended. Complete control over the vast building was only achieved after an additional two days of brutal, close-quarters conflict as Soviet troops systematically cleared the remaining defenders from the basement levels.

It was on 2 May 1945 that Soviet soldiers achieved total and undisputed control over this pivotal structure. A cohort of these troops heralded their triumph by officially hoisting the flag of the Soviet Union atop the Reichstag in the daylight. This monumental action was observed by a constellation of applauding comrades-in-arms, who recognized the deep emblematic and strategic value of the victory.

Right: The iconic "Raising a flag over the Reichstag" photo by Yevgeny Khaldei. Yevgeny Khaldei worked as a correspondent for TASS Photo Chronicle from October 25, 1936 to October 7, 1948. Information reports (including photo reports), which was created by an employee of TASS as part of that person’s official duties between July 10, 1925 and January 1, 1954, provided that it was first released in the stated period or was not released until August 3, 1993 are in the public domain in Russia according to article 1281 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, articles 5 and 6 of Law No. 231-FZ of the Russian Federation of December 18, 2006 (the Implementation Act for Book IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Source: Wikimedia. In the Public Domain.

On this same day, General Weidling formally surrendered the Berlin garrison. The remaining German forces received official orders to capitulate, marking the definitive fall of Berlin to Soviet control. In the immediate aftermath of the city's capture, feelings of intense retribution were prevalent among the Soviet ranks. This anger, fueled by years of brutal war on the Eastern Front, led to widespread atrocities, including numerous assaults on German civilians. Nonetheless, the Soviet military administration soon endeavored to curb these acts of violence and vengeance, shifting their focus toward the monumental task of restoring basic civilian life, establishing order, and clearing the rubble within the devastated city.

The visual documentation of the fall of Berlin provided one of the most enduring images of the twentieth century. The momentous photograph known as "Raising a Flag over the Reichstag," snapped by the renowned Soviet photographer Yevgeny Khaldei, encapsulated the absolute essence of victory and the denouement of protracted strife.

Khaldei specifically sought to capture an image that would resonate across the Soviet Union and the world. The photograph he produced showed a Soviet soldier suspending the red flag over the ruined cityscape of Berlin, with the Brandenburg Gate visible in the background smoke. This image burgeoned into a global phenomenon. It served as a powerful broadcast mechanism, announcing the cessation of hostilities in Europe and confirming the total supremacy of the Soviet Union over the Nazi regime. Reproductions of this exact moment proliferated rapidly across continents, printing in newspapers and magazines globally, thereby etching it into the collective human memory as a lasting symbol of the conclusion of the war.

Notwithstanding the photograph's massive widespread acclaim, there were significant undercurrents of dispute regarding its authenticity and historical accuracy. These disputes arose largely due to the strict nature of Soviet state censorship and the manipulation of media for propaganda purposes. Khaldei himself heavily retouched the negative before publication. He added dramatic smoke to the background to heighten the atmosphere and famously scratched out an extra wristwatch worn by the soldier supporting the flag-bearer, an alteration made to conceal evidence of looting by Soviet troops.

Furthermore, the actual subjects immortalized in the iconic image remained unknown to the general public for decades. The state apparatus maintained a proverbial veil of secrecy over the exact details of the event. It was not until the political climate shifted in the 1980s that the identities of the soldiers who hoisted the banner in Khaldei's photograph—Meliton Kantaria and Mikhail Yegorov—were officially disclosed to the world.

Compounding this milieu of historical contention, the man behind the lens faced immense personal and professional struggles. Yevgeny Khaldei confronted severe prejudice stemming from anti-Semitic sentiment within the Soviet government. This discrimination initially precluded proper state acknowledgment of his historical contribution and eventually led to his dismissal from the TASS news agency. Despite facing such systemic impediments, Khaldei's reputation and the undeniable power of his work ultimately transcended these political barriers. In his later years, and particularly after the fall of the Soviet Union, he earned his rightful place among the most distinguished chroniclers and photojournalists in modern history.

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