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We were the first to enter Berlin (it happened on April 21, 1945). We participated in street fights and attacked Reichstag. Usually the infantry goes behind the tanks, but in Berlin it was the opposite: we moved in front of tanks.
When we approached the Reichstag, we received an order to organize special assault groups consisting of four to ten tanks and 40-60 submachine gunners (the number depended on the number of soldiers we could gather around one). The soldiers went in front of the tanks, armed with panzerfausts (weapon of the latest design - a prototype of modern grenade launcher). Soldiers made their way through the streets of the city. They were able to destroy tanks from a distance of 100-200 meters. If we had been armed that way in the beginning of the war, German tanks would have never cut their way through the Soviet Union.
The assault groups approached the city center from different directions. Our group moved ahead to Imperial Office, under which Hitler was in hiding in a deep underground shelter. On April 29, we were already very near to that Imperial Office, but suddenly we received an order to change the direction of our attacks since the shock army #5 was approaching the same location from the opposite angle (and running into each other could result in incidental casualties).
Later we learned that Hitler committed suicide.
On April 30, Soviet army commanders delivered an ultimatum to the Germans, but they refused. Therefore we started taking the city by storm: artillery, Katyushas, airplanes bombed the city. The Germans’ resistance was broken down, and they surrendered their guns in front of their houses.
We celebrated a long-awaited VICTORY with pride and elation.
That was the end of the war. Our tank battalion was lodged in German military barracks in Dresden. I served for four more years in Germany.
When we approached the Reichstag, we received an order to organize special assault groups consisting of four to ten tanks and 40-60 submachine gunners (the number depended on the number of soldiers we could gather around one). The soldiers went in front of the tanks, armed with panzerfausts (weapon of the latest design - a prototype of modern grenade launcher). Soldiers made their way through the streets of the city. They were able to destroy tanks from a distance of 100-200 meters. If we had been armed that way in the beginning of the war, German tanks would have never cut their way through the Soviet Union.
The assault groups approached the city center from different directions. Our group moved ahead to Imperial Office, under which Hitler was in hiding in a deep underground shelter. On April 29, we were already very near to that Imperial Office, but suddenly we received an order to change the direction of our attacks since the shock army #5 was approaching the same location from the opposite angle (and running into each other could result in incidental casualties).
Later we learned that Hitler committed suicide.
On April 30, Soviet army commanders delivered an ultimatum to the Germans, but they refused. Therefore we started taking the city by storm: artillery, Katyushas, airplanes bombed the city. The Germans’ resistance was broken down, and they surrendered their guns in front of their houses.
We celebrated a long-awaited VICTORY with pride and elation.
That was the end of the war. Our tank battalion was lodged in German military barracks in Dresden. I served for four more years in Germany.
Period
Year
1945
Location
Berlin
Germany
Interview
Boris Lerman
Tag(s)