Consequently we controlled more strongly than before the city areas already cleared of the enemy. For this we used the self-propelled artillery brigade under Semliakov, who had won the title Hero of the Soviet Union at Gotenhafen. The members of his brigade, which also belonged to the reserve, patrolled the streets, kept order and forestalled treacherous enemy machinations.
There were goods trains standing on the captured railway lines. Our patrolling soldiers soon discovered what they were carrying. The inhabitants were taking sacks of flour from the wagons. To prevent looting, Semliakov ordered the trains to be guarded so that the flour could be distributed among the Berliners later.
Slowly but surely the Red Army troops were closing in on the city centre. On the 27th April only a kilometre separated the 8th Guards Army and our army from the Tiergarten, the final goal of our attack. The fighting now blazed up in the part of the city in which the most important authorities of Fascist Germany, the city’s defence headquarters and Hitler’s bunker, could be found. The enemy forces now occupied an area 3 to 5 kilometres wide and 16 kilometres long, lying under ceaseless attacks from our artillery and aircraft. In addition, the enemy had lost both his aerodromes – Adlershof and Tempelhof. However, the reserve landing strip on the Charlottenburger Chaussee found itself under the special control of our 16th Air Army.
Although the situation for the Berlin garrison was hopeless, the Fascists continued to hit out with the courage of despair.
In the heat of the fighting it was impossible to record all the acts of bravery by the soldiers and officers of the 1st Guards Tank Army. Only later, as I went through the political advisers’ reports from the brigades and units, did I get the full picture of the moving stories of many tank-men, riflemen and gunners who had won eternal fame by their deeds. These reports resurrected the fighting in Berlin in all its details. Many pages dealt with the clever handling of our riflemen opening the way for the tanks through the labyrinth of destroyed streets.
The machine-gun team under Sergeant Kolesnikov had fought with exemplary courage. The sole survivor of this team, Private Kudriashov, reported: ‘Towards midday on the 29th April the Germans assembled in a building at most 50 metres from us. Apparently they thought that the right wing of our rifle battalion was exposed and wanted to fall on our rear. We sat back in ambush and lay in wait until the Fascists advanced. When they were about 30 metres from us we opened fire. The Fascists ran about and left numerous dead in front of our position.
‘Thinking of the Guards’ rule of changing position as soon as the enemy have identified you, we took the machine-gun to another part of the building. The Fascists prepared to attack again, first throwing a grenade into the building, but we remained silent. Then, as the Fascists came across to our side, we fired everything in the belt, many Germans thus losing their lives. As Kolesnikov and the ammunition carrier had fallen in this fighting, I jammed myself behind the machine-gun and fired until the ammunition ran out. Still the Germans came on towards our position. I had only six hand grenades. Suddenly I saw how our wounded commander got up, stuck a hand grenade in his pocket, left cover and went towards the Fascists. They thought that the Soviet soldiers were surrendering, so held their fire for a second. Lying behind the silent machine-gun I saw Kolesnikov, carefully putting one leg before the other, his hand pressed to his breast, and going on towards the enemy. Several seconds later three Fascists came round a corner to cut him off. My heart threatened to stop. At the same moment there was an explosion. Before the Fascists could come to grab the wounded commander they flew into the air. Kolesnikov also died this way.’
This already historical political office report moved me deeply. Again and again I came across further pages of incidents showing the devotion of our soldiers towards the Party, the Soviet people and their Guards’ banners.
The following lines are dedicated to Sergeant Prishimov, a brave man who deserves a place next to heroes like Lavrinenko, Samochin, Burda and Podgorbunski. Used to completing the most difficult and responsible tasks, he carried out reconnaissances and brought back prisoners. As an armoured unit was approaching a railway station, he fell into the enemy drumfire. The tank-men stopped and fired. But they had to go on, not wanting to be shot up themselves. Guards Sergeant Prishimov went off with his own men to find out where the enemy artillery was firing from. As they were working their way forward along the rails, he saw an enemy tank that seemed to be directing the fire. Unnoticed, the sergeant was able to enter the tank and kill the crew. Then he turned the gun around and fired at a nearby enemy fire nest. Our tank-men used the situation to push forward into the railway station and took it almost without casualties.
But let us return to the fighting in the centre of Berlin. During the last days of April the Fascist high command feverishly tried to relieve the city. Three groups tried to fight their way through to the capital and help the besieged garrison: from the north, General Steiner; from the west, General Wenck; and from the south-east the Frankfurt–Guben group. But all three were defeated or destroyed.
Already on the 25th April the 1st Ukrainian Front’s 5th Guards Army under General Shadov and the 1st American Army had met up, thus splitting the territory of Fascist Germany and its forces in two. The Berlin garrison’s situation was catastrophic.
What involved my tank soldiers was the complete clearing of the Anhalter railway station on the 28th April by Babadshanian’s corps in cooperation with the 5th Shock Army’s 9th Rifle Corps.
Dremov’s corps together with units of the 8th Guards Army thrust in a south-westerly direction towards the 3rd Shock Army, which had reached the grounds of the Reichstag.
On the evening of the same day a call from Front Headquarters warned me about shooting at the Reichstag, which elements under Colonel-General Kusnetzov had already reached. We were sorry not to have had the honour of raising the victory banner over the Reichstag, but at the same time rejoiced over every step taken by our comrades that brought us closer to victory.
On the 29th April I gave Dremov the task of taking the Zoological Gardens in cooperation with elements of the 8th Guards Army. Babadshanian had the Potsdamer Platz railway station and the Reichs Chancellery to take. Both corps were to combine with elements of Kusnetzov’s and Bogdanov’s armies. From the upper storey of a half-destroyed building, where my command post was located, one could already see the Brandenburg Gate, where we would meet up with our fighting colleagues. Wide areas of the city were visible from this command post, which took several hours to tidy up. However, as thick smoke generally covered the whole area, we had to move our command post closer to the Zoological Gardens.
Shalin, Nikitin and General Frolov, chief of our army’s artillery, got no rest. While Frolov constantly had to allocate new targets to his artillery, Shalin and Nikitin had their hands full issuing orders and instructions.
On the 29th April, when the army headquarters moved closer to the Zoological Gardens, I received a report from the 19th Mechanised Guards Brigade fighting in Urbanstrasse, which ran towards the Zoological Gardens. As one of the brigade’s battalions pressed forward towards the entrance of the Zoological Gardens, the enemy laid down a mighty barrage on their route. The chief of artillery had the buildings in which the Fascists were concealed shelled, but the Fascists continued to maintain a determined resistance. Other measures were required.
As always, the reconnaissance had the first word. Guards Sergeant-Major Nikanorov, with the scouts Ivanov, Apanasiukov and Dobrovolski, offered to get into the building, whose occupants were giving the storm troops far too much to do. Covered by the ruins, the scouts forced their way into the building, fell on the occupants and silenced their strongpoint. Now the battalion’s tanks were able to proceed another 100 to 200 metres along Urbanstrasse.