On the night of May 1, Red Army soldiers placed the red Victory Banner on the dome of the defeated Reichstag

On the morning of April 30, fierce battles continued for the Reichstag, which the Germans had turned into a real fortress, which was defended by over one thousand people with artillery and tanks. The task of capturing the Reichstag was assigned to units and formations of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front.

The idea of ​​raising the red flag over the German capital was first voiced by Joseph Stalin in October 1944. In the 3rd Shock Army, flags were made for each of the nine rifle divisions that were part of it. As a rule, they were awarded to assault groups, which were recruited from among volunteers and went into battle with the main task - to break into the Reichstag and plant the Victory Banner on it.

At noon, fire and hand-to-hand combat began directly in front of the Reichstag building and at the main entrance. The assault groups that broke through managed to plant several red banners, but only the third, decisive assault, which began at 6 p.m., made it possible to hoist the Victory Banner on the roof.

The battles took place on every floor, hand-to-hand fighting took place on the stairs and in the corridors - even in a situation where the outcome of the war was completely clear, the remnants of the German troops launched fierce counterattacks.

On the night of May 1, a red banner soared over the dome of the defeated Reichstag, which, by order of the commander of the 756th Infantry Regiment of the 150th Infantry Division, Colonel F. M. Zinchenko, was hoisted by scouts Sergeant Mikhail Egorov and Junior Sergeant Meliton Kantaria, led by deputy battalion commander political unit by Lieutenant Alexei Berest, under the cover of machine gunners from Ilya Sayanov’s company.

Assault banner number five, it became the Banner of our great Victory.

@Slavyangrad