We Stormed the Reichstag
“The book reads very much as if written by a reporter of the times, which it was. The author, and expert on the Eastern Front, served in Berlin during the Cold War and it is to his credit he has brought this work to English-speaking readers, providing more source material on the Red Army in World War II.” - WWII History

In 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union Vassili Subbotin was caught up as an ordinary soldier in the Red Armys great retreat. In 1945, during the final days of the war, as a war correspondent, he went into Berlin with the troops who fought the ferocious final battles in the streets and sealed Germanys defeat. Later he recorded in vivid impressionistic detail the climax of the last act of the campaign and of the entire war in the east the storming of the Reichstag which came to symbolize of the Soviet victory over the Nazis. His first-hand experience of that final operation and his insight into the small band of ordinary soldiers who played a part in it is graphically conveyed in this memoir. In his description of the confusion and violence of the street fighting around the Reichstag and the vicious hand-to-hand floor-by-floor struggle to capture the huge shattered building, the personalities of the soldiers are revealed, as are their fears and determination.

Vassili Subbotin served as a conscript in the Red Army during the Second World War, first as an infantryman during the Soviet retreat after the German invasion in 1941, then as a divisional war correspondent during the Red Armys long advance towards Germany. He was present throughout the final battle for Berlin and observed the capture of the Reichstag at first hand. After the war he wrote this evocative memoir recording his experiences and those of the soldiers who took part, and in later life he was reunited with those who survived the fighting.
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We Stormed the Reichstag
“The book reads very much as if written by a reporter of the times, which it was. The author, and expert on the Eastern Front, served in Berlin during the Cold War and it is to his credit he has brought this work to English-speaking readers, providing more source material on the Red Army in World War II.” - WWII History

In 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union Vassili Subbotin was caught up as an ordinary soldier in the Red Armys great retreat. In 1945, during the final days of the war, as a war correspondent, he went into Berlin with the troops who fought the ferocious final battles in the streets and sealed Germanys defeat. Later he recorded in vivid impressionistic detail the climax of the last act of the campaign and of the entire war in the east the storming of the Reichstag which came to symbolize of the Soviet victory over the Nazis. His first-hand experience of that final operation and his insight into the small band of ordinary soldiers who played a part in it is graphically conveyed in this memoir. In his description of the confusion and violence of the street fighting around the Reichstag and the vicious hand-to-hand floor-by-floor struggle to capture the huge shattered building, the personalities of the soldiers are revealed, as are their fears and determination.

Vassili Subbotin served as a conscript in the Red Army during the Second World War, first as an infantryman during the Soviet retreat after the German invasion in 1941, then as a divisional war correspondent during the Red Armys long advance towards Germany. He was present throughout the final battle for Berlin and observed the capture of the Reichstag at first hand. After the war he wrote this evocative memoir recording his experiences and those of the soldiers who took part, and in later life he was reunited with those who survived the fighting.
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We Stormed the Reichstag

We Stormed the Reichstag

We Stormed the Reichstag

We Stormed the Reichstag

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Overview

“The book reads very much as if written by a reporter of the times, which it was. The author, and expert on the Eastern Front, served in Berlin during the Cold War and it is to his credit he has brought this work to English-speaking readers, providing more source material on the Red Army in World War II.” - WWII History

In 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union Vassili Subbotin was caught up as an ordinary soldier in the Red Armys great retreat. In 1945, during the final days of the war, as a war correspondent, he went into Berlin with the troops who fought the ferocious final battles in the streets and sealed Germanys defeat. Later he recorded in vivid impressionistic detail the climax of the last act of the campaign and of the entire war in the east the storming of the Reichstag which came to symbolize of the Soviet victory over the Nazis. His first-hand experience of that final operation and his insight into the small band of ordinary soldiers who played a part in it is graphically conveyed in this memoir. In his description of the confusion and violence of the street fighting around the Reichstag and the vicious hand-to-hand floor-by-floor struggle to capture the huge shattered building, the personalities of the soldiers are revealed, as are their fears and determination.

Vassili Subbotin served as a conscript in the Red Army during the Second World War, first as an infantryman during the Soviet retreat after the German invasion in 1941, then as a divisional war correspondent during the Red Armys long advance towards Germany. He was present throughout the final battle for Berlin and observed the capture of the Reichstag at first hand. After the war he wrote this evocative memoir recording his experiences and those of the soldiers who took part, and in later life he was reunited with those who survived the fighting.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781399078863
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Publication date: 06/26/2025
Pages: 160
Product dimensions: 6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

During many years working in several senior official positions in Berlin – including spells as provost marshal and British governor of Spandau prison – Tony Le Tissier accumulated a vast knowledge of the Second World War on the Eastern Front. He has published a series of outstanding books on the subject including The Battle of Berlin 1945, Zhukov at the Oder, Race for the Reichstag, Berlin Battlefield Guide and The Siege of Küstrin 1945. He has also translated Prussian Apocalypse: The Fall of Danzig 1945, Soviet Conquest: Berlin 1945, With Paulus at Stalingrad and Panzers on the Vistula.

Table of Contents

List of Plates vii

Introduction ix

1 Breaking Through to the Oder 1

2 The Track 19

3 The Grey Building 21

4 Few Know 23

5 On Königsplatz 25

6 'Colonel' Berest 27

7 We Will Not Forget the Dead 29

8 The Victory Flag 31

9 We Went Back on the Fifth Day 33

10 The Victory Flag 35

11 Schtscherbina 37

12 The Battalion Commander 39

13 How Wars End 41

14 White Mammoths 43

15 Strike Your Weapons 45

16 My City Guide 53

17 Encounter 57

18 Notes 59

19 The Base Camp 65

20 At the Summer's End 71

21 Our Children 75

22 Sleep in May 77

23 Aliosha 79

24 Volodya's Poem 83

25 Soldier and Singer 87

26 The Youth 93

27 My Brother 97

28 After the Arrival 99

29 That's Us! 103

30 The Loyalty of a Friend 105

31 There - In the Village 109

32 An Heroic Russian Warrior 113

33 Resurrection 115

34 In Childhood, in Early Childhood 119

35 Marisia 125

36 Our Little Friend 127

37 Pavlov's House 129

38 Vitali 133

39 Grandfather Olentshuk 135

40 Tales of Captivity 137

41 We are Going On! 139

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