On 16 April 1945, the Soviet forces under the command of Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal Georgy Zhukov and Marshal Ivan Konev, started to encircle Berlin in a pincer movement from the north, the east and the south. But rather than achieving a fast advance, it took several days to breach the German defenses. On 21 April, first Soviet units entered Berlin from the east and slowly made their way to the city centre. Desperate German resistance and widespread house-to-house fighting caused thousands of casualties on both sides.

But the German forces, made up of regulars, SS and Volkssturm units could not stop the final Soviet advance. Early on 29 April, the Soviet troops managed to cross the Moltke Bridge and attacked the Interior Ministry. After capturing the Secret State Police headquarters later that day, the Soviets pressed on to the Reichstag. The Battle for the Reichstag was one of the last fights in the conquest of Berlin. After seizing the iconic building, two Soviet soldiers raised the Soviet flag on the top of the Reichstag.

A further two days were needed to conquer the building completely. The city’s remaining 10 000 German soldiers under General Helmuth Weidling were forced into a shrinking area in the city centre. On 2 May, two days after Adolf Hitler committed suicide, all remaining German forces in Berlin were ordered to surrender to the Soviet troops.

Feelings of revenge were common among the Soviet soldiers. Many German women were raped and a lot of them died or committed suicide. After the surrender the Soviet military administration tried to restrain acts of violence and to re-establish civilian life.