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May Days in Berlin
Late that evening we made our way to “our” Buchow. Here we were able to
dine well—we were even allowed 100 grams of vodka—and before we went to
bed we could take a bath! “This is out of this world!” I said.
“No, it’s not—it’s in Europe!” someone corrected me. We agreed to get up a
little earlier than usual and go to the Reichstag again the next day.
On 2 May, having stocked up with dry rations, we once again “dashed” from
Buchow to Berlin, this time along a reconnoitered road.
We entered the Reichstag, but it was more like a stream of soldiers and officers
had carried us in. Bursts from automatic weapons still resounded from somewhere
inside. Grubby soldiers who had made it out of the lower floors warned,“They’re
still down there in the basement.” But upstairs, along the staircase decorated with
smashed sculptures, a frenzied event was underway—they were autographing the
walls of the Reichstag. And there were so many signatures! We could barely find
free space.We had to help each other and stand on each other’s shoulders so that,
after we had found something to write with, we could sign the following:“Majors
Smirnov, Chertok, and Chistyakov from Moscow.” I don’t remember now whether
we put down our initials. But we signed and then we circled this memorial inscription
twice for good measure. I remember an inscription below our autographs:
“Ivan the Russian has brought order to Germany. Ivan Kochetov.”
On the steps of the Reichstag and in the square, soldiers were taking group
photographs everywhere.What a photo we missed!
While we were at the Reichstag, very close by at the imperial chancellery the
Nazi leaders were rejecting the demand for unconditional surrender. We didn’t
know this, of course, and when we were getting ready for the trip back to Buchow,
Reichstag. Berlin, 1946.
From the author’s archives.
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