In the heroic chronicle of the Great Patriotic War, 1945 rightfully occupies a special, honorable place. Its first months were marked by the successful conduct of a number of major operations of the Red Army in Central and South-Eastern Europe, which ended with the complete liberation of Poland, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia from the Nazi invaders. This was the year when Soviet soldiers, having brought liberation to the German people from Hitler's tyranny, hoisted the victorious Red Banner over the defeated Reichstag. It was the year when the forces of fascism and militarism were defeated and capitulated, when peace came, which all honest people on earth had been waiting for with such hope and impatience during the long and difficult years of the brutal war. There is an extensive and diverse literature on the events of 1945 in the USSR. It is presented as separate volumes and sections of large collective works on general problems of war1, and in the form of a series of special monographic studies 2, pamphlets 3, memoirs 4, scientific articles 5, documentary collections 6 . However 1 See, for example: History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945. Vol. 5. Moscow, 1963; History of the USSR from ancient times to the present day. Vol. X. Moscow, 1973; Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. Moscow, 1976; History of the Second World War 1939-1945. Vol. 10. M. 1979; Samsonov A.M. Krakh fascistskoy agressii 1939-1945. M. 1980; Vtoroi mirovoi voina. Brief History, Moscow, 1984. 2 Vorob'ev F. D., Parotkin I. V., Shimansky A. N. The Last Storm. (The Berlin Operation of 1945), Moscow 1970; May 9, 1945, Moscow 1970; The liberation Mission of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Second World War, Moscow 1974; The Soviet Union and the Struggle of the peoples of Central and South - Eastern Europe for Freedom and Independence 1941-1945, Moscow 1978; and others. 3 Sboychakov M. I., Chervyakov V. G. Znamya Pobedy nad reikhstagom [The Ban ... Read more