I have dedicated this book to the Soviet soldier. It is with his blood and sweat that the victory over the powerful enemy was gained. He knew how to … - Georgy Zhukov

The Battle for Berlin was a life or death struggle. From the very depths of Mother Russia, from Moscow and from the Hero Cities of Stalingrad and Leningrad, from the Ukraine, from Byelorussia, from the Baltic, Caucasian and other republics our men had come here to finish the just war against those who had encroached upon the freedom of their country. Many of them still bore the fresh wounds of previous battles. In Berlin the wounded did not leave the battle-field. They all pressed forward yielding to no one the right of way. It was as if there had been no four years of grim fighting, as if everything had risen afresh in order to accomplish this great deed and to hoist the banner of victory over Berlin. In all actions our soldiers displayed great inspiration and daring. The maturity of our army and its growth during the war years were fully reflected in the Battle of Berlin.

The second woman had to hurry; her home had also been destroyed and she could not find her shoes and clothes in the rubble. Tears rolled down her cheeks. When asked whether any of our troops had passed through the town, she said that during the night several trucks had driven through toward Maloyaroslavets, followed by horse-drawn carts bearing the wounded. There had been nothing since then. I said good-bye and drove on toward Yukhnov, deeply regretting that there was nothing I could say to console this woman or any of the other Soviet people to whom the war had brought such terrible grief.

Nazis did not expect Soviet resistance to be so strong. The deeper they moved into this country's territory, the more fierce it became. When Hitler's armies approached Moscow, every man and woman here thought it imperative to resist the enemy. And that resistance grew by the day. The enemy was sustaining heavy losses, one after another. In fact, Hitler's best troops perished here. Nazis believed the Red Army was not capable of defending Moscow, but their schemes failed.