In the spring of 1945, Allied forces, including the Red Army and the 1st and 2nd Armies of the Polish Army, launched a decisive offensive on Berlin. Operation Berlin began on 16 April following the crossing of the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and the city was completely encircled by 25 April.

Around 13,000 Polish soldiers took part in the fighting for Berlin. They captured over 50 districts of the city, key transport infrastructure and parts of the Berlin University of Technology. After the fighting ended, white-and-red flags were hoisted on, among other places, the Victory Column and the Brandenburg Gate. The Polish Army’s losses amounted to around 100 killed and 450 wounded.

On 8 May 1945, in Berlin’s Karlshorst, the act of Germany’s unconditional surrender was signed, bringing the Second World War in Europe to an end.

The exhibition ‘They Reached Berlin’ presents over 100 artefacts from soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Armies of the Polish Armed Forces: uniforms, equipment, weapons, photographs and decorations. The exhibition is complemented by historical heavy weaponry, an outdoor display of a T-34-85 tank and an ISU-122 gun, and the monumental painting “Banners of Victory” by Zenon Polus.

The exhibition opened on 8 May 2025 and will run until October 2025.

Curator: Tadeusz Blachura