Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler's arrival in Berlin by train. The headquarters was placed in the new Reich Chancellery, and the joint high command of the Wehrmacht and ground forces (Jodl and Keitel) was located in Zossen, 30 km west of Berlin.
Events on the fronts
Continuation of the Red Army offensive launched on January 12 along the entire front from the Baltic to the Carpathians with access to the Oder line, in connection with which the Germans are forced to transfer up to 30% of the forces and assets involved in the Ardennes operation to the Eastern Front.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Bormann and Eva Braun arrived in Berlin.
Events on the fronts
The cities of Lodz and Bygdoszcz were taken.
early morning
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler is woken up and informed that the Oder has been crossed by the Red Army (advanced tank units) at Wriezen.
Events on the fronts
The Soviet army captured a bridgehead on the left bank of the Oder, 70 km from Berlin.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Eva Braun's birthday is celebrated at headquarters.
Events on the fronts
Attempts by the Germans to recapture the bridgehead from Vritzen. The 1st Belorussian Front is forced to suspend the offensive due to the lag of the 2nd Belorussian Front, the need to replenish and transfer part of the forces to the north, where a counterattack from Pomerania threatens.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
By order of Hitler, military courts were established to combat deserters. The number of people executed by them before the end of the war was about 7,000.
Reichsführer SS Himmler was appointed commander of Army Group Vistula.
Events on the fronts
The Allies reach the frontier of the Rhine in its middle and upper reaches.
After 2 days (02/17), Army Group Vistula will attempt an offensive in sectors of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts.
The attempt will be repulsed with heavy German losses.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Armaments Minister Speer reports to Goebbels that “economically, the war is, so to speak, lost.” He complains that he cannot get decisions on the most important issues from the Fuhrer...
Eva Braun returns to Hitler's headquarters from Munich, where she left on February 9. Hitler decides to further transfer troops from the Western Front to the Eastern Front.
Events on the fronts
On March 1, the 1st Belorussian Front went on the offensive with the forces of two tank armies. The 2nd Belorussian began to attack on February 10, but was forced to stop. Now he has resumed his offensive. On March 4, the Red Army reached the Baltic coast. Fighting broke out in East Pomerania and East Prussia. Koenigsberg is cut off. The next day, March 16, is the beginning of the Vienna operation. The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts are advancing. By this time, the Allies had crossed the Rhine on a wide front, including along the unexploded bridge at Remagen (03/07/45), and captured bridgeheads on the right bank.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler gives the order to carry out “scorched earth tactics” in Germany. Hitler received a group of Hitler Youth members who had been awarded the Iron Cross on the Eastern Front and addressed them with a speech.
Events on the fronts
Heavy fighting in Hungary near Lake Balaton. The Germans are on the defensive here. In Pomerania, Soviet troops approached Stettin. In Prussia there are battles in the Danzig direction. The assault on Breslau continues (the city was captured only on May 8). The Allies are making attempts to cross the Rhine in the middle reaches. Massive bombing of Kassel and the Ruhr region. Massive night bombing of Berlin (up to 1000 killed).
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler dismisses the chief of the general staff of the ground forces, Field Marshal Guderian, and appoints Infantry General Krebs to this post, and also removes Himmler from the post of commander of Army Group Vistula and replaces him with General Heinrici.
Events on the fronts
The Allies cross the Rhine in yet another sector. The German troops of Army Group South in Slovakia and Army Group Vistula in Prussia, Pomerania and Mecklenburg are in a difficult situation and are suffering heavy losses.
Heavy fighting near Lake Balaton in Hungary. Bombing of Bremen, Munster, Osnabrück.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler's headquarters has been moved to the refuge of the Reich Chancellery (upper level of the dungeon). Goebbels' wife, Magda, arrived in Berlin from Obersalzberg.
Events on the fronts
The Allies fight Field Marshal Model's Army Group in the Ruhr. They have advanced to Erfurt and are attacking Bremen and Hanover.
Soviet troops occupied the outskirts of Vienna. There is a popular uprising in Vienna.
04/04/45 Bratislava was taken. The assault on Koenigsberg began. Street fighting in Breslau.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
A message was received that the day before, on April 12, US President Roosevelt died. There is an explosion of optimism about this.
Events on the fronts
Vienna is taken. 04/09/45 the garrison of Koenigsberg capitulated. On this day, American troops crossed the Elbe near Magdeburg. The Allies quickly advance into the depths of Thuringia and Saxony, encountering almost no resistance.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
The evacuation of government institutions from Berlin begins, mainly to Munich.
Events on the fronts
The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts completed the Vienna operation. 30 divisions were defeated, enemy losses amounted to 30 thousand people. The day before, April 14, preparations for the offensive of Soviet troops on the Seelow Heights were completed. On April 14 and 15, reconnaissance in force was carried out, which the Germans took as the beginning of the offensive. The Allies liquidate Model's army group (57 thousand prisoners) surrounded in the Ruhr Pocket. Allied troops crossed the Elbe in two sections.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler's appeal to the soldiers of the Eastern Front with a call to “stand to the death.”
Events on the fronts
Beginning of the Berlin operation. At 5.00, the offensive of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts (the famous “attack” under searchlights). The next day, April 17, units of the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the Spree. Fighting on the Zemland Peninsula. Our troops are advancing in Czechoslovakia.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler sends to Bern (Switzerland), to the residence of US strategic intelligence, the chief of Himmler's personal staff, SS-Obergruppenführer Wolf, with broad powers to negotiate on behalf of the German government (and not on behalf of the commander of the troops in Italy, Field Marshal Kesselring, as in March).
Events on the fronts
The two-front offensive against Berlin is progressing successfully. During April 17, bloody battles took place on the Seelow Heights. On April 18, the German defenses were broken through, and by the end of the day, Soviet troops captured the Seelow Heights. The path to Berlin was open.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Artillery cannonade can be heard in Berlin from early morning. The Fuhrer's birthday is celebrated at headquarters.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Volkssturm parade in the garden of the Reich Chancellery. Arrived with congratulations: Goering, Himmler, Goebbels, Ribbentrop and others. This is the last meeting of Hitler's leadership in full force.
Events on the fronts
The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front reached the northern suburbs of Berlin, and the 1st Ukrainian Front reached the Potsdam area. As Soviet tanks approach Zossen, the “joint command” (the headquarters of Jodl and Keitel) flees from there in panic. Fighting in the Austrian Alps. Offensive in the Dresden direction (Ukrainian fronts).
The artillery shelling of Berlin began.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
A meeting of the Reich leadership, at which a decision was made: Hitler, Goebbels, Bormann remain in Berlin and lead its defense; Goering departs for Berchtechsgaden, from where he will try to establish contact with the Americans; Ribbentrop and Himmler travel to Northern Germany to enter into negotiations with the British. Himmler, in addition, as former commander of Army Group Vistula, must commit all troops located in Western Pomerania and Mecklenburg (opposed to the Western Allies) to the defense of Berlin.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler calls the air defense headquarters and demands that the air force destroy the batteries of Russian long-range guns shelling Berlin.
It turns out that it is Soviet field artillery that is operating, not long-range artillery.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
An order was given to SS General Steiner, who commanded two SS (tank) divisions from the defeated Vistula Army Group, to move out from the area north of Oranienbaum to help Berlin.
Events on the fronts
In the morning, units of the Red Army entered the northeastern outskirts of Berlin (within the city). The joint command of the German armed forces, after a two-day flight, settled in Krampnitz near Lake Wannsee. The offensive in Austria and Czechoslovakia continues. The German battleship Lützow (the last survivor) was disabled by Allied aircraft. On the Western Front, fighting south of Dessau. Stuttgart is surrounded. Massive Soviet air raid on Berlin (50 fires).
Events at Hitler's headquarters
SS-Brigadeführer Mohnke was ordered to form a group from all available forces and means to defend the Reich Chancellery. Hitler's headquarters was moved to the Führerbunker (lower level).
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Goering and Himmler call on Hitler to leave Berlin, but he refuses.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler’s personal doctor, Morrel, leaves under the pretext of “heart disease.”
Goebbels and his family move into the Fuhrerbunker.
Hitler receives Field Marshal Scherner, commander of Army Group South, who has arrived in Berlin, and points out to him the need to hold Czechoslovakia at all costs.
It becomes known that the Steiner group's offensive has failed.
Hitler, during an operational meeting with the participation of Jodl and Keitel, becomes hysterical and declares that he will commit suicide if Berlin falls.
A decision was made to withdraw General Wenck’s 12th Army from the Western Front (on the Elbe) and send it to Berlin. Keitel goes to Elbe to implement this decision. On Hitler's orders, one of his aides burns secret documents from his personal archive, and then goes to Munich (where Hitler has his own home) and Berchtechsgaden to do the same there. On this day, the mass extermination of prisoners began in the concentration camps - apparently, a prearranged signal was received from headquarters. In Berlin, the mobilization of men aged 15 to 65 years into the Volkssturm has been announced.
Events on the fronts
Units of the 1st Belorussian Front are fighting their way towards the center of Berlin from the north and northeast. At the same time, they cut off Berlin from the Steiner group located to the north and the entire Vistula Army Group. From the south, units of the 1st Ukrainian Front continue to advance in the direction of Potsdam and Beelitz. Berlin found itself caught in a "pincer." The suburbs of Malchow, Blankenburg, Mahlsdorf, Fichtenau and Wilhelmshaven are occupied.
Units of the 1st Belorussian Front reached the Spree line and crossed it on the move.
The French army entered Stuttgart. The Americans crossed the Danube and reached the Swiss border.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Keitel and Jodl return with a report that Wenck's army (actually one surviving corps) is marching towards Berlin.
Armaments Minister Speer arrived at headquarters in order to get the order to carry out the “scorched earth” tactics cancelled, but was refused and then left.
A telegram from Goering (“ultimatum”) was received - if Hitler does not answer him by 22.00, then he, the Reichsmarshal, will consider the Fuhrer incompetent due to the Soviet blockade and will assume the functions of head of state, according to the 1941 decree on the succession of power in an emergency. Hitler is initially inclined to agree to this, but under the influence of Goebbels and Bormann he accuses Goering of treason and sends him a telegram stating that he, Hitler, is capable and will himself determine the moment of transfer of power.
Events on the fronts
Soviet tanks approached Krampnitz. The joint command led by Keitel and Jodl hastily leaves the outskirts of Berlin. Subsequently, it tried several times to settle in towns north of Berlin, but each time it was forced to hastily evacuate until it reached the border with Denmark. Since April 23, a single control center for German troops no longer existed.
Units of the 1st Belorussian Front stormed Karlshorst, part of the Kopenick region, and immediately crossed the Spree, after which they reached the main Berlin power plant through Treptower Park. It was prepared for an explosion, but the Nazis did not have time to blow it up. At the end of the day, one of the most terrible prisons in Germany was captured - the Gestapo central detention prison Moabit and the surrounding area.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Bormann, on his own initiative, but on behalf of the Fuhrer, sends a telegram containing an order to arrest Goering. Keitel again goes to Wenck's army, but can no longer return to headquarters - Berlin is cut off.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler summons Colonel General von Greim, commander of the 6th Air Fleet, to headquarters by telegram.
A message is received that the last operating airfield - Gatov (where two ultra-long-range aircraft are on duty, intended to evacuate the Fuhrer to Japan) is under fire and cannot function.
Major General Weidling, who had been removed from his post as commander of a tank corps the day before and sentenced by Hitler to death for (allegedly) cowardice, appeared at headquarters. Hitler accepted him and, clearly unaware of who he was talking to, shared with him plans for the defense of Berlin; then, after Weidling’s departure, he orders his appointment as military commandant of “Fortress Berlin.”
Over the phone, Keitel reports that Steiner's tank group is pinned down by Soviet troops and is unable to break through to Berlin. Hitler orders the group to attack no later than tomorrow. General Steiner is removed and Holste is appointed in his place. Obergruppenführer and SS general, Himmler's representative at headquarters and Hitler's brother-in-law Fegelein deserts from the Fuhrerbunker.
Events on the fronts
At 5.15, artillery preparation began, then an attack followed, and the ring around Berlin closed in the suburbs of Adlershof, Rudow, Bonsdorf. Tempelgof airfield is under fire, although the Germans continue to hold it. Units of the Red Army are breaking through to Alexanderplatz, to the Kaiser Wilhelm Palace, the Berlin City Hall and are approaching the government quarter. Silesian Railway Station is busy. Colonel General I.E. Berzarin was appointed Soviet commandant of Berlin. Allied air raid on Berchtechsgaden. Hitler's residence was destroyed, and Goering's palace was also damaged. Raid on Kiel.
A telegram was received from Goering containing a request for resignation from all posts for health reasons. Bormann sends a telegram to Berchtechsgaden to the commanders of the SS detachments guarding Goering that if Berlin falls, he should be executed. The government quarter comes under shelling.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
A message has been received about Goering's arrest. Keitel reports by telephone that the offensive of Wenck's army has failed: the planned concentration area near Uteborg has been captured by the enemy. Hitler orders the offensive to begin without prior concentration.
Himmler's personal doctor arrived, accompanied by a Reichsführer-SS convoy battalion. The doctor is tasked with persuading Hitler to leave Berlin under the protection of a convoy battalion.
Hitler refuses.
A telegram was sent to the fleet headquarters of Grand Admiral Dönitz: stop all operations at sea and send all available troops to help Berlin.
The headquarters of the joint command received an order to send marines, infantry and tank divisions from the Vistula Army Group (by that time defeated) to Berlin. In pursuance of these orders, only a battalion of marines was sent to Berlin.
Events on the fronts
Potstdam is surrounded by troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
Bloody street battles continue in the center of Berlin. The Spree was crossed in another section in the eastern part of the city (all bridges on the Spree were blown up the day before). American troops advance south of Nuremberg towards the Danube. The German group surrounded near Stuttgart stopped resisting.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
It becomes known about disagreements between the command of the Red Army and the Allied headquarters on the issue of delimiting occupation zones.
An explosion of enthusiasm about this, Hitler triumphs. General Weidling calls this day “the day of hope.”
The order was given to send Army Group South in its entirety to save the capital, waging heavy defensive battles in Czechoslovakia, hundreds of kilometers from Berlin.
Events on the fronts
Red Army units cross the Verbindungskanal and take possession of the Beusselstrasse metro station. Soviet troops reached the Putlitzstrasse metro station and the Komische Oper theater and occupied the areas of Gartenstadt, Siemensstadt, and Görlitz Station.
Units of the 3rd Belorussian Front crossed the canal separating the Frisch Nehrung Spit from the sea.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Jodl contacts the bet by phone. Hitler orders him to turn the offensive front of the armies of Wenck and Busse, previously facing west, to the north.
Colonel General von Greim arrived at headquarters, accompanied by his personal pilot (and common-law wife) Hanna Reich. On the way, von Greim is seriously wounded in the leg and undergoes surgery. Hitler appoints him commander of the Luftwaffe to replace Goering and gives him the rank of Field Marshal.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
The first message from Stockholm is about the negotiations that Himmler is conducting on his own behalf with the British government, having assumed the functions of head of state. Telephone and telegraph communications are interrupted. Due to artillery shelling, ventilation sucks in air saturated with dust and powder gases; I have to turn it off often.
Events on the fronts
Units of the 2nd Belorussian Front, having broken through the enemy’s defenses, crossed the Eastern and Western Oder south of Stettin and took Stettin in battle. Allies
Events at Hitler's headquarters
A message was received that Wenck's 12th Army had approached Potsdam.
A communique was broadcast on Munich radio about Goering's resignation from all posts due to an exacerbation of heart disease and about the appointment of von Greim as commander of the Luftwaffe.
The message received the day before about Himmler's "treason" was confirmed by a BBC radio broadcast with reference to the Reuters agency, from which it follows that the British government refused to negotiate with Himmler. Hitler is furious.
General Fegelein, who fled on April 24, was discovered to be absent from headquarters. Fegelein is arrested at his relatives' apartment, dressed in civilian clothes, and taken to the Reich Chancellery. A suitcase with important documents was found on him.
“Suicide meeting,” as Ganna Reich called it, at which Hitler’s associates vow to commit suicide all as one. Methods of suicide and destruction of corpses are discussed.
Evacuation of a hospital from a “coal bunker”. Some personnel remain to receive newly arriving wounded. Hitler orders the floodgates on the Spree River to be opened and the subway line running from the south towards the Reich Chancellery to be flooded so that Soviet soldiers cannot penetrate it. At the same time, thousands of wounded German soldiers, as well as civilians, died - bomb shelters and hospitals were located in the tunnels and at stations. Late in the evening a report arrives from the headquarters of Army Group Vistula: “The 3rd Panzer Army of Holste is blocked by the Russians, is suffering heavy losses, and the command of the Army Group sees no opportunity to continue the offensive.” In the German-held part of Berlin, leaflets are pasted on the walls of houses: “Soldiers of the Wenck Army! We know that you have already reached Potsdam. Hooray! Save us!
Events on the fronts
Soviet troops in the northern part of Berlin captured the Wedding metro station, in the western part - Kaiserdamm and advanced almost to the Rhine station; in the southern part, the Gellescher Tor station was captured, and in the east, Alexanderplatz. The indicated points indicate the advance lines of the Red Army units.
Street fighting continues with increasing tension. The Germans stubbornly resist. In Berlin itself, they organized two defense rings - internal and external, including pre-equipped firing points, a system of obstacles, weapons, ammunition and food depots. As the encirclement ring shrinks, the length of the front shortens and it becomes increasingly difficult for the Soviet command to realize its advantage in manpower and equipment. Therefore, it is increasingly introducing artillery and aviation into battle. On this day, the Berlin radio station and the Reichsbank building were captured. The cities of Rathenow, Spandau, and Potsdam in the vicinity of Berlin were taken. The areas of Neckölln and Tempelhof in Berlin itself are occupied, and the Tempelhof airfield is captured. Our tanks crossed the Landwehr and Teltow canals. Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front united with units of the American army on the Elbe near the city of Torgau.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
At dawn - the execution of Obergruppenführer Fegelein.
General Weidling reports a breakthrough in the inner ring of Berlin's defenses. Weidling offers Hitler a breakthrough to the West with the remaining units. Hitler refuses because he considers it inappropriate for himself personally.
Keitel's response to Hitler's request was received, sent to the headquarters of the joint high command on April 26. The delay is due to disruptions in the communication system. Keitel reports that Wenck's 12th Army is stopped at the Potsdam line, Busse's 9th Army is surrounded, and Holste's group is forced to go on the defensive. Communication with other areas of Berlin has been lost. Staff officers call Berlin apartments using the phone book and ask whether Russian tanks have already passed through or not?
Regular radio communication with the outside world was interrupted - the antenna was damaged by a shell explosion. The headquarters uses radio stations of army units.
Meeting of Hitler, Goebbels, Bormann, at which the composition of the new government and the content of the “political testament” were agreed upon.
Events on the fronts
Fighting in the Reichstag area. From an SS man from Mohnke's group captured by intelligence, the Soviet command learns that Hitler is hiding in the refuge of the Reich Chancellery. This was confirmed in the evening by a pastor on his way to the wedding of Hitler and Eva Braun. He was intercepted by intelligence officers near the Reich Chancellery.
Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front captured part of the Berlin district of Charlottenburg up to the street. Bismarckstrasse, part of the districts of Moabit and Schöneberg. Units of the 1st Ukrainian Front occupied the areas of Friedenau and Grunewald and in Siemensstadt joined forces with the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front. On this day, 18 thousand prisoners were taken, of which 14 thousand were from a group surrounded southeast of Berlin.
In Italy, in the vicinity of Milan, liberated by partisans and the rebel population, Mussolini and his mistress were captured.
from 2.00 to 3.00
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Wedding of Hitler and Eva Braun. During the wedding dinner, Hitler announces Eva Braun's decision to commit suicide at the same time as her husband.
Fighting on the near approaches to the Reichstag. The Germans landed an airborne assault force - a battalion of marines - in the Reichstag area.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler begins to dictate political and personal wills.
The Reichstag is defended by selected SS units. On this day, the building located opposite the Reichstag, the “Himmler House” (Ministry of the Interior), was captured.
Events on the fronts
Storming of the Berlin Town Hall. According to German sources, on that day the Reich Chancellery found itself in the zone of weapons and machine gun fire (which is doubtful). According to the commander of the special defense sector of Berlin, SS General Mohnke, his group repelled two attacks, and suffered heavy losses.
Allied troops 30 km from Munich. They take Munich in pincers, covering it from both sides.
American troops in Tyrol reached the Italian border. In Italy, Brescia, Bergamo, and Genoa are taken. Allied troops entered Milan. Blackouts have been abolished in Moscow.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
The political will was signed by Hitler and the witnesses and sent by three couriers (two copies to Dönitz in Ploen, one to Scherner in Czechoslovakia; the latter was appointed supreme commander in the “political will”). Not a single copy reached the destination.
There was a message about the execution of Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci. Von Greim miraculously manages to escape from Berlin on a plane piloted by Hanna Reich. He is entrusted with:
1) send all aviation available in the northeast of Germany to help Berlin;
2) arrest Himmler and, if his guilt is proven, shoot.
At a meeting with the participation of Hitler, Goebbels, Bormann, Krebs, General Mohnke (commander of the special defense sector of Berlin) stated that he could hold out for another 2-3 days.
Bormann's telegram to Dönitz that, in accordance with the “political will,” he is appointed Reich President.
Hitler's telegram to Keitel accusing the entire General Staff of inability, inactivity, and almost betrayal.
The poison was tested on Hitler's dog and her puppy. Hitler's staff are warned that they must not go to bed.
between 2.00 and 3.00
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Hitler's farewell to his staff.
Events on the fronts
In the southern part of Berlin there are battles for the Anhalscher station and in the surrounding streets.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
A rumor about this spreads throughout the Reich Chancellery shelter and an orgy begins, in which SS guards, telephone operators, etc. take part.
from 15.00 to 15.30
Hitler's last lunch with two secretaries and Eva Braun. Hitler receives Jugendführer Axmann. Farewell to adjutants, servants, secretaries, Bormann, Burgsdorf, Krebs and the Goebbels.
around 15.30
Suicide of Hitler and Eva Braun.
between 16.00 and 16.30
The bodies were carried out into the garden of the Reich Chancellery, burned and hastily buried by sentries who were unable to stand guard due to the stench of burning remains.
Radiogram signed by Bormann to Ploen Dönitz about the entry into force of the “political will”.
around 22.00
Goebbels dictates a message to Stalin on his own behalf (the new head of government) and on behalf of Bormann, proposing a truce.
Final burial of the remains by a funeral team appointed by the Chief of Security, General Rattenhuber.
around 22.00
The order for a breakthrough from the Reich Chancellery to Mohnke's group (which was supposed to be accompanied by the inhabitants of the Fuhrerbunker) was canceled due to the intention to begin negotiations.
Events on the fronts
Fierce fighting in the Spittelmark area. After artillery preparation at 11.30 - the first attack with the goal of capturing the Reichstag. The offensive is being carried out from three directions. At 14.25, Soviet soldiers burst into the building. At 18.00 the assault on the Reichstag was repeated.
At 21.50 a red flag was hoisted on the Reichstag dome.
The SS men holed up in the basement capitulated only at the end of the day on May 1 (about 1,500 people); small groups continued to resist until the morning of May 2.
During the day of April 30, the Berlin main post office, the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs ("Himmler's House") and up to 200 blocks within the city were captured. The Wilmersdorf area and the railway have been cleared of the enemy. Westkreuz station. The 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts are conducting an offensive in Pomerania and Mecklenburg. Troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front took the city of Moravian Ostrava and the city of Zilina in the Western Carpathians and are developing an offensive in the direction of Brno (Czechoslovakia).
around 24.00
Events at Hitler's headquarters
The radio station of the German 56th Panzer Corps (remaining under Weidling's command) calls on the enemy to cease fire. A German envoy (Lieutenant Colonel Seifert) comes to the front line of the Soviet 35th Infantry Division with a white flag to agree on the start of negotiations.
Events on the fronts
Around midnight, the fire in the sector of the 35th Rifle Division of the 8th Guards Army ceased.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
The chief of staff of the Wehrmacht ground forces, Infantry General Krebs, appeared at the command post of the 8th Guards Army. He informed the commander of the 8th Army, Colonel General V.I. Chuikov, about the death of Hitler and conveyed a message to Stalin from Goebbels and Bormann proposing a truce.
Events on the fronts
As of the morning of May 1, only the Tiergarten and the government quarter remained in German hands.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Marshal Sokolovsky conveyed to Krebs the answer of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhukov: a categorical demand for unconditional surrender.
Events on the fronts
From 10.45, hurricane fire on German positions was resumed (since there was no agreement to surrender).
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Krebs returns to the Reich Chancellery. Negotiations are interrupted.
Telegram from Goebbels and Bormann to Dönitz about the death of Hitler and the entry into force of the “political will”.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Across the front line to the headquarters of the 8th Guards. A parliamentarian was sent to General Chuikov’s army with a refusal to surrender and a request to reconsider the proposal for a truce and to provide the opportunity to contact Dönitz, who could delegate to Goebbels the powers necessary to agree to surrender.
Events on the fronts
At 18.30 the assault on the government quarter began. The buildings of the Gestapo and the Ministry of Aviation were captured, and a battle ensued for the building of the Ministry of Finance, located opposite the Reich Chancellery.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Murder of Goebbels' children.
Events on the fronts
At the end of the day, the main contingent of SS men defending the Reichstag capitulated. The entire Reichstag building was cleared of the enemy, with the exception of a few compartments in the basement.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Suicide of Goebbels and his wife.
around 21.30
The remnants of Monke's formation in small groups are trying to break out of encirclement to the west. They are joined by the inhabitants of the refuge of the Reich Chancellery, including Bormann, Akeman, Voss and others.
Events on the fronts
On the Western Front, American troops forced the surrender of the Munich garrison and entered the city. American motorized units have crossed the Czechoslovakian border and are moving deeper into the country, encountering almost no resistance. In Italy, Allied troops entered Turin.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
The Berlin Defense Headquarters radioed to the Soviet command with a request to cease fire and accept the envoy.
The parliamentarian, Colonel Dufing, chief of staff of the 56th Panzer Corps, asked urgently, at night, to accept the surrender of the commandant of Berlin, General Weidling, the city defense headquarters and the 56th Panzer Corps in its entirety. The urgency stems from the fact that Goebbels ordered anyone who tried to capitulate to be shot in the back.
The surrender has been accepted. Weidling radios to the Berlin garrison, ordering them to lay down their arms.
Events on the fronts
The last defenders of the Reichstag surrendered.
Events at Hitler's headquarters
Deputy Minister of Propaganda Fritzsche surrendered. He addressed the soldiers on the radio with a call to surrender.
Events on the fronts
From 15.00 the Berlin garrison began to surrender. Soviet troops occupied the empty Reich Chancellery.
afternoon Mohnke's group, including himself, was surrounded and surrendered in a suburb of Berlin.
According to the Sovinformburo, Soviet troops completely captured the German capital, Berlin. 70 thousand prisoners were captured. Soviet air raid on Swinemünde.
around 17.00
Events at Hitler's headquarters
The corpses of Goebbels and his wife were discovered in the garden of the Reich Chancellery.
The identification procedure has begun.
But this was not always the case - just a little over 70 years ago, the Germans lived in a closed and cruel society, which declared the whole world to be its enemies, and disabled people, and simply people who seemed “inferior” to the Nazi bureaucrats, were destroyed according to a terrible “program” T-4". To the credit of the Germans, many resisted such terrible and inhumane orders, but only the military intervention of the Allied armies helped to completely break the situation, after which the Nazi system collapsed, and Germany, step by step, began to build a normal and humane society.
The Nazi past in modern Germany is viewed unequivocally negatively. With rare exceptions, consisting of all sorts of freaks (often simultaneously praising Hitler and communicating with Martians), you will not find among the Germans those who would say - “not everything in those days was bad”, “not everything is so simple”, etc. . Perhaps this is the key to the healthy development of society - when crimes are clearly called crimes.
And in this post I would like to talk about the building of the new Reich Chancellery, which was built in Berlin in the late 1930s and became a symbol of Hitler’s terrible power - so much so that after the war it was decided not to restore the building (unlike other Nazi projects period), but completely wiped off the face of the Earth. Now all that remains of the former Reich Chancellery are rare photographs of the pre-war years, as well as photographs of war reporters who captured the dilapidated Reich Chancellery in the spring/summer of 1945.
02. First, a little history. "Reich Chancellery" is the traditional name of the office of the German Reich Chancellor from 1871 to 1945. During the rise of Hitler and the Nazis to power, one Reich Chancellery building already existed in Berlin - it was located at Wilhelmstrasse 77 (this was the former palace of Prince Anton Radziwill); The administration of the Reich Chancellery has been located in this building since 1871 at the insistence of Bismarck.
After the Nazis came to power, it was decided to erect a new building, which would represent the “new order” and would be radically different from the buildings of old, “decadent” Germany. In 1938, Hitler commissioned his favorite “court” architect Albert Speer to design the building of the new Reich Chancellery - “traditionally German” in style and gigantic in scale. The building was erected in record time - in just one year, including design work and drawings, as well as all interior decoration.
In terms of scale, this was a fairly large project, which included both the construction of completely new premises and the “integration” with the system of the new Reich Chancellery of the old palace buildings of Wilhelmstrasse - these old buildings are clearly visible in the lower corner of the model created in the architectural bureau of Speer.
03. Speer, by the way, was the only one who admitted his guilt at the Nuremberg trials - he was accused of using forced labor of prisoners at the end of the war; as a result of this process, Speer received 20 years in prison, which he served “from bell to bell,” and after his release he wrote several books of memoirs in which he presented himself as a “neutral technocrat” who was used in their interests by the Nazis.
Here is a rare photograph in which someone captured the construction process of the Reich Chancellery - the photo was taken late at night on May 7, 1938 - as we can see, construction work was carried out around the clock.
03. And this is what the facade of the finished building looked like. The Reich Chancellery, admittedly, was a rather gloomy project that was supposed to prove to the world the superiority of something over something else; I examined in detail the philosophy of Nazi architecture in my post about Berlin.
04. Night photo of a completed building. According to Hitler and Speer, the architecture of the “New Germany” was created in contrast to the old “philistine” and “decadent” architecture of Berlin in the 19th century.
05. Color photograph of buildings taken in 1939. Almost all buildings of the Nazi period in Berlin are of the same type - these are “boxes” with square columns, always trimmed with gray stone.
06. And this is what the interior of one of the halls of the Reich Chancellery looked like. Like many other dictators, Hitler was delighted with the figures of “all sorts of superiorities” and the city told visitors that “this hall is 50 meters longer, and here the ceiling is 3 meters higher than in Versailles.”
07. Another hall, this is the main reception. As for me, it resembles a bourgeois apartment in Berlin or Vienna in the 1920s, enlarged 5 times.
08. Hitler's personal account. In the foreground is the table at which the “leader” worked, and in the background is a fireplace with a seating area. On the left stands the famous globe, which was wonderfully portrayed by Charlie Chaplin in his famous film “The Great Dictator”.
09. And these are the gloomy interiors of the Reich Chancellery, which had already been damaged during the bombing. The photo was taken in May 1945, when fierce fighting was taking place in the Wilhelmstrasse area.
10. Fireplace room with traces of fire and crumbling decoration.
11. Soviet soldiers, together with German civilians, remove the bronze Nazi eagle, which was located above one of the doorways. The autographs of the soldiers are visible on the walls - the building was signed no less than the captured Reichstag.
12. Soldiers of the British army in the halls of the Reich Chancellery:
13. The courtyard of the Reich Chancellery with armored cars burned during the fighting.
14. Traces of street fighting:
15. Backyard of the Reich Chancellery - Hitler’s famous bunker or “Führerbunker” was located here.
16. The concrete box on the left is the entrance to the bunker, on the right is an observation tower with a cone-shaped top (to reduce damage when hit by a shell).
17. In 1945, the Reich Chancellery building was destroyed - part of its debris went to monuments to the fallen soldiers who took Berlin. And in 1947, Hitler’s bunker was also destroyed by an explosion:
On the site of the former Reich Chancellery is now located
We come to a very remarkable place in world history - as they once said in a biting phrase, to the “lair of the fascist beast.”
Yes, yes, I mean the New and Old Reich Chancellery during the Third Reich, as well as the complex of government buildings on Wilhelmstrasse, of which almost nothing remains now... but almost doesn’t count; so we can show you something.
Here it is, the corner of Vossstrasse and Wilhelmstrasse, this iconic landmark.
Let us, however, go deeper into this quarter and take a look.
The closest U-bahn to the Reich Chancellery site is Potsdamer Platz with access to Leipziger Platz, i.e. northeast exit. And immediately a vacant lot of the “dead zone” at the Wall, during the Cold War, opens up, and behind it are residential buildings built in the 80s, of the late GDR series. So, those dark gray residential buildings stand on the site of the new Reich Chancellery. 
If we come closer and face the northern side of Vossstrasse, we will find ourselves in front of the line where the Neue Reichskanzlei, the new Reich Chancellery, stood. The photo was taken exactly at the place where the building had an indentation inward. 
Let's move a little further to the left, approaching Potsdamerplatz. This is the place where the Reich Chancellery had a main entrance, with a life guard of SS troops 
Here is an exact analogue of the same place, but the picture was taken in 1939, that is, 68 years ago. 
As you can see, everything has changed beyond recognition, only the line of the street (Vossstrasse) has remained unchanged. The Reich Chancellery was heavily damaged in the battles of April 1945, and stood in ruins for three years, until in October 1948 an order was issued by the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany to demolish the new Reich Chancellery and the building of the old Reich Chancellery on Wilhelmstrasse “to the ground.” " The buildings were demolished, but the Soviet sappers could not cope with the bunkers in the courtyard of the Reich Chancellery without large-scale blasting operations (by the way, like the British sappers with anti-aircraft towers in other areas of Berlin).
Large light stones from the base of this building, by order of Stalin, were used in the construction of a memorial to Soviet soldiers in Treptower Park and on the Tiergarten, at the Brandenburg Gate (I will show both of these objects later).
Then for about 30 years this place was a wasteland, a “dead zone” near the Berlin Wall, with which no one really knew what to do, and only in the early 80s did the East Germans build residential buildings, an entire block, here and further along Wilhelmstrasse.
The building of the new Reich Chancellery was enormous in length (almost half a kilometer) and was built in just 12 months. On January 8, 1939, the building was ready.
Architect: Albert Speer.
Here you can read more about this building:
http://www.muar.ru/exibitions/exibit103.htm
And this is a view of the corner of Vossstrasse and Wilhelmstrasse. From the corner of the intersection, the huge building of the New Reich Chancellery went inland to the left, and to the right stood the building of the old Reich Chancellery. 
I’m standing in the same place on Wilhelmstrasse from where the previous shot was taken. If you look directly across the street, then in the very center of the German capital (!) this strange quarter has been preserved with the remnants of a former time - do you see the older middle built into the connection? So, here was the Ministry of Transport (Third Reich). When these gloomy and peeling buildings appeared, and why they have not yet been demolished, I don’t know. But this is the very center of the capital. 
You can walk along Wilhelmstrasse to the north, to the English embassy, where the street is blocked for travel by pillars like these (and you cannot drive directly to Unter den Linden), then a perspective opens up on the former “government street”. Almost all the ministries of the Greater German Reich were here, and now only three traces remain of them (but what kind!). However, I will talk about them in the next post.
And on the right side, where those same gray houses stood, was the building of the German Foreign Ministry. Then the residence of the Reich President, then the old Reich Chancellery. Behind it is Novaya (on the side - where the last gray house is), then the Ministry of Transport, then Aviation (Luftwaffe) and even further, already at the corner of Prinz Albrechtstrasse - the Main Security Office (RSHA). 
Now let's turn right and go to the backs of these dark gray houses. There is a small street called Gertrud-Kolmarstrasse, parallel to Wilhelmstrasse.
Having passed two of the four houses of the dark gray series, we are approaching another iconic place in world history - the bunker of Adolf Hitler, where he, in fact, ended his days on April 30, 1945. Here it is, marked with a red line in the picture (that is, his boundaries are delineated). If you look straight ahead, then there was a huge building of the New Reich Chancellery (we just made a circle around the area). But this place where we are was called the Reich Chancellery Garden and was completely inaccessible to mere mortals. 
If you look to the left, a parking lot has now been built there, and on a mini-hill. I don’t know why the mound was made, but it’s obvious that it was made for a reason. The place is not easy. Again, further (along Vossstrasse) the long building of the Reich Chancellery continued from the rear; it then completely blocked the view. 
A large portion of the Reich Chancellery Garden's space is occupied by a small stadium. I think the Germans tried to make this area “ordinary” so that there would be no unwanted associations. 
Now let’s stand with our backs to Potsdamer Platz and the parking lot on the hill and face the former location of the Old Reich Chancellery (Alter Reichskanzlei). The stadium fence will be on the left side. I have localized the exit point from Hitler’s bunker with a red line (if you go straight up from the “lower” bunker, and not go around through the Vorbunker of the old Reich Chancellery).
Somewhere here the burning of the corpses of Hitler and Eva Braun took place, most likely a little to the left, on the corner of the stadium. According to the recollections of Erich Kempke, the Fuhrer's driver, they burned the bodies about 3 meters from the exit from the bunker. 
Plan of the Fuhrer's bunker.
It consisted of two parts of different construction times: the Vorbunker, which was built first and disguised by a small building above it, standing at the back of the Old Reich Chancellery. Then a second, deeper bunker with more powerful structures was completed, which was given the name Führerbunker. This is where Hitler was based for the last two weeks of the existence of the Third Reich, and all operational meetings were held there. Goebbels and his family were based in the first bunker, where he and Magda killed their children, and then committed suicide upstairs, in the Reich Chancellery Garden, so that the bodies would not be dragged upstairs, number 34.
Number 1 shows the Fuhrer’s personal chambers, number 2 shows the place of his suicide. 
If you stand at the exit from the bunker (more precisely, 10-15 meters to the right), you can see that the Germans have now set up a small stand with information, which is now being read by several people who accidentally (or not at all by chance, like me) wandered here.
To the left, facing Wilhelmstrasse, stood the Old Reich Chancellery; and along the entire surface of the courtyard of this house, below there are both bunkers - first the deeper Fuhrer-bunker, and then the Vor-bunker. 
Information on the localization of the bunker system of the Third Reich in relation to the buildings of present-day Berlin.
I am now located a little below point 7, where the Ministerga:rten street ends - there is the location of the exit from the Fuhrer-bunker. At the top left is the Brandenburg Gate, on the left is the Tiergarten park, where on the afternoon of April 30 there were already battles with Soviet troops, and by 15.30 - at the time of the Fuhrer’s suicide - almost the entire park had already been captured by them and they reached Postdamer Platz and the Reichstag (it was not you can see it is higher than the upper left corner of the diagram). You can see for yourself how close the Soviet troops were already to the bunker - at a distance of 800 m to 1 km.
Number 10 is the location of the new Reich Chancellery, number 14 (and down) is the Ministry of Aviation, but Goering was no longer in Berlin by that time. Number 6 is the old Reich Chancellery. Bormann and a group of comrades, as well as the Fuhrer's driver Kempke with Vice Admiral Voss and a group of the Fuhrer's stenographers, broke through on the evening of May 1 to number 13, on the U-Bahn Mohrenstraße, then they went through a tunnel to the north, to the U-Bahn Friedrichstrasse. This is about a 20 minute walk at a brisk pace. 
You can read one version of the reconstruction of those events here; it seems quite objective to me:
http://militera.lib.ru/research/toland1/04.html
Of the ones that have survived now (besides the Führer-bunker), there is still the so-called “drivers’ bunker” (in the picture there is a mound to the right of the entrance to the underground parking lot), but, of course, they are not allowed there. It is already closer to Potsdamer Platz. 
I can’t help but mention a valuable book, thanks to which I was accurately able to localize the main points on the ground, here it is. On the third day of my stay in Berlin, my friend Bodo took me to the large Dussman bookstore on Friedrichstrasse and I was able to purchase it (this is actually a book with a relatively small circulation, it turned out to be difficult to find). 
In addition, as sources I relied on a booklet-scheme that I took from the now closed museum on Vossstrasse in September 2006 and on a map of Berlin in 1948, which I photographed digitally in a store.
The next series is about the ministries of aviation (Goering) and propaganda (Goebbels), as well as about the now demolished RSHA building (Heydrich). All of them are on Wilhelmstrasse.
To be continued.
Berlin:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Sketches: ,
Hans Baur (1897-1993), SS-Obergruppenführer, since 1932 - Hitler's personal pilot, commander of a government squadron. On May 2, 1945 he was captured by Soviet troops. He spent 5 years in Butyrka prison. Then he worked for another 5 years in coal mines in the Tula region. In 1955 he was repatriated to Germany.
On April 1, all ministers received orders to leave the city. By April 10, only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, part of Goebbels’s Ministry of Propaganda and Hitler’s inner circle remained in the capital.
All over Berlin, barricades were built on the streets. Improvised defensive structures were erected quickly, but chaotically, there was no hint of clear planning.< …>Large quantities of clothing were stored at airports and were now distributed to the public. One day, while visiting Tempelhof Airport, its director, Colonel Böttger, told me: “Herr Baur, I have prepared the airport for defense. We will do our best. If the airport falls into the hands of the Russians, I will commit suicide." And so it happened. On April 22, when the Russians captured the airport, Colonel Böttger shot himself.< …>
Hitler lived in his own bunker. There were only a few rooms in which he, his servant, his personal doctor and his closest assistants were located. The bunker was located at a depth of approximately 12 meters from the surface of the earth. A diesel generator with a power of only 60 kilowatts provided a current that was only enough for lighting and to operate the pumps that pumped out groundwater.< …>
The last birthday in Hitler's life was very sad and gloomy. Only Grand Admirals Raeder and Dönitz, as well as Himmler and Goebbels, came to congratulate him. On April 22, when the Russians were already fighting in the suburbs of Berlin, Hitler announced that he would never leave this city. He gave orders to evacuate as many people as possible from Berlin. The planes under my command took off every night, bringing many people to the south.< …>
A runway oriented along the east-west line was built between the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column.< …>I immediately noticed that the runway here was too narrow. The "airfield", oriented along the east-west line, was only 65 meters wide, and the wingspan of the Junkers reached 30 meters. Thus, there was only 15 meters of free space on each side. I gave the order to cut down the trees on both sides of the street so that the airstrip would be at least 120 meters wide, and work immediately began to boil. Potholes on the surface of the earth were filled with sand.< …>
On April 28 I spoke again with Frau Goebbels. There were two of us, and I was talking to a woman and mother who was near the end of her life's journey and now faced the terrible task of taking the life of not only herself, but also her children. She said: “Herr Baur, life has not been very kind to me. I gave birth to children for my husband and carried out some government assignments because he asked me to do so. I wanted to devote my life to my husband and children. It wasn't always easy. Some of my friends, whom I sincerely envied, always had something to tell me. Often they drew my attention to this or that woman whom I was supposed to watch. I know that my husband, constantly surrounded by many women, was not always faithful to me. Often women threw themselves at him. He often offended me, but I forgave him. I know that we will never leave this bunker. Now only in my imagination can I imagine that if we had escaped, I could have arranged my life completely differently, but such thoughts are nothing more than empty dreams. All hopes for the future left me long ago. Every evening I take out the syringes. The person who will have to give my children lethal injections has already been determined. (I forgot the name of this dentist.) The Russians are only 200 meters from the Reich Chancellery. Every evening when I say goodnight to my children, I don’t know if I’ll see them again.”
While she was saying this, these same children were running carefree around the bunker. They entertained the wounded by singing songs to them. When the shelling became very strong and the walls of the bunker shook from frequent hits, they screamed with joy and admiration, and also wanted the “swaying” to be stronger, while we were afraid that something terrible would happen...
< …>On April 29, fighting broke out in the immediate vicinity of the Reich Chancellery. On April 30, I was repeatedly torn away from the duties of adjutant, which I performed in Belov’s place, calling me to the Fuhrer’s bunker. The last time I was ordered to bring my adjutant Betz there. When I entered a small room in the bunker, about two by three meters in size, in which there was only a sofa, a small wardrobe and a few chairs, Hitler quickly walked towards me, extended his hand and said: “Baur, I would like to say goodbye to you! » Taken aback, I asked: “Have you decided to stop resisting?” Hitler replied: “Unfortunately, this is where things are heading. My generals betrayed me and sold me, my soldiers don’t want to fight, so I myself can’t fight anymore.” I tried to convince Hitler that we had planes at our disposal with which he could reach Argentina, Japan or one of the sheikhs who, knowing Hitler’s attitude towards the “Jewish question”, always treated him well and supplied him throughout the war. his coffee. He could have been taken to the Sahara, where he would have disappeared without a trace. Because of the “Jewish Question,” Hitler made many enemies, but also made many friends. He believed that after the end of the war he would be able to solve this problem. He intended to take Madagascar from France and create an independent Jewish state on its territory, where Jews from Egypt could be resettled. Such a plan naturally aroused the sympathy of the Mufti of Egypt, who called Hitler an “extraordinarily cunning fox” and visited him on numerous occasions. I saw him several times in the garden of the Reich Chancellery, where he was walking accompanied by Hitler.
By the time I write these lines, I have not learned anything reliable about the fate of Bormann and Stumpfegger, but I am convinced that they died at the same time. Bormann was dressed in the brown uniform worn by low-ranking party leaders, and he, like many of the other dead who lay in large numbers on the streets, was probably buried in one of the mass graves. Of course, people could pay attention to well-known personalities among those who were found in the area of the Reich Chancellery, but Bormann's face was familiar to few people.< …>
I ran along the Spree canal towards the bridge on Wilhelmstrasse, but Russian firing points located at key points forced me to turn back.< …>
In the immediate vicinity of Lehrter station I made my way through the courtyard. The Russian machine gunners held him at gunpoint, which I soon became convinced of when I jumped straight into the line of fire. Terrible blows to both legs knocked me to the ground.
I screamed loudly from terrible pain. People picked me up and dragged me into a burning building, the outer façade of which had already collapsed. A kind of splint made of pieces of wood and cardboard was placed on the broken leg. The other leg, with a through wound, was bandaged. Being very excited, at first I didn’t even notice that, among other things, I had also received wounds in the chest and arm.
A fire was burning in the basement, and the floor on which I was lying became hotter and hotter. Next to me lay a pistol, with which I was going to shoot myself if the fire left me no chance of salvation. The entrance to the building was still being shelled, and bullets were ricocheting off the walls. The screams of the wounded could be heard somewhere nearby. Four hours later, these screams attracted the attention of a Russian, who found three wounded Germans.
At first I only heard the exclamation “Hurray – hurray!” that later became so familiar. When he saw my pistol, he waved a white flag, but soon realized that I was in no condition to shoot, and turned his attention to my watch. He clearly liked the aviation watch, equipped with all the latest advances. Finally, a satisfied smile appeared on his face and he happily muttered, “Okay, okay.” He also liked my beautiful Walther very much. In any case, he ordered other soldiers to build a stretcher and carry me away from here. As a result, I arrived on Invalidenstraße on this makeshift stretcher.
STORMING OF THE REICHSTAG
This marks 67 years since Germany's surrender in World War II in May 2012..
It seems that the date is not round, but still, with the approach of May 9th as an official holiday established in the CIS countries in honor of the Victory over Germany, at the instigation of those in power, officially organized costume and theatrical performances begin, in some places as in, say, Volgograd sometimes growing into a caricature.
Like in these photos...
And so strange it happened in Soviet historiography that the central event of the VICTORY of the Red Army in the battles for the city of Berlin, why is it not recognized as the capture of the Reich Chancellery and the bunker of Adolf Hitler, where the entire defense of the city and the control of scattered military armies in the rest of Germany was concentrated, and where until April 30 In 1945, Adolf Hitler himself was in occupation of the building of the German parliament, the Reichstag.
For this feat, 150 soldiers and officers were immediately nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but only 15 of them received the “Hero”. And those left deprived, or rather their descendants, are still arguing about this, in the sense that who was the first to hoist the banner over the Reichstag?
But no one was nominated for “Hero” for occupying the Reich Chancellery.
But this was preceded by a number of important events on April 30-May 1, 1945 at the command post of V.I. Chuikov, where negotiations began between him and the German Geral Krebs.
In addition to V.I. Chuikov, by order of G.K. Zhukov, Army General V.D. Sokolovsky took part in the negotiations. Chuikov. The negotiations were recorded in shorthand. On the German side, in addition to Krebs, Colonel of the General Staff von Dufwing, who served as the general’s adjutant during the negotiations, as well as a translator, took part in the negotiations.
The stumbling block in the negotiations was the reluctance of the new leaders of the Reich, after the death on April 30, 1945, to capitulate without the consent of Dönitz, whom Fuhrer A. Hitler appointed as his successor.
Krebs told Chuikov: “Complete and actual surrender can be decided by the legal government. If Goebbels does not have an agreement with you, then what will happen? You must prefer the legal government to the government of the traitor Himmler.
The issue of war has already been decided.
The result must be decided with the government indicated by the Fuhrer." According to Chuikov, Krebs, "excitedly, is almost shouting in Russian: "The traitor and traitor Himmler can destroy the members of the new government!... Himmler thinks that German troops can still be a force against the East. He reported this to your allies. It is clear to us, absolutely clear!"
Krebs, Goebbels and others, not without reason, believed that the Soviet government was ready to accept surrender from the government that was trapped in Berlin, and thereby end the war in a matter of hours.
At the same time, Himmler's seizure of power was unprofitable for the Soviet Union. Therefore, V.D. Sokolovsky, who arrived at the command post, referring to G.K. Zhukov, suggested that G. Krebs publicly “declare G. Himmler a traitor in order to interfere with his plans.”
Krebs replied: “Very smart advice. It can be done right now. Of course, with the permission of Dr. Goebbels.” Krebs asked permission to send Colonel von Dufwing to Goebbels.
Chuikov called the chief of staff and ordered to ensure the colonel’s transition and at the same time connect our battalion at the front line with the German battalion and thus establish Goebbels’ connection with the army command post.
After the negotiations, Krebs read the Soviet terms of surrender to Goebbels over the phone:
1. Surrender of Berlin.
2. All those who surrender must surrender their weapons.
3. Officers and soldiers, on a general basis, are spared their lives.
4. The wounded are provided with assistance.
5. It is possible to negotiate with allies by radio.
Goebbels demanded the return of Krebs to discuss all these conditions with him.
In parting, Krebs was told: “Your government will be given the opportunity to report that Hitler is dead, that Himmler is a traitor, and to declare complete surrender to the three governments - the USSR, the USA and England.”
Before leaving, Krebs, according to Chuikov, “assured that he would try to quickly agree on everything.”
At 13:08, Krebs left the room where the negotiations were taking place.
G.K. Zhukov recalled: “At 6 p.m. V.D. Sokolovsky reported that the German leadership had sent their envoy. He reported that Goebbels and Bormann rejected the demand for unconditional surrender. In response to this at 6:30 p.m. with incredible force "The final assault on the central part of the city began, where the imperial office was located and the remnants of the Nazis settled."
But here there is a “discrepancy” in Zhukov’s words.
After all, on the evening of May 1, 1945, a significant part of the inhabitants of the bunker made a successful attempt to break out of the Soviet encirclement.
William Shearer estimates that between 500 and 600 bunker occupants, many of them SS men, eventually managed to break out. They then found themselves in Allied occupation zones.
Some of them later claimed that generals Krebs and Burgdorf, as well as the Goebbels couple, did not join the breakthrough group, but committed suicide. Borman, according to the former inhabitants of the bunker, joined the participants in the breakthrough, but died on the way.
However, no one has been able to provide convincing evidence of how Krebs and Burgdorf committed suicide. Their bodies were not found.
So, we see several important points.
Firstly, after April 30, 1945, no one not only stormed the Reich Chancellery, but did not approach it.
Important negotiations about surrender were held there and naturally all attention was given to I. Stalin, G.K. Zhukov and all the other Soviet generals were focused on this. The fate of the Reichstag itself no longer seemed to interest anyone from the high command, and this issue was transferred to the level of competence of the commanders of the infantry regiments, whose infantry companies occupied positions around the Reichstag building.
And again, during these 67 years, we have not learned in which sector of the defense the breakthrough was made.
Obviously, this is also why no one was ever nominated for awards for occupying the Reich Chancellery.
But our story is not about the Reich Chancellery, but about the Reichstag.
Therefore, by uploading my introduction, I want to offer the reader my version of those events that are far from us.
And it turned out completely different from how you remember it from Soviet films about the war or school history textbooks.
And it’s not those veterans who were still alive on May 9, 2012 who need to know this true story. They already know her.
And their grandchildren and great-grandchildren need to know this.
To know and understand that war is not a fun camping trip like the children's game "Zarnitsa" or the war shown in Nikita Mikhalkov's films.
Both German soldiers and officers are not comedians from Charlie Chaplin films or stupid sadists and murderers from Soviet propaganda films.
There were heroes in that German-Soviet war of 1941-1945 from both the German side and the Soviet side.
And in this regard, it was necessary to begin the process of reconciliation of the soldiers of the German and Soviet armies long ago. While there is still someone to reconcile...
Here is a quote from Klaus Fritzsche’s address to the peoples of Russia and Germany.
“We are veterans of the Second World War, Russian and German by nationality, who experienced all the horror of a bloody war and its devastating consequences.
And now we await the 70th anniversary of the start of the war with mixed feelings.
We have actively advocated in the last twenty years, since the collapse of the Soviet system and the reunification of Germany, to ensure that peace remains not only a political state between Russians and Germans, but also reigns in the hearts of people."
DEFENSE OF REISTAG
And before we begin our story about the storming of the Reichstag, we need to find out how the German command prepared Berlin for defense.
Back in February 1945, Adolf Hitler declared Berlin a fortress, and in April it was declared to the troops and civilian population of both the city and all of Germany that the defense of the city was the culmination of the fighting on the Eastern Front.
That the city should become a mighty bastion against which the furious wave of Soviet troops would break.
The German command determined that the assault on Berlin could take place from two opposite directions: from the West - by the Allied forces and from the east - by the Red Army.
This option was the most inconvenient for the Germans, because it would require dispersing troops in different directions.
However, in the hands of the German leadership there was a top secret Allied plan - "Eclipse" ("Iclipse" - eclipse). According to this plan, all of Germany had already been divided in advance by the leadership of the USSR, England and the USA into occupation zones.
The clear boundaries on the map indicated that Berlin was falling into the Soviet zone and that the Americans were to stop at the Elbe.
In the winter of 1945, the tasks of the Berlin defense headquarters were concurrently carried out by the headquarters of Wehrkeis III - 3rd Corps District, and only in March did Berlin finally have its own defense headquarters.
On March 6, 1945, General Bruno Ritter von Haonschild was replaced as commander of the capital's defense by Lieutenant General Helmut Reimann, and Colonel Hans Refior became his chief of staff.
Propaganda Minister Goebbels received the post of Reich Commissioner for Defense in Berlin.
It was envisaged that the city would be divided into 9 sectors named "A" to "H" and radiating outwards from the ninth, central sector "Citadel", where government buildings were located.
The citadel was supposed to be covered by two defense areas "Ost" - around Alexanderplatz and "West" - around the so-called Kni (Ernst-Reuther-Platz area).
Oberst Lobeck was given the difficult task of carrying out defensive engineering work.
The total area of Berlin was 88,000 hectares. The length from west to east is up to 45 km, from north to south – more than 38 km.
Only 15 percent was built up, the rest of the space was occupied by parks and gardens. The city was divided into 20 districts, of which 14 were external.
The general layout of the city was distinguished by straight lines.
The streets intersecting at right angles formed many squares. The average width of the streets is 20-30 m. The buildings are stone and concrete, the average height is 4-5 floors.
By the beginning of the assault, a significant part of the buildings had been destroyed by bombing. The city had up to 30 train stations and dozens of factories. The largest industrial enterprises were located in the outer regions. The ring railway passed through the city.
The length of metro lines is up to 80 km. Subway lines were shallow, often going outside and running on overpasses.
Fortification work in the Berlin direction began back in February 1945, when a Soviet breakthrough to the capital was looming.
However, contrary to all logic, fortification activities were soon curtailed and restarted only at the very end of March, when the main human and material potential was already involved in the Battle of the Oder, where the German front in the east finally collapsed.
They optimistically planned to attract up to 100,000 people to the defensive work, but in reality the daily number barely reached 30,000 and only once reached 70,000.
On April 2, 1945, OKH head Jodl ordered General Max Pemsel to urgently fly to Berlin. However, due to bad weather, he arrived only on April 12 and learned that it was the day before that they wanted to appoint him commander of the defense of Berlin, but he was late.
Leaving the capital, the general assessed the Berlin fortifications simply: "extremely useless and ridiculous!"1
The same is said in the report of General Serov dated April 23, 1945, prepared for Stalin.
Soviet experts stated that within a radius of 10-15 km from Berlin there are no serious fortifications, and in general, they are incomparably weaker than those that the Red Army had to overcome when storming other cities.
It was under these conditions that the German garrison needed to repel an attack from two Soviet fronts...
However, what was the Berlin garrison like?
And as such, the garrison in Berlin practically did not exist before the departure of the 56th TK from the Seelow Heights.
Commander of the 56th TC, Lieutenant General Helmut Weidling I saw the following:
Helmut Weidlin g (November 2, 1891 (18911102) – November 17, 1955) – general of artillery of the German army. Defense commander and last commandant of Berlin.
A participant in the First World War, in 1915 he received the rank of senior lieutenant. He served in the balloon units and was the commander of the Zeppelin. After the First World War he was commander of an artillery battery, then a division. In 1922 he received the rank of captain, in 1933 - major, in October 1935 - lieutenant colonel, in March 1938 - colonel.
In the war against Poland in 1939, he commanded an artillery regiment; in the war against France in 1940, he was the chief of artillery of the 9th Army Corps, then the 4th Army Corps. Participated in the war in the Balkans.
On the Eastern Front, until the end of December 1941, he was the chief of artillery of the 40th Tank Corps. From the end of December 1941 to October 1943, he was commander of the 86th Infantry Division. From October 20, 1943, he was the commander of the 41st Tank Corps, commanding this corps until its complete defeat - until the beginning of April 1945.
Weidling took part in military operations on the Soviet-German front, and on April 10, 1945 he became commander of the 56th Tank Corps.
On April 23, Hitler, based on a false denunciation, gave the order to execute the commander of the 56th Panzer Corps, Artillery General G. Weidling.
Having learned about this, Weidling arrived at headquarters and obtained an audience with Hitler, after which the order to shoot the general was canceled, and he himself was appointed commander of the defense of Berlin.
He tried to organize the defense of the city, fighting for every house.
After Hitler's suicide on April 30, on May 2, 1945, he signed the surrender of German troops and surrendered along with the remnants of the garrison into captivity.
Weidling was held in Butyrskaya and Lefortovo prisons in Moscow, and then in Vladimir prison.
On February 27, 1952, the military tribunal of the Moscow District Ministry of Internal Affairs troops sentenced him to 25 years in prison camps.
“Already on April 24, I was convinced that defending Berlin was impossible and from a military point of view was pointless, since the German command did not have sufficient forces for this, moreover, by April 24, the German command did not have a single regular formation at its disposal in Berlin, for with the exception of the Gross Deutschland security regiment and the SS brigade guarding the Imperial Chancellery.
All defense was entrusted to units of the Volkssturm, police, fire department personnel, personnel of various rear units and service authorities."
Moreover, defense was impossible not only numerically, but also organizationally:
“It was clear to me that the current organization, i.e., the division into 9 sections, was unsuitable for a long period of time, since all nine commanders of sections (sectors) did not even have staffed and assembled headquarters” (Weidling).
In fact, the entire defense structure of Berlin began to be based on the remnants of the 56th TK.
On April 16, 1945, on the eve of the Berlin operation, the entire corps numbered up to 50,000 people, including the rear.
As a result of bloody battles on the out-of-town defensive lines, the corps suffered huge losses and retreated to the capital greatly weakened.
By the beginning of the fighting in the city itself, the 56th TK had:
18.Panzergrenadier-Division – 4000 people
"Munncheberg" Panzer Division – up to 200 people, artillery and 4 tanks
9. Fallschimjager Division – 4000 people (on entering Berlin, the division consisted of about 500 people, and was replenished to 4000)
20. Panzergrenadier Division – 800-1200 people
11. SS "Nordland" Panzergrenadier Division – 3500-4000 people
Total: 13,000 – 15,000 people.
However, this was all on paper.
Can 800-1200 people be called a division? And if 80% of them are old people and children, then what kind of regular army formation is this?
One of the German soldiers who fought for Berlin was Siegfried Knappe.
During the battle he held the rank of major, heading the operations department of the LVI Tank Corps. Knappe, along with Ted Bruso, recently wrote a book, "Soldier," about his service in the German army from 1936 to 1949.
Here are excerpts from his interview about the book:
"Journalist: How was the defense of Berlin organized?
Knappe: The city’s defense consisted of three lines with nine sectors. The outer circuit was 60 miles in circumference and covered the suburbs of the city. Basically, it consisted of incomplete trenches and hastily organized outposts. The average circuit was about 25 miles in circumference and relied on existing barriers such as the S-Bahn [circuit railway] and strong houses.
The inner circle was the center of the city and consisted of massive government buildings. Additionally there were six more bombproof anti-aircraft towers. Eight sectors, designated by the letters A to H, spread out like pieces of a pie across all three defensive lines.
The ninth sector, Z, was located in the city center. Sector Z had its own protective garrison consisting of Hitler's SS guard units. Before our arrival, there were no regular army units behind the anti-aircraft units in Berlin that would make sense to talk about.
Journalist: How many trained soldiers did you have in the LVI Corps?
Knappe: I have a report that gives a good answer to this question. It says that when we had five divisions, their combat strength was equal to two divisions.
Journalist: How many people is this?
Knappe: About 40,000 men if both divisions were at full peacetime strength. The report also states that other units in Berlin were equivalent to two or three divisions and that the Waffen SS were equivalent to half a division. All together, according to the report, there were about four or five divisions consisting of 60,000 people with 50-60 tanks.
Journalist: How capable were the other troops?
Knappe: Their combat effectiveness was limited. Some were Volkssturm and Hitler Youth, and their equipment was very weak. Others, such as air defense units, were limited in their mobility. They tried their best, but were not prepared or equipped for infantry combat. And the Russians say in their literature [that we had] 180,000 people1.
Journalist: It makes their victory seem more significant.
Knappe: Yes. They can reach this number by taking the number of divisions with their full peacetime staff. But we didn’t even have anything like this.
Journalist: Did you ever think that you could win the battle?
Knappe: No. It was clear from the very beginning that we didn't have a chance. We just waited until Western troops could reach Berlin.
Journalist: Have you ever said to each other, “We can hold off the Russians for a week,” or some other period of time?
Knappe: No, we have never used such time measures. We knew we could hold out long enough for Western forces to approach Berlin.
Journalist: How did you, as a major, become the head of the operations department of the corps headquarters? And yet, you mentioned that the 20th division was commanded by a colonel, although this is usually the position of major general. Was it completely normal at that time to have lesser ranks in such positions?
Knappe: Yes, at that stage of the war, just crazy things happened. As I said in my book, I almost became a division commander while remaining a major!
Journalist: How did you communicate and control troops in Berlin?
Knappe: We started with the civilian telephone system. We set up our own network as quickly as we could, but we didn't have all the necessary communications equipment. So we were glad to be able to use the civilian telephone system.
Journalist: How much control did you have over your troops?
Knappe: We had good control of the troops in Berlin. We lost control of the 20th Division during inconclusive battles outside the city, just as the 9th Army lost control of us. We simply didn't have all the wireless communications we were supposed to. All our communication was carried out by a messenger, but we still managed.
Journalist: During WW2, the German army had many units created for specific operations. The Müncheberg Division was one of these and it seems to have carried out its mission admirably from the Seelow Heights when it first entered combat until the very end in Berlin. How did the German army manage this?
Knappe: Thanks to our preparation. There were still quite a lot of well-trained officers and reserve officers left so that we could do this even at the end of the war. They all went through the same training.
Journalist: How could they develop the cohesion of the soldiers when they were hastily assembled and almost immediately thrown into battle?
Knappe: This was the task of the officers and reserve officers. Before Stalingrad we did not need to do this, but then it became commonplace, given all the defeats and retreats. Everyone understood that as long as they stuck together and fought together, they could avoid captivity or death.
Journalist: How was the Müncheberg division formed? Did they recruit scattered soldiers or try to maintain groups of them?
Knappe: Everyone knew that a big battle for Berlin was coming and the territorial formations received orders to send everyone to the city of Muncheberg, where the name of the division came from. The General Staff determined what would be needed to create a new division. Equipment, artillery, communications equipment and everything necessary were identified and prepared for shipment to Muncheberg. The division headquarters had already been formed and was on site receiving equipment. Thus, when people arrived, the equipment was already ready and waiting for them. I did this in France when the 6th Army was lost at Stalingrad. I went to France and to form an artillery battalion, everyone I needed, of all ranks, arrived, plus 250 horses and guns.
Journalist: You say in your book that the Soviets missed the opportunity to capture Berlin before they did. Could you explain this?
Knappe: The case I'm talking about, when they could have taken Berlin much earlier, was after the first breakthroughs in our external defense. There was a period of time when our defense looked completely stupid. One edge of the defense encircled the [Adolf Hitler] bunker, and the other edge encircled the Olympic Stadium, including the Pichelsdorf Bridge, from where we were going to break through in a very long, narrow wedge between the two edges on either side of the Hierstrasse. They could very easily attack the bunker area by moving east, straight down Hierstrasse. In fact, their single tanks constantly crossed Hierstrasse. We were able to maintain contact with units around the Olympic Stadium through the metro tunnel that ran under Hirstraße. Every time I updated the operational map, I kept wondering why they didn't realize what they could do. We did not have enough forces to hold the defense everywhere. However, the Russians simply continued to advance where we were strongest. They continued to try to make their way to the city center by the shortest route, although a longer route would have been much easier.
Journalist: You visited Hitler's bunker many times during the battle. At the beginning, the guards would take your gun away, but towards the end they would stop searching you and you would be able to smuggle it in. You say in your book that you had the opportunity to shoot Hitler, but while you were thinking about it, you decided not to do it. Could you elaborate on this?
Knappe: If I had shot him, it would not have changed anything, because the war was already, in essence, over.
What made you change your opinion about Hitler, after all those years that he was the Fuhrer? Did the change happen in a day or two, or did you mull over it for a while?
Knappe: This was not a sudden change, but something that began immediately after Stalingrad. This concerned not only me, but was the general mood among front-line officers. We could see what was really happening.
Journalist: What made you think about killing Hitler when the opportunity presented itself?
Knappe: Perhaps his statement to General Weidling, when Weidling asked for his permission to break out of the city and asked him to come with us. General Weidling told me that Hitler said that he did not want to die in the street like a "Landstreicher". "Landstreicher" doesn't have an exact translation into English, which is why the word "dog" is used in my book, but "Landstreicher" is something like a tramp or beggar. We had both seen hundreds of German soldiers dying in the streets during the war, and now Hitler was saying that he didn't want to die like them. My brother died from wounds received in Russia. So we were both very upset by the way Hitler used the word. It was just an incredible comment, especially a comment made in front of a soldier. From that moment I began to understand what kind of person the one we fought for was.
Journalist: So, precisely because of this statement?
Knappe: Yes. That's when I had the urge to shoot him. I didn’t worry about being executed after that, because I already considered myself dead. During the war we retook some positions from the Russians, and wherever this happened, we constantly found executed German officers. Therefore, I thought that the Russians would execute me after they captured me. Subconsciously, I understood that I could not allow Hitler to become a martyr. This would give rise to another Dolchstosslegende or "legend carved in stone." [Joseph] Goebbels [Hitler's chief propagandist] could have been very successful at this. I am sure that he would probably say that if the Fuhrer had not been killed by a corps staff officer, he would have found a way to save the German people.
Journalist: In your book you say that you ate in the bunker when everyone had their last meal before going on the breakout and that you sat at the same table as Martin Bormann, Hitler's personal secretary. For many years there have been rumors that Bormann survived the war and was seen. What do you think happened to him?
Knappe: He's dead. He was fat and unprepared. If you are in combat, you must be prepared. You need to know what to do when someone shoots at you. He wouldn't have known what to do when the shooting started. I'm sure he was shot somewhere in the city. There were several reports from people from that group that he was shot when they crossed the bridge. But of course no one in that group checked him. Everyone thought only about themselves, and besides, no one loved him anyway."
But, besides 56 TK there were other troops in Berlin.
So in 9. Fallschimjager Division the situation was no better. 500 battle-exhausted paratroopers were urgently relieved, it’s not hard to guess by whom. This is the elite and this is the division...
The 11th Volunteer Division "Nordland" remained the most combat-ready formation.
Paradoxically, it was foreigners who played a significant role in the defense of Berlin.
It is more difficult to determine the remaining forces in the garrison.
During interrogation, General Weidling testified that when his corps entered the city: “All defense was entrusted to units of the Volkssturm, police, fire department personnel, personnel of various rear units and service authorities.”
Weidling did not have an accurate idea of these forces, which were unsuitable for combat:
“I think that Volkssturm units, police units, fire departments, anti-aircraft units numbered up to 90,000 people, in addition to the rear units serving them.
In addition, there were Volkssturm units of the second category, i.e. those who joined the ranks of the defenders already during the battles and as certain enterprises were closed."
Total - 90,000 children-elderly-firefighting-rear troops, not counting their rear, look simply grotesque and for the Red Army it was not a rival in battle.
Formally, General Reiman had at his disposal 42,095 rifles, 773 submachine guns, 1,953 light machine guns, 263 heavy machine guns, and a small number of field guns and mortars.
Sometimes Soviet and Western sources mention the Charlemagne division among the defenders of Berlin.
But in this division, after the bloody battles in Pomerania, out of about 7,500 people of the 33rd Grenadier Division of the French Charlemagne volunteers, approximately 1,100 survived.
They were gathered in Macklenburg for replenishment and reorganization, where about 700 people decided to fight to the end.
After the reorganization, one two-battalion regiment remained - Waffen-Grenadier-Rgt. der SS "Charlemagne". 400 people who no longer wanted to fight were brought to Baubataillon (construction battalion) and used for earthworks.
On the night of April 23-24, 1945, Hitler received an order from the Reich Chancellery to use all available transport and immediately report to Berlin.
The division commander, SS-Brigadeführer Krukenberg, urgently formed a storm battalion (Franzosisches freiwilligen-sturmbataillon der SS "Charlemagne") from combat-ready units of the 57th Grenadier Battalion and the 6th Company of the 68th Grenadier Battalion, and units of the division's training school (Kampfschule) were added to them.
Henri Fenet became the battalion commander. The assault battalion departed in 9 trucks and two cars. However, two trucks were never able to reach their destination, so only 300-330 people arrived in Berlin.
This was the last reinforcement to reach the capital by land before the city was surrounded by Soviet troops.
At the Olympic Stadium, the storm battalion was immediately reorganized into 4 rifle companies of 60-70 people each and subordinated to the Panzer-Grenadier Division "Nordland" (11. SS-Frw.Panzer-Gren.Division "Nordland").
Highly motivated French volunteers made an invaluable contribution to the defense of the city - they were responsible for about 108 destroyed Soviet tanks.
It can be said that these soldiers were in the right place at the right time, despite the fact that they suffered huge losses in a hopeless battle. On May 2, 1945, near the Potsdam train station, about 30 surviving people from Charlemagne were captured by the Soviets.
After Charlemagne, the last meager reinforcements arrived on the night of April 26th. Naval school cadets from Rostock, in the amount of one battalion of three companies, were transported to Berlin by transport planes.
The battalion "Grossadmiral Donitz" of Commander Kuhlmann was placed at the disposal of Brigadeführer Mohnke. The sailors took up defensive positions in the park near the Foreign Ministry building on Wilhelmstrasse.
Additionally, the 1st Air Defense Division "Berlin" was located in Berlin (as well as units of the 17th and 23rd Air Defense Divisions.
In April 1945, anti-aircraft units consisted of 24 12.8-cm guns, 48 10.5-cm guns, 270 8.8-mm guns, 249 2-cm and 3.7-cm guns.
From November 1944, in searchlight units, all enlisted men were replaced by women, and prisoners of war, mostly Soviet, were used in auxiliary roles, as ammunition carriers and loaders.
At the beginning of April 1945, almost all anti-aircraft artillery was consolidated into anti-aircraft strike groups and withdrawn from the city to the outer defensive perimeter, where it was used mainly to combat ground targets.
There are three anti-aircraft towers left in the city - in the Zoo, Gubboldhain, Friedrichshain and two heavy anti-aircraft batteries in Temelhof and on Eberswaldstrasse.
By the end of April 28, 6 anti-aircraft batteries survived, containing 18 guns and 3 more separate guns. By the end of April 30, Berlin had 3 combat-ready heavy batteries (13 guns).
In addition, there were four brigades with armored vehicles in Berlin.
On April 24, 1945, Heeres-Sturmartillerie-Brigade 249 received 31 new self-propelled guns from the Berlin Alkett plant in Spandau. On April 27, the brigade was ordered to break through the Soviet barrier around the capital, which it did.
In Berlin, self-propelled guns took up positions in Friedrichshain. On April 30, only 9 StuG remained in the brigade, which fought back to Alexanderplatz. The last line of self-propelled guns was near the Higher Technical School.
After the news of Hitler's death, the 3 surviving self-propelled guns tried to escape from Berlin, but were destroyed near Spandau.
Still, some soldiers, led by Hauptmann Herbert Jaschke, managed to escape the encirclement and surrender to the Americans.
The second brigade was Heeres-Sturmartillerie-Brigade 243. In the first half of April 1945, its personnel were used as infantry in positions along the Teltow Canal. Soon, 40 brand new self-propelled guns were delivered to them from the Alkett plant, and on April 14-15, the brigade entered into battle against the American bridgehead on the Elbe near Schönenbeck.7
Sturmartillerie-Lehr-Brigade 111, April 8, 1945 numbered combat-ready - 33 StuG III, 9 StuH 42 and 5 Jgpz IV/70 (A), in short-term repair - Jgpz IV/70 (A).7
Sturmgeschutz-Brigade 210, April 8, 1945 had in service - 12 StuG III, 13 StuH 42, 11 Jgpz IV/70 (V) and in long-term repair - 1 StuG III, 2 StuH 42, 2 Jgpz IV/70 (V). 7
The city's defense was strengthened by 6 anti-tank and 15 artillery divisions.
The defense of the Citadel was led by Colonel Seifert, but the government area inside the Citadel was under the jurisdiction of SS Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke, whom Hitler personally appointed to this position.
Wilhelm Mohnke(March 15, 1911, Lubeck - August 6, 2001, near Eckenförde, Schleswig-Holstein) - SS Brigadefuhrer and Major General of the SS troops.
From November 1931 he was a member of the SS (N15541).
After joining the SS he was in the 4th Standard (Lübeck), and from January 1932 - in the 22nd Standard (Schwerin). From March 17, 1933, he served in the newly created staff guard of the SS "Berlin" - the personal guard of Adolf Hitler - consisting of 117 people under the command of Joseph (Sepp) Dietrich. Then he served in the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, formed on its basis in September 1933. He commanded the 5th company there, and in this capacity participated in the Anschluss of Austria and the capture of Czechoslovakia.
He commanded his company during the fighting in Poland at the beginning of World War II. From March 28, 1940 - commander of the 2nd battalion in the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler division, took part in battles in Belgium and the Netherlands. After the war, he was accused of organizing the extermination of a group of British prisoners at Wormhood on May 28, 1940 (from 65 to 80 prisoners died, who were driven into a barn and thrown with grenades). In 1988, a member of the British House of Commons, Geoff Rooker, insisted on reopening the investigation into this crime, but the German prosecutor considered that there was insufficient evidence of Mohnke's guilt.
In the spring of 1941, Mohnke participated in the campaign in the Balkans, on April 5, 1941 he was seriously wounded in Yugoslavia (they wanted to amputate his leg), trained recruits, returned to duty in 1942, and on March 16 of the same year he was again appointed battalion commander in the Leibstandarte. From June 21, 1943 to August 19, 1944 - commander of the 26th motorized regiment of the newly formed SS division "Hitlerjugend", from June 1944 he participated in battles in France against the American, British and allied forces that landed in Normandy at the head of a battle group named after him . On July 11, 1944, he was awarded the Knight's Iron Cross for his distinction. Accused of shooting Canadian prisoners of war, but the case never came to trial.
On July 17, 1944 he was wounded again, but on August 20 of the same year he was appointed commander of the 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" (after the wounding of its former commander Theodor Wisch). In this capacity, he participated in the December offensive in the Ardennes, in which his division suffered heavy losses - this was due to the large number of recruits, for whom there was not enough time to train, and a shortage of fuel. He was suspected of involvement in the shooting by his subordinates of American prisoners of war in Malmedy, but Monke's participation in this crime was not proven. At the beginning of 1945, he received a new serious wound, and therefore on February 2, 1945, he surrendered command of the division and was assigned to the Fuhrer's reserve. He was treated at the Hohenlichen Clinic.
On the night of April 21, 1945, Adolf Hitler appointed him commander of the "Battlegroup Mohnke", which was entrusted with the defense of the Reich Chancellery and the Fuhrer's bunker. In total, the group included about 9 battalions with a total strength of about 2,100 people.
After Hitler's suicide, on May 1, Mohnke led a group that broke out of the bunker and unsuccessfully tried to escape from Berlin to the north.
He was captured.
Awards
Post-war life
He was transported to the USSR, where he was kept in Butyrskaya and Lefortovo prisons in Moscow, until 1949 he was in solitary confinement. On February 13, 1952, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the military tribunal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Moscow Military District, and was imprisoned in prison N2 in the city of Vladimir.
On October 10, 1955 he was repatriated to Germany, lived in Barsbüttel, worked as a sales agent, selling small trucks and trailers.
The government area included the Reich Chancellery, the Fuhrer's bunker, the Reichstag and adjacent buildings.
Mohnke reported directly to Hitler and Weidling could not order him.
Kampfgruppe Mohnke was urgently created on April 26, 1945 from scattered units and rear SS units and consisted of 2,000 people.
Remains of the two-battalion security regiment of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler division (LSSAH Wach Regiment), commander Sturmbannfuhrer Kaschula
Training battalion from the same division (Panzer-Grenadier-Ersatz- & Ausbildungs-Bataillon 1 "LSSAH" from Spreenhagen, 25 km southeast of Berlin), commander Obersturmbannfuhrer Klingemeier. The day before, part of the 12 companies of the training base in Spreenhagen left as part of the "Falke" regiment to the 9th Busse Army. The remainder of the personnel was sent to Berlin and included in the Anhalt regiment.
Hitler Guard Company (Fuhrer-Begleit-Kompanie), commander of Hitler's adjutant Sturmbannfuhrer Otto Gunsche
Himmler's Guard Battalion (Reichsfuhrer SS Begleit Battalion), commander Sturmbannfuhrer Franz Schadle
Grupeführer Mohnke brought the scattered and small SS forces into two regiments.
1st Regiment "Anhalt" of the Kampfgruppe "Mohnke", named after the commander of the Standartenfuhrer Gunther Anhalt (SS-Standartenfuhrer Gunther Anhalt). When Anhalt died, on 04/30/45 the regiment was renamed after the name of the new commander - “Wal” (SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Kurt Wahl). The regiment consisted of two battalions, manned by personnel from the Wachbataillon Reichskanzlei, Ersatz- und Ausbildungsbataillon "LSSAH", Fuhrerbegleit-Kompanie, Begleit-Kompanie "RFSS".
The regiment fought in the following positions:
1st battalion – railway station on Friedrichsstrasse, along the Spree, Reichstag, Siegesallee lines
2nd Battalion – Moltkestraße, Tiergarten, Potsdamer Pltatz.
2nd Regiment "Falke" of Kampfgruppe "Mohnke". Formed from disparate rear authorities.
Fought in the following positions: Potsdamer Platz, Leipzigstrasse, Ministry of the Air Force, Friedrichsstrasse Railway Station.
I especially want to dwell on the Reichstag.
This building had no military significance in Berlin's defense plans, since it played no political role in Nazi Germany.
The parliament no longer met there, and A. Hitler himself had not been to the Reichstag since 1933!
But during the war, especially when intense bombing began and the Red Army approached Berlin in the Seelow Heights area, it housed the central military hospital and the maternity ward of the Charité clinic, and in the upper floors there was a central military medical archive.
The same parental department where, by the will of Yu. Semenov’s pen, “our radio operator Kat gave birth” from the film about the adventures of Stirlitz in Berlin.
The building was guarded by one company of soldiers who, for health reasons, could not fight.
There were also several hundred civil servants and many women and children, who had previously come daily to hide from artillery attacks in a relatively safe building
The author was unable to establish how many beds the central military hospital was designed for, but it was possible to establish for sure that it was overcrowded and some of the wounded were in a bunker next to the Reichstag. The story about this episode of the storming of the Reichstag will be in the next part.
So on April 22, 1945, Hitler removed Lieutenant General Reimann from the post of commander of the defense of Berlin for defeatist sentiments.
Instead of Reimann, Hitler appointed Colonel Keeter (Ernst Kaeter), whom he immediately promoted to major general.
Before this, Keeter was the chief of staff of the army’s political department and thereby earned the confidence of the leader.
However, in the evening the Fuhrer took command of the defense of Berlin, in which he was to be assisted by his adjutant Erich Barenfanger, who was urgently promoted to the rank of major general.
And finally, on April 23, Hitler entrusted the defense of the capital and practically his life to the commander of the 56th TC, Lieutenant General Helmut Weidling.
In the Soviet 5th Shock Army (the one that actually stormed the Citadel of Berlin, after the battles they assessed their opponents as follows:
“In Berlin, the enemy did not have field troops, much less full-fledged personnel divisions.
The bulk of his troops were special battalions, schools, police detachments and Volkssturm battalions.
This affected his tactics and significantly weakened the defense of Berlin."
In general, despite all the differences, figures from most independent sources agree that there were definitely not 200,000 defenders in Berlin.
For comparison, the Soviet army involved 464,000 people and 1,500 tanks and self-propelled guns in the assault on the city itself.
According to the compilers of the collection of documents "The Battle of Berlin. The Red Army in Defeated Germany" under the leadership of General V.A. Zolotarev, Konev and Zhukov waged "unjustified competition" for the capture of Berlin, resulting in senseless losses in manpower...
And the same Marshal Zhukov wrote that during the Berlin operation - in the battles on the Seelow Heights, in the suburbs of the German capital and in the city itself, the losses of Soviet troops amounted to almost three hundred thousand people.
Later statistical data presented in the collection “Battle of Berlin” indicate that the irretrievable losses of the three Soviet fronts exceeded 81 thousand people.
But the total losses are estimated at more than 360 thousand people.
The German command estimated the loss of lives lost from January 1 to May 1, 1945 at approximately a quarter of a million people.
Civilian losses in Berlin are estimated at between 100 and 150 thousand people.
Well, at the end of this part, in order to tear the reader away from boring statistics, I present the memories of a German tankman about the battles for Berlin.
Karl-Heinz Turk, Unterscharführer sSS-Pz.Abt.503
Translation by Vadim Ninov
