Hitler's final days in Berlin, April 1945
Hitler's final days in Berlin, April 1945
As Soviet troops entered Berlin and the Battle of Berlin raged on, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in April 1945.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Romannerud/Dreamstime.com; German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), Bild 183-18483-0001
Transcript
NARRATOR: Berlin, April 1945 - a million Soviet soldiers stand at the ready. But some still hope for a miracle.
JO BRETTSCHNEIDER: "This huge city, surely no one can take it. Although we knew the Russians were at the door, we were somehow in denial."
NARRATOR: April 21 - the battle for Berlin begins. Soviet troops are in the outskirts.
SEMEN GLUSCHENKO: "All our soldiers were highly motivated. Victory was close. You could feel the excitement everywhere."
NARRATOR: The Red Army closes the circle around the city of Berlin. The deeper Soviet troops penetrate into the center, the more bitter the fighting - street by street, house by house. The losses are enormous - 80,000 dead on the Soviet side, 106,000 on the German. On April 28, Soviet troops reach the banks of the River Spree. The Reichstag, once symbol of German democracy, is within reach. On May 1, Stalin orders the Red Flag to be raised. Missing from these simulated photographs is Michael Minin, first to hoist the Red Flag on the Reichstag.
MICHAIL PETROWITSCH MININ: "I was overjoyed to achieve this goal, raising the flag and fulfilling my duty as a simple soldier."
NARRATOR: Shortly thereafter, the Red Army breaches the demolished Reich Chancellery where, only days before, the dictator had awarded medals to some Hitler Youths for their war effort. While the senseless killing in the streets of Berlin continues, the Nazi dictator stages his downfall in the Bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery. He wants to be sure he does not fall into enemy hands, alive. Hitler and his closest followers look for an easy way out. Poison pills are handed out.
BERND FREYTAG VON LORINGHOVEN: "What were you supposed to do? Shoot yourself in the mouth? Put the gun to your head and pull the trigger? You take the pill. I didn't get one, of course, but the big wheels certainly did."
NARRATOR: April 30 - Hitler takes his own life, together with his long-time mistress Eva Braun, whom he had just married the day before. Their corpses are burned. The propaganda lies.
RADIO ANNOUNCEMENT: According to news from the Führer's Headquarters, this afternoon in his command post in the Reich Chancellery, our Führer Adolf Hitler fell in action for Germany, fighting Bolshevism to the last.
IAN KERSHAW: "Hitler had by this stage largely passed out of the view of most of the population. Their interest was taken up completely by matters that concerned them, it's pretty obvious. For them Hitler was a symbol simply of the desperate continuation of a long-since-lost war."
NARRATOR: One week after Hitler's death, the war is over. A time of unparalleled atrocities and immeasurable destruction. The total war born on German soil ends in total defeat.
JO BRETTSCHNEIDER: "This huge city, surely no one can take it. Although we knew the Russians were at the door, we were somehow in denial."
NARRATOR: April 21 - the battle for Berlin begins. Soviet troops are in the outskirts.
SEMEN GLUSCHENKO: "All our soldiers were highly motivated. Victory was close. You could feel the excitement everywhere."
NARRATOR: The Red Army closes the circle around the city of Berlin. The deeper Soviet troops penetrate into the center, the more bitter the fighting - street by street, house by house. The losses are enormous - 80,000 dead on the Soviet side, 106,000 on the German. On April 28, Soviet troops reach the banks of the River Spree. The Reichstag, once symbol of German democracy, is within reach. On May 1, Stalin orders the Red Flag to be raised. Missing from these simulated photographs is Michael Minin, first to hoist the Red Flag on the Reichstag.
MICHAIL PETROWITSCH MININ: "I was overjoyed to achieve this goal, raising the flag and fulfilling my duty as a simple soldier."
NARRATOR: Shortly thereafter, the Red Army breaches the demolished Reich Chancellery where, only days before, the dictator had awarded medals to some Hitler Youths for their war effort. While the senseless killing in the streets of Berlin continues, the Nazi dictator stages his downfall in the Bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery. He wants to be sure he does not fall into enemy hands, alive. Hitler and his closest followers look for an easy way out. Poison pills are handed out.
BERND FREYTAG VON LORINGHOVEN: "What were you supposed to do? Shoot yourself in the mouth? Put the gun to your head and pull the trigger? You take the pill. I didn't get one, of course, but the big wheels certainly did."
NARRATOR: April 30 - Hitler takes his own life, together with his long-time mistress Eva Braun, whom he had just married the day before. Their corpses are burned. The propaganda lies.
RADIO ANNOUNCEMENT: According to news from the Führer's Headquarters, this afternoon in his command post in the Reich Chancellery, our Führer Adolf Hitler fell in action for Germany, fighting Bolshevism to the last.
IAN KERSHAW: "Hitler had by this stage largely passed out of the view of most of the population. Their interest was taken up completely by matters that concerned them, it's pretty obvious. For them Hitler was a symbol simply of the desperate continuation of a long-since-lost war."
NARRATOR: One week after Hitler's death, the war is over. A time of unparalleled atrocities and immeasurable destruction. The total war born on German soil ends in total defeat.