Battle of Berlin
On the night of 2/3 May, General Hasso von Manteuffel, commander of the III Panzer Army along with General Kurt von Tippelskirch, commander of the XXI Army, surrendered to the US Army.[57] Von Saucken's II Army, that had been fighting north east of Berlin in the Vistula Delta, surrendered to the Soviets on 9 May.[59]
On the morning of 7 May, the perimeter of Wenck's XII Army's bridgehead began to collapse. Wenck crossed the Elbe under small arms fire that afternoon and surrendered to the American Ninth Army.[64] Those who did not cross the Elbe surrendered to the Soviets.
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Aftermath
According to Grigoriy Krivosheev's work based on declassified archival data, Soviet forces sustained 20,000–25,000 dead in the city,[citation needed] and 81,116 for the entire operation,[6] which included the Battles of Seelow Heights and the Halbe; some earlier Western estimates are much higher.[65] Another 280,251 were reported wounded or sick during the operational period. Included in that total are Polish forces, which lost 2,825 killed or missing and 6,067 wounded in the operation.[66] The operation also cost the Soviets about 2,000 armored vehicles, though the number of irrevocable losses (write-offs) is not known. Initial Soviet estimates based on kill claims placed German losses at 458,080 killed and 479,298 captured. The number of civilian casualties is unknown.[67]
The Red Army made a major effort to feed the residents of the city.[68] However, in many areas of the city, vengeful Soviet troops (often rear echelon units[69]) looted, raped an estimated 100,000 women and murdered civilians for several weeks (see Red Army atrocities).[70] In the preceding months, as the Red Army began its offensives into Germany proper, STAVKA recognized the potential for lapses in discipline involving vengeful troops and had been able to check such behavior to a certain extent. Marshal Konev, in a January 27 order near the conclusion of the Vistula-Oder Offensive supplied a long list of commanders to be reassigned to penal battalions for looting, drunkenness, and excesses against civilians.[71] The initial chaos in the aftermath of Berlin, however, was far too widespread to be deterred or controlled. Some Soviet officers resorted to punishing or even shooting offending troops on the spot in the streets.[72] After the summer of 1945, Soviet authorities regained discipline over their troops, and Soviet soldiers caught raping were usually officially punished to various degrees.[73] However, Berlin had been suffering food shortages for many months, caused by Allied strategic bombing and exacerbated by the final military assault on the city.[74] Despite serious Soviet efforts to supply food and rebuild the city,[75] starvation remained a problem. Almost all the transport in and out of the city had been rendered inoperative, and bombed-out sewers had contaminated the city's water supplies. In June of 1945, one month after the surrender, when the Americans arrived in their sector of Berlin they found that average calorie intake of Berliners was low as they were getting only 64 percent of a 1,240-calorie daily ration.[76] Varying degrees of rape particularly in the Soviet occupation zone, became ways through which some women managed to secure the necessities of day-to-day life.[77][78] Some rapes continued until the winter of 1947–48, when the Soviet occupation authorities finally eliminated the problem by confining the Soviet troops to strictly guarded posts and camps.[79]
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See also
- Battle of Breslau a contemporary siege that lasted for 82 days.[80]
- German Instrument of Surrender, 1945
- German WWII strongholds
- Leonidas Squadron
- National Redoubt
- Race to Berlin
- Mikhail Minin
[
References
- Beevor, Antony. Berlin: The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5
- Dollinger, Hans. The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 67-27047
- Krivosheev, G. F. Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century, Greenhill Books, 1997, ISBN 1-85367-280-7
- Naimark, Norman M. The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949, Cambridge: Belknap, 1995, ISBN 0-674-78405-7
- Ziemke, Earl F. Battle For Berlin: End Of The Third Reich, NY: Ballantine Books, London: Macdomald & Co, 1969.
[
Further reading
- Antill, P. Battle for Berlin: April – May 1945. Includes the Order of Battle for the Battle for Berlin (Le Tissier, T. The Battle of Berlin 1945, Jonathan Cape, London, 1988. pp. 196 – 214).
- Anonymous; A Woman in Berlin: Six Weeks in the Conquered City Translated by Anthes Bell, ISBN 0-8050-7540-2
- Read, Anthony and Fisher, David; The Fall of Berlin, London: Pimlico, 1993. ISBN 0-7126-0695-5
- Hastings, Max; Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945, Macmillan, 2004, ISBN 0-333-90836-8
- Ryan, Cornelius; The Last Battle, ISBN 0-684-80329-1
- Sanders, Ian J. ; Photos of World War 2 Berlin Locations today
- Shepardson, Donald E.; "The Fall of Berlin and the Rise of a Myth", The Journal of Military History, Vol. 62, No. 1. (1998), pp. 135–153.
- Remme, Tilman; The Battle for Berlin in World War Two BBC article
- White, Osmar By the eyes of a war correspondent Alternative account of crimes against civilians
[
Footnotes
- ^ Heinrici was replaced by General Kurt Student on 28 April. General Kurt von Tippelskirch was named as Heinrici's interim replacement until Student could arrive and assume control. Student was captured by the British and never arrived.
- ^ Weidling replaced Oberstleutnant Ernst Kaether as commander of Berlin who only held the post for one day having taken command from Reymann.
- ^ Ziemke References p. 71
- ^ Murray, Williamson and Allan R. Millet. A War to be Won: Fighting the Second World War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000 p. 482 ISBN 0-674-00680-1
- ^ a b c d Beevor References p. 287 for the 45,000 soldiers and 40,000 Volkssturm.
- ^ a b Glantz, David M., and Jonathan House. When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. (Lawrence, Kansas: UP of Kansas, 1995. ISBN-0700608990 p. 373)
- ^ Initial Soviet planning estimates had placed the total strength at 1 million men, but this was an overestimate (Glantz, When Titans Clashed. p. 258)
- ^ A large number of the 45,000 were troops of the LVI Panzer Corps that were at the start of the battle part of the German IX Army on the Seelow Heights
- ^ "Grif sekretnosti sniat': poteri Vooruzhennykh Sil SSSR v voynakh, boevykh deystviyakh i voennykh konfliktakh", pod oshchey redaktsiey G. F. Krivosheeva, Moskva: Voennoe izd-vo, 1993, ISBN 5203014000. pp. 219–220.
- ^ Glantz, When Titans Clashed. p. 271
- ^ The last major battle was the Prague Offensive on May 6–May 11, 1945, when the Soviet Army with the help of Polish, Romanian, and Czechoslovak forces defeated the parts of Army Group Centre which continued to resist in Czechoslovakia. The operation involved about 3,000,000 personnel from both sides. The last actual battle in Europe was the Georgian Uprising of Texel (April 5 – May 20, 1945). See The end of World War II in Europe for details on these final days of the war.
- ^ a b MFA Productions LLC; The Battle for Berlin January - May 1945
- ^ Operation Eclipse http://www.armyhistory.org/armyhistorical.aspx?pgID=1017&id=139&exCompID=177
- ^ Beevor References p. 194
- ^ p.135, The Last Battle, by Cornelius Ryan
- ^ Beevor, see References Preface xxxiv, and pp. 138,325
- ^ Ziemke see References page 76
- ^ Zuljan, Ralph Battle for the Seelow Heights - Part II Originally published in "World War II" at Suite101.com on May 1, 1999. Revised edition published in "Articles On War" at OnWar.com on July 1, 2003.
- ^ a b Ziemke see References page 71
- ^ Beevor see References pp. 217–233
- ^ a b c Ziemke see References page 84
- ^ World War II Axis Military History Day-by-Day: April 20 April 1945
- ^ see German Magazine "Der Spiegel": (translation): "Hitler decorates child soldiers: This photo belongs to the most well known pieces of modern historiographical photography. Published numerous times, unfortunately it is also very often false dated. Allegedly Hitler is awarding the teenagers the iron cross on his birthday april 20 1945. This seems a typical case of repeated plagiarism: a false date is published in one source - several authors repeat the mistake, which gets a notable dynamic. The true date is the march 20 1945, unambiguously accounted by the German Newsreel (Die Deutsche Wochenschau) from march 22 1945, where the scene was published first time."
- ^ a b Beevor References p. 337
- ^ Ziemke References p. 88
- ^ Ziemke see References pp. 87–88
- ^ Ziemke see References page 89
- ^ a b Ziemke see References page 92
- ^ [from The Mammoth Book of Eye-witness History, edited by Jon E. Lewis, Carrol and Graf 1st ed., p. 465]
- ^ Ziemke see References pp. 92–94
- ^ a b Ziemke References p. 111
- ^ The Soviets later estimated the number as 180,000, but this was from the number of prisoners that they took, and included many unarmed men in uniform, such as railway officials and members of the Reich Labour Service. (Beevor References p. 287)
- ^ Map of the Battle of Berlin April 26-28, 1945 This map is copied from Ziemke, Earl F. Battle For Berlin: End Of The Third Reich p. 93 (see References)
- ^ Beevor References pp. 259,297
- ^ Beevor References pp. 291–292,302
- ^ a b Dollinger References p. 228
- ^ Beevor References pp. 259,297
- ^ Beevor References pp. 259,297 303,304
- ^ Beevor References pp. Beevor References p. 340
- ^ Beevor References pp. 257,258
- ^ Beevor, references p.349
- ^ Beevor References p. 343
- ^ 60 Years On - Hitlers last days: "Hitler's will and marriage" on the website of MI5 citing Trevor Roper (an WWII MI5 agent) The Last Days of Hitler records the marriage as taking place after Hitler had dictated the last will and testament.
- ^ Beevor, references p.351
- ^ Beevor, references pp.352-353
- ^ Beevor, references pp.356,357
- ^ Dollinger (p.239) states 3am, and Beevor (p.367) 4am, for Krebs' meeting with Chuikov
- ^ Beevor references pp. 380–381
- ^ Beevor, references p.383–389
- ^ Ziemke, references pp.125,126
- ^ Beevor, References p.388
- ^ a b c d Dollinger References p. 239
- ^ Beevor References, p.386
- ^ Beevor References, pp.388–393,409
- ^ Beevor, references p. 338
- ^ Exton, Brett. Some of the prisoners held at Special Camp 11: Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici
- ^ a b c Ziemke, references p. 128
- ^ a b Ziemke see References page 94
- ^ a b Ziemke see References p. 129
- ^ Le Tissier, Tony; Slaughter at Halbe; ISBN 0-7509-3689-4. p.89–90
- ^ Beevor, References p. 330
- ^ Ziemke References p. 119
- ^ Beevor, References p. 395
- ^ a b Beevor, References p. 397
- ^ Battles & Campaigns: Battle of Berlin, 1945
- ^ Krivosheev, Grif sekretnosti, pp. 219–220.
- ^ Glantz. When Titans Clashed, p. 271
- ^ Beevor References p.409
- ^ Beevor References Preface xxxv, pp. 326–327
- ^ Beevor, Antony; "They raped every German female from eight to 80" May 1, The Guardian, 2002
- ^ Duffy, Christopher. Red Storm on the Reich. (New York: Da Capo Press, 1993) p. 275.
- ^ Grossman, Atina. "A Question of Silence: The Rape of German Women by Occupation Soldiers." October, Vol. 72 (Spring, 1995), pp. 42–63.
- ^ Norman M. Naimark. The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949. Cambridge: Belknap, 1995 p. 92 ISBN 0-674-78405-7
- ^ Kuby, Erich. The Russians and Berlin. (New York: Balantine, 1969)
- ^ White, Osmar. Conquerors' Road: An Eyewitness Report of Germany 1945. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)
- ^ Ziemke, Earl F. (1904–1905). "U.S. Army in the occupation of Germany 1944–1946". US Army.
- ^ Ziemke, References pp. 149,153
- ^ Grossman, Atina. "A Question of Silence: The Rape of German Women by Occupation Soldiers." October, Vol. 72 (Spring, 1995), pp. 42–63. In the year following the end of the war in Europe, most of the abortions that were granted were for the reason of rape by Soviet troops, though some women also claimed rape by American and French soldiers and foreign workers. According to Grossman, there were no abortion claims resulting from of rape by Germans. This would suggest that to some extent the claim of rape was an easy way to get an abortion approved by the medical commission.
- ^ Naimark. The Russians in Germany, p. 79
- ^ Time line Eastern Europe 1945:6 May 1945 www.worldwar-2.net
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