Third Reich Roundtable

The Battle for Berlin

           Hitler once said, "The world will hold its breath and fall silent when Barbarossa is mounted." Now the scales of war were against Hitler, and in the summer of 1943 the Germans met with a devastating defeat in Russia at the Battle of Kursk and the German and Italian armies in Africa were destroyed. 1944 found Germany totally on the defensive with the successful Allied invasion of France and repeated loses in Russia. By the beginning of 1945, the British, Americans, and Russians were closing in on Germany. The Russians by the end of January were within 100 miles of Berlin. Hitler resolved to fight on, which resulted in even more deaths and devastation. While the war was progressing, Hitler embarked on a campaign to totally eliminate Jews and other peoples that were not to his liking. Millions were sent to extermination camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor and
Treblinka.

           In April, 1945, the Russians were closing in on Berlin. Hitler
demanded a fight to the death and designated Berlin a "fortress"
to be defended to the last. The city's commandant, Major General
Hellmuth Reymann, calculated that it would take at least 200,000
experienced troops to defend the capital, however the only ones
available to make up the Volkssturm (or home guard) were mostly
old men, women, and children.

           Berlin, through the efforts of the Volksstrum, was prepared for the Russian offensive. Barricades were constructed and trenches were dug to trap tanks, however Reymann saw the preparations as futile and said, "I only hope that some miracle happens to change our fortunes, or that the War ends before Berlin comes under siege. Otherwise, God help the Berliners!" Despite fortification efforts, the men and artillary needed to defend the capital never materialized. Meanwhile, 1.3 million soldiers of the Red Army stood poised to descend upon Berlin for what Marshal Georgy K. Zhukov called, their "final hour of vengenance." Every man, on orders from Moscow, had been required to swear an oath on the Soviet flag to fight with special zeal for the motherland, the Communist Party and final victory.

           The Russian defeat of Berlin was inevitable for they outnumbered the Germans in men 5:1, guns 15:1, tanks 5:1 and planes 3:1. Yet the battle for Berlin was a unpredictable and bloody; fueled by mutal hate and marked by atrocities. Hitler by this time was talking about armies long since destroyed and had delusions that the British, Americans and Russians would turn against one another. Meanwhile, Stalin believed that whomever raised their flag over Berlin first would be the victor of the war. The Western Allies believed differently and as the Red Army fought for Berlin, they sought to conquer strategic industrial territories for the future division of Germany. The Red Army paid a high price for Stalin's misconception. The casuality rate for the Red Army during the battle for Berlin matched the war-long casuality rate of four Soviet soldiers to one German fatality.

                                                                   The Soviet battle to capture Berlin finally came on 16
                                                                   April and was fought building to building and street by street. By
                                                                   25 April, Berlin had been encircled by the Russians and on 30
                                                                   April at the Reichstag was finally captured. At 2:25 p.m., the
                                                                   Russian flag was raised on top of the Reichstag barely before the
                                                                   deadline decreed by Stalin. The city surrendered on 2 May.