Figure 1.--This film still shows German children playing in the rubble of Berlin in 1945 immediately after the war ended in 1945. The boy wears suspender shorts with the common H-bar strap across his chest, a sleeveless sweater, a checked shirt, and knee socks. Both these children look amazingly well dressed considering the terrible privations they must have had to endure during the terrible final battle in Berlin.

The battle for Berlin fought in April 1945 was one of the most horific engagements of World War II. Stalin ordered the Red Army to take Berlin. After the Americans seized the Remagen Bridge and crossed the Rhine, Stalin ordered the time tble speeded up and at the same time lied to Eisenhowser that he was preparing to take the German capital. Losses on both the German and Russian side were enormous. Russian losses were in part due to the fact that Stalin had ordered that Berlin be seized bfore the Americans could reach it. Stalin's ordered resulted in a race to Berlin by Marshal Zukov and Koniev, both wanting the victor' laurels. It has always been wonderd why Stalin was so obsessed with Berlin and was willining to sacrifice so many Red Army soldiers to get to Berlin before the Americans. It has always been felt that it was primarily for the political value, to demonstrate the role of the Red Army in defeating the NAZIs. A British histoian argues that there was another important reason. Beria had learned of the American Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb. Stalin as a rsult ordered a top secret Soviet atomic bomb project--Project Boradino. Located at Berlin was the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, the center of the German atomic project. While the Germans were fa behind the Americans, the Russins obrained agreat deal of valuable information an 3 tons of uranium oxide. [Beavers] The Soviet conquest of Berlin proved to be a nightmare for the surviving women, almost all of whom were raped. It is estimated that 2 million German women were raped by Russians at the end of the War. Perhaps 0.2 million of those rapes took place in Berlin. The rapes included children, nuns, old ladies, and even Russian women brought to Germany to work as slave laborers. The Soviets denied the German civilian reports, but Soviet archieves leave no doubt as to what occurred. [Beevor]

Stalin's Orders

The battle for Berlin fought in April 1945 was one of the most horific engagements of World War II. Stalin ordered the Red Army to take Berlin. After the Americans seized the Remagen Bridge and crossed the Rhine, Stalin ordered the time tble speeded up and at the same time lied to Eisenhowser that he was preparing to take the German capital.

Eisenhower

After crossing the Rhine andc reducing the Ruhr pocket, the highly mobile American Army could have moved for Berlin. Eisenhower decided not to do so. Historians bebate why. Some maintain he wanted to avoid the casualties. Others say that he was duped by Stalin who assured him that the Red Army was not pressing for Berlin.

The Battle

Hitler stripped Berlin of its strongest defending units when he ordered two SS Panzer divisions to Hungary in a futile effort to defend the city from the advancing Red Army. As a result, the defense of Berlin was left in large measure to the Volkssturm--a force of Hitler Youth boys and old men.

Hitler's Bunker

Hitler's advisers pleaded with him to leave the Berlin and continue the War from an Alpine redoubt. He refused and decided to stay where hec was still in control of the situation. There in the bunker Martin Goebels played solitare after killing her children. He ordered Eva Braun's brother shot for trying to escape. When picked up by the SS, he had a pocket full of jewells. The day before the suiside, he married his mistress Eva Braun. After testing the cyninide pills on his dog Blondie, he and Braun took cyninide and he shot himself. Martin Borman and the remaining NAZIs gave a farewell salute as the bodies were burned. [Fest] That pitiful scene was a far cry from what Hitler wanted. He had told his associates, "We may go down, but we will take the world down with us."

Importance

It has always been wonderd why Stalin was so obsessed with Berlin and was willining to sacrifice so many Red Army soldiers to get to Berlin before the Americans. It has always been felt that it was primarily for the political value, to demonstrate the role of the Red Army in defeating the NAZIs. A British historian argues that there was another important reason. Beria had learned of the American Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb. Stalin as a result ordered a top secret Soviet atomic bomb project--Project Boradino. Located at Berlin was the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, the center of the German atomic project. While the Germans were far behind the Americans, the Russins obrained agreat deal of valuable information an 3 tons of uranium oxide. [Beavor]

Red Army Revenge

The Soviet conquest of Berlin proved to be a nightmare for the surviving women, almost all of whom were raped. This begun even before the Red Army reached the Reich. It did not just occur in Berlin. It is estimated that 2 million German women were raped by Russians at the end of the War. Perhaps 0.2 million of those rapes took place in Berlin. The rapes included children, nuns, old ladies, and even Russian women brought to Germany to work as slave laborers. The Soviets denied the German civilian reports, but Soviet archieves leave no doubt as to what occurred. [Beevor] This is still very contoversial in Russia, as the Great Patriotic War is still considered in an almost religious way by Russians. While Soviet authors were not allowed to mention it, famed war correspondent Vasily Grossman did detail it in his notebooks. Grossman admired and empthized with the Red Army soldiers who defeated the NAZIs. He was apauled, however, by the riotous behavior he observed, especially the raping of girls and women. He wrote of the "horror in the eyes of women and girls". He reports that liberated Soviet slave workers reported being raped to him and even liberated contration camp imates were raped. [Beevor and Vinogravoda]

Losses

Losses on both the German and Russian side were enormous. Some estimates run as high as 0.5 million men. [Fest] Other estimates are substantially lower, but still very high. One respected historian estimates 78,000 men. [Beavor] Russian losses were in part due to the fact that Stalin had ordered that Berlin be seized bfore the Americans could reach it. Stalin's ordered resulted in a race to Berlin by Marshal Zukov and Koniev, both wanting the victor' laurels.

Sources

Beevor, Antony and Luba Vinogravoda. A Writer at War: Vassily Grossman with the Red Army, 1941-1945 (Pantheon, 2006), 378p. This is an important document. There are passages from Grossman's notebooks (without the distortions of the Red Star editors along with interperative material written by Beevor.

Beevor, Anthony. The Fall of Berlin 1945.

Fest, Joachim. Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Day of the Third Reich (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2004).

Created: May 30, 2004
Last updated: 4:39 AM 3/8/2007