Dr Gustav Hendrich
“Our soldiers have broken into Berlin” were the words of Soviet mayor-general Vladimir Antonov which reverberated through Soviet Russia and the world after their breakthrough into the city.
In defence of their capital, the Germans were determined to fight to the end, while the Russians would fight to liberate Europe from the shackles of Nazism. Yet, to the British historian, John Pimlott it was the epitome of an ideological clash, because “a victory [in Berlin] would symbolise more than just the winning of a battle – it would represent a triumph of one political ethic over another”.
With the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Berlin and end of the Second World War in Europe in May 1945, it is fitting to reflect on this final pivotal confrontation. The famed Soviet general of the Red Army, Georgi Zhukov described this battle as “one of the most difficult of the war”.
Retreat from Stalingrad
After the decisive battle of Stalingrad in 1943 the tide of the war turned irrevocably against Nazi-Germany. By April 1945 the Russians reached Berlin. Stalin ordered generals Zhukov and Ivan Koniev to take the city. In Berlin, Adolf Hitler decided to stand, believing the illusion that, “the Russian would fall before Berlin”. The retreating soldiers, veterans and young inexperienced recruits of the Volkssturm, or home army, would put up a fanatical resistance. Hundreds of artillery pieces, tanks, and boys carrying the Panzerfaust, or self-propelled rocket-launcher almost their size were bracing the Russian onslaught.
Armageddon at the Reichstag
On 14 April the Russians launched their offensive that broke through the inner-ring of German defenses. It was the most intense fighting imaginable. The Russian mayor, Anna Nikulina shared her eyewitness account: “the Battle of Berlin was extremely difficult. It had to be taken street by street, house by house, some of them nine or 10 stories high, and there were lots of those houses. The fascists held out on every floor, and also setup barricades on every street”.
By 27 April the suburb of Spandau were taken and the Brandenburg Gate stood in the distance. By then Hitler married Eva Braun whilst maddeningly scolding at his ‘treacherous’ general staff. Even the feared secret police, the Gestapo, was on the run. A German resident, Eberhard Berthage, who was threatened by execution, had the good fortune when the Russians liberated his area, and abruptly left their uniforms on the table.
By now the Russians were in sight of the Chancellery, and with all hope fading, Hitler committed suicide. Inside and around the Reichstag (or Parliament), nearly 5 000 German soldiers stood steadfast. With the final Russian assault with Katyusha rocket-launchers pounding the building, the infantry stormed forward. Nikulina eagerly told: “our objective was the planting of our banner on the building itself. It was a group of us, they gave me the barrier to get into the building and hoist it up. Having got at the building, we started making our way up the staircase towards the attic. Some fascists opened up on us, and Saligin was hit in the head, whilst I managed to get through a shell hole, from where I secured the banner on a length of telegraph wire”.
Soviet victory
It symbolised the Soviet victory over Nazi-Germany. The battle cost more than 80 000 Russian soldiers, and for the Germans the number remains unknown.
Soviet victory Broadcast of the German capitulation in the West, or ‘VE-Day’ on 8 May, and in Moscow, on 9 May, the victory was an overwhelming joy. Valentina Pavlovna, who was still stationed in East Prussia told of the soldier’s exuberance: “It’s victory! They have surrendered...everyone started firing... some wiping their tears, others were dancing”.
For Pavlovna she mentioned she was “very eager to forget all about the war”. Yet for the Russians the so-called ‘Great Patriotic War’ would cost more than 20 million lives. Nazism was defeated, but it was to be the ordinary German who was to pay, by reparations, guilt and partition by the Iron Curtain.
Eternal glory
Eighty years after the Soviet victory in Berlin, their sacrifice is still remembered. From Moscow to Vladivostok annual military parades are held to commemorate the victory in Europe. The Great Patriotic Museum in Moscow showcases a giant diorama by the painter, V.M.Sibirskiy, depicting the brave individual deeds of Soviet soldiers at the Reichstag. Not only in Russia, but also in the very heart of Berlin, near the Brandenburg Gate in the tranquil Tiergarten, a Soviet War Monument was erected after the war. To passers-by its glorious words on the inscription would convey: “Eternal glory to heroes who fell in battle with the German fascist invaders for the freedom and independence of the Soviet Union, 1941- 1945”.
*Hendrich is a researcher and historian.
Weekend Argus