Transcripts For DW World War Two 20240713

A look at the. April 1945 on the order river 60 kilometers northeast of berlin. In what was still the german town of need of votes and a very marked Infantry Battalion Exchange Fire with advancing soviet army unit. Its. The scene is among the last in the war to be filmed by german propaganda units despite its hopeless military position the 3rd reich still hoped images of courageous german troops and fallen Red Army Soldiers could bolster optimism and the nazi mindset surrender was not an option hitler for all that i thought fleeced so they had to create Something Like a duty to be doomed in the high command and many soldiers complied. Thus there was the sense that germany could endure another 918. 00 a defeat which in hindsight would be described as a premature capitulation yet these my hobbies are adopting this time troops wouldnt capitulate at the 11th hour theyd wait until after midnight which naturally resulted in horrific losses that eclipsed everything that had come before taken by thoughtless. With 450000 german soldiers killed january 1905 was the month that recorded the heaviest military losses in the war and the carnage continued in the following weeks despite the threat of death many german troops continued to fight tenaciously especially on the Eastern Front forced along from our point of view today we would say the war was lost there was no choice but to capitulate. But for most of the soldiers on the Eastern Front that wasnt an option. They believed it was better to be captured only if they were staring into the barrel of a tank and there was no alternative. Otherwise the order was to one avoid captivity which the troops imagined would be done is effective force. By mid april the red army was positioned all along the western bank of the older river german units entrenched themselves on the zillo heights a rocky plateau above the marshy order book plane on an Impossible Mission to stop the soviet advance on berlin. In the early hours of april 16th some 9000. 00 soldiers of the 1st belorussian front unleashed the full force of their artillery against the zillow heights the German Defense consisted of exhausted frontline troops hitler youths and soldiers classified as fit for active service a term popularly dubbed excellent in limping. The very much troops were outnumbered 4 to one and yet they initially managed to blunt the red army advance. Soviet commander marshall georg issue cough became increasingly frustrated. The soviet decided stayed with him in all the talk by the teeth the soviet side was under enormous pressure. The unspoken aim was to capture berlin by may 1st the day of the working class talk all soviet military leadership responded accordingly and tried by all possible means to break through the german lines yet it is up it is a few all of us walked with not a little goes to georgia and those took place. In their desperation to breach enemy lines soviet commanders resorted to unconventional methods there was little consideration for the fate of their own soldiers. Does one example. As the soviets use of floodlights to illuminate the battlefield in the dark instead of aiding the soviet charge it actually serve the nazi defenders because they were able to clearly see the silhouettes of their sylvia targets shes missed and both sides suffered enormous losses the red army recorded more than 30000 casualties at least 12000 germans perished. After 4 days soviet forces had cleared the way to berlin. The situation for German Defenses in the west was equally precarious after crossing the rhine allied forces fanned out eastwards capturing one town after another. In. The cuffed of m. R. I. February and march of 45. 00 the van mocked was spent it no longer had the strength to maintain an orderly defense line now everything began to collapse its priest was. Like the red army in the east allied troops advancing across germany now discovered evidence of the nazi atrocities that had claimed the millions of lives in the preceding years. In mid april a british unit reached the bagging besan concentration camp. For years and mates here were tortured abused and murdered the soldiers had seen their fair share of death and destruction but nothing prepared them for what they found inside. So dark in the petition im really british soldiers recounted how they had expected to be greeted with cheers of joy welcoming the liberators but. Instead what they felt at fag and bells and was shocking and they see it in mates and courses on the road. In the lockers of the survivors werent even capable of getting up and leaving. Also there was very little tearing because the inmates were all too weak to give in any kind of response. At 2 pm. Toward the end of the war the camp had swelled to at least 75000 inmates among them many women and children and frank the German Jewish girl who wrote one of the most widely read accounts of the holocaust had died here just weeks earlier. British soldiers immediately began relief operations to care for the former prisoners they also arrested the camp commandant. Yes of karma was a nazi loyalist to incredibly to the british showed no remorse the lack of command on him on camp commandant was still behaving like he was in charge because he assumed that like him the victors viewed the camps inmates as subhuman and the piles of bodies as something perfectly normal. On the parallel universe in which he lived his murderous job was routine the job he was doing was not morally discredited by the nazi regime on the contrary he was liquidated the enemies of society. Often leaves off 2. Days earlier u. S. Troops had liberated several concentration camps in the state of thuringia they took control of broken violent and its sub camp on top of it was a defining moment for many g. I. s whose attitude toward the enemy was radically changed by what they encountered in the camps most of my comrades had had no personal motive to fight the germans one soldier later said they thought many of the stories theyd read or heard about were made up or at least an exaggeration but now the awful truth hit home. The allies forced the local town residents to tour the camps and witness the horror with their own eyes. The idea was that when germany civilian population was confronted with the full extent of nazi crimes either on film or in the camps themselves it would open peoples eyes to the regimes atrocities and serve as a kind of catharsis. We now know that it didnt have that immediate effect a portion of the population reacted rather defensively to the measure documents mean but we can speculate that at the very least it laid the initial groundwork. Towards a wider recognition of the crimes and hopefully ultimately a reassessment on the part of the civilian population taht. The us troops reached leipzig in saxony on april 19th just. Propaganda minister yosef goebbels addressed the german nation imploring citizens to bravely accept a battle that is unavoidable and inescapable to stand before fate with a pure conscience and pure heart to bear all suffering and every test never once thinking of wavering even in the most difficult hours of the final battle that is not only manly it is also german in the best sense of the word. Those pay those laden words did nothing to stop the u. S. Army advance in leipzig american g. I. s quickly captured the central train station. By now they met only sporadic resistance for days underground groups had been distributing leaflets with slogans like stop the insane nazi war and bring out the white flags many leipzig residents appeared to take the messages to heart and hope the war would end without further bloodshed. But like other regions of the reich saxony had its share of fanatical regime followers. Unlike cigs city home the americans made a gruesome discovery the bodies of the mayor his wife and daughter dead by suicide the city treasurer evidently follow their example. See thats on the to the client there was an unprecedented wave of suicides as a feeling for many people this was really the end of the world he can see he was it wasnt that they couldnt imagine a life beyond National Socialism but rather they could no longer imagine a world beyond these conditions this is the prevailing mood was one of a unique sense of doom it was just. In the final weeks of the war on the elba river made International Headlines the small town 50 kilometers northeast of lives was the Meeting Point of soviet and us soldiers a milestone celebrated on april 26th 1905. In fact the 1st contact between patrols had taken place a day earlier. Brothers in arms for 3 and a half years united against the nazis the news was welcomed in washington by the new u. S. President harry s. Truman who issued a statement saying the junction of our forces at this moment signalize is to ourselves and to the world that the collaboration of our nations in the cause of peace and freedom is an effective collaboration but the reality on the ground was different it was a friendship that would be short lived. While photographers staged images of allied unity on the riverbank people were fleeing when. Asked and boats across the elba anxious to escape the soviet sphere of influence in subsequent weeks scores of german soldiers followed suit like here in tandem munda where troops scrambled to cross the elba their motive was obvious. To do. You know yet that it was clear to the german soldiers that as p. O. W. s in allied captivity they could probably expect to be treated according to the Geneva Convention so it was far easier for soldiers on the western front to surrender than it was for those in the east in comfort and sustain as an ostrich. As soon as they reached territory controlled by the western allies many german soldiers turned themselves in. Filming in technicolor u. S. Army camera teams documented the surrender of damage troops on an almost daily basis. It was a dangerous move for the germans. In late march the vam ox commander of the Army Group South had issued a clear order directing troops separated from their formations to report immediately to the nearest combat unit. Guided by the sounds of battle these were easy to locate anyone who defied this order risked being branded a desert or and sentenced to death it was a risk increasing numbers of soldiers were willing to take the mccullough americans were taking millions of prisoners of war in march and april 45. Vanoc had begun disintegrating after they crossed the riots in a question now was where would they put them all. Initially the men were placed under open skies and fenced in meadows and fields. It was then decided to corral them together in huge camps. Military trucks ferried thousands of them out soldiers to the highland beginning in april sweeping expanses along the river had been enclosed with barbed wire the socalled sign meadow ok. Damps. To thwart any attempts to flee the facilities were set up on the rinds west bank. Officially they were named prisoner of war temporary enclosures. From the outset the senate terry conditions were appalling and the camps lacked food and medical care. While hundreds of thousands of captive soldiers waited in the west for the war to end frantic preparations were underway in the german capital ahead of the final battle for berlin. Berlin had been declared a defense own on february 1st throughout the weeks of spring berliners erected barricades to fortify the city as best they could in anticipation of the red army onslaught. A few tile undertaking. To come from delhi and as he says its on the lets stop this the battle for berlin was the final act of the war you could say one has to remember that this was a city that is 939 still had more than 4000000 residents even now some 2 and a half 1000000 remains and this densely populated area was about to become a single battlefield so id say that on april 21st the 1st soviet Ground Forces penetrated berlins enter defensive ring. Amid a barrage of artillery fire and raids by soviet fighter jets Red Army Units advance through the city suburbs. In a radio address yosef goebbels reminded berliners of their duty to fight to the end i got that. I would be well im. I like people to give it to. God and i did you leave youre going to get a good dont try to put it on but. You can get ill. Be by it if you get it and i put it i did not want one car that didnt want one go to build a bomb and be out. Of luck im going to find you did and im coming around to knock you on. But if im not beaten up do you hope that the right youre in the end of the budget been funded and i. Didnt. Come when i dont buy it and get me to. Now the regimes last remaining loyalists convened amid the ruins to defend the city and the future and all hitler had already made up his mind he would remain in berlin ascott the opt for the beginnings attended by legal and one option that was discussed before the battle began was to fly history to his mountains treat us as best as gods was he conscious. He chose the grand stage it was a stage in which he could play the statesman and military commander of. The red army steamrolled through the suburbs their sights set on the Central Government district. Heavy fighting broke out amid the landscape of ruins. The bloody battles were documented by russian cameramen producing some 30000 meters of film. The soviet commanders were ruthless sparing neither german civilians nor their own soldiers. By the bed and i could have been cynical as dalin a holes was but instead they fought house to house and tens of thousands of soviet soldiers died in this senseless battle with the allies were taken aback by the way the sez he union waged war with food. The loss of life on the german side was just a staggering its not known exactly how many people perished in hitlers capital. Around midday on april 25th the red army closed its ring around berlin. As its tanks headed for the city center hitler remain holed up inside his bunker under the high chancellery refusing to accept defeat. Hitler was photographed one last time in the ruins of his office its unclear when precisely this photo was taken. It of locked on the long can see also hitler asked how long can you hold the city in the commander said not longer than 24 hours and only then and this is really hard to believe only then did hitler decide to commit suicide and he still was hesitant the he really tried to prolong the fighting until the very last conceivable moment that sort of. Hitler dictated his final orders then married his longtime partner ever brown. In the early afternoon now. As of april 30th the couple with through to their private rooms inside the fuehrer bunker. The dictator shot himself in the head his wife died by poison. Aides took their bodies up to the garden of the high chancellor e taos them with gasoline and set them alight. Its up to in the video we dont hitler always repeat is that he wouldnt stop until after it was too late this is one which is in essence a brutal was inhumane and simple strategy and one that he pursued to the very end he was fairly see it. The dictator was dead but the fighting continued on may 1st soviet forces captured areas of the government district and were within sight of the Brandenburg Gate and the rice chancellery where yosef goebbels was now in charge. Hitler had named grand admiral carle dunnetts as his successor as president of the reich and propaganda minister goebbels as chancellor goebbels now tried to open negotiations for surrender. But on stalins orders the soviets insisted on the immediate and Unconditional Surrender of the city. The majority of berliners had recognized the writing on the wall and hung white flags from their windows. That may 1st evening german radio news broadcasted a lie. You lot. I cannot be bought. Here that. It. Was. It but one can. Get on it. Within the next hours Joseph Goebbels also ended his life his wife joined him in committing suicide after poisoning their 6 children for the fanatic nazi goes in. Was an unavoidable step. Coverage ive been to a monastery girdles castigated the commanders who had surrendered for not having the courage to kill themselves from what goebbels was true to his principles in that respect and according to this logic killing his children was the right thing to do and its a bit with that because they shouldnt be subjected to a life under soviet occupation. A life of their National Socialism. Is this inside. Soviet soldiers displayed the charred remains of goebbels and his wife and the bodies of their children in the garden of the right chancellery. It was may 2nd berlin had now accepted Unconditional Surrender the soviets assumed control of the city. Yet peace was still a distant dream in her diary one berlin woman described apocalyptic scenes. Panic rains across the city shock and horror wherever we go there is theft loosing violence and unbridled lust the victorious soldiers attack the linz women they rape alec doors his endo wife says the men cry not once no 6 times no 10 and 20 times over no one in the city talks about anything else. Although the capital had fallen the war in europe was not over the new government under right president done its tried to delay the imminent surrender. His hope was to buy time so that as many german soldiers as possible could enter areas controlled by the british and americans and the scape the dreaded capture by soviet forces. Like here in saxony long formations of damage soldiers began heading west on foot. Since the previous september the Supreme Commander of the allied Expeditionary Force in europe us general dwight d. Eisenhower had been headquartered in the french city of holmes. On may 6th a german delegation under general alfred yodel arrived in the sitting. Formalities to end the war were to be undertaken in the middle school in whos really. In apparent selfdelusion the german delegates still believe there was room for negotiation. That would really hope to limit the terms of german surrender to only those forces still fighting in the west. But the allies. Cent thats out of the question were talking about total surrender now. After all german attempts to negotiate failed yodel wired iraq president carl dunn its at 945 pm i see no way out other than chaos or signature. An hour later he received the reply giving yodel full power to conclude the surrender at 2 41 am on the morning of may 7th the general signed the document. In a little schoolhouse and ran right then the Unconditional Surrender of german. General alfred your nazi chiefs that signed the document formally ending all german race that has drawn by the representatives of Russia Britain france and the United States. General walter beetle smiths son for the Supreme Commander and the end of one of historys most massive and most brilliant campaigns brought a moment of well earned joy to one american soldier named ike i dont. Like here in london the news from hans triggered celebrations across much of europe. After more than 5 and a half years of war peace was returning to the continent. But not everyone shared the jubilation for the soviets the joy of victory was tempered by distrust also for the soviets the soviets were unsettled by was that there was tremendous fear on both sides that one side might reach a separate deal with the other side and then somehow the war would continue or something along those lines or the soviet union insisted on a 2nd surrender ceremony just as a couple of notes on the why we dont want to. End so the procedure was repeated on may 8th and a former German Army Engineering School in the berlin district of khans host. The ceremony aims to dispel soviet concerns. And give due recognition to the part played by the red army in the liberation of europe. The soviets were represented by general doggie zhukov. Alongside british and us representatives the french were now also part of the delegation of the victorious powers germany sent general field marshal will home title chief of the Armed Forces High command the surrender document was signed overnight from the 8th to the 9th of may. It stated. We the undersigned acting by authority of the german high command hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander allied Expeditionary Force and simultaneously to the supreme high command of the red army all forces on land at sea and in the air who were at this date under german control. Several days after the formal end of the war one of the most notorious nazi leaders surrendered to the allies. The rights martial him and giving had long been the 2nd most powerful man in the 3rd reich but in the final weeks of the war he fell from grace and was removed from his positions by hitler after the regimes collapse he still believed he had a role to play as a statesman and was shocked when he was stripped of his weapon and imprisoned like a regular soldier. A shade and evil men the moment the americans arrested him he fell back into his old road. Also grew thicker he maintained i was the diplomat to try to stop it all masing the thought thought of east. Europe i was the voice of moderation. You need me as a distinguished statesman to lead the german people into a new era thought to prefer cool and other such crazy and confused assumptions and. In 1935 it was gurning who had read out the nuremberg laws that disenfranchise jews and deprive them of most of their Political Rights later he signed an order for a plan to find a socalled final solution to the jewish question directly implicating him in the crimes of the holocaust a few months after this footage was shot going and other nazi leaders were charged with war crimes in the fall of 1906 he was sentenced to death at the nuremberg trials but the sentence could not be carried out. Got on he smuggled to cyanide camp chills in his luggage into his cell concealed in a john of skin cream. And he wrote a fan well letter from the german Reich Marshal he will not be executed by hanging what i choose the death of the great cannibal snitch and shortly before his shoulder execution he poisoned himself as of course that it is still the gifted as. The british were also hunting nazi war criminals on may 20th they detained a man calling himself highness hence again dressed in the uniform of the secret field police. His papers were suspicious his answers during interrogation and learn of berg were contradictory. And then there was his striking resemblance to the most wanted nazi mass murderer this prisoner was none other than Heinrich Himmler as a british doctor examined him he bit down on a cyanide capsule hidden in his mouth with his suicide himmler like hitler and goebbels escaped prosecution for his murderous crimes. May 23rd 1945 also marked the end of grand admiral karl dunnetts is delusional bid to govern germany. Hitler had appointed in its right president but he was left entirely powerless he was now taken into custody along with other members of his cabinet only now 3 weeks after the suicide of its fear or was the 3rd reich finally history. The soviet union celebrated its victory over nazi germany with a massive military parade on moscows red square on june 24th. Thats their push. Then to dog even after each other but im not least in a good enough its just but you have a good lawyer believe got mixed up any next step but im back at you just in maybe i need but in that short no more it. Wont get that but if you dont yap are you. Going to bet it got any you got by because you know im not really 5 yet the not believing them. To do so they decide is for the soviet side it was naturally of existential importance after all theyd been through there were 26600000 victims thats the official figure civilians and military personnel. So this moment of victory was really hugely important for the stalinist regime. Under stalin as watchful gaze some 10000 soldiers of all ranks marched past the lenin muslim. Generals who come who had led the offensive against berlin took center stage. For the russian people was the embodiment of their victory. This large heavy man on his powerful horse. Side official calls the flip side was that his military career as well as his political influence in general are now over because stalin is generally simo of course needed to be perceived as the true architect of this victory hes a secret and. There could be no other narrative. Stalin was at the height of his power with the victory over hitlers reich all of Eastern Europe had fallen into his hands the generally simos soldiers were now his most loyal supporters with their help he would consolidate the soviet union superpower status and stand up to the United States in a new conflict that was already looming in the cold war the years when hundreds of thousands of Red Army Soldiers had been sent to their deaths seemed forgotten. The picture was very different in the capital of moscows wartime enemy berlin lay in ruins more than 28 square kilometers of the city had been destroyed in air raids and in the battle to defend the city from the red army. The city center was particularly hard hit the grand boulevard on today in london where 12 years earlier the nazis had celebrated their rise to power with a torch lit procession through the Brandenburg Gate now reduced to rubble. Some residents remained in their apartments despite missing outer walls but almost immediately after the arrival of soviet forces civilians began the task of clearing away the debris. Arduous work that paid just 72. 00 pfennigs an hour. The victorious powers now officially govern germany in a shared 4 Party Administration the allied control council comprised representatives from britain france the us and the soviet union. In early july the city was divided up into 4 occupations sectors. In mid july u. S. President harry s. Truman touched down in berlin to finalize a postwar settlement with the soviet and british leaders. The conference was held in nearby potsdam at sicilian hauffe palace before 918 and it served as the residence of the german crown prince and his family and the meeting of the major allied powers known as the big 3 began on july 17th all sides were at pains to display unity after their victory against the common enemy stalin joins truman of the talks and britain was represented at 1st by Prime Minister Winston Churchill midway through the conference he would suffer an election defeat and be replaced by his successor. And whats the effect of the tenor of the talks in post on was we won now we carry a joint responsibility to guide this continent into a secure future because its. Because the war and the fighting didnt end on may the 8th 1040 fun of the van mocked capitulated but war and violence continued. It. But the days of unity in the n. T. Hitler coalition were numbered. As the conference convened the truman received the news that the us military had at last successfully tested a new weapon of unique destructive force. With. The us had long been working on a project to develop an atomic bomb. Now the test phase had progressed to the point where the bomb was ready for use i know thats not quite that and it was clear to the us that sooner or later the soviet union would prove an adversary for ideological reasons. For hand austin and avoid to hear that so the us did want to get the message across that it now had the technology and was now in a position to use a Nuclear Weapon it is a mindset thats. The big 3 remain locked in intense negotiations thats a sealion half palace for 2 weeks. They agreed on reparations from germany and on processes for the countries denounce of occasion democratization and demilitarization. They also redrew the map severing east prussia and territories east of the older and nicer rivers from germany. Plus all. It is was also an agreement in part stem on the expulsion of ethnic germans from Eastern Europe the socalled transfer of populations all remaining german minority populations were to be removed from Eastern Europe found. The expulsion of german minorities from Eastern Europe was already underway when the conference convened. Aside from poland they were above all being driven from the sadat mind the area of czechoslovakia and exploit hitler in 1938 the potsdam conference launched a huge wave of organized expulsion in the late summer millions of refugees began heading west but when they arrived in their new home many found they were not welcome or after the war germany was grappling with multiple social and political problems many people had lost their homes there was widespread poverty and anxiety about the future. So this influx of new arrivals wasnt exactly something people with hearing about. Female out on the contrary many refugees met with blatant rejection they were perceived as foreign is they had a different dialect they looked different. A further strain was posed by sectarianism catholics were arriving in protestant areas and protestants in catholic areas which at the time was quite problematic. In total at least 12000000. 00 ethnic germans fled or were expelled from their homes. Yes. After 5 and a half years the fighting in europe was over but in the pacific the 2nd world war raged on the forces of the japanese empire were fighting doggedly to stave off defeat the battle for okinawa had been raging since early april when the islands defenders retreated into the interior and began a fight to the death against american troops. It took almost 3 months before okinawa was completely under u. S. Control. After this costly victory u. S. Military leaders were rethinking their strategy against the enemy. The schlock from going off to fight the battle of okinawa and other battles in the pacific in 1905 had shown the us army and navy that it was probably utopian to carry out a landing operation on the japanese home islands. The name and then of the up and that strengthen the argument in favor of using Nuclear Bombs the logic being that it was better for japanese to die than american soldiers. I met a conscious and thoughtlessly because. The plan was quickly put into action when japan failed to meet us all to made them for Unconditional Surrender at the end of july the new weapons of mass destruction were loaded on to b. 29 bombers at the us air base on the Pacific Island of tenney and in early august. On august 6th the worlds 1st deployed atomic bomb was dropped over hiroshima. 3 days later a 2nd targeted nagasaki the attacks instantly killed at least 100000 people tens of thousands more died in the following years from the effects of radiation driving the death toll higher. A small bottle chose that protecting japanese civilians and saving japanese lives was just not something that was given any consideration kind of article to the question can we do this. That was something that was completely lost in those war years yes the. Fight on. This footage was filmed weeks after the attack on hiroshima the bomb was detonated at an altitude of about 600 meters and leveled the city. The images revealed the devastating power of the atomic bomb and marked the beginning of a new era. On aug 15th emperor hirohito addressed the nation by radio for most japanese it marks the 1st time they heard the voice of the man who was worshiped as a living god the more you. Know you think the more you dont know. You are you sure you dont know. Or. Are. Right. Why dont you you are. Going to know that you are. On your financial. Group. But. On the morning of september 2nd 1905 the battleship u. S. S. Missouri lay anchored in the bay of tokyo. At the u. S. S. Missouri and talking all day on sunday september the 2nd 1945 the most horrible war in history came to its complete and formal and foreign minister to commit genocide and for japan. Douglas macarthur Supreme Commander. General still young signed for china. New york getting out throughout the week i think they can that world thats wrong to make all happy people celebrate the end up fighting that gonna build a new yorker damn times where get up and get the job or get out. The vast scope of a world war 2 is almost impossible to fathom the death toll can only be estimated the figure lies at least 60000000 a mere number the fails to reflect the suffering unleashed by nazi germanys invasion of poland. The deadliest military conflict in history lasted 6 years and a day 2193 days of anguish and death. After. Building the musical bridge. Between washington. In germany to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the 2nd world war was done in Classical Music experience and concert halls in berlin moscow and st petersburg. 15 minutes on d w. A city in ruins more on a. Symbol of a long conflict in the philippines between the muslims and the christian population. Last place structures occupied the city center in 2007 Team President to churchs response was moved. By it or it will never again will hold. The reconquest turned into tragedy this is not the kind of freedom that we want. How did morality become a gateway to islamist terror. An exclusive report from a destroyed city. Filling in the science of bias starts may 20th on g. W. The fact. That. This is the w. News live from berlin remembering world war 2 germany as leaders mark the end of the conflict in europe 75 years ago to the day events are scaled back because of the coronavirus contact box the focus is on remembrance this year. Also coming up germany declares a new coronavirus hot spot as more than a 100 workers test positive at a Meat Processing talked. On topping new york helpful