For educational purposes
Structures built to prevent a Soviet counter-attack against Germany as Nazi forces retreated in the wake of the failed invasion of Russia.
Structures built to prevent a Soviet counter-attack against Germany as Nazi forces retreated in the wake of the failed invasion of Russia.
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00:001944. Hitler's brutal war of extermination on the Eastern Front has been halted. The
00:08tide has turned and the Germans face a vast Soviet army bent on revenge.
00:15What is about to be unleashed is the storm from hell.
00:22Hitler's army must now rely on a series of defensive megastructures, innovative technology
00:28and grim determination to halt the Soviet advance.
00:32What this was, was a flamethrower, capable of delivering flame all the way across the
00:38hilltop here.
00:40The Germans battle for every inch of ground, from the Baltic all the way back to the heart
00:45of Berlin.
00:46When you're defending your own home, I think it brings out a different inner strength,
00:50a different determination.
00:53This is the story of the defensive megastructures underpinning the most brutal fighting retreat
00:59of World War II.
01:01This is seriously like nothing I've ever seen. This is staggeringly huge.
01:10The biggest construction projects of World War II, ordered by Hitler and Stalin. Now
01:15they serve as dark reminders of the Führer's fanatical military ambition and the Russians'
01:20fight to stop him.
01:24These are the secrets of the Nazi megastructures.
01:31At 3 a.m. on the 16th of April, 1945, one of the largest concentrated artillery barrages
01:42in world history begins.
01:47Over 40,000 guns, mortars and Soviet rockets rain down on the Nazis at Zillow Heights in
01:53eastern Germany.
01:55One of the last defensive positions between the Russians and Berlin.
02:00On the front line, 18-year-old rookie paratrooper Willi Wenger finds himself in the middle of
02:07the Soviet onslaught.
02:11My comrade and I lay in the fog zone. The fear was indescribable.
02:30In the chaos, Wenger is separated from his unit.
02:36The flashlights eerily illuminated the battlefield. Dense fog added to the confusion.
02:43Comrade? Where are you?
02:50Right in front of me, a Russian soldier appeared.
02:58The epic battle at Zillow Heights is just one of a series of fierce conflicts, as the
03:09Nazis try to halt the despised Red Army's advance on the fatherland.
03:15Evidence of this fighting retreat and its killer defences can still be found scattered
03:20across Europe from the Baltic all the way back to Berlin.
03:32Conflict archaeologist Professor Tony Pollard has travelled to modern-day Poland in search
03:37of the most technologically advanced fortifications of their time, the Germans' formidable East
03:44Wall.
03:47Look at this picked out on the hill here. I can already see gun loops and braziers in
03:53the side. But look at this. This is an incredible structure. This steel is about 10 inches thick
04:04and it's angled at the side so that they can sweep the gun around. And with half a dozen
04:08of these spread around the diameter of this structure, they've got a 360 degree field
04:13of fire. But here, something very different. This is battle damage. Well, it might be battle
04:18damage. It's definitely an anti-tank round that's come in here, armour-piercing. The
04:23point is that they've come nowhere near to penetrating through onto the inside. This
04:28is an incredibly well-defended structure and it's just one of these features poking out
04:37of the earth, each of which is performing a different function. And over here, very
04:42unassuming, almost looks like a dog's bowl in the middle of the hilltop here, but I think
04:47what this was was a flamethrower. There would have been a monitor head protruding out, retractable,
04:53coming up here, capable of delivering flame all the way across the hilltop here if the
04:59place was stormed by infantry. So anyone assaulting this hilltop is in for a hell of a time when
05:05this stuff opens up.
05:11The story of Germany's fighting retreat begins in February 1944. German troops have besieged
05:20the city of Leningrad for almost two and a half years, but are now being pushed back
05:24by the Soviets. Hitler gives his troops permission to withdraw. His plan? To fight for every
05:33inch of ground until he can launch a counter-attack. He's still convinced Nazi technology and tactical
05:41superiority will ultimately win the war. As the spring thaw leads to muddy conditions
05:49and a lull in hostilities, the burning question is, where will the Red Army strike next?
06:02The Führer outlines his prediction in a letter to his high command.
06:08The location of the next Soviet attack has been a matter of great conjecture. After careful
06:17consideration, I agree with your assessment that the enemy will head for oil-rich Romania
06:25and the more manoeuvrable terrain of the Ukrainian steppes in the south.
06:33But by moving troops from Belarus to bolster defences further south, Hitler is leaving
06:39his central front line vulnerable to attack.
06:53It's a fateful error. On the 22nd of June 1944, a massive surprise strike by Soviet
07:01forces breaks through the weakened ranks of the German Army Group Centre. With Hitler's
07:10front line in disarray, he must now concentrate on protecting key strategic positions, such
07:16as the port of Mamel on the Baltic coast.
07:23Former Army Captain Dr. Patrick Burey is searching for evidence of how the Germans
07:34plan to hold back the Russian tide.
07:37Ah, yeah, you can see here, there's a pintle on top of a circular concrete mount, and that
07:45suggests to me anyway that this was a, there's a large calibre gun there, and the pintle's
07:48for moving it and for allowing it to elevate as well. And then you've got this huge fortification
07:54in front of us. And here you can see steel couplers, which are observation points for
07:59the troops inside to spot ships out at sea.
08:03This gun battery, Mamel Nord, was constructed in 1939 to defend Mamel's ice-free port.
08:11It's one of eight protecting the coastal city, seen as vital in maintaining the Nazis' eastern
08:17supply chain and naval dominance in the Baltic.
08:29Ammunition storage and crew accommodation are built into the battery.
08:34You can see here, this is obviously a corridor between the accommodation end of the command
08:41bunker and the business end. And right up there are the couplers, and you can see the
08:48observations, so that's the two couplers. And then here, there would have been the radar
08:53position. And then this, obviously very thick concrete, and it looks like, yeah, even reinforced
09:01with steel.
09:04From this command centre, German operators remotely aim and fire the battery's four heavy
09:09guns.
09:14Look at this! This is seriously impressive. This looks to me like a German Flak 40 anti-aircraft
09:22gun. And yeah, you can see here just how wide the muzzle is. That's 128mm. This gun had
09:31the range to hit any Russian aircraft in the sky. And in 1944, that's important, because
09:37the Russian army is advancing, and the Russian Air Force in particular is a growing threat.
09:42And so the Germans take out the coastal guns that were here and put in the heavy anti-aircraft
09:47guns, so that they can protect this vital part of territory from the coming onslaught.
09:55Fifth of October, 1944. The Soviets launch the fearsome Memel Offensive. The German coastal
10:03batteries stand firm, and for the moment, the Nazis hold the Baltic.
10:13But by late October 1944, German forces face a crisis in troop numbers and equipment, all
10:20across the Eastern Front. They have lost 400,000 men in the past ten weeks. If they're to hold
10:28off the Russians, they must find more men. And fast.
10:39October 1944. German forces are being pushed back on two fronts. In the West, the Allies
10:48have liberated France and are almost at the German border. On the Eastern Front, the Red
10:54Army are forcing their way into Poland and Hungary.
11:04In Germany, hundreds of miles away from the fighting, 18-year-old Austrian pilot cadet
11:10Willi Wenger is eager to join the struggle.
11:13Here, let me show you something. This here, this is my brother. He's been awarded the
11:21Knight's Cross. It only took him a year to become a fighter pilot, and now he's already
11:26a squadron commander. I can't wait for our chance to fly in combat for the Fatherland.
11:34Wenger's idealized view of combat could not be further from reality.
11:4212th of January, 1945. The Germans' front line in the East is hit with the largest single
11:52Soviet assault of World War II. The Vistula-Oder Offensive.
11:59Capitalizing on their vastly superior numbers, the Red Army punches through the stretched
12:04German defenses all along the Vistula River. But Hitler, who always feared a Soviet invasion,
12:13has constructed the most technologically advanced defenses of the time, part of a huge network
12:19running for over 300 miles, close to Germany's border with Poland. The East Wall.
12:27Conflict archaeologist Professor Tony Pollard is discovering that what's on the surface
12:39is only half the story.
12:48I've come down to the first level. It can only be about 20 feet under the ground, but
12:53already there's a labyrinth, a rat's maze of rooms and corridors. And every room has
13:01a story to tell. And this is the tube to accommodate the flamethrower and the fuel that the flamethrower
13:08would use. Amazingly well preserved. I didn't expect to find so much in place.
13:14The true scale of the structure, known as a Panzerwerk, only becomes apparent the further
13:19down you go.
13:21Opens out here. There's huge air ducts coming in. It's almost like the tower of a castle
13:28underground. Oh no, for someone that doesn't like heights, that is a horror show. That
13:37must be, I don't know, 100 feet straight down? More? I'm going to have an anxiety dream about
13:43this tonight, that's awful. It's vast!
13:51This Panzerwerk's defences are built on two levels, each with sleeping accommodation,
13:56a kitchen, washrooms and sickbay, ammunition storage rooms and a power generator.
14:07Large ducts enable air to circulate freely, and lifts carry ammunition to the vast array
14:12of weaponry at the surface.
14:25It's on the lowest level, around 130 feet underground, that the degree of engineering
14:30skill required to build this deep becomes most apparent.
14:34This egg-shaped profile of the tunnels would have been perfect for keeping back all of
14:39that pressure and earth and rock down at this depth, but the first thing that really
14:44strikes me are the railway lines. This is an underground railway.
14:53That ties in with the scale of this system. It was designed to accommodate up to 24,000
15:02personnel, and they would have been moved around a tunnel system almost 20 miles long
15:09– stores, ammunition, people, everything moving around on this railway.
15:21The extensive rail network connects over 20 similar underground Panzerwerk complexes.
15:28And the Panzerwerke are just one part of the east wall defences, which also include miles
15:34of dragon's teeth tank traps and sophisticated water obstacles to thwart a Russian advance.
15:46But for all its ingenuity, the east wall is only as effective as the soldiers that man
15:51it, and by 1945 heavy casualties mean they are in short supply.
16:04So Hitler calls on his Volkssturm, a home guard made up of boys as young as 16 and older
16:11men previously exempt from conscription. On the 29th of January 1945, the Soviet assault
16:20on the east wall begins. But the poorly equipped Volkssturm soldiers
16:25fighting alongside battle-weary regulars can't hold them at bay.
16:30In just three days, the mighty east wall is breached.
16:40They didn't stand a chance against the Red Army. If Hitler had fully armed this place
16:45and given it a trained garrison, that story might have been different.
16:51The east wall defences are overcome. The Soviets are on German soil, little more
16:57than 100 miles from Berlin. It's clear that Hitler's Volkssturm won't
17:03be enough to stop the Russian advance. The Germans desperately need more trained
17:10fighting men to defend the fatherland. Early 1945, the German army is struggling
17:18to resist the relentless Soviet advance. In brutal fighting in Latvia, Lithuania and
17:25Poland, the Nazis have lost tens of thousands of trained men.
17:30On the Baltic coast, Memel finally falls. Nearby, over 30 German divisions are cut off
17:37from the rest of the army, and trapped in the so-called Courland Pocket.
17:47Hitler is determined that the stranded troops, making up almost 7% of all German forces,
17:52must stay to retain a grip on the Baltic. But his generals urge him to evacuate them
17:58by sea, to defend the fatherland. The Germans are forced to retreat.
18:08The most outspoken is General Heinz Guderian.
18:15Mein Führer, the only feasible source of troops to block the Soviets' path to Berlin must
18:22be Courland. It is now the sole practicable solution.
18:27I will not consider moving troops out. Courland must remain under our control. It will be
18:34a strike back. Ich, I assure you, I'm acting solely in Germany's
18:43best interests. How dare you speak to me like that? Don't
18:55you think that I am fighting for Germany? My whole life has been one long struggle for
19:03Germany. I refuse to relinquish the Courland Peninsula.
19:11It must hold. Hitler's always saying, you know, when our
19:16fortunes have changed, when we go for our one last push, when our miracle weapons kick
19:20in, then we can do X, Y and Z. I mean, it's all just pure fantasy by this point.
19:28The Germans are suffering from an acute shortage of vital resources, equipment, and now more
19:34than ever, manpower. For Air Cadet Willi Wenger, already grounded
19:44because of a lack of aviation fuel, this means his dreams of becoming a pilot are about to
19:50end. Cadet Wenger, under Reichsmarschall Goering's
19:58recent directive, this is official notification that you are to be redeployed to the Eastern
20:04Infantry Division, paratrooper attack troop, with immediate effect.
20:13Wenger is one of a hundred thousand Luftwaffe ground staff and pilot cadets transferred
20:19into the army and rushed to the Eastern Front with little or no infantry training.
20:26I mean, the situation by early part of 1945 is completely desperate. You know, you need
20:31boots on the ground, but where do you get it from? You get old men, you get young boys,
20:35you get people drawn from the Luftwaffe and given rifles and told to fight on the ground
20:39instead rather than in an aircraft. Meanwhile, the Red Army is advancing through
20:47Germany, en route to Berlin. More than eight and a half million terrified German citizens
20:54flee their homes, fearing reprisals for atrocities meted out by the Nazis in Soviet territory.
21:02The German propaganda machine now uses this fear to its advantage.
21:07Propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels was depicting the Red Army as this heathen horde swarming
21:15towards Germany, raping, pillaging, bringing cruelty and destruction and a vision of the
21:21apocalypse. Hitler uses this fear to foster a siege mentality amongst his people. He designates
21:31certain cities on a direct route to Berlin, fortress cities, where soldiers and citizens
21:36must fight to the death to try and halt the Russian advance.
21:45One of the first in the firing line is the ancient city of Küstrin. Occupying a key
21:51strategic position on the river Oder, its fortifications give the Germans an important
21:56defensive advantage.
22:05Conflict archaeologist Dr Gavin Lindsay is exploring the scene of one of the most fiercely
22:09fought standoffs in the Second World War.
22:13This looks like it was one of the gates. Some of these wall faces are absolutely covered
22:19in impacts. Look at this. This is one of the repaired sections, but it gives you a clue
22:27as to how badly hit this thing was in the first place that it's needed the repair. I
22:33mean you can see the repair line here is curved. So this has been completely trashed. It's
22:38taken out the whole corner here. Now this is interesting. So there's still a round embedded
22:47in the wall in here.
22:54When the battle for Küstrin begins on the 31st of January 1945, a 10,000 strong Ramshackle
23:01army, bolstered by Volkssturm reserves and redeployed troops, joins forces with Küstrin's
23:07citizens in a desperate stand against the Russian invaders. It's a siege in which 95%
23:15of buildings are destroyed.
23:26This is quite an interesting feature. As we move along the street, just one of the openings
23:31into what looks like a cellar during a siege. That's where you want to be. I mean you look
23:36at this street, you look at how much damage there is and destruction at an upper level.
23:41If you want to be taking shelter, you're going down into these lower quarters.
23:48It's one of the first times in the war that German soldiers and civilians have had to
23:53fight side by side.
23:56When you're defending your own home and also your wives and your children, I think it brings
24:01out a different inner strength, a different determination. It becomes a very personal
24:07battle.
24:11But the determined German defence is simply no match for the Soviet onslaught. On the
24:1830th of March 1945, after almost eight weeks of ferocious fighting, Küstrin falls.
24:26The Russians now control the bridges over the river Oder and can bring troops and armaments
24:35into the heartland of Germany. The road to Berlin is open.
24:47Despite defeat at Küstrin, the fierce resistance has at least given the Nazis valuable time
24:52to strengthen the last natural line of defence between the advancing Russians and the capital.
24:59Zillow Heights, an area of high ground 45 miles east of Berlin.
25:08It is here that 18-year-old Willi Wenger is sent.
25:14Now I was a combat soldier and feeling mighty proud.
25:18But he soon gets a grim insight into the violence to come.
25:23What happened to them? A comrade explains that they were dead German soldiers killed
25:28last night when trying to break out of a Russian encirclement.
25:33Never before had I seen a dead person and found I was afraid to look at death.
25:41Wenger is part of a force of just 100,000 troops.
25:49Many Volkssturm reservists or untrained teenagers drafted in to face a million Red Army regulars
25:56bent on revenge.
26:03Historian James Holland has come to Zillow Heights to explore the site of the last major
26:07European battle in World War II.
26:12It's absolutely incredible to be climbing up this rise and just see the battlefield
26:16stretched out before you. Every so often you come to places where you really can just see
26:22how positions were placed and how a battle unfolded and this is one of them.
26:27So I'm now on the top of the Zillow Heights. Just in front of me is the village of Verbig
26:33and you can see this spur here creeping all the way around. It's like a giant fish hook
26:38and on the end of that spur there, in the distance, that's where Marshal Zhukov is,
26:44the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front and what a force he's got amassed here and
26:50it's descending on some very, very understrength German forces.
26:57Among the German commanders at Zillow Heights is respected General Helmut Weidling.
27:05The plan is to use the terrain to their advantage.
27:10They divert reservoirs to waterlog the low ground in front of Zillow Heights to bog down
27:15the Russians' advance.
27:19Then by digging in on the high ground, they complete a formidable defensive megastructure.
27:28So I'm on one of the forward spurs from the Zillow Heights, sort of stitching out and
27:38then just below us is the river, the Oder River flood plain and this is the forward
27:43positions of where the Germans were and actually, come on, look at this.
27:47OK, so this is definitely man-made and I'm guessing this is where mortars would have
27:52been placed and you can see a whole load of earthworks. Now I'm looking at it all around
27:56here. Let's have a look up here. Oh yes, there's a trench here. So there wouldn't be
28:02any trees here in 1945 and so on the top of this ridgeline, obviously you want a trench.
28:07It's filled in now quite a lot, but it would have been obviously much deeper in 1945, but
28:12this is amazing. And I can see more earthworks through here.
28:19Where you can see here, this is, the trench ends into this sort of more further dug out
28:23area. This is an OP or an observation post or a machine gun post here and you can see
28:28down in front of you, you've got this amazing field of fire. You've got fire on the other
28:32side of the ridge as well, so it's interlocking and that just becomes a killing ground in
28:39front of us here. This is a very, very strong defensive position, but of course, if you're
28:44up here you're going to know that you've got the hordes from the east just over there and
28:49you are massively, massively outnumbered.
28:53At first light on the 16th of April 1945, the Soviet onslaught begins with a synchronised
29:02artillery strike. 40,000 guns, mortars and rocket launchers rain down fire on the German
29:11positions. This colossal opening bombardment persists for a few minutes before the German
29:19troops non-stop for 30 minutes.
29:24When that barrage first started, the whole ground would be shaking. You know, people
29:31were going literally mad because of the huge concussive waves caused by the artillery barrage.
29:40Just imagine what it must have been like if you're 16 or 17 or 18 and you're just at the
29:45front and this is your first action.
29:53Willi Wenger is in one of the front line units, caught unawares by the opening salvo.
30:00We can't stay here! Run!
30:19The bombardment is so intense that smoke completely obscures the battlefield. Russian forces raise
30:26floodlights to help pick out the enemy in the gloom. In the chaos, Wenger is separated
30:34from his unit.
30:38Searchlights eerily illuminate the battlefield. Dense fog added to the confusion.
30:46Comrade! Where are you?
30:54Right in front of me, a Russian soldier appeared.
31:06Both shots missed. It was the only time in my life where I was forced to shoot at another
31:12human being.
31:18Wenger escapes with his life, but thousands of young soldiers are being sacrificed in
31:23a desperate defense.
31:28For generals like Weidling, the troop shortage is an ever-worsening crisis. But he's only
31:34prepared to sacrifice so much.
31:38What is it?
31:42He receives a message from the head of the Hitler Youth.
31:48The youngsters of the Hitler Youth are at your disposal to join the valiant defense
31:53of the fatherland.
31:58They are ready to fight and are even now manning the roads in the 56th Korea.
32:06Has the world gone mad? You cannot sacrifice these children for a cause that is already
32:13lost. I will not use them, and I demand that the order sending these children into battle
32:19be rescinded. For goodness sake!
32:29Despite facing hugely superior numbers, the German defenders at Zelo again manage to stall
32:34the Soviet advance, killing more than twice as many Russians compared to their own losses.
32:41But the Germans can't hold out indefinitely, and on the 19th of April, Zelo Heights falls.
32:52And as the German army retreats towards Berlin, the fighting only becomes more desperate.
33:00By the 21st of April 1945, the first Russian troops reach the outskirts of Berlin.
33:15General Helmut Veitling fights on. But in the chaos, Hitler receives false reports that
33:20Veitling and his units have fled the battle.
33:27He immediately orders Veitling's execution. But the general rushes to the Führerbunker
33:34to face Hitler in person.
33:41Veitling, Veitling, my order was to have you shot.
33:59Mein Führer, with all respect, your reports are wrong. Units under my command have been
34:07fighting bravely to try and keep the enemy at bay.
34:11I had heard reports that you had abandoned your position in an attempt to escape to West
34:17Berlin.
34:18On the contrary, we were forced back by the Soviet advance and lost communication.
34:25You are a brave man coming here. You have proved your loyalty.
34:37I am putting you in total charge of the defence of Berlin.
34:43You must return to the front line and coordinate all available units to fight to the death
34:48in protection of the capital.
34:51Mein Führer.
34:57I would rather have been shot than be made commander of Berlin.
35:05With Hitler's refusal to surrender, every day brings persistent bombardment of the capital.
35:12Terrified Berliners seek refuge across the city.
35:19James Holland is in South Berlin to explore the Fichterbunker, a colossal bomb shelter
35:25converted from a former gasworks.
35:29Wow, look at this place.
35:35It's amazing seeing all this original writing.
35:39And it really doesn't take a huge leap of imagination to picture the thousands of old
35:46men, women and children cowering here as bombs are falling and the Russian guns are getting
35:51ever closer.
35:54Originally designed to protect 6,500 people, by April 1945, 30,000 Berliners are sheltering
36:05here.
36:08They're protected by reinforced concrete walls and a ceiling ten feet thick.
36:16The inner doors have been designed to hermetically seal shut, while a sophisticated ventilation
36:22system supplies fresh air, even in the event of a gas attack.
36:29Wow.
36:32OK, so this is the filter room.
36:35These are filters.
36:38So obviously during a bombing raid, there'd be lots of smoke and noxious gases and things
36:43around, and obviously you wouldn't want that coming in through your ventilation system.
36:49It's quite a system, isn't it?
36:51Have a look at this.
36:55Oh, my God.
37:01Can you believe it?
37:03After all these years, this system is still functioning.
37:09And the door, it sucked the air out and the door just slammed too.
37:13The pressure change suggests the building is still airtight today, a testament to its
37:18original design.
37:20Absolutely incredible.
37:22You know, they always say that you can't beat German engineering.
37:25Well, that just proves it.
37:31And if the power should fail in the bunker during an air raid, there's an ingenious solution
37:36for that too.
37:38So this is the emergency backup room.
37:41This is emergency power if the electricity fails, which powers the ventilation and filter
37:47system.
37:48So actually what you're looking at here is a diesel engine that would normally go in
37:53a U-boat.
37:56Look at that.
37:59So that is a bullet hole, and it's a reminder, isn't it, that even this place, which on one
38:05level feels like a safe haven, even here at the very end of the war, Red Army troops were
38:12coming in and...
38:20Outside, in the streets, the fighting intensifies.
38:26Having retreated from Zillow Heights, Willi Wenger is now fighting for his life in the
38:31battle for Berlin.
38:43Like hundreds of thousands of fellow troops, rookie paratrooper Willi Wenger has been swept
38:48into the fighting retreat to defend the capital, only to find German forces in disarray and
38:57chaos on the streets of Berlin.
39:00Walls and ceilings tumbled down.
39:12Smoke and darkness surrounded me.
39:15I was dusty and dirty.
39:18Otherwise okay.
39:31Despite facing fanatical Nazi resistance, Soviet forces slowly make progress through
39:38the streets of the capital.
39:43With Berlin on the brink of defeat and the German command descending into anarchy, General
39:49Veitling pays one final visit to the bunker with plans for the Führer's escape.
39:56Mein Führer, we have the strategy planned.
40:02The garrison will be your escort, breaking out westwards to link up with the army group
40:07Vistula.
40:10You, mein Führer, and your Reich Chancellery staff will be protected by a rear guard made
40:17up of one reinforced division.
40:20I recommend the breakout take place on the 28th.
40:29Your proposal is perfectly in order.
40:32But what is the point of it all?
40:36I have no intention of wandering around in the woods.
40:39I'm staying here, and I will fall at the head of my troops.
40:45You, for your part, will carry on with your defense.
40:50Mein Führer.
40:52Veitling has no choice.
40:54He must continue the battle.
41:02On the 30th of April 1945, with the Red Army now less than 500 metres from the Führerbunker,
41:09Hitler commits suicide.
41:15General Veitling is one of a select few informed, and instructed to keep Hitler's death secret
41:20from the outside world.
41:27But on the 1st of May, with the fighting in Berlin becoming even more desperate,
41:32Veitling has had enough.
41:34The Führer has taken his own life.
41:40He has betrayed his oath to you,
41:44therefore invalidating your own oath of allegiance to him.
41:50Any attempt at a breakout will cost more valuable blood and have no chance of success.
41:58We must surrender.
42:11The next day, Veitling meets Russian commanders and agrees to the surrender of Berlin.
42:20The city that was to be the center of the Thousand Year Reich lies in ruins.
42:27An estimated 400,000 people have been killed in the final battle for Berlin alone.
42:35In France, on the 7th of May, the Germans surrender unconditionally.
42:46As the war in Europe ends, General Helmut Veitling is sentenced to 25 years in prison
42:52by a Soviet military tribunal.
42:55Veitling passes away in captivity in 1955.
43:01Willi Wenger survives his injuries and manages to escape Berlin.
43:06He eventually reaches his hometown in Austria, where he is reunited with his family.
43:12After the war, he works in hotel management and publishes a book about his experiences.
43:18He dies in 2017, aged 92.
43:24Half of all German military deaths occurred in the last 11 months of the war,
43:30as the Fuhrer sacrificed the lives of his people in a hopeless gamble to turn Germany's fortunes around.
43:37Hitler's fighting retreat was the brutal final chapter in a vicious campaign against the Soviets.
43:44Of the estimated 70 million deaths in World War II,
43:49over 30 million, many of them civilian, occurred on the Eastern Front
43:54in four years of ferocious combat.