Finis Germaniae

wrote the exiled German author Theodor Plievier when he returned to Berlin shortly after the Second World War.

 

Fleeing mothers with their children in Berlin in spring 1945

Germany's unconditional surrender was signed on May 7, 1945, in Reims and on May 8 in Berlin-Karlshorst, but this was preceded by the capitulation of the Reichshauptstadt 80 years ago today. The Red Army had already reached the government district on April 30, where they found the remains of Adolf Hitler and his newlywed Eva Braun in the courtyard of the Reich Chancellery.

 
The capture of Berlin is considered a key moment for the end of the war in Europe and the liberation from National Socialism.

You can find fake videos on the Internet in which scenes from the movie The Downfall are dubbed with new funny texts. Red Baron is not amused.

Here are some historical photos of the fall of Berlin from my longstanding collection.

The Red Army had encircled Berlin on April 25, 1945.
Now it had to be "Victory at All Costs."

The Reich called the old and the young to the Volkssturm (people's storm).
The men had no uniforms but were identified as fighting men by their armbands.

The Führer inspects das letzte Aufgebot (the last contingent)
in the courtyard of the Reich Chancellery

What is right for the Führer must be right for the Reich Minister of Propaganda.
Goebbels in AGFA color congratulates a child on being awarded the Iron Cross.

The proud young man is decorated.

Others are not so proud ...

... and others are too young to understand.

This is the most iconic photo of the Battle of Berlin.
On May 2, 1945, Soviet private Mikhail Minin raised the Red Flag on the Reichstag above the destroyed Berlin.

On closer inspection, photographer Yevgeny Khaldei noticed that the supporting soldier's arms were heavy with wristwatches. In fact, the familiar battle cry of the pillaging Russian soldiers was uri, uri.
Looting was officially considered a war crime and could not be shown in the picture,
so Khaldei had to retouch the wristwatches.

Clean arms in the colored photo

Khaldei's photo did not please Stalin. He wanted a compatriot to be the honored man.
So, Russian propaganda reenacted the scene two days later with Militon Kantarija from Georgia.

Russian soldiers storm the Reichstag. Fake!
They and the planes providing air support were later mounted in the photo.

Smiling Russian poet Yevgeny Dolmatovsky with a special war trophy,
photographed in Berlin on May 2, 1945.

Sightseeing Russian soldiers.

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