Year Zero: Berlin 1945

by David McCormack

  The arrival of General Sokolovskii (Zhukov's representative) marked a turning point in the negotiations. Speaking plainly, he reiterated the demand for unconditional surrender (which had in the meantime been confirmed by Moscow). Sokolovskii proposed that after the surrender of German forces in Berlin, the new government would be announced and provided with facilities to contact the western allies :

  Sokolovskii : ...You have Goebbels and others here, you can announce surrender.

  Krebs : Only with the permission of Doenitz, and he is outside Berlin. We could send Bormann to Doenitz, as soon as we declare a pause. I have no aircraft nor radio...

  Sokolovskii : Lay down your arms, then we will talk about the rest...

  Krebs : If you will permit a pause, we can reach an agreement.

  Sokolovskii : Only on the basis of surrender, after which Doenitz can come to us as you have done.

  Krebs : Doenitz should be sent for...

  Sokolovskii : I am not empowered to decide that. Surrender forthwith. Then we will arrange for Doenitz to make the trip here.

  Krebs :...I cannot surrender without Doenitz. But I could ask Goebbels about this, if you will send my aide (Colonel von Dufving) to him.

  Sokolovskii : So far we have reached the following: The German Colonel goes to Goebbels to find out whether he agrees to immediate surrender.

  Krebs : Will there be an armistice, or must Goebbels agree to surrender before an armistice?

  Sokolovskii : We will not permit any question of an armistice to be put to Goebbels.

  Krebs : Without Doenitz neither I nor Goebbels can allow surrender.

  Sokolovskii : Then you will not form your government.

  Krebs : No, the government must be formed. Then decide the question of surrender.

  As the talks had reached an impasse again, Sokolovskii contacted Zhukov for further instructions. The mantra was to remain the same, unconditional surrender. Meanwhile Krebs conferred with his aide. When Sokolovskii returned to the room following his talk with Zhukov, Krebs exclaimed, 'The government of Germany must have authority'. Sokolovskii refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of any government sanctioned by Hitler. His response amounted to a reiteration of Moscow's unalterable position. Realising this, Krebs reluctantly agreed to contact being initiated with Goebbels. With a heavy heart, he dispatched von Dufving to report on the substance of the negotiations.

  Attempts to lay a telephone cable direct to Goebbels in the bunker were only partially successful. All contact was thus solely in the hands of von Dufving. After making a perilous journey from Chuikov's command post to the German lines, von Dufving was briefly held by SS troops. Released on Bormann's orders, he eventually made his way to the bunker in order to report to Goebbels. Predictably Goebbels rejected the Soviet proposals, saying, 'I shall never, never agree to that'. He then ordered von Dufving to fetch Krebs back to the bunker. After having spent just over nine hours at Chuikov's command post, Krebs returned to the bunker. At noon, every Soviet gun in the sector opened up on the remaining German bastion. Half of the first day of May had been wasted in fruitless discussions. Now the Soviet command in Berlin were determined to use their massive combat power to forcibly bring down the curtain on this epic drama.

  General Weidling was in the bunker with Goebbels when Krebs made his report signalling the failure of his attempts to negotiate an armistice. He confirmed that the Soviet command in Berlin would accept nothing less than a complete surrender. Goebbels and Bormann baulked at the very notion of surrender, citing Hitler's determination to continue the struggle. Exasperated beyond belief, Weidling exclaimed, 'But the Fuhrer is dead!'. This cut no ice with Hitler's loyal paladins. Weidling could only explain that prolonged resistance was no longer possible. Taking his leave from what he regarded as a madhouse, Weidling invited Krebs to accompany him back to his command post. Krebs politely refused, stating that he intended to commit suicide in the bunker.

  With the final acceptance that the uncompromising stand made by the Soviet command in Berlin signalled the end of Nazism, Goebbels and his wife Magda prepared to take their exit from the world stage. The children would die too, as Magda Goebbels could see no future for them in a world deprived of Hitler's genius. On 22 April, she arrived in the bunker with her six children, all of whom’s names began with the letter H, in honour of her idol. For Magda, just being in close proximity to Hitler was exhilarating. Following his capture, Colonel Kempka was asked about her relationship with Hitler. Responding in his typically earthy style, he said that, 'Whenever she was in the presence of the Fuhrer, I could hear her ovaries rattling'. Indeed, her love for Hitler was so great that it blinded her to reality. It was in this state of intoxication that she murdered her children at approximately 18.00hrs by first giving them chocolate laced with Finodin to induce sleep, then crushing cyanide capsules between their teeth. The eldest child, twelve-year-old Helga, clearly put up a struggle, as when her lifeless body was discovered the following day, her face and neck showed signs of bruising.

  After she had killed her children, Magda played solitaire, chain-smoking all the while. In the meantime, her husband reminisced with the Hitler Youth leader Artur Axmann about the early days of the struggle against the Communists in Berlin. At 20.15hrs, Goebbels informed the SS guards that both he and his wife intended to commit suicide in the New Chancellery courtyard. Carefully dressing for his last public appearance, Goebbels donned his kid gloves, hat, scarf and coat. He then took Magda's arm, and together they made their way to the bunker entrance. The film Downfall shows Goebbels shooting his wife at close range. In reality, she bit on a cyanide capsule which acted quickly, leaving her in a kneeling position on the ground. Her husband then personally administered the coup de grace with a shot from his pistol into the back of her head. Goebbels himself made doubly sure of his own suicide by copying the method earlier employed by his master. However, the similarities ended here as there was precious little time left for formalities. Without ceremony, the bodies of Goebbels and his wife were hastily cremated in the open with the available petrol.

  That evening, General Weidling gathered his staff together at his command post on the Bendlerstrasse. Recognising that Soviet advances in the city had rendered the possibility of a successful breakout too risky, the gathered officers agreed that there was no other course open to them other than surrender. At 00.40hrs, the Soviet 79th Guards Division picked up the following transmission from Weidling's 56th Panzer Corps :

  Hello, hello. This is the 56th Panzer Corps. We ask you to cease fire. At 00.50hrs Berlin time we are sending envoys to parley at the Potsdamer Bridge. The recognition sign – white flag. We await reply.

  The transmission was repeated five times over a one hour period until it was picked up. The message was acknowledged by 79th Guards Division with the reply that the request for a cease fire had been forwarded up the chain of command. The end game had begun.

  Meanwhile, an exhausted Chuikov received another German delegation, this time headed by Senior Executive Officer Heinersdorf of the Ministry of Propaganda. He came bearing a pink folder containing a letter from Dr Hans Fritzsche, who following the death of Goebbels and the disappearance of Bormann was now the most senior Nazi official left in Berlin. The letter stated :

  As you have been informed by General Krebs, former Reich-Chancellor Goering cannot be reached. Dr Goebbels no longer lives. I, as one of those remaining alive, request you to take Berlin under your protection. My name is known. Director of the Ministry of Propaganda, Dr Fritzsche.

  After reading the letter aloud, Chuikov asked Heinersdorf about the circumstances of Goebbels' death and the whereabouts of General Krebs. The questions then turned to the inevitable matter of surrender :

  Chuikov : Are you aware of our terms – that we can speak only of unconditional surrender?

  Heinersdorf : Yes, we are aware of that. That is what we came to do, and we offer our help.

  Chuikov : And what can you do to help your people?

  He
inersdorf : Dr Fritzsche asks that he be given the opportunity to speak over the radio to the German people and army, calling on them to stop pointless bloodshed and to accept unconditional surrender.

  Chuikov : Will the troops accept orders from Fritzsche?

  Heinersdorf : His name is known to all Germany, and to Berlin especially.

  Following a discussion on the telephone with Marshal Zhukov, Chuikov ordered Colonel Vaigachel to escort the German delegation back to their own lines. He also ordered Vaigachel to make arrangements for the proposed broadcast to the German people and army.

  However, events were now proceeding apace. As the delegation was leaving, they unexpectedly came face to face with Weidling, who snarled, 'You should have done this sooner'. Weidling was ushered into Chuikov's presence. Without preamble, Chuikov began the interrogation :

  Chuikov : You command the garrison of Berlin?

  Weidling : Yes, I am the commander of 56th Panzer Corps.

  Chuikov : Where is Krebs? What did he tell you?

  Weidling : I saw him yesterday in the Imperial Chancellery. I believe that he has committed suicide. To begin with he reproached me because capitulation had started yesterday, unofficially. Today an order for surrender was issued to the troops of the Corps. Krebs, Goebbels and Bormann yesterday refused the idea of surrender, but before long Krebs was himself convinced of the closeness of our encirclement and decided – in spite of Goebbels – to stop the senseless bloodshed. I repeat, I have given orders for my Corps to surrender.

  Chuikov : And the whole garrison? Does your authority extend to it all?

  Weidling : Yesterday evening I issued an order to continue resistance, but... later I issued another order.

  General Sokolovskii : Where have Hitler and Goebbels gone?

  Weidling : As far as I know, Goebbels and his family must have committed suicide. The Fuhrer did the same on 30 April. His wife...took poison.

  Chuikov ; Did you hear this, or see it?

  Weidling : Towards evening on 30 April I was in the Imperial Chancellery. I was informed of this by Krebs, Bormann and Goebbels.

  Chuikov : So this is the end of the war?

  Weidling : In my opinion, to waste a single life more would be a crime, a madness.

  Chuikov : Quite right... Have you served long in the army.

  Weidling : Since nineteen hundred and eleven. I started in the ranks...

  General Sokolovskii : You must issue an order for full surrender.

  Weidling : I was not able to issue orders for surrender at all, since I had not got contact. So there may still be isolated groups in a number of places which will continue resistance. Many people do not know of the Fuhrer's death, since Dr Goebbels forbade announcement of it.

  Chuikov : We have ceased hostilities entirely, and even grounded the air force. You are not aware of the latest developments? Your troops started to surrender, and after that a delegation came here from Fritzsche with a declaration of surrender, and we stopped all action in order to make it easier for them to put this into effect.

  Weidling : I shall be glad to help in getting our troops to cease hostilities... The SS want to break through to the north. My authority does not extend to them.

  Chuikov : Issue an order for full surrender... So that resistance may not be kept up in even isolated sectors.

  Weidling : We have no reserves of ammunition. Resistance cannot therefore go on for long.

  Chuikov : We know this. Write an order for full surrender, and then your conscience will be clear.

  Weidling conceded that it was a case of better late than never. Commenting that this was the second war in which he had ended up on the losing side, Weidling appeared resigned to his fate, and that of Germany as a defeated nation. He then sat down to draft the surrender order which took him only a short time to write. When it was completed, he started to read it aloud :

  Weidling : On 30 April the Fuhrer ended his own life by his own hand...

  Sokolovskii (interrupts Weidling) : It has come to our knowledge that Doenitz has announced this to the world.

  Weidling : No. Yesterday Dr Goebbels told me that only Stalin had learnt of this.

  Sokolovskii : Yesterday there was a transmission from an unidentified German radio station, saying that Hitler had died a heroic death.

  Not knowing how to respond to Sokolovskii's assertion, Weidling simply handed over the completed order which read as follows :

  On 30 April the Fuhrer ended his life by his own hand and thus we who swore loyalty to him are left alone. According to the Fuhrer's orders you, the German troops, were still to fight for Berlin, in spite of the fact that ammunition had run out, and regardless of the general situation, which makes further resistance on our part senseless. My orders are: to cease resistance forthwith. Weidling, General of Artillery, former Commandant of the Berlin defence area.

  The order was read by Chuikov, Sokolovskii and General Pozharski who had now joined them. According to Chuikov, the formulations in the order were quite satisfactory. However, Sokolvskii thought differently, sparking off a discussion on the exact wording of the order :

  Sokolovskii (to Weidling) : You need not say 'former', you are still Commandant.

  Pozharski (to Chuikov) : Should we have that formulation about swearing loyalty.

  Chuikov : There is no need to alter it. It is his order.

  Weidling (to Chuikov) : Should it be an order, or an appeal?

  Chuikov : An order.

  Interpreter (to Chuikov) : How many copies.

  Chuikov : Twelve. No, as many as possible.

  Weidling : I have a large staff. I have two Chiefs of Staff, and two more Generals who have retired but who came to me and put their services at my disposal. They can organise the surrender.

  At 11.30hrs, Chuikov gave instructions for copies of the surrender order to be distributed by one of Weidling's officers accompanied by one of his own officers. Shortly afterwards, Fritzsche arrived in person to accept the terms of unconditional surrender demanded by the Soviet command in Berlin. Fritzsche, Chuikov and Sokolovskii then proceeded to discuss the implementation of the surrender, along with security arrangements which clearly were a matter of concern for the senior Nazi official :

  Sokolovskii (to Fritzsche) : We have an interest in ensuring calm in Berlin. We can provide a guard for anyone who is concerned for his safety.

  Fritzsche : The German police organs have broken up and fled, but they can be brought together again.

  Sokolovskii : We are not interested in the police. Thy will be numbered among the prisoners of war. We are interested in the administrative officials. We will provide guards for them. They will come to no harm.

  Fritzsche : I do not understand. Who would do them harm, and where? Who would dare to commit excesses?

  Sokolovskii : Some of our soldiers, and the German population, may show cruelty to you in return for the actions of the Gestapo, etc.

  Fritzsche : Yes, that is possible.

  Sokolovskii : We have provided for everything, and made the appropriate announcements. A Commandant of Berlin has been appointed, the Soviet General Bezarin. A Komendatura has been set up for each district, and these will take all measures. Have you any other wishes?

  Fritzsche : I wrote a letter to you, being the last responsible representative of the government. I wrote it in order to avoid bloodshed.

  Sokolovskii : We understand your enforced gesture.

  Fritzsche : I would like to expand this document, for which purpose I need to establish contact with Doenitz.

  Chuikov (to Fritzsche) : At nine o'clock this morning, Doenitz addressed himself to the army and the people with a declaration that he had taken the leadership upon himself and that he would continue the struggle against Bolshevism to the end, and likewise against the Americans and the British if they hindered him. But we are not afraid of him; he has bitten off more than he can chew.

  Fritzsche : I did not know that. Where am I to remain?

  Sokolovs
kii : Here. Await our further instructions.

  Fritzsche was then led away, his part in the drama effectively over. Later he would be transferred to the notorious Lubyanka Prison in Moscow where he underwent torture. Later, he was tried as a major war criminal at Nuremberg, subsequently being acquitted along with fellow defendants Franz von Papen and Hjalmar Schacht.

  Following Fritzsche's departure, Chuikov and Sokolovskii visibly relaxed, chatting informally as the tension created by the protracted surrender negotiations evaporated. Meanwhile, news came in confirming that the fighting for the Reichstag had finally come to an end with the surrender of the last remaining German defenders. With the end of a long and cruel war now clearly in sight, Sokolovskii remarked, 'The end of the war is approaching'. Chuikov quipped, 'Yes, let's smoke a pipe of peace!'. The end was indeed approaching, as in the shattered streets of Berlin, Soviet vehicles equipped with amplifiers played recordings of Weidling's surrender order.

  At 15.00hrs, the Soviet guns fell silent. The time for reflection would come later. For the victors, it was a time of celebration as they broke out the food and drink. Along the East-West Axis, the crews of T-34 and IS-II tanks embraced, thankful that they had somehow survived. In his memoirs, Chuikov wrote about the end of hostilities. His words contain an inevitable note of nationalistic pride, but also a sense of relief that the long struggle was over :

  We went into the streets outside. All around was quiet – an unaccustomed quiet that rang in our ears. Somewhere not far off, ranks of soldiers were marching smartly, in perfect time. It was hard to believe that our Guardsmen had already found time to acquire such harmony and precision with drill movements. Yet how else could it be at such a time! Weariness had given way to pride and joy. The marching men came nearer. It was a company from the 79th Guards Division... The company was led by Captain N.I. Kruchinin; he had just completed the clearing of the east bunker of some Nazis who had tried to continue resistance. The last shot in the Berlin fighting had just been fired there. The last shot!.. Step for step, foot to foot, shoulder to shoulder. The heroes of the land of Russia came through the streets of conquered Nazism's capital. And a ringing song came through the clear air of the city where the leaders of the Third Reich had matured their plans for world domination. The war was over. A long and hard road had been travelled.