1 00:00:01,163 --> 00:00:02,203 (CROWD CHEERING) 2 00:00:02,283 --> 00:00:04,603 NARRATOR: 8th of May, 1945, 3 00:00:04,883 --> 00:00:06,963 at last, the darkness was lifted. 4 00:00:07,163 --> 00:00:09,123 The people celebrated across Europe 5 00:00:09,203 --> 00:00:10,483 and throughout the world, 6 00:00:10,563 --> 00:00:12,643 victory over Nazi Germany. 7 00:00:12,723 --> 00:00:14,403 (BOMB WHISTLING) 8 00:00:14,483 --> 00:00:15,883 (EXPLOSION) 9 00:00:15,963 --> 00:00:16,963 From the D-Day landings 10 00:00:17,043 --> 00:00:19,683 on the beaches of Normandy in June, 1944, 11 00:00:19,763 --> 00:00:22,883 it took almost a full year to win the war. 12 00:00:23,243 --> 00:00:24,523 (CROWD CHEERING) 13 00:00:24,603 --> 00:00:27,523 Facing defeat, Adolf Hitler became ever more 14 00:00:27,603 --> 00:00:29,883 relentlessly determined to fight 15 00:00:29,963 --> 00:00:31,323 -to the very finish. -(CHANTING IN GERMAN) 16 00:00:32,723 --> 00:00:34,123 -(PROPELLER WHIRRING) -NARRATOR: As his Third Reich 17 00:00:34,203 --> 00:00:35,963 slowly collapsed about him, 18 00:00:36,043 --> 00:00:37,683 the brutality of the warfare, 19 00:00:37,763 --> 00:00:41,083 the fanaticism of the Nazis only increased. 20 00:00:41,563 --> 00:00:43,363 -(CHANTING IN GERMAN) -NARRATOR: Those 11 months, 21 00:00:43,443 --> 00:00:45,523 the most relentless and brutal period 22 00:00:45,603 --> 00:00:47,123 of the Second World War, 23 00:00:47,203 --> 00:00:50,203 left an eternal scar on hearts 24 00:00:50,283 --> 00:00:51,843 and on history. 25 00:00:51,923 --> 00:00:55,043 (EXPLOSION) 26 00:00:57,883 --> 00:00:59,123 (OMINOUS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 27 00:00:59,203 --> 00:01:00,483 (ANCHOR SPLASHING) 28 00:01:00,563 --> 00:01:02,483 In the summer of 1944, 29 00:01:02,883 --> 00:01:04,963 the Normandy landings were a success. 30 00:01:05,443 --> 00:01:07,483 At the same time, on the Eastern Front, 31 00:01:07,563 --> 00:01:10,043 Stalin unleashed his vast army. 32 00:01:10,723 --> 00:01:11,723 The Allies thought 33 00:01:11,803 --> 00:01:13,883 that the war would be won by Christmas. 34 00:01:15,843 --> 00:01:18,203 In December, to the Allies' surprise, 35 00:01:18,283 --> 00:01:20,683 Hitler launched a massive counterattack. 36 00:01:22,843 --> 00:01:26,563 It failed, but Hitler wouldn't surrender at any cost. 37 00:01:27,203 --> 00:01:31,003 The last five months would be the most brutal of the war. 38 00:01:31,883 --> 00:01:33,803 (PROPELLER WHIRRING) 39 00:01:33,883 --> 00:01:36,243 In the new year of 1945, 40 00:01:36,323 --> 00:01:39,043 Hitler launched Operation North Wind. 41 00:01:39,163 --> 00:01:41,483 He used every plane at his disposal 42 00:01:41,563 --> 00:01:44,123 in an attempt to annihilate the Allied Air Force 43 00:01:44,203 --> 00:01:46,523 that had defeated him in the Ardennes. 44 00:01:48,163 --> 00:01:50,243 -(GUNS FIRING) -But the Allies won this battle. 45 00:01:56,243 --> 00:01:58,763 (EXPLOSION) 46 00:01:58,843 --> 00:02:00,363 (UPBEAT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 47 00:02:00,443 --> 00:02:01,683 -(MAN SPEAKING IN GERMAN) -NARRATOR: The Germans were unsettled 48 00:02:01,763 --> 00:02:03,563 to learn of this fresh defeat, 49 00:02:03,923 --> 00:02:06,483 but Hitler, with his exultant style, 50 00:02:06,563 --> 00:02:08,203 convinced them to dig in. 51 00:02:10,363 --> 00:02:14,883 HITLER: (IN GERMAN) I want each German to do his duty till the end. 52 00:02:15,123 --> 00:02:19,963 He must accept all the sacrifices asked of him. 53 00:02:20,403 --> 00:02:24,443 I want citizens to make weapons for this struggle. 54 00:02:24,683 --> 00:02:30,083 And I want the farmer to eat as little bread as possible, 55 00:02:30,163 --> 00:02:32,923 so he can give it to the soldiers and workers. 56 00:02:33,683 --> 00:02:38,123 I want all women to back this struggle 57 00:02:38,203 --> 00:02:41,083 as they have done until now, with extreme fanaticism. 58 00:02:42,603 --> 00:02:44,803 NARRATOR: One German woman wrote, 59 00:02:45,203 --> 00:02:46,803 "For the last months of the war, 60 00:02:46,883 --> 00:02:48,643 "I had to fight back my tears 61 00:02:48,723 --> 00:02:50,923 "each time I heard Hitler's voice on the radio. 62 00:02:52,043 --> 00:02:54,043 "We didn't want to recognize the signs, 63 00:02:54,123 --> 00:02:55,923 "which were ever clearer, 64 00:02:56,003 --> 00:02:58,203 "announcing the impending downfall. 65 00:02:58,363 --> 00:03:01,843 "In our hearts, we were afraid of the terrible truth." 66 00:03:05,043 --> 00:03:06,203 (TANK SQUEAKING) 67 00:03:06,283 --> 00:03:08,003 Meanwhile to the east, 68 00:03:08,163 --> 00:03:10,443 the Red Army took back the initiative. 69 00:03:11,443 --> 00:03:13,083 Fresh supplies had reached the troops 70 00:03:13,163 --> 00:03:14,643 massed along the Vistula, 71 00:03:17,003 --> 00:03:20,043 but this concentration had not gone unnoticed. 72 00:03:20,963 --> 00:03:24,443 In Germany, General Guderian sounded the alarm. 73 00:03:25,443 --> 00:03:27,443 He implored Hitler to regroup his troops 74 00:03:27,523 --> 00:03:28,803 on the Eastern Front 75 00:03:28,883 --> 00:03:30,803 to counter a Soviet attack, 76 00:03:31,883 --> 00:03:33,723 but Hitler would have none of it, 77 00:03:33,803 --> 00:03:35,803 scoffing at the supposed threat, 78 00:03:35,963 --> 00:03:38,443 "It's the biggest bluff since Genghis Khan, 79 00:03:38,523 --> 00:03:40,083 "who came up with this idiocy?" 80 00:03:41,563 --> 00:03:43,603 Even Himmler refused to admit it, 81 00:03:43,883 --> 00:03:46,323 "You see, General, I don't think the Russians 82 00:03:46,403 --> 00:03:47,643 "are going to attack." 83 00:03:48,843 --> 00:03:50,523 General Guderian tried desperately 84 00:03:50,603 --> 00:03:52,123 to convince his superiors. 85 00:03:52,563 --> 00:03:56,683 Hitler repeated, "This intelligence is completely idiotic, 86 00:03:56,763 --> 00:03:59,923 "whoever wrote it should be shut up in a lunatic asylum." 87 00:04:02,123 --> 00:04:03,803 Death to all advice, 88 00:04:04,203 --> 00:04:06,283 Hitler gradually shut himself 89 00:04:06,723 --> 00:04:08,123 into his own world. 90 00:04:10,163 --> 00:04:12,203 (ARTILLERY FIRING) 91 00:04:12,723 --> 00:04:14,403 (EXPLOSIONS) 92 00:04:14,483 --> 00:04:16,123 As Guderian had predicted, 93 00:04:16,203 --> 00:04:18,323 in mid-January, 1945, 94 00:04:18,603 --> 00:04:21,643 first Konev, then Zhukov sent their armies 95 00:04:21,723 --> 00:04:24,523 -across the Vistula. -(EXPLOSIONS) 96 00:04:28,403 --> 00:04:30,043 -(TANK ENGINE WHIRRING) -Endless columns 97 00:04:30,123 --> 00:04:33,123 of T-34 tanks advanced along a front 98 00:04:33,203 --> 00:04:35,283 of more than 900 kilometers, 99 00:04:35,363 --> 00:04:37,203 stretching from the shores of the Baltic, 100 00:04:37,283 --> 00:04:38,523 to the heart of Poland. 101 00:04:39,563 --> 00:04:41,243 It was a devastating attack, 102 00:04:41,963 --> 00:04:44,243 the Russian steamroller was back in motion. 103 00:04:45,163 --> 00:04:47,923 (PROPELLERS WHIRRING) 104 00:04:48,003 --> 00:04:49,803 The gunfire was so loud 105 00:04:49,883 --> 00:04:52,483 that even Zhukov had to cover his ears. 106 00:04:53,603 --> 00:04:56,443 For Stalin, this offensive was of capital importance. 107 00:04:56,803 --> 00:04:58,643 In a few weeks, he was due to meet 108 00:04:58,723 --> 00:05:01,163 Churchill and Roosevelt in Yalta, 109 00:05:01,843 --> 00:05:03,963 he didn't want Poland to slip out 110 00:05:04,043 --> 00:05:06,403 -of his hands. -(BOMBS WHISTLING) 111 00:05:08,123 --> 00:05:09,963 (EXPLOSIONS) 112 00:05:15,883 --> 00:05:18,323 (FORLORN ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 113 00:05:18,723 --> 00:05:21,323 On the 17th of January, 1945, 114 00:05:21,683 --> 00:05:24,123 five months after the start of the insurrection, 115 00:05:24,883 --> 00:05:27,243 the Red Army entered the Polish capital. 116 00:05:28,483 --> 00:05:29,843 They found a ghost town. 117 00:05:33,683 --> 00:05:35,243 There was no one left to contest 118 00:05:35,323 --> 00:05:37,923 the authority of the new occupying force. 119 00:05:38,763 --> 00:05:40,763 The Polish Communists had no trouble 120 00:05:40,843 --> 00:05:43,363 -taking over the reins. -(CROWD CHEERING) 121 00:05:44,563 --> 00:05:46,083 The Soviets paraded in the capital 122 00:05:46,163 --> 00:05:48,563 to celebrate a victory that came 123 00:05:48,963 --> 00:05:51,003 -a little too late. -(TANK ENGINE WHIRRING) 124 00:05:51,083 --> 00:05:53,163 (CROWD CHEERING) 125 00:05:59,923 --> 00:06:04,123 Having liberated Warsaw on the 27th of January, 1945, 126 00:06:04,963 --> 00:06:07,843 the Soviets discovered the Reich's biggest secret. 127 00:06:07,923 --> 00:06:08,963 (FORLORN ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 128 00:06:09,043 --> 00:06:11,123 A camp the size of a town 129 00:06:11,203 --> 00:06:13,003 surrounded by barbed wire, 130 00:06:14,363 --> 00:06:15,723 Auschwitz-Birkenau. 131 00:06:19,683 --> 00:06:21,923 The camp had been evacuated by the SS 132 00:06:22,003 --> 00:06:23,643 just 10 days beforehand, 133 00:06:24,043 --> 00:06:26,203 all the guards had fled. 134 00:06:34,243 --> 00:06:38,083 The Soviets found 7,000 deportees abandoned there. 135 00:06:38,603 --> 00:06:43,723 7,000 survivors from more than a million people murdered. 136 00:07:00,203 --> 00:07:01,563 Before they left, 137 00:07:01,643 --> 00:07:04,923 the Nazis had tried to erase evidence of their crimes. 138 00:07:05,883 --> 00:07:08,923 They blew up the gas chambers and the crematoriums, 139 00:07:10,203 --> 00:07:12,123 but these factories of death 140 00:07:12,643 --> 00:07:15,363 also formed the center of a system of plunder. 141 00:07:16,443 --> 00:07:18,323 The Soviets found hundreds of thousands 142 00:07:18,403 --> 00:07:19,483 of pieces of clothing, 143 00:07:20,723 --> 00:07:23,203 tens of thousands of shoes. 144 00:07:42,443 --> 00:07:46,203 In a shed, they discovered seven tons 145 00:07:46,603 --> 00:07:48,163 of human hair. 146 00:07:54,363 --> 00:07:58,803 In January, 1945, around 550 camps 147 00:07:58,883 --> 00:08:00,763 were still active across the Reich. 148 00:08:01,323 --> 00:08:02,923 Even in their downfall, 149 00:08:03,283 --> 00:08:05,443 the destruction of Europe's Jews 150 00:08:05,523 --> 00:08:08,323 remained a primary objective for the Nazis. 151 00:08:09,203 --> 00:08:12,283 For the Allies, the liberation of these killing grounds 152 00:08:12,363 --> 00:08:13,843 was not a priority, 153 00:08:14,363 --> 00:08:15,763 especially since the accounts 154 00:08:15,843 --> 00:08:18,283 given by journalists were so staggering 155 00:08:18,763 --> 00:08:20,523 that many people in the West 156 00:08:20,883 --> 00:08:22,363 refused to believe them. 157 00:08:23,203 --> 00:08:25,763 When the British reporter, Alexander Werth, 158 00:08:25,843 --> 00:08:28,683 entered the Majdanek camp in July 44, 159 00:08:29,043 --> 00:08:30,403 he immediately wrote an article 160 00:08:30,483 --> 00:08:32,483 on how these death machines worked. 161 00:08:33,443 --> 00:08:35,363 The sorting, the gas chambers, 162 00:08:35,443 --> 00:08:38,803 the crematoriums, the bones ground as fertilizer 163 00:08:38,883 --> 00:08:40,723 for the adjacent cabbage fields. 164 00:08:41,723 --> 00:08:44,683 But the BBC and the New York Herald Tribune 165 00:08:44,763 --> 00:08:46,803 doubted the veracity of his report. 166 00:08:48,163 --> 00:08:50,923 Many towns liberated by the Red Army 167 00:08:51,163 --> 00:08:52,843 hid mass graves. 168 00:08:54,163 --> 00:08:57,883 To the Nazis, the Jews, the Poles, 169 00:08:58,323 --> 00:09:02,003 were nothing more than slaves or fertilizer. 170 00:09:05,483 --> 00:09:08,043 (TANK ENGINE WHIRRING) 171 00:09:08,203 --> 00:09:10,483 In 15 days, Zhukov and his men 172 00:09:10,563 --> 00:09:12,523 had covered 350 kilometers. 173 00:09:12,603 --> 00:09:13,803 WARNING BORDER OF THE REICH 174 00:09:13,883 --> 00:09:15,323 No one in the Nazi leadership 175 00:09:15,403 --> 00:09:17,683 had anticipated such a rapid advance. 176 00:09:17,763 --> 00:09:18,803 (SUSPENSEFUL ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 177 00:09:18,883 --> 00:09:20,483 General Guderian wrote, 178 00:09:21,003 --> 00:09:22,843 "The Russian tidal wave is taking on 179 00:09:22,923 --> 00:09:25,403 "utterly disastrous proportions for us." 180 00:09:26,603 --> 00:09:29,523 And yet the Germans continued to fight, 181 00:09:30,843 --> 00:09:33,523 mainly because they were afraid. 182 00:09:37,083 --> 00:09:40,803 The Red Army had shown some particularly barbaric behavior, 183 00:09:41,203 --> 00:09:43,723 neighborhoods and villages were sometimes torched. 184 00:09:44,603 --> 00:09:46,843 Stalin's army plundered shamelessly 185 00:09:46,923 --> 00:09:48,603 in this land of plenty, 186 00:09:49,003 --> 00:09:52,043 radios, saucepans, watches. 187 00:09:53,003 --> 00:09:54,923 One Soviet soldier wrote, 188 00:09:55,283 --> 00:09:56,883 "The Germans abandon everything 189 00:09:57,083 --> 00:09:59,323 "and our men have invaded the houses, 190 00:09:59,403 --> 00:10:01,163 "everything is in flames. 191 00:10:01,403 --> 00:10:03,683 "Down from pillows and feathers from mattresses 192 00:10:03,763 --> 00:10:05,243 "are flying everywhere. 193 00:10:06,603 --> 00:10:08,923 "Everyone from the foot soldier to the colonel 194 00:10:09,003 --> 00:10:10,963 "is carrying away his plunder. 195 00:10:11,523 --> 00:10:13,483 "This town has been crucified, 196 00:10:15,883 --> 00:10:19,243 "the Germans are right to flee from us like the plague." 197 00:10:19,323 --> 00:10:20,323 (DOG SNARLING) 198 00:10:20,403 --> 00:10:22,763 Anyone suspected of being a Nazi could be shot, 199 00:10:23,683 --> 00:10:27,563 almost 100,000 Germans were summarily executed. 200 00:10:29,363 --> 00:10:31,483 One Soviet soldier noted, 201 00:10:31,563 --> 00:10:33,563 "The German mother should curse the day 202 00:10:33,643 --> 00:10:35,363 "she gave birth to a son. 203 00:10:35,803 --> 00:10:39,243 "Let them experience what they wanted to inflict on others." 204 00:10:42,163 --> 00:10:44,923 (BUILDING CRUMBLING) 205 00:10:47,443 --> 00:10:50,563 In Eastern Prussia, the Soviets briefly occupied 206 00:10:50,643 --> 00:10:52,163 the town of Nemmersdorf. 207 00:10:53,163 --> 00:10:55,043 The inhabitants were massacred, 208 00:10:55,403 --> 00:10:57,643 an orgy of violence was unleashed. 209 00:10:58,523 --> 00:10:59,563 Several women were said 210 00:10:59,643 --> 00:11:02,843 to have been crucified naked on barn doors. 211 00:11:04,043 --> 00:11:05,403 (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) 212 00:11:11,123 --> 00:11:13,723 The Red Army realized the scale of the atrocities 213 00:11:13,803 --> 00:11:15,323 committed by the Nazis. 214 00:11:15,643 --> 00:11:18,083 Millions of prisoners of war starved to death 215 00:11:18,163 --> 00:11:20,203 and millions of civilians murdered. 216 00:11:21,083 --> 00:11:23,643 The Russians discovered the camps at Majdanek, 217 00:11:23,723 --> 00:11:25,283 Auschwitz and Treblinka. 218 00:11:25,723 --> 00:11:27,803 Having lost 20 million of their own, 219 00:11:27,883 --> 00:11:30,283 the Soviets were burning with vengeance. 220 00:11:31,803 --> 00:11:34,003 The propagandist Ilya Ehrenburg 221 00:11:34,083 --> 00:11:37,163 had for months been urging in the Red Star newspaper, 222 00:11:37,243 --> 00:11:39,243 "If you haven't killed a German each day, 223 00:11:39,323 --> 00:11:41,123 "your day has been wasted. 224 00:11:41,363 --> 00:11:44,803 "Kill the Germans, that's what your old mother asks of you. 225 00:11:45,003 --> 00:11:47,683 "The children are imploring, 'Kill the Germans,' 226 00:11:47,763 --> 00:11:50,323 "That's what your homeland demands of you." 227 00:11:50,723 --> 00:11:53,683 The divisions and armies are not advancing alone on Berlin, 228 00:11:54,043 --> 00:11:57,203 with them, there are the trenches, the mass graves, 229 00:11:57,283 --> 00:11:59,803 the ravines filled with the bodies of the innocent, 230 00:11:59,883 --> 00:12:02,923 the cabbage fields of my Majdanek and the trees of Vitebsk 231 00:12:03,123 --> 00:12:05,843 where the Germans hanged so many unfortunates. 232 00:12:06,203 --> 00:12:08,363 The boots, the little shoes and slippers 233 00:12:08,443 --> 00:12:10,803 of the little children murdered at Majdanek 234 00:12:10,883 --> 00:12:13,523 walk alongside them to Berlin. 235 00:12:17,083 --> 00:12:20,763 The Red Army became experts in nurturing hatred, 236 00:12:21,083 --> 00:12:23,483 and in its path, the enemy's womenfolk 237 00:12:23,563 --> 00:12:24,843 were particularly targeted. 238 00:12:25,723 --> 00:12:28,523 Rape became a weapon of war. 239 00:12:29,803 --> 00:12:31,923 One young Soviet officer recalled, 240 00:12:32,563 --> 00:12:34,363 "Women, mothers and their children 241 00:12:34,443 --> 00:12:36,363 "were lying on both sides of the road, 242 00:12:36,443 --> 00:12:37,803 "and before each of them 243 00:12:37,963 --> 00:12:40,883 "was a noisy gaggle of men with their pants down. 244 00:12:41,683 --> 00:12:43,043 "And our men shot those women 245 00:12:43,123 --> 00:12:44,963 "who tried to save their children. 246 00:12:45,643 --> 00:12:47,403 "Smiling officers stood by, 247 00:12:47,563 --> 00:12:49,283 "making sure each soldier, 248 00:12:49,363 --> 00:12:51,603 "with no exceptions, took part." 249 00:12:56,403 --> 00:12:59,323 Stalin, in person, excused these crimes. 250 00:13:00,003 --> 00:13:02,483 He declared, "Imagine a man 251 00:13:02,563 --> 00:13:04,963 "who fought from Stalingrad to Belgrade, 252 00:13:05,043 --> 00:13:06,603 "who has seen his homeland devastated 253 00:13:06,683 --> 00:13:08,443 "over thousands of kilometers. 254 00:13:08,683 --> 00:13:10,923 "How can such a man react normally? 255 00:13:11,403 --> 00:13:14,523 "What is so awful in his having fun with a woman 256 00:13:14,603 --> 00:13:16,003 "after such horrors." 257 00:13:17,883 --> 00:13:20,043 Across the whole German territory, 258 00:13:20,243 --> 00:13:22,123 close to two million women 259 00:13:22,963 --> 00:13:24,603 are thought to have been raped. 260 00:13:32,043 --> 00:13:34,003 -After hesitating for a time... -(UPBEAT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 261 00:13:34,163 --> 00:13:37,043 ...the Nazi regime publicized these atrocities. 262 00:13:37,123 --> 00:13:38,723 GERMAN NEWS 263 00:13:38,803 --> 00:13:43,323 (IN GERMAN) How did the soldiers behave towards the women in your area? 264 00:13:43,683 --> 00:13:47,483 One can't really call them soldiers. 265 00:13:47,563 --> 00:13:49,843 They are merely barbarian hordes. 266 00:13:49,923 --> 00:13:54,443 All of them behaved the same, they were drunk every day. 267 00:13:54,643 --> 00:13:57,363 They raped all the women 268 00:13:57,443 --> 00:14:01,523 even girls as young as 13 and women aged 68. 269 00:14:01,923 --> 00:14:05,883 A woman aged 68 was vilely raped in front of me. 270 00:14:05,963 --> 00:14:07,443 What about the women present here? 271 00:14:07,523 --> 00:14:12,803 Even my mother, who is 60, was brutally raped. 272 00:14:15,163 --> 00:14:17,003 NARRATOR: The advance of the Soviet troops 273 00:14:17,083 --> 00:14:19,243 spread panic among the civilians. 274 00:14:19,403 --> 00:14:22,283 Hundreds of thousands of Germans took to the road 275 00:14:22,363 --> 00:14:24,843 in the midst of a particularly harsh winter. 276 00:14:26,763 --> 00:14:28,403 (FOGHORN BLOWING) 277 00:14:28,483 --> 00:14:31,443 To escape, thousands of terrified men and women 278 00:14:31,723 --> 00:14:33,923 swamped the stations and ports. 279 00:14:34,203 --> 00:14:35,803 In January, '45, 280 00:14:36,003 --> 00:14:39,483 nearly 8,000 Germans packed onto the Wilhelm Gustloff, 281 00:14:39,723 --> 00:14:42,003 it was sunk by a Soviet submarine. 282 00:14:42,363 --> 00:14:46,043 More than 5,000 people disappeared beneath the waves, 283 00:14:46,163 --> 00:14:49,443 three times more than were lost on the Titanic. 284 00:14:53,523 --> 00:14:57,883 By February, 1945, four million Germans, 285 00:14:57,963 --> 00:15:00,523 eight and a half million according to some estimates, 286 00:15:00,603 --> 00:15:01,763 were displaced. 287 00:15:02,603 --> 00:15:06,243 Fifty thousand people were arriving in Berlin every day. 288 00:15:08,483 --> 00:15:10,883 While refugees clogged the roads of Germany, 289 00:15:11,283 --> 00:15:13,963 the Soviet troops who started out from the Vistula 290 00:15:14,043 --> 00:15:16,923 stopped about 80 kilometers from Berlin 291 00:15:17,003 --> 00:15:18,483 on the banks of the Oder. 292 00:15:19,243 --> 00:15:21,483 Zhukov's offensive had been a success, 293 00:15:22,083 --> 00:15:26,763 in total, the Germans had 350,000 casualties. 294 00:15:29,083 --> 00:15:31,003 Having conquered most of Poland, 295 00:15:31,363 --> 00:15:33,283 and imposed his domination on the Balkans, 296 00:15:33,883 --> 00:15:35,683 Stalin went to the Yalta Conference 297 00:15:35,763 --> 00:15:37,283 in a position of strength. 298 00:15:38,403 --> 00:15:39,483 Neither President Roosevelt, 299 00:15:39,563 --> 00:15:41,163 who was weakened by sickness, 300 00:15:41,323 --> 00:15:43,803 nor the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, 301 00:15:43,883 --> 00:15:46,763 whose country was drained after five years at war, 302 00:15:46,843 --> 00:15:47,923 stood up to him. 303 00:15:49,523 --> 00:15:50,683 The big three agreed 304 00:15:50,763 --> 00:15:53,843 to divide Germany into four occupied zones. 305 00:15:55,523 --> 00:15:57,723 (UPBEAT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 306 00:15:57,803 --> 00:16:00,803 To the west, there was one last hurdle to cross, 307 00:16:01,243 --> 00:16:03,563 the last natural barrier in Germany, 308 00:16:03,883 --> 00:16:05,123 the Rhine. 309 00:16:05,603 --> 00:16:08,203 All the bridges had been dynamited by the Germans, 310 00:16:08,723 --> 00:16:09,803 Field Marshal Montgomery 311 00:16:09,883 --> 00:16:12,563 was still hoping to be first to cross the river, 312 00:16:13,403 --> 00:16:15,323 but the Americans beat him to it. 313 00:16:16,043 --> 00:16:18,203 An advanced unit of the First U.S. Army 314 00:16:18,283 --> 00:16:21,523 found a bridge still standing at Remagen, near Bonn. 315 00:16:22,883 --> 00:16:24,803 The Germans had rigged it with explosives, 316 00:16:24,883 --> 00:16:26,723 but had not yet detonated them. 317 00:16:28,043 --> 00:16:29,963 (TANK ENGINE WHIRRING) 318 00:16:30,883 --> 00:16:33,243 The Americans immediately established a bridgehead 319 00:16:33,323 --> 00:16:34,883 on the eastern bank of the river. 320 00:16:39,243 --> 00:16:40,603 Hitler was furious 321 00:16:40,683 --> 00:16:41,923 and ordered the engineers 322 00:16:42,003 --> 00:16:44,883 whose charges had not exploded to be shot. 323 00:16:48,043 --> 00:16:50,323 Meanwhile, Patton had sent his troops across 324 00:16:50,403 --> 00:16:52,043 farther south at Oppenheim 325 00:16:52,123 --> 00:16:54,323 without notifying his superiors. 326 00:16:54,603 --> 00:16:57,923 He was already spreading panic in German territory. 327 00:17:00,723 --> 00:17:03,483 Monty had dreamed of being first into Germany, 328 00:17:03,843 --> 00:17:05,283 in fact, he was last, 329 00:17:05,363 --> 00:17:07,923 but it was he who led the biggest offensive. 330 00:17:08,243 --> 00:17:11,603 He was in command of one-and-a-quarter million soldiers. 331 00:17:13,043 --> 00:17:15,843 This time the lessons of Arnhem had been learned, 332 00:17:16,483 --> 00:17:19,883 the drop zones for the parachutists were spot on. 333 00:17:20,323 --> 00:17:22,803 British troops pushed deep into Germany 334 00:17:22,883 --> 00:17:26,203 and increasingly were capturing very young soldiers. 335 00:17:29,283 --> 00:17:30,803 (UPBEAT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 336 00:17:30,883 --> 00:17:32,963 Farther south, the French forces, 337 00:17:33,043 --> 00:17:35,683 under General de Lattre, also advanced. 338 00:17:36,003 --> 00:17:39,523 They fought on German soil alongside the Americans. 339 00:17:41,163 --> 00:17:44,203 For the Allies, there was now a gaping breach, 340 00:17:44,883 --> 00:17:47,243 they could finally invade the Reich. 341 00:17:48,043 --> 00:17:49,763 This was good news for them, 342 00:17:49,843 --> 00:17:51,123 but not for Stalin. 343 00:17:51,843 --> 00:17:53,243 As soon as he learned this, 344 00:17:53,323 --> 00:17:56,163 he ordered Zhukov to take Berlin as soon as possible 345 00:17:56,243 --> 00:17:58,643 to avoid the Americans beating him to it. 346 00:17:58,723 --> 00:18:00,563 (TANK SQUEAKING) 347 00:18:04,603 --> 00:18:05,923 (SUSPENSEFUL ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 348 00:18:06,003 --> 00:18:07,843 Once the Rhine had been crossed, 349 00:18:08,003 --> 00:18:10,003 German resistance founded. 350 00:18:10,883 --> 00:18:14,083 Hitler had chosen to concentrate his forces to the east, 351 00:18:14,523 --> 00:18:17,243 he had exhausted his already diminished reserves 352 00:18:17,323 --> 00:18:19,523 in the costly Battle of the Arden. 353 00:18:20,083 --> 00:18:23,963 Now, some towns, rather than fighting to the bitter end, 354 00:18:24,123 --> 00:18:25,843 were flying the white flag. 355 00:18:26,923 --> 00:18:28,843 The Allies were making up ground, 356 00:18:29,723 --> 00:18:32,483 Churchill continually spurred on the Americans, 357 00:18:33,003 --> 00:18:35,443 "We have to push on and shake the Russians' hands 358 00:18:35,523 --> 00:18:38,403 "as far to the east as possible," he urged. 359 00:18:39,843 --> 00:18:43,523 But Berlin was in the future Soviet occupation zone 360 00:18:43,603 --> 00:18:45,123 defined at Yalta. 361 00:18:45,563 --> 00:18:47,723 Even if the Americans did take the city, 362 00:18:48,123 --> 00:18:50,123 they would have to withdraw later. 363 00:18:50,643 --> 00:18:53,163 They would not accept the 100,000 dead 364 00:18:53,243 --> 00:18:54,763 this might have cost, 365 00:18:54,883 --> 00:18:57,363 simply as a matter of prestige. 366 00:18:58,443 --> 00:19:01,643 Such humanitarian issues never hindered Stalin. 367 00:19:01,723 --> 00:19:04,003 (UPBEAT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 368 00:19:05,003 --> 00:19:08,643 So Eisenhower decided not to launch an assault on Berlin, 369 00:19:09,363 --> 00:19:11,203 his troops could even afford a break 370 00:19:11,283 --> 00:19:13,163 for some home-style R&R. 371 00:19:13,443 --> 00:19:14,883 ♪ With his plastic eye ♪ 372 00:19:15,923 --> 00:19:18,523 ♪ You'll be in the heart of his fire ♪ 373 00:19:18,603 --> 00:19:21,083 ♪ What the world's best man would desire ♪ 374 00:19:21,163 --> 00:19:22,643 ♪ When he's stresses down ♪ 375 00:19:22,723 --> 00:19:24,963 ♪ That's big living, sweetie pie... ♪ 376 00:19:25,043 --> 00:19:26,163 NARRATOR: Marlene Dietrich 377 00:19:26,243 --> 00:19:28,243 -paid them a little visit. -(CROWD CHEERING) 378 00:19:28,323 --> 00:19:29,483 Hello, boys... 379 00:19:30,123 --> 00:19:32,923 I want to say that sharing this entertainment with you today 380 00:19:33,003 --> 00:19:35,643 is, to me, more important than doing the entertaining. 381 00:19:35,963 --> 00:19:38,963 I'm certain that we can look forward to a speedy victory. 382 00:19:39,443 --> 00:19:41,523 -(TRIUMPHANT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) -Goodbye, good luck 383 00:19:41,603 --> 00:19:42,803 and God speed. 384 00:19:44,403 --> 00:19:45,523 NARRATOR: But Ike's armies 385 00:19:45,603 --> 00:19:47,523 did not down their weapons for long. 386 00:19:48,603 --> 00:19:50,283 To defeat Nazi Germany swiftly 387 00:19:50,363 --> 00:19:52,683 without too heavy losses in their ranks, 388 00:19:52,763 --> 00:19:53,923 the Americans and British 389 00:19:54,003 --> 00:19:56,483 pursued a merciless bombing campaign. 390 00:20:00,603 --> 00:20:03,763 They relentlessly pounded German industrial areas 391 00:20:03,843 --> 00:20:06,683 and annihilated cities packed with civilians. 392 00:20:06,763 --> 00:20:08,523 (EXPLOSIONS) 393 00:20:09,163 --> 00:20:11,203 (BOMB WHISTLING) 394 00:20:11,403 --> 00:20:14,483 Their aim was to smash the Reich's economic potential 395 00:20:14,563 --> 00:20:16,603 and to break the morale of the population, 396 00:20:16,963 --> 00:20:19,283 thereby undermining the regime. 397 00:20:20,123 --> 00:20:22,763 Between January and April, 1945, 398 00:20:23,123 --> 00:20:27,603 471,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Germany. 399 00:20:28,203 --> 00:20:32,163 Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin were all hit. 400 00:20:33,443 --> 00:20:36,243 (EXPLOSIONS) 401 00:20:38,883 --> 00:20:41,803 Well, men, now that we've been the first ones to Berlin, 402 00:20:41,923 --> 00:20:43,843 how would you like to go back again? 403 00:20:44,083 --> 00:20:46,723 (PILOTS CHEERING) 404 00:20:47,043 --> 00:20:48,963 (PROPELLERS WHIRRING) 405 00:20:49,923 --> 00:20:51,363 NARRATOR: In mid-February, 406 00:20:51,443 --> 00:20:54,083 Churchill wanted to bombard the city of Dresden 407 00:20:54,163 --> 00:20:56,323 as a show of strength to the Soviets. 408 00:20:58,923 --> 00:21:02,083 The city was consumed in a firestorm. 409 00:21:09,003 --> 00:21:12,363 (CHOIR SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) 410 00:21:12,443 --> 00:21:13,963 NARRATOR: In under 24 hours, 411 00:21:14,243 --> 00:21:17,443 more than 25,000 inhabitants perished. 412 00:21:23,723 --> 00:21:26,843 A whole city, with no war-related industry 413 00:21:26,923 --> 00:21:28,723 and of no strategic importance, 414 00:21:28,803 --> 00:21:29,803 was destroyed. 415 00:21:36,483 --> 00:21:38,043 But destroying Dresden 416 00:21:38,123 --> 00:21:40,683 meant driving up the number of refugees 417 00:21:40,963 --> 00:21:43,963 and disrupted the movements of the Wehrmacht. 418 00:21:46,443 --> 00:21:50,123 The Allied leaders may have felt some regret over Dresden, 419 00:21:50,683 --> 00:21:52,043 but not for long, 420 00:21:53,043 --> 00:21:54,803 because Hitler's obstinacy 421 00:21:55,003 --> 00:21:57,483 drove them to maintain the bombing campaign, 422 00:21:58,123 --> 00:22:01,163 whatever the cost for the civilian population. 423 00:22:04,923 --> 00:22:07,243 By the end of March, 1945, 424 00:22:07,563 --> 00:22:10,163 the Reich slipped into chaos, 425 00:22:11,363 --> 00:22:15,283 the outcome of the war was no longer in any doubt. 426 00:22:16,123 --> 00:22:17,123 (OMINOUS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 427 00:22:17,203 --> 00:22:19,403 A German officer noted in his diary, 428 00:22:20,003 --> 00:22:21,563 "We are reaching the end, 429 00:22:21,923 --> 00:22:24,923 "do our leaders have any exit strategy in mind? 430 00:22:25,723 --> 00:22:27,083 "The death of our soldiers, 431 00:22:27,163 --> 00:22:29,283 "the destruction of our towns and villages, 432 00:22:29,723 --> 00:22:31,883 "is there any sense to this now?" 433 00:22:32,843 --> 00:22:35,203 Another wrote, "Is there no one there 434 00:22:35,283 --> 00:22:36,723 "to overpower the madman 435 00:22:36,803 --> 00:22:38,763 "and call for an end to this, 436 00:22:39,043 --> 00:22:41,083 "are they still generals? 437 00:22:41,323 --> 00:22:43,483 "No, they are ordure, 438 00:22:43,763 --> 00:22:46,803 -"wet rags, they are cowards." -(CHANTING IN GERMAN) 439 00:22:48,723 --> 00:22:49,763 NARRATOR: But these words of revolt 440 00:22:49,843 --> 00:22:52,003 remained confined to private diaries. 441 00:22:52,723 --> 00:22:54,323 After writing these lines, 442 00:22:54,403 --> 00:22:57,323 those young soldiers returned to the combat. 443 00:22:58,563 --> 00:23:00,963 German society could not manage to rise up, 444 00:23:01,283 --> 00:23:05,243 and as a result, it continued its plunge to new depths. 445 00:23:05,883 --> 00:23:07,163 At Hitler's bidding, 446 00:23:07,243 --> 00:23:09,483 the regime launched a new phase, 447 00:23:10,083 --> 00:23:13,203 radicalization against the Germans themselves. 448 00:23:14,363 --> 00:23:16,483 Whoever was not prepared to fight 449 00:23:16,763 --> 00:23:18,363 would face execution. 450 00:23:19,283 --> 00:23:22,563 In Konigsberg, 80 deserters were executed. 451 00:23:25,123 --> 00:23:26,843 Often victims' bodies 452 00:23:26,923 --> 00:23:29,083 were left at the roadside with a sign, 453 00:23:29,723 --> 00:23:32,323 "I am a deserter and I refuse to protect 454 00:23:32,403 --> 00:23:34,003 "German women and children." 455 00:23:36,803 --> 00:23:38,163 (EXPLOSION) 456 00:23:38,243 --> 00:23:40,123 Villages displaying the white flag 457 00:23:40,203 --> 00:23:42,003 were threatened with destruction. 458 00:23:42,963 --> 00:23:47,963 But this radicalization was even more harsh on deportees. 459 00:23:49,363 --> 00:23:50,803 (FORLORN ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 460 00:23:50,883 --> 00:23:53,483 The progression of the Allied armies to the west 461 00:23:53,563 --> 00:23:55,323 and the Soviets to the east 462 00:23:55,563 --> 00:23:57,563 led Himmler to close the camps, 463 00:23:57,843 --> 00:24:01,003 sending the deportees on abominable death marches. 464 00:24:01,603 --> 00:24:03,643 The detainees were on the road, 465 00:24:03,723 --> 00:24:05,043 but not to get anywhere. 466 00:24:05,643 --> 00:24:08,283 The Nazis no longer had time to gas people, 467 00:24:08,643 --> 00:24:11,563 so they killed through cold and hunger. 468 00:24:12,443 --> 00:24:15,043 Those who could not keep up the pace of the March 469 00:24:15,123 --> 00:24:16,643 got a bullet in the head. 470 00:24:18,963 --> 00:24:21,203 When the Allies liberated the camps, 471 00:24:21,563 --> 00:24:25,043 they found most of them almost entirely empty. 472 00:24:26,243 --> 00:24:28,803 The Germans had only left certain deportees, 473 00:24:28,883 --> 00:24:31,003 considered too weak to be evacuated. 474 00:24:35,203 --> 00:24:38,043 In April, 1945, the Americans 475 00:24:38,123 --> 00:24:40,803 entered the Ohrdruf concentration camp, 476 00:24:41,043 --> 00:24:42,723 an offshoot of Buchenwald. 477 00:24:43,963 --> 00:24:46,123 Eisenhower was overwhelmed, 478 00:24:47,163 --> 00:24:50,963 "I never had such a shock in my entire life," he confessed. 479 00:24:56,123 --> 00:24:59,523 Patton was physically sick near a shed. 480 00:25:07,443 --> 00:25:09,043 Eisenhower ordered the population 481 00:25:09,123 --> 00:25:11,363 of the next-door town to visit the camp. 482 00:25:15,843 --> 00:25:17,523 In front of a crematorium oven 483 00:25:17,603 --> 00:25:20,043 where they burned 200 bodies a day, 484 00:25:20,883 --> 00:25:22,123 women fainted. 485 00:25:23,883 --> 00:25:26,403 Nonetheless, the officers insisted 486 00:25:26,483 --> 00:25:28,803 that the Germans confront the horrors 487 00:25:28,883 --> 00:25:30,443 which they had allowed to happen. 488 00:25:53,803 --> 00:25:57,283 On a table, stood lamp shades made of human skin. 489 00:25:59,923 --> 00:26:01,643 There were tattooed skins 490 00:26:01,723 --> 00:26:03,643 that a camp official had collected, 491 00:26:03,723 --> 00:26:05,003 and shrunken heads, 492 00:26:06,523 --> 00:26:09,203 trophies of Nazi barbarity. 493 00:26:13,443 --> 00:26:17,323 Discovering these horrors, one journalist wrote, 494 00:26:18,323 --> 00:26:21,243 "The gates of hell had opened." 495 00:26:24,123 --> 00:26:25,963 Other camps were liberated 496 00:26:26,323 --> 00:26:29,803 and more visits were imposed on local populations. 497 00:26:34,123 --> 00:26:37,003 Eisenhower declared, "People tell us 498 00:26:37,083 --> 00:26:39,963 "that the American soldier doesn't know why he's fighting, 499 00:26:40,483 --> 00:26:44,523 "now, at least he knows against who he is fighting." 500 00:26:46,003 --> 00:26:49,363 The discovery of the hell of the concentration camps 501 00:26:49,443 --> 00:26:51,923 was a shock for the whole world. 502 00:26:57,483 --> 00:27:00,083 For 10 months, the Reich had been shrinking. 503 00:27:01,283 --> 00:27:03,803 In April, the final act began. 504 00:27:03,883 --> 00:27:04,883 (TWILIGHT OF THE GODS PLAYING) 505 00:27:04,963 --> 00:27:07,203 Berlin, the last citadel 506 00:27:08,483 --> 00:27:11,043 was preparing for the ultimate battle. 507 00:27:16,923 --> 00:27:19,643 On the 12th of April, 1945, 508 00:27:19,803 --> 00:27:21,523 the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 509 00:27:21,603 --> 00:27:24,203 performed Wagner's Twilight of the Gods. 510 00:27:31,083 --> 00:27:33,003 To make up for the lack of personnel, 511 00:27:33,843 --> 00:27:36,643 an army of children, women and the elderly, 512 00:27:36,723 --> 00:27:39,483 marshaled by several thousand SS fanatics, 513 00:27:39,803 --> 00:27:41,283 had to defend the capital. 514 00:27:42,243 --> 00:27:43,803 They set up obstacles. 515 00:27:45,443 --> 00:27:47,003 Goebbels did a good job 516 00:27:47,243 --> 00:27:49,163 and all those defending the city 517 00:27:49,243 --> 00:27:52,643 had a smile in these propaganda images. 518 00:27:53,523 --> 00:27:55,083 (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) 519 00:28:21,003 --> 00:28:22,523 To set ambushes, 520 00:28:22,603 --> 00:28:24,803 every German was equipped with a rifle 521 00:28:24,883 --> 00:28:27,603 or a Panzerfaust, an anti-tank weapon. 522 00:28:29,883 --> 00:28:31,243 The factories had churned out 523 00:28:31,323 --> 00:28:33,723 more than three million of them in recent months. 524 00:28:33,803 --> 00:28:35,163 (INAUDIBLE) 525 00:28:35,963 --> 00:28:37,283 In the streets of Berlin, 526 00:28:37,643 --> 00:28:39,723 people were given fast-track training. 527 00:28:39,803 --> 00:28:40,883 (PANZERFAUST FIRING) 528 00:28:45,843 --> 00:28:46,843 (FIRING) 529 00:28:53,283 --> 00:28:54,523 (FIRING) 530 00:29:22,443 --> 00:29:25,243 Many Germans still had faith in their Reich. 531 00:29:25,403 --> 00:29:30,123 Our walls are broken, but not our hearts. 532 00:29:30,203 --> 00:29:33,403 Fighting Berlin salutes the Führer! 533 00:29:33,483 --> 00:29:36,483 Führer, order, we obey! 534 00:29:36,563 --> 00:29:39,443 Berlin remains German! 535 00:29:39,523 --> 00:29:41,083 SURRENDER? 536 00:29:42,123 --> 00:29:44,523 NO! 537 00:29:47,683 --> 00:29:49,963 One young soldier wrote to his parents, 538 00:29:50,723 --> 00:29:52,363 "I simply can't believe that the Fuhrer 539 00:29:52,443 --> 00:29:54,043 "would sacrifice us dumbly. 540 00:29:54,563 --> 00:29:56,923 "No one can strip me of my faith in him. 541 00:29:57,003 --> 00:29:58,563 "He is everything to me." 542 00:30:04,883 --> 00:30:07,963 Certain officers confiscated white handkerchiefs 543 00:30:08,043 --> 00:30:10,563 to stop the defenders using them to surrender. 544 00:30:11,603 --> 00:30:13,163 (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) 545 00:30:15,883 --> 00:30:17,923 Nazi dignitaries still believed, 546 00:30:18,243 --> 00:30:20,163 especially since in the United States 547 00:30:20,243 --> 00:30:22,763 on the 12th of April, the day of the concert, 548 00:30:23,243 --> 00:30:25,203 President Roosevelt died. 549 00:30:25,763 --> 00:30:28,323 Hitler rejoiced, "The great miracle, 550 00:30:28,403 --> 00:30:30,603 "the one I had always predicted has happened, 551 00:30:30,683 --> 00:30:32,603 "the war is not lost." 552 00:30:34,603 --> 00:30:37,083 Hitler was blinded by his own illusions, 553 00:30:37,683 --> 00:30:39,563 but the hope did not last long, 554 00:30:40,083 --> 00:30:43,763 because the Red Army was closing in on the capital. 555 00:30:46,843 --> 00:30:48,603 (OMINOUS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 556 00:30:50,083 --> 00:30:51,763 Around a model of Berlin, 557 00:30:51,843 --> 00:30:54,603 Soviet generals discussed the plan of attack. 558 00:30:58,643 --> 00:30:59,803 Supplies from the east 559 00:30:59,883 --> 00:31:02,003 had finally arrived on the banks of the Oder. 560 00:31:02,483 --> 00:31:03,483 (TANK ENGINE WHIRRING) 561 00:31:03,563 --> 00:31:09,163 Tanks, shells, planes, 42,000 guns and heavy mortars. 562 00:31:09,923 --> 00:31:11,323 On the 16th of April, 563 00:31:11,403 --> 00:31:14,403 the biggest artillery barrage of the war commenced. 564 00:31:14,483 --> 00:31:15,563 FOR BERLIN 565 00:31:16,603 --> 00:31:18,923 -(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) -(ARTILLERY FIRING) 566 00:31:22,643 --> 00:31:26,563 NARRATOR: 1,236,000 shells were fired. 567 00:31:32,043 --> 00:31:34,723 100,000 tons of steel 568 00:31:34,803 --> 00:31:36,563 rained down on the Germans. 569 00:31:40,203 --> 00:31:41,803 (TANK SQUEAKING) 570 00:31:41,883 --> 00:31:44,083 (PLANE ENGINES ROARING) 571 00:31:44,163 --> 00:31:46,843 Two million men moved on Berlin. 572 00:31:49,283 --> 00:31:52,043 The Soviet divisions attacked from every side. 573 00:31:52,563 --> 00:31:54,643 (GUNS FIRING) 574 00:31:55,843 --> 00:31:57,523 (FLAMETHROWER ROARING) 575 00:31:58,083 --> 00:31:59,283 (GUNS FIRING) 576 00:31:59,443 --> 00:32:01,363 The Russians had one objective, 577 00:32:01,443 --> 00:32:04,963 the chancellery, under which Hitler's bunker was located. 578 00:32:05,163 --> 00:32:07,203 (ARTILLERY FIRING) 579 00:32:16,163 --> 00:32:19,563 Zhukov moved forward, suffering huge losses. 580 00:32:22,563 --> 00:32:25,803 Stalin wanted to see Berlin totally encircled 581 00:32:25,963 --> 00:32:28,283 to avoid the Anglo-Americans profiting 582 00:32:28,363 --> 00:32:30,083 from a sudden German collapse 583 00:32:30,163 --> 00:32:32,083 and entering the capital first. 584 00:32:32,163 --> 00:32:33,403 (GUNS FIRING) 585 00:32:34,163 --> 00:32:37,323 In Berlin, the ground itself shook. 586 00:32:37,523 --> 00:32:39,563 (ARTILLERY FIRING) 587 00:32:42,323 --> 00:32:44,283 Each crossroads was defended, 588 00:32:44,443 --> 00:32:46,323 sometimes by young children. 589 00:32:49,563 --> 00:32:51,563 Hitler sheltered in his bunker. 590 00:32:51,643 --> 00:32:53,603 In these last pictures of the dictator 591 00:32:53,843 --> 00:32:55,403 filmed one month earlier, 592 00:32:55,643 --> 00:32:57,323 the sensor cut a piece of film 593 00:32:57,403 --> 00:32:59,003 which was never shown at the time. 594 00:33:03,643 --> 00:33:05,603 Incapable of controlling himself 595 00:33:06,003 --> 00:33:08,643 suffering from what looks like Parkinson's disease, 596 00:33:09,283 --> 00:33:11,763 Hitler is no more than a shadow. 597 00:33:13,363 --> 00:33:18,123 Still, at no point was there any question of surrender? 598 00:33:20,403 --> 00:33:23,363 And yet, some 120 kilometers away, 599 00:33:23,443 --> 00:33:26,163 on the 25th of April, in Torgau, 600 00:33:26,283 --> 00:33:28,483 the long-awaited day finally came, 601 00:33:29,163 --> 00:33:31,523 the Reich was cut in two. 602 00:33:32,363 --> 00:33:34,643 The Soviet and American armies met up. 603 00:33:36,283 --> 00:33:39,643 While for the leadership, this was a time to be wary, 604 00:33:40,083 --> 00:33:43,923 for the ordinary soldier, it was a time of celebration. 605 00:33:45,643 --> 00:33:48,203 That said, certain Soviet soldiers 606 00:33:48,283 --> 00:33:50,403 avoided excessive fraternization 607 00:33:50,723 --> 00:33:53,123 that might have sent them to the Gulag. 608 00:33:59,483 --> 00:34:00,843 (ARTILLERY FIRING) 609 00:34:01,243 --> 00:34:02,643 (BUILDING CRUMBLING) 610 00:34:02,723 --> 00:34:06,643 In Berlin, three million people were caught in the trap. 611 00:34:06,803 --> 00:34:08,683 (OMINOUS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 612 00:34:08,763 --> 00:34:10,603 It was now a matter of survival, 613 00:34:12,683 --> 00:34:15,123 here and there, a horse was cut up. 614 00:34:18,843 --> 00:34:19,843 (TANK ENGINE WHIRRING) 615 00:34:19,923 --> 00:34:22,923 However mighty the Soviet artillery power had been, 616 00:34:23,003 --> 00:34:24,803 even in a mechanized war, 617 00:34:24,883 --> 00:34:27,843 it is the infantry who have to finish the job. 618 00:34:32,563 --> 00:34:35,843 Street by street, cellar by cellar. 619 00:34:39,923 --> 00:34:41,643 (GUNS FIRING) 620 00:34:43,083 --> 00:34:46,963 In these last days, the motivation of the Germans changed. 621 00:34:47,523 --> 00:34:50,043 They were no longer fighting for their great Reich, 622 00:34:50,123 --> 00:34:52,923 for the Fuhrer, or for National Socialism, 623 00:34:53,083 --> 00:34:54,643 but to save their skins. 624 00:34:54,963 --> 00:34:56,283 (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) 625 00:34:58,483 --> 00:35:00,483 The Russians were closing in on the bunker 626 00:35:00,563 --> 00:35:04,163 where Hitler was still positioning imaginary armies. 627 00:35:04,323 --> 00:35:06,563 The elites had fled the city. 628 00:35:07,243 --> 00:35:09,403 When Goebbels realized all was lost, 629 00:35:09,563 --> 00:35:11,963 he wondered, "What's to be done with a people 630 00:35:12,043 --> 00:35:15,003 "whose men don't even fight when their women are being raped? 631 00:35:15,323 --> 00:35:18,363 "All the plans, all the ideas of National Socialism 632 00:35:18,443 --> 00:35:21,363 "are too elevated, too noble for such a people. 633 00:35:21,643 --> 00:35:24,643 "These folk deserve the fate they are about to meet." 634 00:35:26,563 --> 00:35:27,723 (CROWD CHEERING) 635 00:35:27,803 --> 00:35:29,563 At the same time, in Italy, 636 00:35:29,643 --> 00:35:31,083 on the 27th of April, 637 00:35:31,483 --> 00:35:34,083 Mussolini was captured while trying to escape. 638 00:35:34,763 --> 00:35:35,843 He was shot, 639 00:35:36,723 --> 00:35:39,283 his body and that of his mistress 640 00:35:39,363 --> 00:35:41,163 were brutalized by the crowd. 641 00:35:46,723 --> 00:35:50,283 When Hitler learned of the death of Il Duce, he concluded, 642 00:35:50,803 --> 00:35:52,803 "Dead or alive, I don't want to fall 643 00:35:52,883 --> 00:35:54,323 "into the hands of the enemy. 644 00:35:54,403 --> 00:35:57,123 "After my death, my body is to be burned 645 00:35:57,203 --> 00:35:59,083 "and no one will be able to find it." 646 00:36:00,243 --> 00:36:02,963 On the 30th of April, deep in his bunker, 647 00:36:03,043 --> 00:36:04,643 Hitler committed suicide, 648 00:36:04,723 --> 00:36:07,083 along with his wife, Eva Braun. 649 00:36:07,323 --> 00:36:09,763 His body was then burned by his chauffeur, 650 00:36:09,843 --> 00:36:12,403 using about 200 liters of petrol. 651 00:36:13,083 --> 00:36:16,483 For 12 years the dictator had ruled over Germany, 652 00:36:16,843 --> 00:36:19,483 he had dreamed of a thousand year Reich, 653 00:36:19,883 --> 00:36:23,323 this mirage disappeared in the ruins of his capital. 654 00:36:23,723 --> 00:36:24,723 (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) 655 00:36:25,243 --> 00:36:29,043 One last lie, the radio claim that Hitler had died 656 00:36:29,163 --> 00:36:31,803 leading the heroic defenders of Berlin. 657 00:36:35,043 --> 00:36:38,523 -(EXPLOSION) -(DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 658 00:36:41,083 --> 00:36:44,603 On the 30th of April, Zhukov's troops broke through. 659 00:36:46,003 --> 00:36:48,163 His soldiers seized the Reichstag. 660 00:36:53,003 --> 00:36:55,803 Vasily Grossman wrote, "I wanted to shout, 661 00:36:56,083 --> 00:36:57,683 "to call to all our brother fighters 662 00:36:57,763 --> 00:36:59,803 "who lay in Russian, Ukrainian, 663 00:36:59,883 --> 00:37:01,803 "Belarusian and Polish soil, 664 00:37:01,883 --> 00:37:03,803 "who are sleeping the eternal slumber 665 00:37:03,883 --> 00:37:05,323 "on the field of honor, 666 00:37:05,403 --> 00:37:09,043 "'Comrades, can you hear us? We made it.'" 667 00:37:09,123 --> 00:37:11,083 (GUNS FIRING) 668 00:37:18,043 --> 00:37:21,963 Two days later, the Russians reconstructed the scene. 669 00:37:22,203 --> 00:37:23,563 A photo was taken. 670 00:37:23,643 --> 00:37:25,123 (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) 671 00:37:26,283 --> 00:37:28,963 But this historic picture had to be retouched 672 00:37:29,043 --> 00:37:31,403 because one detail had been overlooked. 673 00:37:32,083 --> 00:37:35,443 One of the soldiers was wearing several watches 674 00:37:35,523 --> 00:37:36,723 on his wrists. 675 00:37:41,843 --> 00:37:43,123 But where was Hitler? 676 00:37:43,883 --> 00:37:45,763 This question haunted the Russians, 677 00:37:46,243 --> 00:37:47,763 Soviet soldiers found a body 678 00:37:47,843 --> 00:37:49,403 which bore a strong resemblance, 679 00:37:49,843 --> 00:37:52,083 but it turned out they were photographing themselves 680 00:37:52,163 --> 00:37:53,643 next to a doppelganger. 681 00:37:56,603 --> 00:37:59,763 A team of specialists were sent by Stalin to investigate, 682 00:38:00,123 --> 00:38:03,683 they found the charred corpses of Goebbels and his wife, 683 00:38:04,003 --> 00:38:08,003 alongside were the lifeless bodies of their six children. 684 00:38:12,363 --> 00:38:13,403 A few months earlier, 685 00:38:13,483 --> 00:38:15,923 they were still being used for party propaganda. 686 00:38:16,603 --> 00:38:17,603 -(SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) -NARRATOR: Their parents had 687 00:38:17,683 --> 00:38:20,363 murdered them, before committing suicide. 688 00:38:27,723 --> 00:38:31,203 Hitler's remains were finally discovered in a bomb crater. 689 00:38:32,043 --> 00:38:34,043 When he learned of the Fuhrer' demise, 690 00:38:34,123 --> 00:38:37,363 Stalin exclaimed, "That's the end of that bastard, 691 00:38:37,443 --> 00:38:39,603 "a shame we didn't take him alive!" 692 00:38:41,883 --> 00:38:44,603 The remains were secretly shipped to Russia. 693 00:38:45,723 --> 00:38:48,323 Even Zhukov, who savored his victory 694 00:38:48,403 --> 00:38:50,483 and paid a visit to the beast's lair, 695 00:38:50,923 --> 00:38:53,003 knew nothing of this epilogue. 696 00:38:56,083 --> 00:38:58,643 (UPBEAT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 697 00:38:58,723 --> 00:39:00,603 (CAR BRAKES SCREECHING) 698 00:39:01,083 --> 00:39:02,243 With Hitler dead, 699 00:39:02,323 --> 00:39:05,203 capitulation became possible for his successors. 700 00:39:06,523 --> 00:39:09,923 On the 7th of May, in a modest school in Northeast France, 701 00:39:10,003 --> 00:39:12,043 at the headquarters of Allied Forces, 702 00:39:12,123 --> 00:39:13,843 the German representatives 703 00:39:13,923 --> 00:39:16,883 accepted the terms of an unconditional surrender. 704 00:39:21,923 --> 00:39:23,843 (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING) 705 00:39:27,003 --> 00:39:30,283 After the signing, General Jodl had the temerity 706 00:39:30,363 --> 00:39:31,883 to stand up and declare, 707 00:39:31,963 --> 00:39:33,403 "The German armed forces 708 00:39:33,483 --> 00:39:35,523 "are now in the hands of the Allies, 709 00:39:35,603 --> 00:39:38,683 "I hope that the victor will treat them with generosity." 710 00:39:44,963 --> 00:39:46,963 With the pens used for the signatures, 711 00:39:47,043 --> 00:39:49,843 Ike made the V for victory. 712 00:39:51,443 --> 00:39:53,683 But these images were not yet shown, 713 00:39:54,243 --> 00:39:57,523 because Stalin was not satisfied with this capitulation. 714 00:39:58,443 --> 00:40:00,803 The strongman of the Kremlin bemoaned, 715 00:40:01,003 --> 00:40:03,483 "It was the Soviet people who bore on their shoulders 716 00:40:03,563 --> 00:40:05,523 "most of the weight of the war." 717 00:40:05,643 --> 00:40:07,963 Stalin demanded that a second surrender 718 00:40:08,043 --> 00:40:10,683 be signed the following day in Berlin. 719 00:40:11,883 --> 00:40:12,963 On the 8th of May, 720 00:40:13,043 --> 00:40:14,563 the American, French, 721 00:40:14,643 --> 00:40:16,563 German and British delegations 722 00:40:16,883 --> 00:40:18,803 crossed a shattered city. 723 00:40:21,643 --> 00:40:24,683 In Zhukov's headquarters on the edge of Berlin, 724 00:40:24,763 --> 00:40:27,563 they awaited the arrival of Field Marshal Keitel. 725 00:40:28,883 --> 00:40:32,363 When he entered, no one replied to his salute. 726 00:40:38,763 --> 00:40:40,043 The various delegations 727 00:40:40,123 --> 00:40:42,723 signed all five acts of surrender. 728 00:40:43,443 --> 00:40:46,123 General de Lattre signed for France. 729 00:40:46,883 --> 00:40:49,923 It was 11:00 p.m. on the 8th of May, 730 00:40:50,483 --> 00:40:52,963 but it was already 1:00 a.m. in Moscow, 731 00:40:53,443 --> 00:40:56,883 the Soviets noted the date as the 9th of May. 732 00:41:00,883 --> 00:41:02,923 (FORLORN ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) 733 00:41:03,083 --> 00:41:06,043 But the surrender did not bring an end to the tragedy. 734 00:41:07,083 --> 00:41:09,123 The halt in hostilities was followed 735 00:41:09,203 --> 00:41:11,283 by a wave of suicides. 736 00:41:11,963 --> 00:41:14,363 Besides the high command, like Himmler, 737 00:41:14,443 --> 00:41:17,603 many thousands of anonymous Germans killed themselves, 738 00:41:17,923 --> 00:41:20,403 sometimes with their families, 739 00:41:20,763 --> 00:41:22,243 for fear of the Soviets, 740 00:41:22,603 --> 00:41:25,243 or else to follow Hitler to the afterlife. 741 00:41:31,363 --> 00:41:34,683 Before the war, Hitler had promised the Germans, 742 00:41:35,283 --> 00:41:36,803 "Give me 10 years 743 00:41:36,883 --> 00:41:39,443 "and you won't recognize Germany," 744 00:41:40,403 --> 00:41:41,803 he kept his word. 745 00:41:49,243 --> 00:41:51,003 (CROWD CHEERING) 746 00:41:55,883 --> 00:41:57,803 "It's over, it's over," 747 00:41:58,523 --> 00:42:01,803 that was the cry that could be heard in towns around the world 748 00:42:01,883 --> 00:42:03,603 as they celebrated victory. 749 00:42:04,363 --> 00:42:06,043 The people hailed the liberation 750 00:42:06,123 --> 00:42:07,883 they had waited so long for. 751 00:42:11,443 --> 00:42:14,283 But the joy was also tinged with gravity, 752 00:42:15,123 --> 00:42:17,363 the dark shadow of Nazism 753 00:42:17,443 --> 00:42:19,483 would not be erased in a day, 754 00:42:19,963 --> 00:42:21,883 the suffering endured 755 00:42:21,963 --> 00:42:25,323 had left an indelible scar on memories, 756 00:42:26,483 --> 00:42:29,723 Nazism had plumbed the depths of horror. 757 00:42:30,883 --> 00:42:32,963 The extermination of the Jews, 758 00:42:33,163 --> 00:42:35,123 the massacres of civilians, 759 00:42:35,283 --> 00:42:37,443 the torture of resistance members 760 00:42:37,523 --> 00:42:40,683 would forever haunt the conscience of humanity. 761 00:42:43,763 --> 00:42:46,483 Yet a continent had to get back on its feet, 762 00:42:47,043 --> 00:42:49,323 the ruined towns had to be rebuilt, 763 00:42:49,723 --> 00:42:52,043 the millions of displaced persons 764 00:42:52,123 --> 00:42:53,883 had to return home. 765 00:42:55,043 --> 00:42:59,403 These where the huge challenges of the post-war period. 766 00:43:00,803 --> 00:43:04,003 From this chaos caused by the Nazi order, 767 00:43:04,323 --> 00:43:08,483 a new era would nonetheless emerge. 768 00:43:22,363 --> 00:43:24,363 (FLAMES CRACKLING) 769 00:43:26,083 --> 00:43:29,683 (UPBEAT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING)