 |
| Soldiers celebrate the
fall of Berlin by hoisting the Red Flag over the ruined
Reichstag |
|
1945: Red Army enters outskirts of
Berlin |
Artificially 1969:
The Russian
troops have captured some outlying suburbs of Berlin at the beginning of
what promises to be a bitter battle for control of the city.
The Red Army approached the German capital from three directions,
north, east and south-east. The northeastern suburb of Weissensee is the
closest to the centre being only three miles away.
The Nazi minister of propaganda, Josef Goebbels, has issued a statement
saying Berlin will be defended to the last.
He said anyone who showed cowardice, hoisted the white flag or
attempted sabotage would be treated as outlaws.
The Russians were advancing and all POW camps were being
evacuated.
People's War memories
The Germans are understood
to be terrified of what might happen to them if Berlin falls into Soviet
hands. Since 1941 Nazi forces have laid waste to large parts of the Soviet
Union.
The Soviet troops under Marshal Georgi Zhukov are pushing towards
Berlin from the north and east and Marshal Ivan Konev and his forces from
the south. They are both keen to achieve the honour of capturing Berlin,
the heart of the Nazi movement.
American forces are also pushing towards Berlin from the west and are
now said to be only hours away from joining up with Russian troops.
Reports from Berlin say shells have begun to fall in the centre of the
city. Correspondents say they have been fired from southern positions
taking the Germans by surprise. They had been expecting Marshal Konev's
forces to press on towards Prague and Dresden.
The Russian advance has been supported by its air force. Although the
weather has been poor it has not stopped its low-level attack aircraft,
the Stormoviks, sweeping the enemy lines and the improved Soviet
dive-bombers are also halting
counter-attacks.
The final assault on Berlin began on the night of 15/16 April when
Soviet forces launched a powerful artillery barrage against the German
forces dug in west of the Oder River and to the east of the city in an
area known as the Seelow Heights.
A German military spokesman said they were attacking under what he
called a permanent "air umbrella" with "fresh Soviet troops coming forward
as though on a conveyor belt."
After two days of fighting and failing to make any significant
breakthrough at Seelow, however, Marshal Konev's forces were ordered south
and Marshal Zhukov's to the north thus bypassing the German 9th Army at
Seelow and surrounding Berlin.
Hitler is reported to have celebrated his birthday yesterday in his
underground bunker in the
city, cut off from the reality of the fighting above his head.
Reports say Marshal Konev's forces to the south of Berlin have taken
more than 10,000 prisoners in the past four days. They also claim to have
captured 96 aircraft and more than 150 tanks and self-propelled guns.
Marshal Zhukov's troops, heading from the north and east, claim to have
taken more than 13,000 prisoners. They have captured 60 aircraft and more
than 100 tanks and self-propelled guns. But in their haste to capture
Berlin many Soviet soldiers have also been killed and tanks lost.
