The Fall of Berlin 1945Penguin, 2003 M04 29 - 544 pages "A tale drenched in drama and blood, heroism and cowardice, loyalty and betrayal."—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Third Reich in January 1945. Frenzied by their terrible experiences with Wehrmacht and SS brutality, they wreaked havoc—tanks crushing refugee columns, mass rape, pillage, and unimaginable destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred; more than seven million fled westward from the fury of the Red Army. It was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known. Antony Beevor, renowned author of D-Day and The Battle of Arnhem, has reconstructed the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich's final collapse. The Fall of Berlin is a terrible story of pride, stupidity, fanaticism, revenge, and savagery, yet it is also one of astonishing endurance, self-sacrifice, and survival against all odds. |
Contents
Berlin in the New Year | 1 |
The House of Cards on the Vistula | 11 |
Fire and Sword and Noble Fury | 24 |
The Great Winter Offensive | 39 |
The Charge to the Oder | 56 |
East and West | 77 |
Clearing the Rear Areas | 96 |
Pomerania and the Oder Bridgeheads | 115 |
Führerdämmerung | 354 |
Reich Chancellery and Reichstag | 370 |
The End of the Battle | 386 |
Vae Victis | 406 |
The Man on the White Horse | 421 |
REFERENCES | 433 |
SOURCE NOTES | 437 |
ཌ ŃRཥ ྲཎྜཎྜནྣི ླ ླ I | 451 |
Objective Berlin | 136 |
The Kamarilla and the General Staff | 148 |
Preparing the Coup de Grâce | 165 |
Waiting for the Onslaught | 173 |
Americans on the Elbe | 190 |
Eve of Battle | 206 |
Zhukov on the Reitwein Spur | 216 |
Seelow and the Spree ix | 234 |
The Führers Last Birthday | 249 |
The Flight of the Golden Pheasants | 261 |
The Bombarded City | 280 |
False Hopes | 291 |
Fighting in the City | 310 |
Fighting in the Forest | 328 |
The Betrayal of the Will | 339 |
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Common terms and phrases
Adolf Hitler advance Allies already Americans appeared arrived artillery asked attack attempt authorities BA-MA battalion battle began Berlin building bunker camp cellars chief civilians Colonel commander continued conversation Corps crossed death defence Division East enemy face fact fear field fighting finally fire followed forced forest Front Führer German Goebbels going Guards guns hand head headquarters heard heavy Himmler Hitler idea immediately killed later looked Major March Marshal military morning moved Nazi never night Ninth NKVD October officers operation Party political prisoners quoted rape reached received Red Army regiments Reich Chancellery remained returned Rifle round Russian seemed sent Shock side soldiers soon Soviet Soviet Union staff Stalin surrender taken tanks told took troops TSAMO turned units vehicles wanted women wounded wrote young Zhukov