On the afternoon of 2 May 1945, the German forces within the Berlin Defence Area, under the command of General Helmuth Weidling, surrendered to the Red Army.
Last night, after Joseph Goebbels committed suicide and General Hans Krebs hinted at planning to kill himself as well, Weidling was left in command and decided to end the pointless defence of the city.
At 0125 hours today, Weidling, speaking in his capacity as LVI Panzer Corps commander, contacts General Vasily Chuikov, commander of the 8th Guards Army.
Between 0600 and 0700 hours, Weidling arrives at Chuikov's HQ to surrender the LVI Panzer Corps and Berlin.
Back in the Führerbunker, Krebs and General Burgdorf commit suicide.
The ceasefire goes into effect at 1500 hours, and the Battle of Berlin is over. It has cost the Red Army around 81,000 dead and over 280,000 wounded or sick. Between 90,000 and 100,000 German troops and 125,000 civilians are dead, another 220,000 are wounded, and 480,000 are POWs.
During the day, TASS correspondent Yevgeny Khaldei stages a photograph atop the Reichstag roof (title image of post). But why? The Red Victory Banner (Image 2) actually flew atop the Reichstag as early as 30 April, when elements of the 3rd Shock Army's 150th Division breached the building, first planting the banner on a second-floor balcony at 1425 hours and then on the roof at 2240 hours. However, the Germans still held the building, and the flag did not survive long enough for a photograph. So today, Khaldei directs several soldiers (likely to be Sergeants Meliton Kantaria, Mikhail Yegorov, and Private Aleksei Kovalev) to hoist a large Soviet flag on the roof while he takes the picture. Seems as if this one could become quite iconic in the future.
Meanwhile, all German forces in Italy lay down their arms in accordance with the surrender signed on 29 April at the Royal Palace of Caserta. You can hear all about the secret negotiations between the Germans and the Western Allies that led to this in Astrid and Anna's special episode of Spies and Ties on Operation Sunrise by following the link in bio.
Picture: Raising a flag over the Reichstag
Source: TASS/Yevgeny Khaldei
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