Battle of Berlin

The Battle of Berlin was the last great battle of the european front of the World War II, the battle endured by almost a month, ending a few time after the Hitler's suicide.

Background
On April 16, 1945 began the final battle of the European Theatre in the WWII. Beginning in 1945, forces of the Soviet Union had advanced quickly undone the German resistance in Poland and Prussia. The momentum of the Soviet armies stopped just on the Oder river, mere 60km from Berlin, mainly because of the floods that have greatly increased the river's flow. Soviet forces, with their great offensive also had become disorganized and therefore, the offensive had stalled, for troops to regroup and destroy that some pockets of German resistance. The most advanced lines of the Soviet armies, are 60 to 75km from Berlin.

The Atack
On 16 April the main attack carried out by Marshal Zhukov took place directly on the outskirts of Berlin, defended by the 9th Army, but throughout the 16th and 17th, the Germans could stand up in high positions at Seelow, a strategic whose outlet was necessary to continue the offensive. But while the Russian armies in front of Berlin were stalled and could not advance, the south line commanded by Marshal Koniev, broke the German lines just before dawn on April 16 and advanced several kilometers. Because the success of the group of armies Koniev, Stalin ordered this group to invade and atack and take the city of Berlin. The battle, from there became a frantic race between Koniev and Zhukov, in which each of them no longer fought victory over the Germans, but above all for being the first to reach the center of Berlin. None of the marshals Russians spared no effort. When Zhukov heard that Stalin had given consent to his rival Koniev to curb north and take Berlin from the south, Zhukov had a fit of rage and ordered his army to make a mass attack.(See Battle of Seelow Heights) At the end of the day April 17, almost 48 hours after the attack, the lines of Seelow begin to sag and Zhukov's armies begin to move forward. The city was surrounded by between 21 and in 22 April and 25 April the Soviet forces made contact with U.S. forces at Torgau, a city near Berlin. The Soviet advance wreck the 9th German Army, and the remains of its main formation, the 56th Panzer Corps, were be forced back into the city. The rest of the 9th German Army was be completely surrounded by the Soviets entering the last desperate battle of Germany, to fight desperately against the Soviet encirclement. The remains of the 9th German Army marched westward towards the river Elbe, where they surrendered to U.S. forces. Hitler commited suicide on April 30 and in April 2 the designated the city commander, General Weidling, commander of the 56th Panzer Corps surrenders. The final and unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, takes place May 8.

Aftermath
According to Grigoriy Krivosheev's work based on declassified archival data, Soviet forces sustained 81,116 dead for the entire operation, which included the Battles of Seelow Heights and the marching over Germany after the battle]]Halbe; Another 280,251 were reported wounded or sick during the operational period. The operation also cost the Soviets about 2,000 armored vehicles, though the number of irrevocable losses (write-offs) is not known. Initial Soviet estimates based on kill claims placed German losses at 458,080 killed and 479,298 captured, and one German estimate puts the number of dead to approximately 100,000. The number of civilian casualties is unknown, but 125,000 are estimated to have perished during the entire operation.

In those areas which the Soviets had captured and before the fighting in the centre of the city had stopped, the Soviet authorities took measures to start restoring essential services. Almost all the transport in and out of the city had been rendered inoperative, and bombed-out sewers had contaminated the city's water supplies. The Soviets appointed local Germans to head each city block, and organized the cleaning-up. Further, the Red Army made a major effort to feed the residents of the city. Most Germans, both soldiers and civilians, were grateful to receive food issued at Red Army soup kitchens which began on General Berzarin's orders. After the capitulation the Soviets went house to house, arresting and imprisoning anyone in a uniform including firemen and railway-men.

During, and in the days immediately following the assault, in many areas of the city, vengeful Soviet troops (often rear echelon units) engaged in rape, pillage and murder, and despite Soviet efforts to supply food and rebuild the city, starvation remained a problem. In June 1945, one month after the surrender, the average calorie intake of Berliners was still low as they were getting only 64 percent of a 1,240-calorie daily ration. Further, across the city over a million people were without a home.