1 00:00:02,102 --> 00:00:04,798 (GUNFIRE, BOMBS WHISTLING) 2 00:00:07,807 --> 00:00:11,538 In June 1944, the Allies landed on the D-Day beaches. 3 00:00:16,216 --> 00:00:20,152 In the heat of the summer, they fought through Normandy. 4 00:00:23,056 --> 00:00:26,924 In the autumn, they struggled to liberate France and Holland. 5 00:00:30,563 --> 00:00:36,968 And now in January 1945, the Allies were beginning to fight their way into Germany. 6 00:00:37,637 --> 00:00:42,404 And as they did so and prepared for the battle to reach the heart of the Nazi Reich, 7 00:00:42,575 --> 00:00:47,012 they talked of the Europe they wanted to create once the war was over. 8 00:00:49,315 --> 00:00:52,512 The British and Americans were fighting for a new Europe, 9 00:00:52,852 --> 00:00:55,150 an end to dictatorship. 10 00:00:59,592 --> 00:01:01,822 (WOMAN) It was a moral war. 11 00:01:02,562 --> 00:01:07,329 There was a strong feeling that it was a fight for freedom and for democracy 12 00:01:07,500 --> 00:01:10,060 and against cruelty and tyranny. 13 00:01:13,306 --> 00:01:16,434 How could it be amid the Allies' victorious advance 14 00:01:16,609 --> 00:01:20,545 that this dream of a democratic, post-war Europe would crumble... 15 00:01:21,614 --> 00:01:25,243 ..and that it was a leading Nazi who predicted the catastrophe 16 00:01:25,418 --> 00:01:28,819 that would divide Europe for almost 50 years? 17 00:01:50,477 --> 00:01:52,809 (HEAVY GUNFIRE) 18 00:02:04,824 --> 00:02:10,228 It was very ferocious. They were driven, ordered, threatened, whatever. 19 00:02:10,396 --> 00:02:13,957 But they were fighting like their life depended on it. 20 00:02:15,969 --> 00:02:21,305 In January '45, the Western Allies were fighting the Germans in the woody Ardennes. 21 00:02:21,474 --> 00:02:25,501 It was almost the last gasp of German resistance in the west. 22 00:02:26,279 --> 00:02:31,216 The German soldiers had managed to punch a 50-mile hole in the American lines, 23 00:02:31,384 --> 00:02:33,375 but now they were in retreat. 24 00:02:38,391 --> 00:02:40,359 They were masters at retreating. 25 00:02:40,527 --> 00:02:44,293 So although we had cut them off, they were still retreating back, 26 00:02:44,464 --> 00:02:49,959 taking a lot of their equipment and their arms and their specialised units with them 27 00:02:50,136 --> 00:02:52,604 and they were fit to fight another day. 28 00:02:56,943 --> 00:03:00,470 Hitler had staked a huge amount on the Ardennes offensive. 29 00:03:00,813 --> 00:03:03,941 But his gamble had failed. The front had fallen. 30 00:03:06,853 --> 00:03:10,880 Managing the German retreat was Field Marshal Walter Model. 31 00:03:23,369 --> 00:03:26,770 Model was one of Hitler's most competent officers. 32 00:03:26,940 --> 00:03:31,274 He was a tough operator who had been successful on the eastern front. 33 00:03:31,444 --> 00:03:32,968 (MAN SPEAKS GERMAN) 34 00:03:33,146 --> 00:03:37,173 (TRANSLATOR) He was an officer who obeyed and followed every order. 35 00:03:37,350 --> 00:03:39,580 (SPEAKS GERMAN) 36 00:03:39,919 --> 00:03:43,446 (TRANSLATOR) He considered himself to be Hitler's favourite. 37 00:03:43,623 --> 00:03:47,457 And so he did everything Hitler told him to do - to the letter. 38 00:03:52,532 --> 00:03:56,434 Even Model was forced to admit that this campaign would fail. 39 00:03:57,437 --> 00:03:59,997 He could no longer hold back the Allies. 40 00:04:00,807 --> 00:04:03,970 He fell back to new positions along the River Rhine. 41 00:04:04,143 --> 00:04:08,773 But if Model thought this great barrier would deter the Allies, he was wrong. 42 00:04:16,055 --> 00:04:19,513 The Allies were intent on unconditional surrender. 43 00:04:19,859 --> 00:04:22,054 There would be no negotiation. 44 00:04:22,228 --> 00:04:24,924 The Nazis had to be destroyed. 45 00:04:26,032 --> 00:04:30,833 In World War I they were beaten, but yet here we were, they had come back and so forth. 46 00:04:31,004 --> 00:04:34,030 And we felt they had to be thoroughly, totally beaten, 47 00:04:34,207 --> 00:04:36,903 so they would never come back at us again. 48 00:04:38,177 --> 00:04:43,513 But for many Germans, unconditional surrender was simply unacceptable. 49 00:04:46,452 --> 00:04:51,446 (TRANSLATOR) Unconditional surrender meant no one knew what would happen to us. 50 00:04:51,624 --> 00:04:54,593 Would we be treated reasonably? Yes or no? 51 00:04:56,996 --> 00:05:02,059 And this word ''unconditional'' was, of course, a great terror for the troops. 52 00:05:06,306 --> 00:05:09,798 (TRANSLATOR) This question of an unconditional surrender 53 00:05:09,976 --> 00:05:12,467 strengthened the German resistance. 54 00:05:12,812 --> 00:05:16,942 We had to win. Otherwise, there would be a terrible end. 55 00:05:24,257 --> 00:05:29,456 In Berlin, Hitler and the Nazi leadership were planning the final defence of Germany. 56 00:05:29,796 --> 00:05:34,927 Increasingly prominent among the leading figures of the Third Reich was Josef Goebbels, 57 00:05:35,101 --> 00:05:37,194 Hitler's loyal Propaganda Minister. 58 00:05:37,370 --> 00:05:40,498 (SPEAKS GERMAN) 59 00:05:42,809 --> 00:05:45,801 (BARON VON LORINGHOVEN SPEAKS GERMAN) 60 00:05:50,049 --> 00:05:55,351 (TRANSLATOR) He was just a brilliant man in this area. Terrible, actually, but so imaginative. 61 00:06:03,096 --> 00:06:05,792 And through his strict control of the media, 62 00:06:05,965 --> 00:06:10,095 he was able to force his ideas through to every part of society. 63 00:06:21,948 --> 00:06:26,317 For the Allies, unconditional surrender was a matter of principle. 64 00:06:26,486 --> 00:06:29,455 They were not going to have any truck with the Nazis. 65 00:06:29,789 --> 00:06:33,850 But for Goebbels, this stance was a propaganda gift. 66 00:06:34,894 --> 00:06:38,557 Goebbels argued that it confirmed what the Nazis had said all along - 67 00:06:38,898 --> 00:06:43,130 that the Allies wanted to destroy the German people completely. 68 00:06:48,474 --> 00:06:53,502 And for many Germans, evidence that Goebbels spoke the truth lay all around them. 69 00:06:57,083 --> 00:06:59,074 (WOMEN SPEAKS GERMAN) 70 00:06:59,252 --> 00:07:04,417 (TRANSLATOR) It wasn't only the attacks. The whole of life was mixed up with it. 71 00:07:07,059 --> 00:07:12,520 When you came home, there wasn't any light or electricity. You couldn't cook any soup. 72 00:07:18,538 --> 00:07:22,907 (NEW SPEAKER) The first thing when you opened the paper was all the crosses. 73 00:07:23,075 --> 00:07:25,737 And the pages became fuller and fuller. 74 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:29,778 As well as dropping bombs from the air, 75 00:07:29,949 --> 00:07:33,282 the Western Allies also dropped leaflets telling Germans, 76 00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:37,184 ''Peace with Germans - yes. Peace with Hitler - never. '' 77 00:07:41,127 --> 00:07:44,460 But it was a distinction many Germans failed to grasp. 78 00:07:44,797 --> 00:07:47,789 For as Goebbels told them a few months previously, 79 00:07:47,967 --> 00:07:51,403 a senior member of the American government, Henry Morgenthau, 80 00:07:51,571 --> 00:07:57,203 had devised a plan to deprive Germany of all its industry once the war was over. 81 00:07:59,045 --> 00:08:02,242 (SPEAKS GERMAN) 82 00:08:03,483 --> 00:08:09,012 In reality, the Morgenthau plan was abandoned by the Allies as early as September 1944. 83 00:08:09,188 --> 00:08:13,318 But Goebbels used it as a valuable piece of propaganda. 84 00:08:35,181 --> 00:08:39,379 (TRANSLATOR) We were told if we didn't fight, we would have to live off the land. 85 00:08:39,552 --> 00:08:42,919 The whole country and everyone living in it would be destitute. 86 00:08:44,891 --> 00:08:48,884 But another plan for the future of Germany was about to be concocted. 87 00:08:49,061 --> 00:08:52,030 And this one would not be abandoned. 88 00:08:52,198 --> 00:08:57,795 It would have consequences for the Germans and the Allies that few would foresee. 89 00:09:00,506 --> 00:09:06,342 Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met at the Yalta Conference on 4th February, 1945. 90 00:09:06,512 --> 00:09:09,037 They were to agree on the division of Germany 91 00:09:09,215 --> 00:09:14,050 with the establishment of four zones of occupation when the war ended. 92 00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:17,348 The communique issued at the end of the conference 93 00:09:17,523 --> 00:09:21,721 called for the people's liberation from the domination of Nazi Germany 94 00:09:21,894 --> 00:09:25,853 and their ability to create their own democratic institutions. 95 00:09:27,199 --> 00:09:32,330 It was the most important document from our point of view of the Yalta Conference. 96 00:09:32,505 --> 00:09:35,838 Far more important than anything else, really. 97 00:09:36,008 --> 00:09:37,976 Morally, at any rate. 98 00:09:38,144 --> 00:09:41,944 And that...the main point of that was that the countries 99 00:09:42,114 --> 00:09:46,448 which had been liberated by the Allies - Soviet and American, British - 100 00:09:46,786 --> 00:09:52,190 should have free, unfettered, supervised elections. 101 00:09:54,093 --> 00:09:59,360 And so at Yalta, the Allies hoped they had laid the foundation of a new European order, 102 00:09:59,532 --> 00:10:02,228 one of democracy and freedom. 103 00:10:02,401 --> 00:10:05,427 But Churchill had his doubts. 104 00:10:06,205 --> 00:10:09,572 (AMERICAN ACCENT) Churchill was more realistic about Stalin 105 00:10:09,909 --> 00:10:12,901 and Soviet intentions in Europe than Roosevelt. 106 00:10:13,079 --> 00:10:16,412 Roosevelt remained optimistic that he could handle Stalin 107 00:10:16,582 --> 00:10:19,779 and that he could work things out with him. 108 00:10:19,952 --> 00:10:24,821 As he left Yalta, a contented Roosevelt told Stalin with a broad grin, 109 00:10:24,991 --> 00:10:28,051 ''We will meet again soon in Berlin. '' 110 00:10:29,161 --> 00:10:32,255 Roosevelt and Churchill had made Stalin a promise 111 00:10:32,431 --> 00:10:35,059 that they would help his advance into Germany. 112 00:10:35,868 --> 00:10:39,827 But back in Berlin, Goebbels had guessed what this would amount to, 113 00:10:40,006 --> 00:10:44,238 as he confided to his press secretary, Wilfred von Oven. 114 00:11:11,904 --> 00:11:15,101 On 13th February, just days after Yalta, 115 00:11:15,274 --> 00:11:19,836 two waves of RAF Lancaster bombers filled the night sky over Dresden. 116 00:11:22,448 --> 00:11:28,853 We were told that Dresden was a very important supply centre for the Russian front, 117 00:11:29,021 --> 00:11:34,254 and we were bombing it at the specific request of the Russians. 118 00:11:36,962 --> 00:11:41,592 RAF pilot Freddy Hewlance was in the first wave of Lancaster bombers. 119 00:11:42,501 --> 00:11:46,301 I remember my rear-gunner getting very excited, 120 00:11:46,472 --> 00:11:50,431 saying he'd never seen fires like it before. 121 00:11:51,343 --> 00:11:54,972 And suggesting I change course 122 00:11:55,147 --> 00:11:59,015 to see the target fires for myself. 123 00:12:01,787 --> 00:12:06,417 One of the eyewitnesses was Erica Wollams who was living in the city. 124 00:12:07,293 --> 00:12:10,456 The dreadful, powerful mines 125 00:12:10,796 --> 00:12:16,757 which was exploding and putting this phosphor everywhere, splashing it. 126 00:12:18,537 --> 00:12:21,131 It was like a snowstorm, this fire. 127 00:12:22,208 --> 00:12:25,405 Everything, if you wasn't prepared for it, 128 00:12:25,578 --> 00:12:30,106 immediately started to burn you and your clothes. 129 00:12:30,282 --> 00:12:34,582 And this fire sucked you in. There was no escape. 130 00:12:36,555 --> 00:12:40,321 The bombing was so concentrated that it caused a firestorm 131 00:12:40,493 --> 00:12:43,053 that covered 12 square miles. 132 00:12:45,164 --> 00:12:47,132 We were in the cellar. 133 00:12:47,299 --> 00:12:51,235 And in the cellar that was a dramatic thing I will never forget 134 00:12:51,403 --> 00:12:54,566 because we thought that was the end of our life. 135 00:12:54,907 --> 00:13:00,777 The bombardment of that, three-quarters of an hour. It was hell on earth. 136 00:13:13,225 --> 00:13:17,218 More than 30,000 people died in the raid on Dresden. 137 00:13:23,068 --> 00:13:27,869 Germans were not allowed in the town to see how bad things were. 138 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,066 The devastation was enough to marvel at 139 00:13:31,243 --> 00:13:36,306 without noticing what appeared to be logs, these charred logs. These were people. 140 00:13:52,331 --> 00:13:56,324 Prisoners of war were made to bury the dead in the following days. 141 00:13:56,502 --> 00:13:59,027 Kurt Vonnegut was one of them. 142 00:14:00,105 --> 00:14:03,871 Then we were sent to work cleaning out cellars. 143 00:14:04,043 --> 00:14:06,511 We would get into a cellar 144 00:14:06,846 --> 00:14:11,215 and people would be sitting there as if on a streetcar, 145 00:14:11,383 --> 00:14:13,351 waiting for the next stop. 146 00:14:13,519 --> 00:14:17,478 And I guess it was carbon monoxide which had killed them. 147 00:14:25,965 --> 00:14:32,097 (ENGLISH ACCENT) It was just another target which was bombed successfully. 148 00:14:32,905 --> 00:14:35,533 I don't remember any feeling... 149 00:14:36,542 --> 00:14:39,340 of remorse. 150 00:14:41,013 --> 00:14:45,279 If anything, I thought of myself 151 00:14:45,451 --> 00:14:49,285 as shortening the war, rather than taking lives. 152 00:14:50,923 --> 00:14:53,949 The Allies were prepared to do whatever was necessary 153 00:14:54,126 --> 00:14:56,822 to end the war as decisively as possible. 154 00:14:56,996 --> 00:14:58,964 As Roosevelt said. 155 00:14:59,131 --> 00:15:04,535 ''Every person in Germany should realise that this time Germany is a defeated nation. 156 00:15:04,870 --> 00:15:09,204 ''The fact that they are a defeated nation, collectively and individually, 157 00:15:09,375 --> 00:15:14,506 ''must be so impressed upon them that they will hesitate to start any new war.'' 158 00:15:15,214 --> 00:15:19,810 What made the casualties in Dresden so large was that at the time of the raids, 159 00:15:19,985 --> 00:15:25,321 the population of the city had been swelled by huge numbers of refugees fleeing the Red Army. 160 00:15:26,091 --> 00:15:29,185 Goebbels had lost no time in telling people why. 161 00:15:29,361 --> 00:15:33,388 (GERMAN NEWSREEL) 162 00:15:57,356 --> 00:15:59,324 (SPEAKS GERMAN) 163 00:16:00,426 --> 00:16:05,056 (TRANSLATOR) We knew that the Russians were raping women and shooting people, 164 00:16:05,230 --> 00:16:07,892 so it wasn't advisable for us to stay. 165 00:16:09,802 --> 00:16:11,997 So we decided to leave. 166 00:16:15,574 --> 00:16:19,840 Rosemarie Arndt was a 16-year-old farmer's daughter from East Prussia 167 00:16:20,012 --> 00:16:24,540 who in January 1945 was captured by the advancing Red Army. 168 00:16:29,221 --> 00:16:34,523 (TRANSLATOR) We had to lie down, and whoever refused was hit straight away with a rifle butt. 169 00:16:36,028 --> 00:16:38,997 Then the soldiers raped us all night long. 170 00:16:40,165 --> 00:16:44,124 Most of them were drunk and the rooms stank. 171 00:16:44,837 --> 00:16:46,805 It was dreadful. 172 00:16:48,607 --> 00:16:53,169 She was kept prisoner for 14 days and raped again and again. 173 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:59,540 After this terrible ordeal, Rosemarie was sent to a Soviet labour camp in Baku 174 00:16:59,885 --> 00:17:02,911 where she was to stay until November 1948. 175 00:17:05,858 --> 00:17:10,921 All this confirmed the very fears Goebbels had sought to plant in the minds of the Germans. 176 00:17:12,264 --> 00:17:16,030 His officers were busy plastering slogans, ''Victory or Siberia'', 177 00:17:16,201 --> 00:17:18,726 on the walls of German towns. 178 00:17:20,439 --> 00:17:24,000 To Goebbels, the Western Allies were naive. 179 00:17:24,176 --> 00:17:28,772 If Germany was to fall to the Soviets, there would be a new world order. 180 00:17:30,082 --> 00:17:34,542 Warning the German people in ''Das Reich'', the party weekly bulletin, 181 00:17:34,887 --> 00:17:37,151 of the vision he had for post-war Europe, 182 00:17:37,322 --> 00:17:42,760 Goebbels used a phrase that later became famous in the mouth of someone very different. 183 00:18:29,541 --> 00:18:32,840 With many German cities including Dresden destroyed, 184 00:18:33,011 --> 00:18:36,105 the Allies turned their attention to Berlin. 185 00:18:36,281 --> 00:18:40,809 And in the capital of the Reich, Goebbels was preparing for a last stand. 186 00:18:45,090 --> 00:18:47,957 He now turned to the Volkssturm, 187 00:18:48,127 --> 00:18:51,358 a compulsory militia made up of old men and Hitler Youth. 188 00:18:52,131 --> 00:18:57,068 Visiting the Oder front, he impressed on the makeshift troops to give their utmost 189 00:18:57,236 --> 00:18:59,466 for Fuhrer and fatherland. 190 00:19:01,206 --> 00:19:04,698 (MAN SPEAKS GERMAN) 191 00:19:04,877 --> 00:19:09,837 (TRANSLATOR) Volkssturm, as far as us soldiers were concerned, was pitiful. 192 00:19:10,883 --> 00:19:13,283 A hopeless exercise. 193 00:19:17,055 --> 00:19:21,219 The raw recruits of the Volkssturm scarcely stood a chance, 194 00:19:21,393 --> 00:19:25,352 and the Allied forces ranged against them were mounting day by day. 195 00:19:26,798 --> 00:19:29,995 In the east, the Soviets were gathered at the Oder. 196 00:19:30,169 --> 00:19:33,400 They were only 40 miles away from Hitler's capital. 197 00:19:33,572 --> 00:19:37,235 In the west, the Allies were poised to cross the Rhine. 198 00:19:38,877 --> 00:19:43,371 On March 4th, General Model, now positioned at Rimbach-on-the-Sieg, 199 00:19:43,549 --> 00:19:48,350 was warned of the possibility of an Allied breakthrough along the Rhine. 200 00:19:51,490 --> 00:19:59,090 The only real barrier between all our forces and Berlin was the Rhine river. 201 00:20:00,966 --> 00:20:05,335 On 23rd March, Field Marshal Montgomery launched Operation Plunder, 202 00:20:05,504 --> 00:20:09,497 his long-awaited, blitz-like offensive on the Rhine near Wesel. 203 00:20:11,043 --> 00:20:15,309 This would be the largest military operation in the west since D-Day. 204 00:20:17,482 --> 00:20:21,043 One British soldier, Jim McCarthy, wrote in his diary. 205 00:20:22,254 --> 00:20:25,417 ''For some time now, units of one commando brigade 206 00:20:25,591 --> 00:20:29,220 ''have been sauntering about unconcerned, but they're ready to go. 207 00:20:29,394 --> 00:20:32,056 ''For that matter, so are we. 208 00:20:32,231 --> 00:20:35,792 ''Dusk and a dramatic increase in artillery barrage. 209 00:20:35,968 --> 00:20:38,402 ''The commandos cross over.'' 210 00:20:39,471 --> 00:20:42,235 There was this tremendous barrage that went on. 211 00:20:42,407 --> 00:20:48,004 The barrage from all the 2nd British Army was concentrated on the Rhine. 212 00:20:48,180 --> 00:20:50,614 The noise was tremendous. 213 00:20:50,949 --> 00:20:53,281 We came from the assembly area, 214 00:20:53,452 --> 00:20:59,322 went forward under this umbrella of noise and searchlights. 215 00:20:59,491 --> 00:21:03,188 ''Monty's moonlight,'' as they called it, bouncing off the clouds, 216 00:21:03,362 --> 00:21:05,990 helping to let you see where you were going. 217 00:21:12,037 --> 00:21:15,939 (NEW SPEAKER) Once we'd got to the bank, the infantry jumped ashore 218 00:21:16,108 --> 00:21:20,044 and a lot of the poor lads landed on ''shoe mines'' 219 00:21:20,212 --> 00:21:23,238 and they would blow feet off and legs off. 220 00:21:23,415 --> 00:21:25,975 There were some very nasty casualties. 221 00:21:28,587 --> 00:21:33,547 Following the night-time crossing, paratroopers were dropped on the east bank of the Rhine, 222 00:21:33,892 --> 00:21:36,258 right on the German defence line. 223 00:21:36,428 --> 00:21:40,159 We looked upon the Rhine as the last major barrier to get over. 224 00:21:40,332 --> 00:21:44,826 We felt that once that was done, things couldn't last much longer. 225 00:21:46,471 --> 00:21:51,101 On March 27th, both British 2nd and U.S. 9th Armies had crossed the Rhine 226 00:21:51,276 --> 00:21:54,074 under the operational command of Montgomery. 227 00:21:54,246 --> 00:21:57,010 The Americans had a major bridgehead at Remagen 228 00:21:57,182 --> 00:22:00,982 while General Patton had another between Mainz and Oppenheim. 229 00:22:01,153 --> 00:22:06,090 Berlin, the prize, was now clearly in the Allies' sights. 230 00:22:08,026 --> 00:22:10,085 As far as getting to Berlin, 231 00:22:10,262 --> 00:22:14,323 we all hoped or wished that we could be part of that 232 00:22:14,499 --> 00:22:18,128 because we felt that was the ultimate, the final battle. 233 00:22:19,237 --> 00:22:21,262 (SHOUTS IN GERMAN) 234 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:26,377 As the Western Allies advanced further into Germany, opposition melted. 235 00:22:26,545 --> 00:22:30,948 Everywhere, the soldiers witnessed symptoms of the German collapse. 236 00:22:31,583 --> 00:22:36,213 (TOM RENOUF) By this time, the German army was very disorganised. 237 00:22:36,388 --> 00:22:40,256 Even the hard core were beginning to have doubts. 238 00:22:40,425 --> 00:22:44,486 They were beginning to think that it was a useless fight. 239 00:22:44,830 --> 00:22:47,196 It was a useless loss of life. 240 00:22:47,366 --> 00:22:49,834 (SOLDIER) Right, off with this! 241 00:22:55,173 --> 00:22:58,267 (AMERICAN ACCENT) As you'd go through villages and towns, 242 00:22:58,443 --> 00:23:03,278 the white flags were just popping out all the time - sheets, whatever. 243 00:23:03,448 --> 00:23:06,212 And, of course, there were no Nazis left. 244 00:23:06,985 --> 00:23:11,752 They had all gotten rid of their uniforms and they were farmers all of a sudden. 245 00:23:12,924 --> 00:23:16,223 When news of mass German surrender reached Goebbels, 246 00:23:16,395 --> 00:23:19,489 he warned Berliners how he would treat such behaviour, 247 00:23:19,831 --> 00:23:22,959 as recorded by Rudolf Semmler on Goebbels' staff. 248 00:23:41,186 --> 00:23:43,518 With the Allies across the Rhine, 249 00:23:43,855 --> 00:23:47,484 the Nazi leadership knew the war was entering its final phase. 250 00:23:51,997 --> 00:23:57,025 Hitler wanted all his armies around him to fight to the bitter end in the capital, 251 00:23:57,202 --> 00:24:00,501 including his loyal commander Walter Model. 252 00:24:01,807 --> 00:24:05,903 Rolf Munninger on Model's staff received a direct order from Hitler. 253 00:24:06,077 --> 00:24:09,103 Model was to take his troops to Berlin. 254 00:24:12,784 --> 00:24:15,844 (MAN SPEAKS GERMAN) 255 00:24:16,021 --> 00:24:18,785 (TRANSLATOR) I found this order to be senseless 256 00:24:18,957 --> 00:24:24,361 because we had no channel through which we could instruct the troops to carry out this order. 257 00:24:28,533 --> 00:24:31,900 Model knew Hitler's request was impossible. 258 00:24:32,070 --> 00:24:35,836 By now, American forces had surrounded his troops in the Ruhr 259 00:24:36,007 --> 00:24:38,874 and for Model, there was only one way out. 260 00:24:40,145 --> 00:24:43,876 He refused to consider American surrender proposals. 261 00:24:44,049 --> 00:24:49,316 Instead, he issued orders sending his troops home and finally disbanded his army group. 262 00:24:53,158 --> 00:24:56,184 (TRANSLATOR) I went to the barracks where Model was. 263 00:24:56,361 --> 00:25:02,231 I can still see him to this day, pacing the floor like a tiger, to and fro, to and fro. 264 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,734 He was in despair. He could see no way out any more. 265 00:25:10,876 --> 00:25:16,246 Rather than give himself up, Model walked out into a wood and shot himself. 266 00:25:16,414 --> 00:25:21,147 ''A German Field Marshal, '' he declared, ''does not become a prisoner. '' 267 00:25:25,891 --> 00:25:27,825 (SHOUTS) 268 00:25:28,827 --> 00:25:31,125 Come with me! 269 00:25:33,565 --> 00:25:39,834 In the clean-up operation, the Allies captured 325,000 prisoners of the dying Reich. 270 00:25:40,005 --> 00:25:42,872 It was the largest mass surrender of the war. 271 00:25:43,909 --> 00:25:47,072 And the road to Berlin was now wide open for the Allies. 272 00:25:47,979 --> 00:25:50,413 Stay alert, stay secure! 273 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,253 (DISTANT GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS) 274 00:26:03,795 --> 00:26:06,195 With the Western Allies across the Rhine, 275 00:26:06,364 --> 00:26:11,927 Monty, in charge of three armies, assumed that he would be the one pressing on to Berlin. 276 00:26:12,103 --> 00:26:17,234 Then, on April 11th, the American 9th Army under Simpson reached the Elbe river. 277 00:26:17,409 --> 00:26:20,469 They were now only 50 miles from the capital. 278 00:26:21,313 --> 00:26:24,908 Their Soviet allies hadn't moved from the Oder. 279 00:26:25,083 --> 00:26:30,487 Eisenhower's armies seemed almost as well placed as Stalin's to take Berlin. 280 00:26:31,489 --> 00:26:33,889 (SPEAKS GERMAN) 281 00:26:34,059 --> 00:26:38,826 (TRANSLATOR) In Berlin, we were desperate not to fall into the hands of the Russians. 282 00:26:38,997 --> 00:26:42,489 We prayed that the Americans and the British would come. 283 00:26:45,036 --> 00:26:47,129 But this was not to be. 284 00:26:47,305 --> 00:26:51,036 Two weeks previously, Eisenhower had sent a telegram to Stalin, 285 00:26:51,209 --> 00:26:54,337 telling him that the Red Army was free to take Berlin. 286 00:26:54,512 --> 00:26:56,480 Churchill was horrified. 287 00:26:59,417 --> 00:27:01,851 But he and Monty could do nothing, 288 00:27:02,020 --> 00:27:05,285 even though many Allied soldiers shared their conviction 289 00:27:05,457 --> 00:27:08,153 that Eisenhower had made the wrong decision. 290 00:27:10,095 --> 00:27:12,063 We should have gone to Berlin. 291 00:27:12,230 --> 00:27:16,963 Our corps at that time had two armoured divisions, the 4th and the 6th, the best, 292 00:27:17,135 --> 00:27:24,371 four infantry divisions and a regimental... cavalry regiment which was practically an army. 293 00:27:24,542 --> 00:27:28,501 We were on an autobahn. We could have gone right into Berlin. 294 00:27:29,981 --> 00:27:34,315 But Eisenhower had his own reasons for leaving Berlin to the Soviets. 295 00:27:36,554 --> 00:27:41,116 Berlin was very clearly within the Soviet zone, 296 00:27:41,292 --> 00:27:46,559 so when the possibility arose that Eisenhower could move toward Berlin 297 00:27:46,898 --> 00:27:50,390 and many people were urging him to move to Berlin, Ike demurred. 298 00:27:50,568 --> 00:27:55,198 He saw no reason for risking a great many American casualties 299 00:27:55,373 --> 00:28:01,039 by pushing well into the Soviet zone, only to have to turn around and back out. 300 00:28:03,114 --> 00:28:08,142 So, Berlin, the heart of the Reich, would be left to the Red Army. 301 00:28:08,953 --> 00:28:13,049 One and a half million men were massed in front of the Oder river. 302 00:28:14,459 --> 00:28:16,427 (WOMAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN) 303 00:28:21,099 --> 00:28:23,863 (TRANSLATOR) Of course, this was very prestigious 304 00:28:24,035 --> 00:28:28,131 to finish such a terrible, such a devastating war in Berlin. 305 00:28:30,008 --> 00:28:33,876 This war had required so much self-sacrifice and heroism. 306 00:28:36,948 --> 00:28:41,976 As Allied bombers pulverised Berlin, the people waited in terror for the end. 307 00:28:44,255 --> 00:28:46,223 (EXPLOSION) 308 00:28:47,392 --> 00:28:52,523 (TRANSLATOR) We looked towards the Elbe where the Americans and British did not move. 309 00:28:52,864 --> 00:28:57,164 And on the other side, we saw the steamroller of the Red Army. 310 00:28:59,003 --> 00:29:01,437 (WOMAN SPEAKS GERMAN) 311 00:29:01,773 --> 00:29:07,507 (TRANSLATOR) There was such a tiredness and helplessness and fatalism at the end. 312 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:14,183 The main desire of everybody was if it would just stop at long last. 313 00:29:17,889 --> 00:29:22,087 Goebbels believed that he had to fight fear with fear 314 00:29:22,260 --> 00:29:27,254 and coerce Berliners to carry on fighting by the most brutal means possible. 315 00:29:30,168 --> 00:29:32,898 SS men hunted down deserters and shirkers. 316 00:29:41,846 --> 00:29:46,840 (TRANSLATOR) It looked awful. They had used electric cords to hang him from a lamp-post. 317 00:29:47,018 --> 00:29:49,316 He had a sign around his neck which said, 318 00:29:49,487 --> 00:29:53,446 ''I, Otto Meyer, was too cowardly to defend women and children.'' 319 00:29:58,329 --> 00:30:03,198 On April 16th, thousands of Soviet guns and mortars began a huge bombardment 320 00:30:03,368 --> 00:30:05,996 of the approaches to Berlin. 321 00:30:08,239 --> 00:30:10,207 (MAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN) 322 00:30:14,279 --> 00:30:18,978 (TRANSLATOR) Many soldiers and officers who were with us in Berlin and the suburbs 323 00:30:19,150 --> 00:30:21,175 had lost their families, 324 00:30:21,352 --> 00:30:24,446 and, I'll be honest, many of them wanted to take revenge 325 00:30:24,622 --> 00:30:28,581 for all that they had been through, for all their sorrow. 326 00:30:33,331 --> 00:30:39,531 The excitement was high. Dayosh Berlin! It is in our hands. It was clear that we are taking it. 327 00:30:42,540 --> 00:30:45,338 (MAN SPEAKS GERMAN) 328 00:30:46,311 --> 00:30:49,576 (TRANSLATOR) The defence forces in Berlin were far too weak. 329 00:30:49,914 --> 00:30:54,112 They were a group that had simply been thrown together. 330 00:31:01,159 --> 00:31:06,062 I remember that the supply corps officer for the commander of Berlin was with me once 331 00:31:06,231 --> 00:31:10,258 and he complained that he had 70 different types of rifles for his troops 332 00:31:10,435 --> 00:31:14,235 and he had to find ammunition for these 70 different rifles. 333 00:31:17,275 --> 00:31:23,805 Despite being ill-equipped, some of the fiercest resistance in Berlin came from the Hitler Youth, 334 00:31:23,982 --> 00:31:27,816 a bloody testament to the success of Goebbels'propaganda. 335 00:31:29,254 --> 00:31:31,814 (MAN SPEAKS GERMAN) 336 00:31:34,058 --> 00:31:37,221 (TRANSLATOR) I got a clear impression of the Hitler Youth. 337 00:31:37,395 --> 00:31:41,855 The westerly suburbs towards Spandau were only defended by the Hitler Youth, 338 00:31:42,033 --> 00:31:45,366 boys of 15, 16 or younger, just children. 339 00:31:49,974 --> 00:31:54,604 It seemed to me they were passionate. They felt that they were soldiers. 340 00:32:06,824 --> 00:32:08,985 With the Soviets destroying Berlin, 341 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,960 it looked like Goebbels' grim predictions were coming true. 342 00:32:13,131 --> 00:32:17,534 Many people wrote their wills and thousands turned to suicide. 343 00:32:19,337 --> 00:32:24,365 Helmut Altner saw an old couple jumping into a river from a bridge in Berlin. 344 00:32:26,411 --> 00:32:30,939 (TRANSLATOR) They jumped in. I couldn't save them. They wanted to be swept away. 345 00:32:31,115 --> 00:32:36,052 The woman surfaced once and her husband pushed her back under. They both went down. 346 00:32:36,220 --> 00:32:42,125 She had an old-fashioned little hat and it floated on the surface until the current swept it away. 347 00:32:46,531 --> 00:32:51,901 With the Russians so close, even Goebbels began to think the unthinkable. 348 00:32:58,042 --> 00:33:01,978 On 22nd April, he and his family packed up their belongings 349 00:33:02,146 --> 00:33:06,048 and moved into the Reichs Chancellery bunker with Hitler. 350 00:33:07,051 --> 00:33:11,818 Freytag von Loringhoven on Hitler's staff was in the bunker in those final days. 351 00:33:14,092 --> 00:33:16,390 (FREYTAG VON LORINGHOVEN SPEAKS GERMAN) 352 00:33:20,298 --> 00:33:25,258 (TRANSLATOR) I saw Frau Goebbels and her children coming down the steps into the bunker 353 00:33:25,436 --> 00:33:28,963 and I have never forgotten seeing these children. 354 00:33:32,810 --> 00:33:37,440 They were wearing dark coats and you could see their white, frightened faces. 355 00:33:48,059 --> 00:33:50,391 Beneath eight metres of concrete, 356 00:33:50,561 --> 00:33:55,157 the occupants of the Fuhrerbunker were waiting for the end. 357 00:33:58,403 --> 00:34:01,429 (TRANSLATOR) People didn't have anything to do there. 358 00:34:01,773 --> 00:34:05,800 Hitler himself wandered around the bunker. He was a wreck. 359 00:34:11,449 --> 00:34:16,944 And always a main topic of conversation was how will I kill myself when the Russians come? 360 00:34:17,121 --> 00:34:20,750 Should I shoot myself or should I take the cyanide capsules 361 00:34:20,925 --> 00:34:23,291 which everyone had been given? 362 00:34:27,231 --> 00:34:32,328 # Kalinka, kalinka, kalinka, moya Vsadu yagoda malinka... # 363 00:34:32,503 --> 00:34:36,030 On the 25th of April, with the Red Army surrounding the city, 364 00:34:36,207 --> 00:34:40,541 Soviet and American troops finally met up at Torgau on the Elbe. 365 00:34:47,819 --> 00:34:53,451 It was nice to see them. I was happy to see them. That's the confirmation, that's the end. 366 00:34:57,361 --> 00:35:02,264 (AMERICAN ACCENT) I couldn't get over the fact that every Russian soldier seemed to know 367 00:35:02,433 --> 00:35:04,958 how to play either an accordion or a harmonica. 368 00:35:05,136 --> 00:35:07,969 They had these choruses and they started singing. 369 00:35:08,139 --> 00:35:11,734 They were all playing. It was one of the grand scenes of my life. 370 00:35:15,580 --> 00:35:20,745 It appeared there was only one last person standing in the way of the joint moral vision 371 00:35:20,918 --> 00:35:23,148 worked out at Yalta. 372 00:35:25,790 --> 00:35:30,284 Five days later, with the Soviets no more than 100 metres away from the Reichstag, 373 00:35:30,461 --> 00:35:32,429 that obstacle was removed. 374 00:35:32,597 --> 00:35:35,088 Hitler committed suicide. 375 00:35:38,302 --> 00:35:44,172 His body was burned and as the flames shot up, his staff stood to attention 376 00:35:44,342 --> 00:35:47,505 and gave their leader a final Nazi salute. 377 00:35:53,551 --> 00:35:55,542 Goebbels was next. 378 00:35:55,887 --> 00:36:00,347 Hitler had offered that his children be flown out of Berlin to safety, 379 00:36:00,458 --> 00:36:02,756 but Goebbels had refused. 380 00:36:04,862 --> 00:36:07,330 His six children were poisoned 381 00:36:07,498 --> 00:36:10,934 and he and his wife Magda committed suicide. 382 00:36:13,004 --> 00:36:15,131 (SPEAKS GERMAN) 383 00:36:15,306 --> 00:36:21,108 (TRANSLATOR) He had blind faith right until the end, and he proved it with his death. 384 00:36:23,915 --> 00:36:28,443 Now other Berliners capitulated and awaited their fate. 385 00:36:40,064 --> 00:36:43,761 (TRANSLATOR) I can only say I was totally empty. 386 00:36:43,935 --> 00:36:45,903 I wasn't afraid. 387 00:36:46,070 --> 00:36:49,870 I was empty, finished and didn't think of anything. 388 00:36:51,409 --> 00:36:53,377 I was an object. 389 00:36:54,845 --> 00:36:58,576 I just remember how we stumbled through this dreadful Berlin. 390 00:37:02,220 --> 00:37:06,418 I saw dead horses lying around and dead people, dirt. 391 00:37:08,793 --> 00:37:13,253 And Berlin stank of this dreadful Russian petrol. 392 00:37:28,946 --> 00:37:31,312 At 5 p.m. on Sunday, 6th May, 393 00:37:31,482 --> 00:37:36,215 the German Chief of Staff, Alfred August Jodl, arrived at Rheims 394 00:37:36,387 --> 00:37:39,879 where Eisenhower had established his headquarters. 395 00:37:40,057 --> 00:37:43,151 He was there to negotiate the end to hostilities. 396 00:37:44,262 --> 00:37:49,199 Eisenhower refused to attend and stayed in his office upstairs. 397 00:37:49,367 --> 00:37:52,894 He did not want to have to shake hands with a Nazi. 398 00:37:53,938 --> 00:37:56,907 But then came the first hint of problems to come. 399 00:37:57,074 --> 00:38:00,976 - Are you prepared to surrender on all fronts? - We are... 400 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:13,216 That's totally unacceptable. You must surrender on all fronts. 401 00:38:13,391 --> 00:38:15,518 Unconditionally. 402 00:38:19,096 --> 00:38:22,429 You tell them that 48 hours from midnight tonight, 403 00:38:22,767 --> 00:38:27,466 I will close down my lines on the Western front, so no more Germans can get through, 404 00:38:27,805 --> 00:38:32,435 whether they sign or not, no matter how much time they take. 405 00:38:34,345 --> 00:38:37,041 But Jodl had managed to buy 48 hours 406 00:38:37,214 --> 00:38:41,878 and in that time several thousand German troops were able to flee from the Soviets 407 00:38:42,053 --> 00:38:45,113 and surrender to the British and Americans. 408 00:38:46,457 --> 00:38:51,326 We were surprised at the soldiers trying desperately to surrender to us, 409 00:38:51,495 --> 00:38:53,463 constantly in our direction. 410 00:38:53,798 --> 00:38:56,494 We were at a total loss for this, we were surprised. 411 00:38:56,834 --> 00:39:00,270 We thought the Russians were our allies. We really had no idea. 412 00:39:00,371 --> 00:39:03,135 But they were desperate to surrender to us. 413 00:39:12,016 --> 00:39:16,248 By midnight on 7th May, it was finally all over. 414 00:39:16,420 --> 00:39:18,888 Jodl was ready to surrender. 415 00:40:37,067 --> 00:40:41,902 But treating the defeated Germans with generosity was hard for the Allies 416 00:40:42,072 --> 00:40:45,530 in the face of what they had learnt about the regime. 417 00:40:47,144 --> 00:40:51,911 As Jodl left Rheims, he was presented with a copy of ''Stars and Stripes'', 418 00:40:52,082 --> 00:40:56,542 containing pictures taken in Buchenwald concentration camp. 419 00:40:58,489 --> 00:41:03,859 As well as Buchenwald, the Western Allies had liberated several other camps in Germany, 420 00:41:04,028 --> 00:41:06,326 including Dachau and Belsen. 421 00:41:07,898 --> 00:41:10,093 It was terrible. 422 00:41:10,267 --> 00:41:12,497 I mean, the number of dead there... 423 00:41:12,837 --> 00:41:17,069 You couldn't look anywhere, but there were dead bodies, people dying. 424 00:41:23,914 --> 00:41:28,180 I went and looked. I didn't go into the hut. I just couldn't. 425 00:41:33,390 --> 00:41:37,224 We'd been trained for battle injuries. That was one thing. 426 00:41:37,394 --> 00:41:41,296 In this case, to see all the dead there when we got there 427 00:41:41,465 --> 00:41:46,562 and for us not to be able to do anything for them because of the situation they were in, 428 00:41:46,904 --> 00:41:49,873 I mean, it was terrible, and, er... 429 00:41:52,543 --> 00:41:55,068 ..that upset a lot of... 430 00:41:56,213 --> 00:41:58,204 Cut, please... 431 00:42:04,388 --> 00:42:08,119 The existence of the camps was considered sufficiently important 432 00:42:08,292 --> 00:42:12,752 for General Eisenhower and his top commanders, General Patton and Bradley, 433 00:42:12,930 --> 00:42:14,989 to see for themselves. 434 00:42:15,165 --> 00:42:18,566 As Eisenhower said after the discovery of the camps. 435 00:42:19,470 --> 00:42:24,100 ''We're told that the American soldier does not know what he is fighting for. 436 00:42:24,275 --> 00:42:28,041 ''Now at least he will know what he is fighting against.'' 437 00:42:35,486 --> 00:42:39,013 On 8th May, the war in Europe was finally over. 438 00:42:39,189 --> 00:42:45,059 The formula of unconditional surrender that the Allies had insisted on had now been achieved. 439 00:42:45,229 --> 00:42:48,995 Europeans could put the horrors of the last five years behind them 440 00:42:49,166 --> 00:42:51,828 and celebrate what was to come. 441 00:42:53,437 --> 00:42:56,838 We suddenly realised that it was all over. 442 00:42:57,441 --> 00:43:02,037 That you could hear the birds singing instead of listening for mortar bombs. 443 00:43:02,212 --> 00:43:04,806 That you could smell the flowers 444 00:43:04,982 --> 00:43:10,045 instead of smelling dying bodies and cordite. 445 00:43:10,788 --> 00:43:17,193 That you didn't have to gear everything to trying to survive. 446 00:43:17,361 --> 00:43:20,524 It was like being born again, as it were. 447 00:43:20,864 --> 00:43:26,325 Like a death sentence had been lifted and you were so happy that you had survived. 448 00:43:28,038 --> 00:43:32,202 Across Europe, ordinary Soviet, American and British soldiers partied. 449 00:43:32,376 --> 00:43:35,004 They had finally seen off Hitler. 450 00:43:40,317 --> 00:43:45,414 (TRANSLATOR) And of course we were expecting the war to end, but it was so sudden. 451 00:43:45,589 --> 00:43:47,853 We were so excited. 452 00:43:49,126 --> 00:43:51,560 We didn't exchange a single word. 453 00:43:51,895 --> 00:43:54,796 Each of us was thinking our own thoughts. 454 00:44:00,004 --> 00:44:02,495 But not everyone was celebrating. 455 00:44:03,273 --> 00:44:05,867 On V.E. night, 456 00:44:06,043 --> 00:44:10,844 I had a number of people from different central European countries in my troop, 457 00:44:11,015 --> 00:44:15,475 and everybody was making whoopee, but they weren't. 458 00:44:15,819 --> 00:44:20,483 And I sat with them, there were about 15 of us, and they were as miserable as anything 459 00:44:20,824 --> 00:44:23,918 because they said, ''This place is going to crumble now. 460 00:44:24,094 --> 00:44:28,394 ''You don't understand what the Russians are going to do. You're too naive.'' 461 00:44:30,434 --> 00:44:33,767 And soon, there were beginning to be serious doubts 462 00:44:33,937 --> 00:44:38,340 as to whether the declarations of Yalta would ever be implemented. 463 00:44:38,509 --> 00:44:43,378 We in the map room were receiving reports from American observers, 464 00:44:43,547 --> 00:44:46,516 military liaison officers in Eastern Europe 465 00:44:46,850 --> 00:44:50,308 about the behaviour of the Soviets toward prisoners, 466 00:44:50,487 --> 00:44:54,821 toward the civilian population, toward the prospective governments 467 00:44:54,992 --> 00:44:58,519 which were supposed to be freely and democratically elected. 468 00:45:02,533 --> 00:45:07,436 (ENGLISH ACCENT) We had gone to war originally to protect Poland, 469 00:45:08,872 --> 00:45:12,364 to defy German aggression against Poland, 470 00:45:13,510 --> 00:45:18,948 and we were ending the war with a Poland 471 00:45:19,116 --> 00:45:22,950 which was virtually occupied by the Russians 472 00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:30,356 and where the preponderant power in Europe was that of the Soviet Union. 473 00:45:38,135 --> 00:45:40,467 To defeat one dictator, Hitler, 474 00:45:40,804 --> 00:45:46,140 Churchill and Roosevelt had been obliged to make common cause with another, Stalin. 475 00:45:46,310 --> 00:45:48,437 In the days following after the fall, 476 00:45:48,612 --> 00:45:53,208 the bonds forged in war and around the conference table would begin to collapse 477 00:45:53,383 --> 00:45:55,817 in the ruins of Berlin. 478 00:45:58,422 --> 00:46:03,883 At the beginning of July, American and British troops finally marched into Berlin. 479 00:46:04,061 --> 00:46:06,359 It should have been a moment of triumph, 480 00:46:06,530 --> 00:46:10,489 the grand alliance together in the capital of Hitler's Reich. 481 00:46:14,271 --> 00:46:18,469 But it had been the Red Army who had captured the German capital. 482 00:46:18,809 --> 00:46:23,769 The Nazi slogans on the walls had gone, but they had been replaced by Soviet ones. 483 00:46:27,384 --> 00:46:32,412 As you went through the gate into the eastern zone, which we were allowed to do at that time, 484 00:46:32,589 --> 00:46:35,387 the first thing you saw was a picture of Stalin. 485 00:46:35,559 --> 00:46:38,289 It was Stalin, Stalin, Stalin everywhere. 486 00:46:43,167 --> 00:46:45,533 The Allies found a city in chaos. 487 00:46:46,503 --> 00:46:50,030 The Red Army had embarked on an orgy of looting and raping. 488 00:46:50,207 --> 00:46:53,438 Thousands of women had been raped in the capital alone. 489 00:46:55,479 --> 00:46:57,811 I slept with a revolver under my pillow 490 00:46:57,981 --> 00:47:04,910 because in the very first few days in Berlin, there were Russian soldiers everywhere, 491 00:47:05,088 --> 00:47:08,888 apparently quite out of control, going up and down our street. 492 00:47:09,059 --> 00:47:12,119 And they were just shooting off, 493 00:47:12,296 --> 00:47:17,893 the way victorious troops customarily sort of just fire off into the air and shout and sing, 494 00:47:18,068 --> 00:47:20,764 and they were all absolutely as drunk as lords. 495 00:47:27,144 --> 00:47:29,271 The Western Allies began to realise 496 00:47:29,446 --> 00:47:33,382 that their idealistic dream of a new European order was not to be. 497 00:47:34,952 --> 00:47:39,389 The government view was coming to be 498 00:47:39,556 --> 00:47:44,084 that the Russians were no longer our best friends and our close allies 499 00:47:44,261 --> 00:47:48,527 to whom we owed everything, but they were still allies, 500 00:47:48,866 --> 00:47:53,360 but people that we had to be extremely wary of, people who were not to be trusted 501 00:47:53,537 --> 00:47:59,442 and who would spy on us and that we had to be extremely careful of. 502 00:48:01,845 --> 00:48:05,781 (BILL BELLAMY) I remember meeting these Russian soldiers in the park 503 00:48:05,949 --> 00:48:11,444 and they were carrying a sack and when they opened it with great pride, it was full of silver. 504 00:48:11,788 --> 00:48:15,349 And I was horrified because it was obviously looted, 505 00:48:15,525 --> 00:48:19,962 to which the young officer turned round and said, ''We fought this bloody war, 506 00:48:20,130 --> 00:48:22,098 ''we won Berlin and captured it. 507 00:48:23,834 --> 00:48:28,066 ''You can do what you like, but you'll be the next people we'll fight.'' 508 00:48:28,238 --> 00:48:32,368 He said it very viciously and we felt very uncomfortable, 509 00:48:32,542 --> 00:48:37,445 but we smiled, parted and felt that we were all watching our backs as we left them. 510 00:48:40,117 --> 00:48:43,143 The Western Allies had dreamt of a new European order 511 00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:45,845 to be built after the defeat of the Nazis. 512 00:48:46,523 --> 00:48:51,483 They thought they were united in a common cause, but they had reckoned without Stalin, 513 00:48:51,828 --> 00:48:55,787 who had chosen to turn his back on promises he had made at Yalta. 514 00:48:56,900 --> 00:48:59,300 With Western hopes in tatters, 515 00:48:59,469 --> 00:49:05,203 it fell to Britain's war leader, Winston Churchill, to unwittingly echo Goebbels' words 516 00:49:05,375 --> 00:49:09,368 as he described the parlous state of post-war Europe. 517 00:49:10,847 --> 00:49:13,907 From Stettin in the Baltic 518 00:49:14,084 --> 00:49:16,450 to Trieste in the Adriatic, 519 00:49:16,787 --> 00:49:19,847 an iron curtain has descended across the continent. 520 00:49:21,425 --> 00:49:25,794 This is certainly not the liberated Europe we fought to build up. 521 00:49:25,963 --> 00:49:30,457 Nor is it one which contains the essentials of permanent peace.