it happened with this this this is a lot from the russian capital top stories now frauds is accused of forcing the elderly to scrimp and save on the government spends a fortune on increasing its military presence abroad countries currently fighting in libya ivory coast and afghanistan with tens of thousands of troops also stationed elsewhere. russian nationalists being jailed for murdering a human rights lawyer the journalist in central moscow two years ago the killer was

given life while his accomplice was sentenced to eighteen years jail in one of the biggest convictions of its kind in russia. the tide turns on waterboarding its american officials claimed torture helps capture osama bin laden while human rights defenders say codons interrogation achieves nothing and the body proof is to help torture techniques help to quell valuable information. on the show stopping performance currency of russia's top flight aerial display squads as they mark the twentieth birthday it seems in the infant death defying stunts such as flying less than a metre out between each plane's wings. well i'll have more on those stories for you other developments in less than thirty minutes from now in the meantime we take you to europe in the spring of one hundred forty five remembered by those who survived the struggle against fascism that special report next.

it was a spring like many others in europe lilacs cherries and nightingales. but those who fold their way across the comes liberating town after town in philly just a village remember it differently the nightingale sunlamp the cherries and the women seemed to. keep going and cheap stumps by night and a russian officer came to study a syrian he said you're a life really but there were dead bodies only if the what you found hugh jackman at the party is to the bloke and it's liberates has been shooting soviet soldiers and their rebuilt national armies with bread and milk flowers and warm and braces. and rushed to me and hugged me so hard. i was so happy when she finally let go.

everybody shot for any kind of weapon and for signal pistols to machine guns right into the air. the wrong man to welcome the races millions of civilians in concentration camps and. millions of soldiers had missed their victory day but those who had not lived to see the spring of nine hundred forty five with a more realized song still to this day. the spring of nine hundred forty four years ago before the end of the second world war the red army has freed soviet territory from nazi occupation and is now pushing across the combination mountains the soldiers struggle through the snow bound passes. a war of fear great in bucharest. depeche vienna prague all still occupied by the germans i'm still waiting for the liberation.

monster kosovo a check you was waiting for the liberating soldiers she was fifteen years old and living in tennessee it was called a town but it was actually more of a concentration camp martha was one of one hundred forty thousand people waiting for the decisions a sealed their fate more often than not people were sent to auschwitz to face execution meanwhile terrorism's children were not allowed to read the pictures all same. as that be at our health sector and musician. but i'm an excuse me nothing here has the loss of bright the keys and also the requiem with us in a displacement. system and like to say they've jus' seen a requiem for themselves. this is how the secret music lessons were held in tatters

and. these drawings belong to martha's friend of ace of a she slept in the adjacent bed elgar enjoyed her sketching everything around her but keeping it hidden their images paints a vivid picture of life in terrorism. thank god to be release is where we washed up that there was no bathroom just a towel and water the only cold water and even that was spotty. the young girls quarters were here they were kept separate from their parents in the daytime the girls worked in the fields in the evening they got together in a small room to read aloud to each other in a camp like this a book was a prized possession. they are yet five zero five. that was my transpersonal. edition the shelf like these were in not a great tragedy we paid for them in

a print teddy yes we gave breath for them to put things on the mattress ace if we needed to sniff them out there was no irony that the top bunk was the best place to sleep most of the bucks for them but at least nothing felons you while you were asleep but on the lower bunk all kinds of stuff felony you whenever they want to tell that to people slept in the space and terrorising but isn't a s. ten people shared the same space it in auschwitz. says terrors and was a resort compared to auschwitz was a brother and parents and her friend helga was sent to auschwitz in the autumn of one nine hundred forty four. while czech polish jewish gypsy children were being murdered in gas chambers german children little girl guides come to school learning to draw cans and say the songs they sang were not child's last.

show of pneumonia mother this is a collection of songs sung by members of people or you're going to. know that it was published in nineteen thirty six one of the songs goes something like this one and we want to march on moscow over we want to be moscow or soon as we can feel all the bolsheviks feel all strange a little wilder oses pave the way of hitler's men killing for russia will flood. but by late one nine hundred forty four hardly anyone sang this song anymore. it was military chiefs had just won a touchdown to stimulate the red army launched an offensive on the frontline from a cup a few mountains to the black sea liberating european cities. romania became the first country to be released from its not sing like manner. then somebody troops brought peace to bulgaria.

conan suffered perhaps the hardest did it history men were executed or sent down as slaves women aged between fifteen and twenty five percent to brothels for very modest soldiers older women were sent to factories or gas chambers. he was the fourth this is one when he was eighteen years old was ok with them for you for a political prisoner i told you i think that you have you had occasion to meet on the present itself and. even the best guide in the world would be clueless about conditions here compared to a man who survived the ordeal for two years each day tell you some regions he looked at the black smoke billowing from the criminal rims chimneys inhaled the noisy aging suite i woulda and waited for his turn. just they were it out the list of people who were supposed to go where we humans are the

gas chambers there were only two thirteen of us left. and the man who went to the guest chamber was the one who had occupied the bungalow me. he had been a teacher before. poland about how we died he said and went to the guest chamber given to. auschwitz was operated like a well oiled machine nothing was wasted trousers shoes spectacles even human teeth everything was put to use toys were sent to german children german women was sold weeks made from the hair of the dead. from my block i could see the cam band playing on the plot cone three tween the crematorium and the hassle. with s.s. men disservice staff and occasionally the officers' wives in attendance. and

again joy dipper formants knowing full well that people were being burned in a criminal. some might find it all the polish publishers have produced a comic book about the history of outfits its aim to get the message across to those not interested in either museums or history books and it. mean really editor tells me she's done it on purpose in order to attract more attention or you know people read all the books and put them aside but they leaf through this book again and again grown. penus if knew the stories characters personally it would golinski was polish and millions in the town was a jewish woman the comic is called the romeo and juliet of auschwitz she was twenty six years old and he was trying to form. the fact they found love of the death factory as auschwitz was known was remarkable that they could escape was incredible

an s.s. officer had given it would a german uniform but his happiness with malia lasted just twelve days when they were then called. as was was hanged in birkenau. that he also wanted to hang in. there but she didn't let them. veins with a piece of irony that happened to be at hand. you know as. well as as man was about to put the noose around her neck cheers him. own story is unique he was one of the first to arrive at auschwitz as inmate number one hundred twenty one and he was lucky enough to leave the camp alive on top of that each day he had to resist an excruciating temptation he was serving as the personal barber of the camp's commander rudolf hess for years people have wanted the onset

of just one question. more upon her but will they say they're ok you service her says go all day you always had a razor in your hand will give might have taken him by the hair and cut his throat i am greeted as i respond yes i might have i am but it would have been the result. moira you know they would have killed all my family and of all the camps people. these people survived the concentration camps and they still don't understand how they made it through. the course of us says teachers helped a lot educating youngsters in secret to try and retain their dignity. and most as friends helped her by composing songs and making jokes but the humor was dark like this song written by children in terrorism. and said sitting in a hellhole called terrorising very three quarters of bread no one can win with just

to survive cook an eskimo it stinks it's wild it's war. terrorism surviving children have vowed to wear butterfly pins on their jackets and dresses for as long as they live this is because they never saw butterflies in the concentration camps instead just fleas and bed bugs and even today when martha goes to a restaurant she orders a lot of food she has still not yet overcome her fear of hunger and she certainly still has a sweet tooth. that abbie please give me that one reason i asked if i know for sure i'll take the stew and just one more day. of the fifteen thousand children who went through tara's in the known to death camps only ninety eight survived to see liberation.

culture is that so much about the facts mayors and i mean education is a lot of people at area english language continues to followers is it threatening other languages with one in three people speaking english does this promote question. this is just a parliament building in berlin. that. sixty five years ago. it was the final target the last major offensive from the red army. its capture became the symbol on the form of fascists illinois. and the victory over nazi germany. the following argy.

belgrade in one nine hundred forty four it was yugoslavia's capital the country had already enjoyed three years of occupation yugoslav freedom fighters had been fiercely resisting the nazi regime and its collaborators from the inside. the germans often send the best divisions to overpower the freedom fighters who were under the command of marshall tito who fall back busily despite a lack of weapons or the most basic military technology. today the story of the resistance movement struggle is found in the open and minutes of museums in central about great. book i don't know why no one thought of the gist of it as as world war two with the fuel tanks it had thought from france and us country was more noising its weaponry at the time and always. the locals could see and hear telltale signs of approaching soviet tanks in the girl first they had a deafening noise then they saw smoke and dust rising above the horizon and finally

they sold enormous monsters of tanks and his numbers and capabilities were well above any of the tanks that had appeared in the balkans before the serbs were simply stunned by the soviet tanks. in october nineteenth forty four red army troops and people suffer systems fighters liberated belgrade street off the street block off the block of the town at times to freedom. these veterans like strolling through belgrade doctors recommended for the health but they enjoy it because it makes them feel as they walk through the streets where they used to fight the germans. radio on and see what they have done to our popular front street where there was a victorious uprising in nine hundred forty one i took that as a ring name because we naturally street they should have changed the name they should've left it for its history the right have no business changing names history shouldn't be changed. there are quite

a few streets of belgrade bearing two names and so happens that one of the streets is officially known as southern blue nevada but local people still call it red on the street to avoid confusion the authorities decided to put up signs bearing both names. from what i hear it's all old eight thousand russians died in serbia. you know all the time i'll tell you was. true is where there is in a very large pit dug here between this monument and the this place that was two days after the liberation of belgrade. a convoy of twenty four tanks went through the streets. bearing a coffin with a body of a soviet tanks man. there was a band playing at the front of the convoy musical.

form. players was. oh my. pleasure and say today's belgrade is very different from the city of nine hundred forty four. after the war the serbian capital was rebuilt like many other european says he's of no other city in eastern europe suffered as much as. it was just the polish capital has to be razed to the ground those instructions were carried out with cruise determination. today it's hard to imagine that here where these beautiful streets squares and restored castles now stand they used to be just broken rocks people completely rebuilt their city stone by stone. if out of trouble or so ease deserted i. the germans are driving people thought

over the left bank of the river once again the city is being systematically destroyed street after street and it shall us after house has been our buildings are being blown up and burned out all its ability claiming all the c.d.'s being raised to the ground. the nazis made inventories of old buildings that had survived their raids and blew them up in accordance with it's clear cut chad tool they made a special point of destroying historical buildings and architectural landmarks as a matter of priority not see us experts prepared a special register just for this purpose. there's a little of the entire all the castle was in ruins that's the nephew nineteen forty five zero three and then some small structural elements were left over and that.

also separation was different from other cities in january nine hundred forty five the red army drove the occupiers out and entered warsaw but unlike elsewhere the local population didn't line the streets to welcome soviet soldiers the polish capital was a deserted city only a day after the german retreat the first refugees began returning to what was left of their capital poland suffered much more than any other european country it was also a key part longer than others here the second world war started when the nazis attacked on september the first nine hundred thirty nine but many historians on the war began much. to shift for you i've not brother effect or is nobody wants to discuss your mourning about my dominik agreement for instance when slovakia's was dismembered play might well be considered an earlier starting to eat for the war had another oldster. the could be

the onslaught when a national socialist germany not swallowed up austria after. all most of the thirteenth nine hundred thirty eight hitler triumphantly ends of vienna but the un truce was not a civilized action it was a powerful military absorption. the war came to an end for many european towns in the spring of one nine hundred forty five on april the thirteenth the germans surrendered in vienna the city of mozart and strauss was free again austria regained its independence people everywhere destroyed traces of the anschluss welcomed the soviet liberating troops and dumped waltz's in the town squares. the fighting continued in neighboring czechoslovakia all made a fist people in prague staged an uprising they flew the national flag from windows

and built barricades. radio prog called on the city's residents to stand up to the hardships of the war was lost hours. of the time lost a foot of a was a seventeen year old nervous. system uncertain we were targeted even when we went out to pick up the wounded for example although we were wearing armbands with the red cross on them clearing. when were you trying to collect some medicine for the wounded we found ourselves undefined. and there were many dead and wounded people that we had. they were the final casualties of the war's last days german troops under the command of the experienced field marshal general sherman gradually pulling back westwards as they continued fighting with the resistance general knew that the red army was approaching and he had no desire

to surrender to soviet troops. there were a german troops in want to pee had to be three hospital trains. they were right here. they were mocked as hospital trains but in fact they were not but are now the germans had weapons with them. they were not going to surrender even though the war was over. they wanted to get to the americans at any cost common they were scared of fresh troops. soviet troops entered prado made the mines today's progs still dotted with small memorial markers like this hand raised to give an. inscription says we will stay committed they signify the resistance fighters died in a. cemetery it's here the great army

soldiers who died liberating praga buried. the body hello. now i see you've laid flowers on this green. well. i first came here a long time ago a young nurse is buried here i don't even know if your relatives know that she lives here there was something that was a flower on her grave and leaf she was about twenty two years old i think. such a long way from home. which many of those who live here live just long enough to hear the word victory possum on their ranks and even had a brief chance to celebrate but they were killed by german snipers who stayed behind after the us and the remnants of the nazi war machine continue to soar to seoul just weeks after the german surrender. and those who survived still get

together. there it's so nice to see your. former checker soviet soldiers need help sometimes to celebrate public holidays well simply to talk. i'm going to shut up yourself on the telly please journey. that you. bring up these men out there let me give you the medal of czechoslovakia's legionnaires into as a keepsake which of course. i'm quite happy although i don't wear them you know new orleans or do i you can see i've only got one oyster. they show each other newspaper cuttings photos of their children their grandchildren and of course themselves in these photos their in their prime wearing them in a trailer full. under their arms well well not here looking at here is a sheer pleasure to reduce some of the you. may recall the last days of the war and

victory day and such painstaking detail it's as though it was only yesterday. not so good surely you will. given good food just imagine a regiment enjoying the siege of leningrad here the guys are given milhouse it will avoid bones there are so fresh you can squeeze them and they pop back to their original shape that's what i call a feast a thumb of it is what we stuck to fire a german takes. just the earth of my country and it stuck to my lips one of the. some a tumultuous to wed that medals others take pride in wearing them they're always happy to tell about how they had each of the. veterans insists that the young must learn about that. war is all this medal is for valor this one is for services to the country this one is for brotherhood and unity the middle awarded by the

yugoslav people's army. veterans tell young people about the stories of those who missed that victorious shots of vodka about those who guarded liberating cities and countries from fascism about those who couldn't hear the nightingale singing in the spring of nineteen forty five who couldn't watch the minutes for long the tanks will see those who kissed the liberating soldiers. hundreds of songs in many languages have been dedicated to the seas war heroes they didn't live to see the peace the memory lives on and using. this. morning's today says once again flared up. these are the images.

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