for some this is just a parliament building in britain. but sixty six years ago it was the final target. and the last major offensive for the red army. itself became the symbol of the fascist since of. the big three nazi germany.

is. a telemarketer broadcasting live from washington d.c. . coming up today on the big picture.

download the official and see how to keisha your money phone on called touch from the i choose ops to. the job sheesh life on the go. see video on demand ati's minefield comes and already says feeds now in the palm of your. question on the call. early in the rush dog home to germany's parliament it was right here that the final flight of world war two took place. there are ever fewer

surviving witnesses to the events of those days sylvia veterans will never forget what happened sixty five years ago show us the foreign corpses plane that saw the right start look by the end of april nine hundred forty one. german soldiers fought for every piece of flame didn't really try to stand to the last minute against soviet troops. more than fifty thousand soldiers and officers died over brushing the polish and german each of us for for. russians for theirs you get one free for hours. lasted for two and the red flag raids on the top of the lifestyle game a nine hundred forty five. became the symbol of victory of so few people over

fascism. in one thousand nine hundred five vassily was an anti-tank gun platoon commander and still keeps them out of the guard before assaulting berlin. it occurred the river and he this is a map they gave out before the dawn we were supposed to track the outskirts of girl in the dark and before that they gave me a map. in late january nine hundred forty five the success of the fistula other offensive had gained soviet troops a foothold deep in german territory. crossing the other river they had covered nearly five hundred kilometers in twenty days the germans no longer offered any serious resistance the soviet line is now just a stone's throw away from berlin the ultimate objective of the red army offensive

yet really on the map i measured the distance with a ruler that's just the one kilometers to the outskirts of berlin it only sixty one kilometers and when the allies bombed the flashes of an aircraft shells let this guy like stalkers. stone stomp to the plan short. the battle for poland had left the advancing soviet troops with almost no ammunition and fuel the soviet army took two months to prepare for the assault. meanwhile the germans also took advantage of the delay. of their reserves around early and were brought south here this was the place where the army's strongest units were concentrated in the was final weeks after the germans also built formidable defenses extending twenty kilometers west ward from the forward positions at six and a half kilometers from us and then became for. soviet inge german forces were being amassed along the order for the most massive military operation in world history.

then social of three and a half million troops from both sides some ten thousand tanks in the schools of thousands of assault guns and eleven thousand said there was no other ration of that scale in world war two you know could there be any building was at stake you see. meanwhile the leaders of the soviet union the united states and britain had not yet agreed on which army would take the german capital the british prime minister winston churchill called on the us president franklin d. roosevelt to start the sultan berlin in a letter addressed to roosevelt on april first one thousand nine hundred five churchill wrote the following if the russians also take the early will not their impression that they have been the overwhelming contributor to our common victory he unduly imprinted on their minds and may does not lead them into a mood which will raise great and formidable difficulties in the future. is

above all britain was aiming to see germany destroyed as we said as regards on the other hand it wanted the soviet union weakened as much as possible i need but a real concern was to all the appearance of a new rival mccomb sort of. continue. in early april the ford most u.s. troops were about a hundred kilometers west of berlin there were almost no battle ready german armies facing them all of them had been moved treaties from front to repulse the soviet offensive. tries an hour's known to have asked general simpson when your whether u.s. troops could take berlin from star wars last as he expected in that case and simpson sat he expected some thirty thousand casualties just as an hour sadler that wouldn't do for us troops were to hold their positions at the russians do the fighting. on april first stone called a meeting of his supreme command where he decided that the berlin operation should

start in mid april. you sleep when you want and i think that if roosevelt hadn't signed on april the twelfth stolen would have agreed to the participation of the western allies forces in the assault on the limb calling soul reserve as a kind of care and school would prevent the allies from stabbing him in the bud. roosevelt's death prompted in the soviet commands to take the resolute action the assault was set for april sixteenth stalin may have had yet another reason for wanting to take berlin without delay in early april the british prime minister ordered the drafting of operation unthinkable. the british military declassified documents relating to it a few years ago. which received these documents relating to operation unthinkable from a british. twenty nine pages. britain's joint planning

staff started preparations for hostilities against the soviet union a month before the war's end the operation planned by the british implied an attack on the soviet union without declaring war on july first one thousand nine hundred forty five forty seven british and u.s. divisions were to deliver a crushing blow to the soviet army the attack was to have the support of twelve german divisions. they went so as to say that's russia should be forced to succumbs to the will of the traitor britain and the united states here's just one quote from the plane of the operation. nation of the russians could only be achieved as a result of the occupation of such areas of metropolitan russia that the war making capacity of a country would be reduced to a point and niche for the resistance became impossible. some credit is certainly due to the british military planners they were clearly aware that the soviet army

was nearly twice the size of the western allies combined forces and their quick success in any such conflict would be all but impossible. some historians suggest that stalin was wary of something like operation unthinkable prompting him to speed up and. he knew that something was brewing it's hard to say whether he had a clear knowledge of the day tales for the we now know that off famous spy ring led by kim philby was operating in britain at the time those were top foreign office officials they were doing a very effective job which in effect. stefan jordan byrd son of a german anti-fascist had joined the soviet army in one thousand nine hundred forty two as a volunteer. in april of one thousand nine hundred five he was a propaganda officer. at the early hours of people sixteenth he was summoned to headquarters he was told to announce to the germans through the loudspeakers the

start of the war's final so he defensive in a few hours time. i said susie because assistant at those newcomer general this is impossible with we can't possibly give away military secrets. me instead tenons we can have an interest in keeping casualties to. the wars most massive preparatory bombardment began at five o'clock in the morning of april sixteenth. thousands of artillery pieces shelled german positions for half an hour. multiple rocket launchers where the first to start up the pounding is so deafening you can't hear a single payor is somebody shows something into your ear. antonius schneider was a corporal in the opposing army a platoon of heavy machine guns was under his command when they were defending

a small railway station near the seal heights. at the very outset his platoon lost three out of four mission with guns. nobody rossiter i thought could we do in that situation that absolutely nothing you could write is all that artillery had overwhelming superiority and if we were gripped with blind fear all we wanted was to hide somewhere from that ferocious fire signifies. everything was ablaze a logs were flying all around the world at last for something like thirty five minutes the north of the northern tanks rolled forward and we followed and millions . there were anti-personnel mines on release but they do no harm to tanks with land to follow the tank units trackless void the mines so that they didn't blow my legs off. to achieve greater effect one hundred forty high powered searchlights and who many of the german positions. martial should

cause idea was to blind to the germans to hinder their return fire. because you had to fire as well as though you didn't know where to look because you were blinded by searchlights thing and we couldn't see any details if all we saw was a blazing bank of the river seen. through the germans cielo was the last defensive line before berlin so the german soldiers defended the highlands with general determination petri tism inside the german army had still other reasons to keep fighting to the bitter end despite the desperate situation. that any soldier flames his position might be shot in killed by an officer on the spot so many soldiers hanged on poles for attempting to leave their position are propaganda and hammered into our heads that we must avoid being taken prisoner by the soviets at all costs and that. the soviet forces expected to overrun the seal heights in

a matter of hours. germans clung to their defenses for nearly three days and nights . after a head on frost failed to take the heights soviet troops down flank of the german defenses only vended the defending party led by general boo say fall back now nothing stood in the way of the red army's advance towards berlin. the cost of the assault was very high. the soviet forces lost tens of thousands of men in a tiny center near the arctic. a move that is going on i have never seen so many dead bodies as i sold the cellar heights well thousands and thousands of men died in a very small plot of land and they started fine thing of old elizabeth people dying venue of the war would be over in a couple of weeks for the splattering that they read most of all. after the fall of

the seal hides the germans never again offered any organized resistance. some elements of the german army were still trying to fight as an advance insurgent army simply struck in the moment. of rugby codes though we didn't stay to defend berlin outside because there was nobody who could for exactly because many people died many flak to the west to give in to the americans the media caught it in. one of the biggest german cemeteries is situated not far from berlin in a small town of hama it occupies a few square kilometers. more than twenty thousand german soldiers are buried here most of them were in an s.s. division coast nordland. private harry from seal heights was retreating with the rest of the night army led by general who say. he was running from the advancing

soviet army with just one gun in his hands. when his column was entering the town of hall but it could. team under heavy fire. right here the furniture factory was here as the soldiers were there they took us for a soviet column and they opened fire on it so the crossing was covered with dead bodies for the fight the fight was going on between two german divisions and. when the germans realized they were shooting their own people they stopped the fire but by that time the soviet troops had already approached the town a couple of. private pool gain his german column turned out to be in a circle of fire on the one side of the street the soviet soldiers were shooting. and on the other side v.s.s. soldiers were fighting back. the four hundred meets were flying from both saw us

the fighting was intense there were the bakeries now were entertained fortifications apart they prevented soviet tanks from entering the territory of radical so they prohibited the germans from running from the battlefield on this street we lost hundreds and hundreds of all men. the remains of bruises army managed to leave the circle and fled to the west but during those three days and how the more than sixty thousand german soldiers died and one hundred twenty thousand were taken prisoner. there was just one day left before the capitulation of germany. wealthy british scientists on. the.

market finance scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cause or for a no holds barred look at the global financial head. lines to an end to the report . of the typical german town of torgau on the el the river like in many provincial cities the pace of life is slow here. might never have been known to the world if not for the events of april twenty fifth one thousand nine hundred forty five. on

the day an american patrol came to. a sixteenth century castle song on there they saw a bridge over the al in the river it was blown up by the germans and they sold the soviet soldiers on a string of our side of the commander left an unwilling robertson india to battle in untrue an american flag on its own model to be as he climbs to the castles and he was all more programmers and looked outside and threw the flag out of the window also identified that very moment he heard the whistle of a shell coming from the eastern bank you thought of someone trying to shoot the window that was a shell from the soviet i would sound a small bottle three of us. that's how it was a group of people including women were it was approaching the river. and we knew that german army officers were hiding on the other bank believes it was necessary for us to understand the situation well do we need to shoot or find an alternative

way. but finally the soviet soldiers realizing the mysterious men on the foreign banks were actually very american allies what followed would become an iconic moment in the world war two history the meeting at the elba. it happened when the bulk of the soviet forces encircled berlin and some elements of the red army reached the on the river. the allies from both sides and decided to celebrate the meeting. the american intended million robertson and the soviet lieutenant alexander soon vanished became friends the picture of the two men husband became a symbol of the end of the second world war. we were both illustrating and i was grinning rather happy to meet each other. we were happy to know that we were the victors. the first link up of american and soviet troops

could have taken place much earlier had the british and americans opened the second front not in one thousand nine hundred four but when they first agreed back in one nine hundred forty two. talks on the establishment of an anti hitler coalition began on june twenty seventh one thousand nine hundred forty one a year later the soviet union the united states and great britain signed a declaration on the opening of the second front in europe. by one nine hundred forty two one thousand nine hundred three passed with no second france to relieve pressure on the soviet union in the east. plans to open a second front were made. but churchill and roosevelt agreed that it would be launched only when it became clear that the russians were caving in. on the contrary they were gay male pounds by crossing the nineteen thirty nine borders and entering europe. the long delay in the british and american response had

a significant impact on the balance of forces in post-war europe. many in the west are upset about stalin's power to shape the post-war arrangements it makes me want to say look you just learned should go in the fight sooner hoosegow the good by the way with another war. on the april twenty eighth soviet troops encircled the city center and began an assault on the right stuff. the building was protected by bans in the sprit river and the bridge crossings had been blown up. troops crossed the sprit aboard tiny dinghies from one bank to the other a distance of several dozen meters. they face continuous german fire kaffir the sailors who were there to secure the crossing died in the shadow of the white star . and then the seven sailors were given the titles of heroes of the soviet union last summer slain there's been one of them was nikolai. panzerfaust

a rocket snapped the control gave them so there was nothing left for him to do to have a grip the two ends of the cable with his g.'s that he dining no matter. the race dog was defended by remnants of elite s.s. units hitler's personal bodyguards. there were also french volunteers from the charlemagne division of the scandinavian division nordland and the latvian battalion of the fifteenth s.s. division. i mean i'm pretty sure they were crying up from the basement hey one surrender you are where many are a few orders the rules carpooled but in the ear. of the first of may they changed their tune yvonne we want to surrender they shot. on april thirtieth hitler committed suicide in the reich chancellery but some s.s. units continued resistance. in the evening soviet troops captured to the right

stark stark floors for the first time the red flag was hoisted over the bow. of the cross a german man seen a draft gun show down that fresh leg was in it but it didn't go on for sure that's gone was no tells by a man of my battalion. on new york. on the morning of may second general helmet veiling commander of the berlin defense area arrived at the soviet headquarters to sign a cease fire order. was the first to read and type out that order. frankly i thought it was a very old order there is an almost exact quote from the initial lines sure of his committee as you saw it not living else of the faithful boy therefore we are no longer committed to the oath we have taken considering the situation of the civilian population in the un considering the situation of our wounded here by

order a cease fire and surrender with the consent of. the i don't care to change anything in that's all that he held with him i said to myself the words let him say what he likes as long as the war comes to an end. soon after the ceasefire order silence fell over central berlin soviet troops took the city under control the soldiers knew that was the end of the war. this is just at ten am there was complete silence instant it will be that that's the end of it all yes there is a white flag not a flag really puts a white sheet in the germans showed us another and yet another lesson as they start scrambling out of their shelters we to get out into the open move with germans surrendering that's for sure. by the evening of the second of may civilians were out in the streets of berlin. many kids

but the adults stayed at home the russians had come you know they'd heard many stories about them. what if they were treated in the same way i did a kids had pill faces they were wearing short plans some had small balls on their hands and knees when they were given some poor and they rushed home with eggs and. i saw my sergeant major skipping something else on the parts i found out that the people who were queuing for the food one access from the local theater all skinny and hungry as they stood there sobbing which element of us me that's the russians all painted by yes they were afraid of us they thought russians were cossacks with a long mustache with three they were looking us all over thinking where the russians mustaches were your fur hats they wanted to know with me if we were wearing field caps we were just young boys. on the evening of may eighth marshals who called and representatives of great

britain france and the united states signed the act of germany's unconditional surrender at the headquarters of the soviet fifth army in berlin. comma ninth of may we were losing to our hearts content and so we had found a big bottle containing ten liters of apple while suddenly there was a deafening noise and. they were firing from all sides that really by what was a german break through them with you when we rushed out we saw fireworks going up in celebration of victory i don't need to tell you that we finished off that bottle in. the berlin operation lasted for sixteen days the soviet troops lost up to two hundred thousand. according to various estimates the soviet army lost from eight

and a half to eleven million men between nine hundred forty one and nine. in forty five . including civilians a total of twenty seven million soviet people died in the war with germany the combined losses of the usa and great britain nine hundred thousand people. was a result of all casualties and the heroism of all fathers and grandfathers it was the result of some heroic deeds. sort of force in europe not just in africa. one hundred thousand victims come to compared to twenty million lives. in the history of mankind was over sixty five years have passed since. those who survived still remember the victory like it was yesterday they still live

with victory in their hearts. today violence is once again flared up.