European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 30, 1966, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Nazi Germany last Battle began m 4 on april at the Oder As the Thunder of a terrific artillery barrage signalled the russian attack leu than so Miles East of and Vance units of the the army some 45 Miles to the West were turning while the soviets prepared to take the supreme the Western Al lies had decided that the German Capi Tal was no longer a military object the decision had been made by the supreme Dwight against the vehement full nations of the what followed was to have a fateful Impact on the division of Europe and the global balance of the fall of recorded by All principals is the subject of a new Book by Cornelius Ryan published this month by Simon and the last Battle evidently May expect the same commercial Success As ryans the longest which so far has sold More than 4 million copies All Over the world and was made into a if theres something to be singled Ikrath Ike ii Boam be he authors Enterprise getting the Rai sins la led their Side of the the soviet Defenso department made available to Ryan flies on the Berlin he to go to Russia in april 1n3 to interview All of the russian military Leaden he want with the exception of marshal then out of Ryan said he was allowed to Corre Spond with and was Given Access to the marshals world War ii the soviets also revealed the intense rivalry Between Georgi Zhukov and fellow Ivan Aslo who would get to Berlin the offi Cial red version of the finding of hitlers body and the certification of his death made headlines in ims alter Ryan re leased he last Battle picks up on the first Day of the russian armies stood on the Eastern Banks of the just 98 Miles from the Capi in the the Allied forces had breached the Rhine and were coming on Berlin life went on with a kind of Lunatic month after month of bombardment had turned the City in to a Heap of rubble in which 3 Roll lion people mostly children and old men led the existence of pack but 65 per cent of the factories were still the mall was being de the shops were As were Heaters and Der fuehrer had stayed in the Welchs Kanzler undecided whether he should leave Ber Lin to go on March Eisenhower drafted a Cable to Stalin idling him of the allies impending plan or Advance and asking the marshal for his i card ii As wrote we coordinate our us ton and perfect the Liaison Between our advancing Eisenhower plan boiled Down in instead of a major sweep across North Ern Germany As originally be had decided to strike directly through the Center of the country toward dres there was one significant omis writes the objective which the supreme commander had once referred to As clearly the main there was no mention of development came As a major Surprise to the shocked Churchill and Montgomery into and Shook up the commanders of ikes own american according to Stalin immediately ordered Zhukov and Koniaev to Fly to Moscow for a con after 48 hours of talks and Stalin made his Zhukov was Given the godhead for the main offensive with troops and not counting Small Aliber but Stalin also approved Kon levs competitive plans which envisioned the deployment of men and artillery equal to Konies armies were to destroy the enemy on the South Ern fringes of then flood West to link up with the stains Pencil line on a map which indicated the Boundary be tween the two commands stopped Short of the hour of the joint attack was fixed at 4 on april hence Forth known As at the conclusion of the Kremlin Stalin cabled Berlin has lost its former strategic Hel Mulk bad just been named Berlin thai the fortress Berlin he had been told about existed la name there were do fortifications to speak no provi Sions for the there were hardly any but his problems were piddling com pared to those of Gotthard the Man put in charge of army group the Only forces Between Tho russians and Heinrich were fistulas two 111 equipped armies the 3rd Panzer army under Hasso von Manteuffel and Theodor busses eth along the entire Ryan Helnor Lyls two armies had fewer than 700 operable tanks and self propelled in contrast to Zhukov artillery strength Heinrich had 744 plus my antiaircraft guns being used As Artil ammunition and fuel supplies were equally the germans offered fierce re busses the bore the Brunt of the Zhukov attack and even held it off for some time at a strategic Point called Seclow Kon levs armies did i have adequate forces and we arc in perfect position to turn our tank armies toward the marshal told Stalin in a phone Call from a Cottbus very was the with Zhukov finally breaking through Seelow Heights and Koniaev getting approval for his push to Berlin from the there was nothing that could Stop the russian shortly before noon on april Berlin had become the Artil Lery the first to reach the burst in Hermann Square among crowds of the enraged Hitler replaced Reymann with an obscure colonel whom he promoted to major then took Over the Job of Berlin commander the supreme holed up in the chancellery was on the Brink of accusing virtually everyone around him of being traitors and lie issued orders to non existent armies and dispatched Relief cares that had Long ceased to he placed his last Hopes in the lug 12th army of Walther Zunck and the so called group Steiner cud de by is Felix but they never on april Hie cites Telegraph of fice cd turd Down for the first Lime in us Flo year history and tile last plane left temp Lunf Airport hound for Stock then the russians with Kon levs hordes in the they had beaten the Zhukov forces to the bul Stalin permitted Zhukov to capture the government including the they crouched behind the t34 tanks and self propelled guns and fought up the the the avenues and through the writes in the ranks were russians Belo ukrainians and georgians and armenians and mongols and they came on on on in horse drawn Carls and captured vehicles of every and they threw themselves on f he communications Center in the zoo flak which handled now All com Mand orders by the cracked out desperate messages what is Wenckus position where is Steiner where is Wenck As the russians swarmed in from the outskirts raping Hitler youth and Home guardsmen offered feeble or limply turned and some units were Dis banded by their regular army soldiers began to by april red army troops bad ringed the City shells were now raining on the fuehrer Bunker where Hitler heard from news wires Ite Bert Day that Himmler had made an offer of surrender to the Western this to him was the saw Hitler Salt one member of is he was hollow eyed and looked As if he had lost by Hitler had dictated his per Sonal and political leaving the reigns of government in the hands Admiral Karl Doenitz and Joseph he also Narried Eva his mistress of Many the next As russian tanks had approached to within half a mile of the Hitler and his wife of one Day committed suicide Goeb Bels attempt to arrange or a Capitula Tion of the City on his own terms was spurned by the on May he and his family were the full weight of responsibility for the its defenders and the Popula Tion now fell in the Man who was the last to be appointed Berlin Karl Weld Long knew what he had to his message of surrender was picked of by the red army 71th guard Rifle Divi Sion at 1 on May the remains of the eth and uth armies joined up and on May 7 they were Back at the Elbe River where men were taken by the of busses Only a fifth sur he did lit the longest by the Aid tales of individuals throughout the some of these Are among Ike mint gripping of the last theres the Bird keeper of the Berlin zoo who worried about the Only Bird that was a rare african As though it was his own theres the Luftwaffe Captain who or Ders his wife to sit opposite the shelter Entrance so that you will be killed you wont have to and wait your a communist woman in hid Liz who had almost starved to death while wait ing anxiously for the russians in a Large crate was brutally raped As soon As Thev got to when the surviving berliners emerged from their underground haunts on May they were greeted by warm Sunshine and an eerie the last Battle had Ryan cites statistical estimates and studies which indicate that some civilians died As a result of that at least women and girls were dial from to rus sians died in the there Are no reliable estimates on the Gunbei of German military the stars and stripes 11