Hitler's Army Towards the End
12,642The rule of the Third Reich was coming to its spectacular and violent finale. A demented, wild-eyed Hitler hid in his bunker under the Reich Chancellery as the Red Army surrounded Berlin and threatened to put an anticipated end to the thousand-year Reich that was never meant to be.
Refusing to accept the defeat was inevitable, and Hitler clung to every single promising piece of news in the hopes that it would be the miracle that would save Germany from the claws of destruction.
On April 12, 1945, the irrational Fuhrer believed the miracle had become a reality when he learned of the passing of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Hitler rejoiced at the possibility of having to fight just one enemy, as he was confident incoming President Harry S. Truman would sign a peace treaty with Germany.
However, Truman refused to throw the German dictator a lifeline, and as Berlin fell under siege, Hitler placed his delusional hopes on General Walther Wenck, the youngest general in the Wehrmacht and the Commander of the 12th Army, which was now everything standing between the Allies and Berlin.
Wenck, the last hope of Nazi Germany, was given the impossible order to break the siege of Berlin at all costs and buy Germany enough time to regroup or sue for peace.
But in a move that drove Hitler to the verges of insanity, Wenck decided to do something for the civilians instead, and gathered his men one last time to tell them: "Comrades, you've got to go in once more. it's not about Berlin anymore, it's not about the Reich anymore, it’s about the people of Berlin…"
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