1 00:00:03,066 --> 00:00:05,200 This program is rated 14 , 2 00:00:05,333 --> 00:00:07,266 and contains scenes of violence, coarse language, 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:08,667 and mature subject matter. 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:10,633 Viewer discretion is advised. 5 00:00:17,133 --> 00:00:19,032 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party 6 00:00:19,033 --> 00:00:20,966 have dominated the hearts and minds 7 00:00:20,967 --> 00:00:23,799 of the German people for over a decade. 8 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,366 But by the summer of 1944, the Soviet Red Army 9 00:00:27,367 --> 00:00:29,632 and the forces of the Western allies 10 00:00:29,633 --> 00:00:33,133 are tightening their vice grip on Hitler's Third Reich. 11 00:00:34,367 --> 00:00:37,500 The Nazi's complete control is about to crack. 12 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:41,199 All wars change the world, 13 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,032 but none of them changed the world 14 00:00:43,033 --> 00:00:44,467 like the Second World War did. 15 00:00:45,233 --> 00:00:48,300 Japan's on the march, Germany's on the march. 16 00:00:49,867 --> 00:00:53,299 No one can imagine the nightmare they're about to unleash. 17 00:00:53,300 --> 00:00:56,299 The most destructive war in human history. 18 00:00:56,300 --> 00:00:59,132 Suddenly the world is turned upside down 19 00:00:59,133 --> 00:01:00,867 and all hell is let loose. 20 00:01:02,867 --> 00:01:05,767 The West is stunned by the speed of the advance. 21 00:01:07,033 --> 00:01:10,532 You get the allies led by the big three. 22 00:01:10,533 --> 00:01:12,866 Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, 23 00:01:12,867 --> 00:01:18,000 men who are dealing with immensely complicated questions. 24 00:01:18,100 --> 00:01:21,934 It's the biggest military operation of human history. 25 00:01:22,100 --> 00:01:23,433 The Allies have to come together 26 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:25,099 not just militarily, 27 00:01:25,100 --> 00:01:26,399 but industrial scale 28 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:28,533 it's a global perspective. 29 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:30,500 They have to fight in every climate 30 00:01:30,567 --> 00:01:33,934 from the Arctic to the jungles of the Pacific 31 00:01:34,033 --> 00:01:37,600 to the deserts of Africa and the depths of the ocean. 32 00:01:40,233 --> 00:01:43,033 But there was no certainty of victory. 33 00:01:43,100 --> 00:01:46,567 It was going to be a horrific bloodbath. 34 00:01:46,633 --> 00:01:48,567 We see humans at their absolute worst, 35 00:01:48,633 --> 00:01:51,065 how they treat other human beings. 36 00:01:51,066 --> 00:01:52,667 And we see them at their absolute best, 37 00:01:52,734 --> 00:01:55,132 willing to give their lives that others might live. 38 00:01:55,133 --> 00:01:58,166 World War II was a struggle in which there could be 39 00:01:58,233 --> 00:02:01,632 one victor and one vanquished. 40 00:02:23,934 --> 00:02:26,165 The biggest story in Western Europe today 41 00:02:26,166 --> 00:02:29,099 is the attempted assassination of Hitler. 42 00:02:29,100 --> 00:02:31,599 For the second time since this war began, 43 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,933 an assassin has almost succeeded in killing the Führer 44 00:02:34,934 --> 00:02:37,500 and perhaps changing the course of history. 45 00:02:43,767 --> 00:02:46,500 July 20th, 1944. 46 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:49,833 A bomb hidden in a briefcase explodes 47 00:02:49,834 --> 00:02:53,500 at the Wolf's Lair, Adolf Hitler's military headquarters. 48 00:02:56,934 --> 00:02:59,265 It was the opening move in an elaborate plan 49 00:02:59,266 --> 00:03:02,000 to kill the Nazi leader and overthrow his government. 50 00:03:04,934 --> 00:03:09,567 Hitler is wounded but survives, and the plot fails. 51 00:03:28,734 --> 00:03:32,065 Surviving the July 20th bombing convinces Hitler 52 00:03:32,066 --> 00:03:36,232 beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has been chosen by heaven 53 00:03:36,233 --> 00:03:40,033 or by providence to lead the German people. 54 00:03:43,233 --> 00:03:45,833 He's on all sorts of medications. 55 00:03:45,834 --> 00:03:49,400 He's under more pressure than most human beings can imagine. 56 00:03:51,500 --> 00:03:54,566 He becomes even more paranoid than he already has been. 57 00:03:54,567 --> 00:03:56,900 He is micromanaging even more. 58 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,632 Nazis take over armaments production. 59 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,466 Hitler and the Nazis mobilize even more men 60 00:04:06,467 --> 00:04:09,233 and tighten their grip on Germany and its people. 61 00:04:12,467 --> 00:04:14,466 There is no difference anymore 62 00:04:14,467 --> 00:04:16,799 between the fate of the public and the German people 63 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,633 and the fate of the Nazi state. 64 00:04:20,967 --> 00:04:24,966 The thing is, the German public is not too happy 65 00:04:24,967 --> 00:04:27,232 about how the war goes on. 66 00:04:27,233 --> 00:04:30,065 They are aware that Germany may lose the war, 67 00:04:30,066 --> 00:04:33,899 but they think the only person who can bring this 68 00:04:33,900 --> 00:04:35,900 to a close is Hitler himself. 69 00:04:40,066 --> 00:04:41,432 As summer turns to fall, 70 00:04:41,433 --> 00:04:44,467 Germany's strategic situation deteriorates, 71 00:04:45,633 --> 00:04:47,566 and every German is aware 72 00:04:47,567 --> 00:04:51,033 that the allies demand unconditional surrender. 73 00:04:52,467 --> 00:04:54,867 Hitler knows that that's an impossibility. 74 00:04:55,633 --> 00:04:57,065 Surrender means 75 00:04:57,066 --> 00:05:00,266 humiliation, being betrayed, ultimately executed. 76 00:05:00,867 --> 00:05:03,299 Hitler also knows something about warfare. 77 00:05:03,300 --> 00:05:05,633 A passive defense never works. 78 00:05:06,467 --> 00:05:08,532 You have to show your adversaries 79 00:05:08,533 --> 00:05:10,166 that you're still dangerous. 80 00:05:11,967 --> 00:05:13,866 Hitler quotes Frederick the Great 81 00:05:13,867 --> 00:05:16,966 who was in a similar war in the 18th century. 82 00:05:16,967 --> 00:05:19,699 Frederick famously said, "We're gonna fight this war 83 00:05:19,700 --> 00:05:22,367 till one of our goddamn enemies gets tired." 84 00:05:24,133 --> 00:05:27,366 Hitler wants to come up with some Hail Mary. 85 00:05:27,367 --> 00:05:29,532 He wants to come up with some plan 86 00:05:29,533 --> 00:05:31,132 that will bring advantage back 87 00:05:31,133 --> 00:05:33,867 to a heavily disadvantaged situation. 88 00:05:39,467 --> 00:05:42,199 In September, Hitler summons his generals 89 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:43,633 to the Wolf's Lair. 90 00:05:45,033 --> 00:05:47,699 He outlines a plan that will return his troops 91 00:05:47,700 --> 00:05:51,867 to the scene of his greatest triumph, the Ardennes. 92 00:05:55,867 --> 00:05:57,866 The Ardennes Offensive of 1944 93 00:05:57,867 --> 00:06:00,132 is going to involve multiple German armies 94 00:06:00,133 --> 00:06:02,265 across 100 miles of front. 95 00:06:02,266 --> 00:06:05,432 They're going to crash through what they have identified 96 00:06:05,433 --> 00:06:08,699 as a weakly held portion of the American line. 97 00:06:08,700 --> 00:06:11,199 They're going to drive through the Ardennes Forest, 98 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,432 scene of the great victory of 1940, 99 00:06:13,433 --> 00:06:16,199 and if all goes well, cross the Meuse River, 100 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:18,699 and from there, make it to Antwerp. 101 00:06:18,700 --> 00:06:20,432 Antwerp is the major supply port 102 00:06:20,433 --> 00:06:23,199 for the entire allied force in Europe. 103 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,532 If the Germans take Antwerp, it will be a catastrophe 104 00:06:26,533 --> 00:06:28,400 of unimaginable proportions. 105 00:06:30,367 --> 00:06:33,699 Hitler sees this as a way to divide the coalition, 106 00:06:33,700 --> 00:06:35,299 demoralize the coalition, 107 00:06:35,300 --> 00:06:36,866 and force the coalition 108 00:06:36,867 --> 00:06:38,600 to make separate peaces with him. 109 00:06:39,934 --> 00:06:42,265 But Hitler will have to strip whole divisions 110 00:06:42,266 --> 00:06:46,700 from his Eastern front to execute his gambit in the West. 111 00:06:51,266 --> 00:06:53,599 Not all of Hitler's generals are on board. 112 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:55,265 They just don't believe 113 00:06:55,266 --> 00:06:57,532 that given their current force levels 114 00:06:57,533 --> 00:07:00,766 that they can blast across the West European continent 115 00:07:00,767 --> 00:07:03,166 and take the major city of Antwerp. 116 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,666 Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt says "Antwerp, my god, 117 00:07:08,667 --> 00:07:10,099 if we even get to the Meuse River 118 00:07:10,100 --> 00:07:11,300 ...that's less than halfway,... 119 00:07:11,433 --> 00:07:13,600 we should get down on our knees and thank God." 120 00:07:14,934 --> 00:07:16,999 But Hitler, by this stage of the war, 121 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,833 he doesn't really trust very many of his generals, 122 00:07:19,834 --> 00:07:22,666 and he does have this belief in luck. 123 00:07:22,667 --> 00:07:25,432 He's gotten lucky at various points throughout this war, 124 00:07:25,433 --> 00:07:27,432 and he might be lucky again this time. 125 00:07:27,433 --> 00:07:29,333 So he decides to roll the dice. 126 00:07:30,433 --> 00:07:31,933 Hitler will even eventually say that, 127 00:07:31,934 --> 00:07:34,766 "If this doesn't end well, I'd see no other path 128 00:07:34,767 --> 00:07:37,166 toward reaching a favorable conclusion." 129 00:07:38,266 --> 00:07:40,433 The fate of Germany really hangs in the balance. 130 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,599 December 16th, it's a snowy morning 131 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:57,667 in the Ardennes for the allies. 132 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:00,566 It's overcast, 133 00:08:00,567 --> 00:08:02,400 it's freezing cold. 134 00:08:03,900 --> 00:08:06,733 The weather was awful for everybody, 135 00:08:06,734 --> 00:08:08,399 but it gave the Germans advantage 136 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,599 because the allied aircraft are mostly grounded, 137 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,532 and that's the perfect environment for the Germans 138 00:08:14,533 --> 00:08:17,667 to launch this bold offensive. 139 00:08:19,500 --> 00:08:22,499 Suddenly at 5:30, it seems that hell has opened up. 140 00:08:27,066 --> 00:08:28,899 Every artillery piece the Germans own, 141 00:08:28,900 --> 00:08:30,999 heavy artillery, light artillery, 142 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,033 rocket artillery, the famous Screaming Mimi's mortars. 143 00:08:35,834 --> 00:08:39,999 The American position in the Ardennes simply gets shredded. 144 00:08:44,734 --> 00:08:46,666 Trees are thrown through the air 145 00:08:46,667 --> 00:08:49,666 with this just shell after shell. 146 00:08:53,834 --> 00:08:55,899 Allied forces, they're caught off guard. 147 00:08:55,900 --> 00:08:58,165 They are overwhelmed. 148 00:08:58,166 --> 00:09:00,132 They certainly didn't expect the Germans capable 149 00:09:00,133 --> 00:09:04,399 of launching something as big as the Ardennes Offensive. 150 00:09:06,100 --> 00:09:08,632 Suddenly there's a couple of hundred thousand German infantry 151 00:09:08,633 --> 00:09:12,165 with 600 German Panzers along 100-mile front. 152 00:09:18,967 --> 00:09:20,066 One of the four divisions 153 00:09:20,166 --> 00:09:22,466 holding the allied line in the Ardennes 154 00:09:22,467 --> 00:09:25,467 is the newly arrived American 106th. 155 00:09:27,567 --> 00:09:30,065 The 106th Division who are just in the wrong place 156 00:09:30,066 --> 00:09:32,466 at the wrong time who have columns of German armor 157 00:09:32,467 --> 00:09:33,966 coming at them from all directions 158 00:09:33,967 --> 00:09:36,466 are just overwhelmed by this. 159 00:09:36,467 --> 00:09:41,467 And within a matter of hours, 7,000 men are captured. 160 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:44,433 It's the biggest 161 00:09:44,567 --> 00:09:46,867 mass American surrender since Bataan. 162 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,232 At this point of time, the German troops 163 00:09:52,233 --> 00:09:53,900 are in a state of euphoria. 164 00:09:55,066 --> 00:09:57,966 For weeks or months or even years, 165 00:09:57,967 --> 00:10:00,132 they had only known retreat, 166 00:10:00,133 --> 00:10:02,299 and now for the first and for a long time, 167 00:10:02,300 --> 00:10:04,066 they are on the offense again. 168 00:10:06,467 --> 00:10:08,132 German troops are partly motivated 169 00:10:08,133 --> 00:10:10,899 because they're being told, "Take no prisoners. 170 00:10:10,900 --> 00:10:12,299 This is your chance. 171 00:10:12,300 --> 00:10:14,233 Now you get revenge against the Allies." 172 00:10:14,900 --> 00:10:18,567 The result is that there is literally a trail of massacres 173 00:10:20,467 --> 00:10:23,399 that will lead eventually to the most notorious 174 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:24,733 of about a dozen massacres, 175 00:10:24,734 --> 00:10:26,232 and that's the one that takes place 176 00:10:26,233 --> 00:10:28,632 in the afternoon of December 17th 177 00:10:28,633 --> 00:10:30,734 just outside the city of Malmedy. 178 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:38,899 The first SS Panzer division, 179 00:10:38,900 --> 00:10:40,233 they've worked their way forward 180 00:10:40,333 --> 00:10:43,233 under their battle group commander Joachim Peiper. 181 00:10:44,900 --> 00:10:46,632 Peiper's built for speed. 182 00:10:46,633 --> 00:10:49,733 He's been told to get ahead as fast as you possibly can 183 00:10:49,734 --> 00:10:52,966 towards the Meuse, cross the river, get to Antwerp. 184 00:10:54,300 --> 00:10:55,799 And he's just overrun a couple of 185 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,065 rear echelon US detachments, 186 00:10:58,066 --> 00:11:00,533 supply depots, administrative troops. 187 00:11:01,867 --> 00:11:03,366 There's a brief firefight. 188 00:11:03,367 --> 00:11:06,032 The Americans then surrender, about 120 of them. 189 00:11:06,033 --> 00:11:08,633 They move them off the road into a field. 190 00:11:12,133 --> 00:11:15,165 And the result is that 84 Americans, 191 00:11:15,166 --> 00:11:18,467 they are murdered after having surrendered their weapons. 192 00:11:22,700 --> 00:11:24,866 This is one of the largest war crimes 193 00:11:24,867 --> 00:11:26,866 against US soldiers during World War II, 194 00:11:26,867 --> 00:11:29,199 and it shows the ruthlessness which this war 195 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:30,633 has achieved at this point. 196 00:11:35,967 --> 00:11:37,632 Some German units advance 197 00:11:37,633 --> 00:11:40,300 as much as 20 miles on the first day. 198 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:43,866 The initial success of the Ardennes Offensive 199 00:11:43,867 --> 00:11:48,032 confirms Hitler's sense of divine destiny. 200 00:11:48,033 --> 00:11:50,866 In Hitler's mind, he thinks, "Again, I was right. 201 00:11:50,867 --> 00:11:53,199 I took the decision to launch this offensive 202 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,032 against the advice of my generals, 203 00:11:55,033 --> 00:11:59,032 against the advice of my experts, but I was right." 204 00:12:02,066 --> 00:12:05,100 So in the first couple of days of the Ardennes Offensive, 205 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:08,699 it seems for the Germans 206 00:12:08,700 --> 00:12:10,966 that they have regained the initiative. 207 00:12:22,467 --> 00:12:23,733 The Wehrmacht's attack stretches 208 00:12:23,734 --> 00:12:25,300 from Belgium to Luxembourg, 209 00:12:25,734 --> 00:12:28,567 but the initial reports from the front are sketchy. 210 00:12:32,734 --> 00:12:35,733 How to respond to the German assault is the responsibility 211 00:12:35,734 --> 00:12:38,099 of one man, 212 00:12:38,100 --> 00:12:40,232 General Dwight Eisenhower, 213 00:12:40,233 --> 00:12:41,967 the Supreme Allied Commander. 214 00:12:43,900 --> 00:12:45,065 So Eisenhower has to determine 215 00:12:45,066 --> 00:12:46,566 whether or not this is a feint, right? 216 00:12:46,567 --> 00:12:48,899 Are the Germans trying to essentially pull his resources 217 00:12:48,900 --> 00:12:50,700 in the wrong direction? 218 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:52,899 Or is this a proper offensive? 219 00:12:52,900 --> 00:12:54,633 Does he actually have to respond? 220 00:12:56,734 --> 00:12:59,300 Eisenhower immediately defines the threat. 221 00:13:01,967 --> 00:13:04,866 And he says, "This is more than a German feint. 222 00:13:04,867 --> 00:13:06,300 This is a major effort." 223 00:13:07,467 --> 00:13:10,799 And he thinks, let's not see this disaster 224 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:12,699 as anything but an opportunity. 225 00:13:12,700 --> 00:13:14,633 The Germans wanna fight out in the open, 226 00:13:16,467 --> 00:13:17,533 let's take it to them. 227 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:21,733 Yeah, the Germans are advancing. 228 00:13:21,734 --> 00:13:24,799 Yeah, the Germans have driven a deep bulge into my lines, 229 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:27,032 but that offers me this big German salient 230 00:13:27,033 --> 00:13:29,032 that I can attack from the shoulders. 231 00:13:29,033 --> 00:13:31,867 That's why we refer to this as the Battle of the Bulge. 232 00:13:33,300 --> 00:13:36,966 The Germans advance across a 60-mile front, 233 00:13:36,967 --> 00:13:40,132 but are held up by the US 28th Infantry Division 234 00:13:40,133 --> 00:13:42,433 at the Belgian town of Bastogne. 235 00:13:43,633 --> 00:13:46,699 Both sides know that Bastogne is the key. 236 00:13:46,700 --> 00:13:50,032 If the Germans seize it, they can control the road network 237 00:13:50,033 --> 00:13:52,199 and motor all the way to the West, 238 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,266 perhaps even reach Antwerp. 239 00:13:55,133 --> 00:13:56,532 But if the Americans hold it, 240 00:13:56,533 --> 00:13:58,700 the Germans are stuck in their tracks. 241 00:14:01,433 --> 00:14:02,599 So it's a race, 242 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:04,599 it's a race for the Germans to take it. 243 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,366 It's a race for the Americans to try and resupply it 244 00:14:07,367 --> 00:14:08,767 before it's lost. 245 00:14:09,767 --> 00:14:11,933 So all of a sudden, Bastogne becomes 246 00:14:11,934 --> 00:14:13,699 this key road intersection, 247 00:14:13,700 --> 00:14:17,199 not unlike Gettysburg or Waterloo or Thermopylae. 248 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:18,500 It is everything. 249 00:14:20,700 --> 00:14:24,032 As the Germans attempt to surround Bastogne, 250 00:14:24,033 --> 00:14:27,433 Eisenhower calls on the 101st Airborne Division, 251 00:14:28,700 --> 00:14:29,934 the Screaming Eagles. 252 00:14:32,367 --> 00:14:34,099 Their big contribution so far is 253 00:14:34,100 --> 00:14:37,432 when they get dropped behind enemy lines before D-Day. 254 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,867 They've basically been in the game since June 5th of '44. 255 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,933 To say that the 101s is unprepared for this fight 256 00:14:48,934 --> 00:14:51,766 is to understate the matter considerably. 257 00:14:51,767 --> 00:14:53,766 They would usually jump into war zones 258 00:14:53,767 --> 00:14:55,366 carrying what they can carry, 259 00:14:55,367 --> 00:14:59,866 which inherently means they don't have a lot of armor, 260 00:14:59,867 --> 00:15:01,766 they don't have any artillery. 261 00:15:01,767 --> 00:15:04,099 They don't have the winter gear, that equipment 262 00:15:04,100 --> 00:15:06,766 that would allow you to fight a tough battle 263 00:15:06,767 --> 00:15:08,165 in the middle of December. 264 00:15:08,166 --> 00:15:10,100 It's a come-as-you-are war. 265 00:15:11,367 --> 00:15:12,933 It tells you the degree 266 00:15:12,934 --> 00:15:14,599 to which this is a crisis, 267 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,499 that in the midst of this crisis, Eisenhower turns around 268 00:15:17,500 --> 00:15:19,467 and looks and says, "I'll take them." 269 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:23,432 Because the one thing they are 270 00:15:23,433 --> 00:15:25,766 is they are a hardened group of elites, 271 00:15:25,767 --> 00:15:27,833 and they will go in there and do the job 272 00:15:27,834 --> 00:15:30,266 despite all the limitations they face. 273 00:15:35,500 --> 00:15:37,567 December 18th. 274 00:15:38,033 --> 00:15:40,666 The 101st is trucked into Bastogne 275 00:15:40,667 --> 00:15:42,900 to relieve the battered 28th Division. 276 00:15:45,834 --> 00:15:47,999 The defense of this Belgian town is the key 277 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:49,999 to the allied effort against Adolf Hitler 278 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:51,100 on the Western front. 279 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,833 And the key to the defense of this town is in the hands 280 00:15:55,834 --> 00:15:57,834 of the men of the 101st Airborne. 281 00:16:03,667 --> 00:16:04,766 For the Germans, 282 00:16:04,767 --> 00:16:06,232 this whole thing has to happen fast. 283 00:16:06,233 --> 00:16:07,499 Every day they're standing in front of Bastogne 284 00:16:07,500 --> 00:16:09,666 is time they don't have, 285 00:16:09,667 --> 00:16:11,165 time where the weather could clear up, 286 00:16:11,166 --> 00:16:13,399 time where the rest of the allied armies 287 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,165 are starting to get reinforcements in there. 288 00:16:16,166 --> 00:16:17,999 And so the Germans are determined 289 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,165 to throw everything at Bastogne that they possibly have. 290 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,165 There's an artillery bombardment. 291 00:16:29,166 --> 00:16:30,999 They're attacking from all sides. 292 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,066 They're trying to push the Americans out. 293 00:16:35,900 --> 00:16:37,332 For the 101st Airborne, 294 00:16:37,333 --> 00:16:38,399 the fighting around Bastogne 295 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,332 is as tough as any in the war. 296 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:44,999 It's out in the open, it's bitterly cold, 297 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:46,499 there's snow on the ground. 298 00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:48,165 They're short on food, 299 00:16:48,166 --> 00:16:51,332 and yet with almost just small arms, bazookas, 300 00:16:51,333 --> 00:16:54,332 and machine guns, they're able to put up enough bluster 301 00:16:54,333 --> 00:16:57,367 and defense that they're able to hold the line. 302 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,232 To reinforce the 101st in Bastogne, 303 00:17:10,233 --> 00:17:13,100 Eisenhower turns to his most aggressive commander, 304 00:17:14,467 --> 00:17:16,800 General George Patton and the Third Army. 305 00:17:18,567 --> 00:17:20,799 Patton, you know, promises him three divisions 306 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:22,966 in two days for Bastogne, which is something 307 00:17:22,967 --> 00:17:25,400 only George S. Patton would promise. 308 00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:27,533 Promising three divisions. 309 00:17:27,633 --> 00:17:30,799 And you know, that's 40,000 men 310 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,033 ready at 48 hours. 311 00:17:34,900 --> 00:17:36,799 Patton had already planned 312 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,232 for precisely this contingency 313 00:17:38,233 --> 00:17:39,899 and was ready to take the lead 314 00:17:39,900 --> 00:17:41,433 once he was given the operation. 315 00:17:43,900 --> 00:17:45,966 But until the Third Army arrives, 316 00:17:45,967 --> 00:17:48,900 the Screaming Eagles are virtually on their own. 317 00:17:51,233 --> 00:17:53,566 The Germans encircle the city, 318 00:17:53,567 --> 00:17:56,466 and that encirclement will be headline news 319 00:17:56,467 --> 00:17:57,800 back in the United States. 320 00:17:59,066 --> 00:18:02,199 There was this critical thought that we might lose 321 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:06,033 the entire 101st Airborne Division to the enemy. 322 00:18:07,300 --> 00:18:10,132 It looks as if the Germans are really in control 323 00:18:10,133 --> 00:18:13,500 and they send a message to the 101st Airborne. 324 00:18:15,367 --> 00:18:17,967 They say, "You've got to surrender." 325 00:18:20,467 --> 00:18:21,699 They're gonna give it to the 326 00:18:21,700 --> 00:18:23,132 acting division commander, 327 00:18:23,133 --> 00:18:25,199 Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe. 328 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:26,866 McAuliffe will read the thing 329 00:18:26,867 --> 00:18:29,199 and he'll send back a one-word reply 330 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:30,633 and it says, "Nuts!" 331 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,032 Now, you gotta imagine, you know, some savvy 332 00:18:35,033 --> 00:18:36,399 Airborne officer 333 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:38,132 gets to go give this to the German delegation. 334 00:18:38,133 --> 00:18:39,699 Of course, they read "Nuts" and they're like, 335 00:18:39,700 --> 00:18:41,667 "We don't understand the colloquialism." 336 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:44,299 And so he gets to stand there and he says, 337 00:18:44,300 --> 00:18:45,800 "It's the same as go to hell." 338 00:18:47,633 --> 00:18:50,699 And in a sense, the whole unit kind of reaches out 339 00:18:50,700 --> 00:18:53,133 and they hit the collective I believe button, 340 00:18:54,700 --> 00:18:57,299 which is not so much that they can hold out forever, 341 00:18:57,300 --> 00:19:00,265 but Patton's coming. 342 00:19:00,266 --> 00:19:01,433 They're all coming. 343 00:19:01,567 --> 00:19:03,867 All we have to do is hold out a little longer. 344 00:19:15,867 --> 00:19:18,265 In Bastogne, the men of the 101st Division 345 00:19:18,266 --> 00:19:20,533 had been under siege for almost a week. 346 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:26,366 But on December 26th, Patton's Third Army 347 00:19:26,367 --> 00:19:27,767 reaches the outskirts. 348 00:19:29,767 --> 00:19:32,032 Famously, it was the 4th Armored Division 349 00:19:32,033 --> 00:19:34,099 that has given the task of fighting up 350 00:19:34,100 --> 00:19:37,532 a narrow road corridor toward Bastogne. 351 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,599 And on the day after Christmas, on December 26th, 352 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:52,032 elements of C Company of the 37th Tank Battalion 353 00:19:52,033 --> 00:19:54,032 pull up to the Bastogne perimeter. 354 00:19:57,533 --> 00:20:00,265 The allies break the German lines, 355 00:20:00,266 --> 00:20:03,199 and now supplies will be able to flow in. 356 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:04,766 And so for the Germans, 357 00:20:04,767 --> 00:20:07,866 the Ardennes Offensive breaks over Bastogne. 358 00:20:11,033 --> 00:20:13,099 Even though Bastogne is relieved, 359 00:20:13,100 --> 00:20:16,100 fighting continues across the front for weeks. 360 00:20:17,367 --> 00:20:20,032 The United States Army suffers more casualties 361 00:20:20,033 --> 00:20:21,599 in the Battle of the Bulge 362 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,867 than in any other battle in its history. 363 00:20:25,934 --> 00:20:30,200 But ultimately Hitler's Ardennes Offensive is a failure. 364 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:32,632 For Hitler, 365 00:20:32,633 --> 00:20:33,799 the catastrophe of the Ardennes is that 366 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:35,667 it was the last round in the chamber. 367 00:20:35,934 --> 00:20:37,532 The Germans really poured 368 00:20:37,533 --> 00:20:40,099 their entire armored reserve into it. 369 00:20:40,100 --> 00:20:41,599 They could have used those troops 370 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:43,766 perhaps to defend more robustly 371 00:20:43,767 --> 00:20:46,032 in the east and west simultaneously, 372 00:20:46,033 --> 00:20:47,933 but they threw them all away on a gamble 373 00:20:47,934 --> 00:20:49,266 and a gamble that failed. 374 00:20:57,033 --> 00:20:59,766 As the Allies stop Hitler in the West, 375 00:20:59,767 --> 00:21:03,166 the Soviets launch a massive offensive in the East. 376 00:21:06,934 --> 00:21:09,332 The Red Army is a force of millions, 377 00:21:09,333 --> 00:21:12,833 which has begun its advance everywhere from Finland 378 00:21:12,834 --> 00:21:14,499 and the Baltics in the north, 379 00:21:14,500 --> 00:21:17,300 all the way down to the Black Sea in the south. 380 00:21:20,934 --> 00:21:23,999 The Soviet forces had advanced incredible speed, 381 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:25,833 incredible hard fighting, 382 00:21:25,834 --> 00:21:30,265 and Stalin had stopped them between October and December 383 00:21:30,266 --> 00:21:32,833 for a very clear strategic purpose, 384 00:21:32,834 --> 00:21:37,100 to prepare a massive, massive buildup of armor. 385 00:21:38,500 --> 00:21:41,032 So by January '45, 386 00:21:41,033 --> 00:21:42,933 they are ready to go on the offensive. 387 00:21:47,934 --> 00:21:51,999 Within weeks, Soviet forces cross into Germany. 388 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,100 The Red Army has breached the border of the Fatherland. 389 00:21:58,667 --> 00:22:00,999 Having Soviet boots on German ground 390 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,666 is a major blow for the German psyche 391 00:22:04,667 --> 00:22:09,667 because they consider the Soviets as their mortal enemies, 392 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:12,833 and this is a disaster for them. 393 00:22:12,834 --> 00:22:14,666 The war is finally being brought home 394 00:22:14,667 --> 00:22:16,633 to the Germans. 395 00:22:17,900 --> 00:22:20,366 In theory, the Nazi authorities 396 00:22:20,367 --> 00:22:23,032 would've had the time for months 397 00:22:23,033 --> 00:22:25,399 to evacuate the civilians, 398 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,499 but that's something they didn't do, 399 00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:29,999 because if you stay there, you'll show that 400 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:31,233 you've got more confidence 401 00:22:31,367 --> 00:22:33,500 and that you are defending your home territory. 402 00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:37,666 But basically, the Russians come 403 00:22:37,667 --> 00:22:38,999 with such overwhelming force 404 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:40,899 that the Germans can't stop them at the border. 405 00:22:40,900 --> 00:22:43,999 And so this causes mass panic as the German civilians 406 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,899 take to the roads to try to escape this Russian onslaught, 407 00:22:46,900 --> 00:22:49,766 knowing full well what awaits if they stay. 408 00:22:51,900 --> 00:22:54,666 The Germans have fought a horrific war 409 00:22:54,667 --> 00:22:57,233 of annihilation in the Soviet Union. 410 00:22:59,667 --> 00:23:01,733 Now the Soviets are finally able 411 00:23:01,734 --> 00:23:04,133 to take revenge against the Germans. 412 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:11,399 They looted and they pillaged and they raped 413 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:13,299 and they burned and they destroyed, 414 00:23:13,300 --> 00:23:15,065 and they took pleasure in doing these things 415 00:23:15,066 --> 00:23:16,899 as they advanced. 416 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,566 There's 100,000 or more deaths on the German side, 417 00:23:25,567 --> 00:23:27,232 and something like maybe a fifth 418 00:23:27,233 --> 00:23:29,467 of the female population is raped. 419 00:23:33,467 --> 00:23:37,799 This is the beginning of what the Germans can expect 420 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,900 to receive when Red Army break into Berlin. 421 00:23:46,467 --> 00:23:48,399 Joseph Stalin engineers 422 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,566 the Soviet Union's final moves, 423 00:23:51,567 --> 00:23:55,066 as the Red Army continues its march west 424 00:23:56,133 --> 00:23:57,966 towards Berlin. 425 00:23:57,967 --> 00:24:01,366 Berlin is really the be all, end all of the war. 426 00:24:01,367 --> 00:24:03,466 This is where we have the Reich Chancellery, 427 00:24:03,467 --> 00:24:05,632 where we have the Reichstag building, 428 00:24:05,633 --> 00:24:07,699 where Hitler has his bunker. 429 00:24:07,700 --> 00:24:10,699 Once the Red Army reaches Berlin, the war will be over 430 00:24:10,700 --> 00:24:13,199 and it will be a great victory and a great triumph. 431 00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:16,466 For someone who lives in Berlin. 432 00:24:16,467 --> 00:24:19,699 It's not lost on them what happens in East Prussia. 433 00:24:19,700 --> 00:24:21,632 The Soviets are getting retribution 434 00:24:21,633 --> 00:24:24,866 and it's coming in the form of German bodies, 435 00:24:24,867 --> 00:24:28,767 German blood, rapes, killings, and that's coming your way. 436 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,532 Almost the image of an incoming tide that you cannot stop. 437 00:24:45,734 --> 00:24:47,066 In the spring of 1945, 438 00:24:47,166 --> 00:24:50,065 Germany is under assault from multiple directions. 439 00:24:53,934 --> 00:24:59,132 In the east, the Red Army rapidly advances towards Berlin. 440 00:24:59,133 --> 00:25:02,032 In the west, the allies continue on a broad front 441 00:25:02,033 --> 00:25:04,033 as they approach the Rhine River. 442 00:25:07,867 --> 00:25:10,566 The Rhine is the German's last 443 00:25:10,567 --> 00:25:12,532 key strategic position 444 00:25:12,533 --> 00:25:14,499 to try and delay the inevitable 445 00:25:14,500 --> 00:25:16,466 of the allies getting into Germany 446 00:25:16,467 --> 00:25:18,100 and defeating the Third Reich. 447 00:25:18,533 --> 00:25:22,199 It's a big, broad river, fast-flowing, deep, 448 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,199 and the Germans know this, so they're planning 449 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,867 to kind of defend every inch of it. 450 00:25:27,834 --> 00:25:29,866 Their defense strategy in the west is 451 00:25:29,867 --> 00:25:33,000 to blow up all the bridges across the River Rhine. 452 00:25:34,967 --> 00:25:37,300 To use this huge natural barrier. 453 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:43,966 British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery 454 00:25:43,967 --> 00:25:46,966 designs an operation that will take Allied Forces 455 00:25:46,967 --> 00:25:49,700 across the Rhine and further into Germany. 456 00:25:51,467 --> 00:25:54,699 But unexpectedly, the American 9th Armored Division 457 00:25:54,700 --> 00:25:57,367 discovers another way into the German Reich. 458 00:26:01,533 --> 00:26:04,032 Really, out of nowhere, an advanced unit 459 00:26:04,033 --> 00:26:07,032 of Americans ends up at the Remagen Bridge, 460 00:26:07,033 --> 00:26:08,766 the key bridge across the Rhine. 461 00:26:08,767 --> 00:26:12,100 And the Germans, they failed to destroy the bridge properly. 462 00:26:14,266 --> 00:26:16,032 That's not because the Germans were dumb, 463 00:26:16,033 --> 00:26:17,532 the Germans tried to blow the bridge. 464 00:26:17,533 --> 00:26:18,532 It's just that they didn't have 465 00:26:18,533 --> 00:26:20,200 enough explosives to do the job. 466 00:26:21,033 --> 00:26:22,232 But it was very stoutly built. 467 00:26:22,233 --> 00:26:23,799 The bridge just kind of jumps on these 468 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,199 really heavy stone piers 469 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,033 and then settles back into place. 470 00:26:29,266 --> 00:26:31,199 The Allies couldn't believe their luck, 471 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,699 so they raced forward and they took the bridge. 472 00:26:33,700 --> 00:26:34,899 And they get across the Rhine 473 00:26:34,900 --> 00:26:36,700 three weeks earlier than anticipated. 474 00:26:38,266 --> 00:26:40,934 Once you're over the Rhine, you're into Germany proper. 475 00:26:42,100 --> 00:26:44,367 It's a crucial moment for the war in the West. 476 00:26:47,533 --> 00:26:50,866 For the Germans, this is a huge blow 477 00:26:50,867 --> 00:26:53,766 because now the Allies can bring in 478 00:26:53,767 --> 00:26:55,199 reinforcements much quicker 479 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,567 and Hitler is absolutely furious about this. 480 00:26:58,367 --> 00:27:00,666 Oh, Hitler is prone to rage at this time, 481 00:27:00,667 --> 00:27:02,766 and he demands that everyone responsible 482 00:27:02,767 --> 00:27:04,866 will be immediately court marshaled, 483 00:27:04,867 --> 00:27:07,432 not brought to Berlin to explain, 484 00:27:07,433 --> 00:27:11,099 but a drumhead court marshal in the field and shot. 485 00:27:20,433 --> 00:27:22,100 Hitler retreats to Berlin. 486 00:27:23,300 --> 00:27:27,299 He orders the destruction of bridges, roads, railways, 487 00:27:27,300 --> 00:27:32,133 factories, anything that can aid the allied advance. 488 00:27:34,333 --> 00:27:39,432 This Nero order named in honor of the Roman Emperor, 489 00:27:39,433 --> 00:27:42,499 who famously allowed the city of Rome to burn, 490 00:27:42,500 --> 00:27:44,599 would authorize German forces 491 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,766 to destroy absolutely everything as they retreated. 492 00:27:49,166 --> 00:27:50,699 Blow up the bridges, blow up the sanitation, 493 00:27:50,700 --> 00:27:52,066 blow up the power plants, 494 00:27:52,166 --> 00:27:54,999 even if it doesn't do any good in the war effort. 495 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,433 There's no reason to worry about a post-war Germany. 496 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,666 He stopped caring about the individual people 497 00:28:02,667 --> 00:28:06,500 'cause they're no longer worthy of surviving the war. 498 00:28:13,333 --> 00:28:14,999 Hitler commands his loyal 499 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,065 and capable minister of armaments, Albert Speer, 500 00:28:18,066 --> 00:28:19,900 to carry out his order. 501 00:28:21,166 --> 00:28:22,567 Speer refuses. 502 00:28:23,834 --> 00:28:25,833 Because he sees that Hitler's, you know, 503 00:28:25,834 --> 00:28:27,233 gone mad essentially. 504 00:28:27,367 --> 00:28:28,833 And Speer actually comes to Berlin and says, you know, 505 00:28:28,834 --> 00:28:32,533 right before the end, and he says, "I haven't done it." 506 00:28:34,066 --> 00:28:36,566 This shows that the bond between Hitler 507 00:28:36,567 --> 00:28:39,900 and his leadership is being broken to a certain degree. 508 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,499 It's almost to the very last days, the crumbling Third Reich 509 00:28:44,500 --> 00:28:48,232 that this link finally starts to collapse. 510 00:28:48,233 --> 00:28:51,165 Hitler has now lost control of the entire situation. 511 00:28:51,166 --> 00:28:53,500 He's now focused only on the battle of Berlin. 512 00:29:01,100 --> 00:29:04,132 In the garden outside the Reich Chancellery, 513 00:29:04,133 --> 00:29:07,632 the Führer reviews a formation of Hitler youth 514 00:29:07,633 --> 00:29:09,065 who have been awarded the Knight's Cross 515 00:29:09,066 --> 00:29:10,567 for bravery in battle. 516 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,900 Now, many will be ordered to defend Berlin. 517 00:29:15,900 --> 00:29:19,899 The Hitler youth, 14 and 15 and 16-year-old boys. 518 00:29:22,967 --> 00:29:26,433 By any analysis, this is insane. 519 00:29:27,467 --> 00:29:29,399 And he comes up out of the bunker 520 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:34,232 and he pins metals on these sort of beardless little boys. 521 00:29:34,233 --> 00:29:37,232 Any rational onlooker can see that Hitler has lost 522 00:29:37,233 --> 00:29:39,200 all attachment to reason. 523 00:29:41,133 --> 00:29:44,066 It may be he's thinking of the last lost war, 524 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:49,967 but I think 1918 is enough of a obsession with Hitler 525 00:29:50,233 --> 00:29:51,899 that he is determined 526 00:29:51,900 --> 00:29:53,899 that Germany will not give in this time. 527 00:29:53,900 --> 00:29:55,399 There will be no surrender. 528 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:57,899 There will be total war to the end. 529 00:29:57,900 --> 00:29:59,799 If Germany is gonna go down, 530 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,533 it's going to go down in a blaze of glory. 531 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:15,566 Allied forces rapidly advanced 532 00:30:15,567 --> 00:30:19,566 through the Ruhr Valley and into the heart of Germany. 533 00:30:19,567 --> 00:30:21,232 The British and Americans had agreed 534 00:30:21,233 --> 00:30:23,867 that Soviet forces should capture Berlin, 535 00:30:24,734 --> 00:30:28,066 but Stalin grows suspicious of allied success. 536 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,232 You have to remember that Stalin is naturally 537 00:30:33,233 --> 00:30:36,833 and not unreasonably deeply mistrustful. 538 00:30:36,834 --> 00:30:39,499 So when the Western Allies start pouring 539 00:30:39,500 --> 00:30:42,666 into Western Germany far faster than anyone expects, 540 00:30:42,667 --> 00:30:44,566 Stalin fears that there may be something 541 00:30:44,567 --> 00:30:45,734 that he doesn't see. 542 00:30:46,900 --> 00:30:49,532 Stalin is always paranoid 543 00:30:49,533 --> 00:30:52,999 that the Western powers are going to make a deal 544 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,499 with the Germans at the last minute 545 00:30:55,500 --> 00:30:58,066 against the Soviet Union, against the Communists. 546 00:31:08,734 --> 00:31:12,232 In Moscow, Stalin summons Marshal Georgy Zhukov, 547 00:31:12,233 --> 00:31:15,733 the hero of Stalingrad and Kursk, 548 00:31:15,734 --> 00:31:17,299 and Marshal Ivan Konev, 549 00:31:17,300 --> 00:31:19,566 who has led the first Ukrainian front, 550 00:31:19,567 --> 00:31:22,133 a famed Red Army group throughout the war. 551 00:31:26,066 --> 00:31:28,899 He sits there with the map and he says, 552 00:31:28,900 --> 00:31:30,633 "Who's gonna take Berlin?" 553 00:31:31,633 --> 00:31:33,899 So Stalin effectively sets up 554 00:31:33,900 --> 00:31:35,600 a kind of race between them 555 00:31:36,233 --> 00:31:38,566 to see who will take Berlin first. 556 00:31:38,567 --> 00:31:41,132 So this is a way of motivating his generals 557 00:31:41,133 --> 00:31:44,065 because Stalin, of course, wanted to ensure 558 00:31:44,066 --> 00:31:47,232 that the Red Army would be the first to reach Berlin. 559 00:31:47,233 --> 00:31:51,299 And in an amazing scene, both Marshals salute 560 00:31:51,300 --> 00:31:54,566 and leave the room and run to their cars 561 00:31:54,567 --> 00:31:56,900 to start the race to Berlin. 562 00:32:03,467 --> 00:32:06,700 By mid-April, the Red Army is closing in on Berlin. 563 00:32:08,367 --> 00:32:10,633 Zhukov's forces approach from the east. 564 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:14,133 Konev's troops will attack from the south. 565 00:32:15,467 --> 00:32:17,532 The final assault on Berlin begins 566 00:32:17,533 --> 00:32:20,366 with a ferocious artillery barrage. 567 00:32:29,033 --> 00:32:34,000 Something like 9,000 guns rained down 1.2 million shells. 568 00:32:38,033 --> 00:32:40,299 To put that in context, the British fired 569 00:32:40,300 --> 00:32:41,966 one million rounds of artillery 570 00:32:41,967 --> 00:32:43,699 onto the German trenches on the Somme 571 00:32:43,700 --> 00:32:45,467 over like two weeks in World War I. 572 00:32:46,867 --> 00:32:50,867 Now, in one day more shells into the streets of Berlin. 573 00:32:55,300 --> 00:32:56,600 Zhukov's forces meet 574 00:32:56,700 --> 00:33:00,699 particularly fierce resistance in the Seelow heights, 575 00:33:00,700 --> 00:33:04,266 an area the Germans consider the gates of Berlin. 576 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:08,599 The Germans are dug in. 577 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:10,265 They have no desire to surrender 578 00:33:10,266 --> 00:33:12,867 because they know they would be viewed as traitors. 579 00:33:13,767 --> 00:33:17,699 Berlin is meant to be a fortress city, Festung Berlin. 580 00:33:17,700 --> 00:33:20,000 This means it has to be defended at all costs. 581 00:33:22,266 --> 00:33:24,766 Hitler's order was to keep fighting 582 00:33:24,767 --> 00:33:26,766 until there's nothing left. 583 00:33:26,767 --> 00:33:29,599 They're not gonna admit the war's been lost. 584 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,432 Hitler is now facing total defeat, 585 00:33:32,433 --> 00:33:35,366 and he wants to drag the entire German people 586 00:33:35,367 --> 00:33:37,400 into this total defeat. 587 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:40,599 The population has been pressed into service. 588 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:43,099 They've been, you know, building tank traps 589 00:33:43,100 --> 00:33:44,333 and digging ditches. 590 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,599 But I don't think you can fool a bunch of people 591 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:49,766 who are living in cities that are rubble. 592 00:33:49,767 --> 00:33:52,432 You hear the artillery in the distance 593 00:33:52,433 --> 00:33:54,766 that the Soviets are shooting at your city. 594 00:33:54,767 --> 00:33:56,866 I mean, we're past the time of illusions. 595 00:33:56,867 --> 00:33:58,767 You're people at the end of the rope. 596 00:33:59,967 --> 00:34:01,599 The German troops that are left, 597 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:05,165 it's this bizarre assembly of overage people 598 00:34:05,166 --> 00:34:07,834 that normally wouldn't be drafted or underage. 599 00:34:09,767 --> 00:34:13,499 You have a large number of very young members 600 00:34:13,500 --> 00:34:14,667 of the Volkssturm. 601 00:34:16,166 --> 00:34:18,499 They were divided into these tank hunting units 602 00:34:18,500 --> 00:34:20,632 where they were 12 and 13-year-old boys 603 00:34:20,633 --> 00:34:21,734 that were equipped with this 604 00:34:21,834 --> 00:34:23,599 very effective German anti-tank weapon 605 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:24,767 called the Panzerfaust. 606 00:34:26,767 --> 00:34:29,165 These basically one-shot German bazookas, 607 00:34:29,166 --> 00:34:31,265 and they're gonna be in these load of fighting holes 608 00:34:31,266 --> 00:34:34,599 waiting for the Soviet tanks to come and take their one shot 609 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,667 and then be, you know, crushed into pulp under the treads, 610 00:34:39,333 --> 00:34:41,766 The ideology of the Reich has gone out the window. 611 00:34:41,767 --> 00:34:44,066 You don't know what you're fighting for anymore. 612 00:34:45,667 --> 00:34:48,766 You are now protecting your street and your friends 613 00:34:48,767 --> 00:34:51,333 and your family from the marauders that are coming. 614 00:34:53,333 --> 00:34:57,466 If you're still in Berlin by April 1945, 615 00:34:57,467 --> 00:34:58,500 you're not gonna get out. 616 00:34:59,667 --> 00:35:02,165 So you're fighting for your life. 617 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,566 On April 19th, Zhukov's troops 618 00:35:20,567 --> 00:35:23,833 break through the German lines at Seelow Heights. 619 00:35:23,834 --> 00:35:27,000 Konev enters the Nazi capital from the south. 620 00:35:34,500 --> 00:35:36,400 Battle of Berlin is brutal. 621 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:41,499 It's an urban battlefield, 622 00:35:41,500 --> 00:35:44,733 which is the hardest sort of fighting and the most costly. 623 00:35:46,834 --> 00:35:49,165 It's impossible not to take every building. 624 00:35:49,166 --> 00:35:50,633 You can't leave buildings behind you. 625 00:35:50,767 --> 00:35:53,867 You're under fire all the time from buildings on both sides. 626 00:35:55,900 --> 00:35:57,666 Large amounts of civilians are killed, 627 00:35:57,667 --> 00:36:01,399 and it's incredibly slow and dangerous. 628 00:36:05,734 --> 00:36:08,232 This moonscape of Berlin that's already been 629 00:36:08,233 --> 00:36:11,899 just shattered to rubble is now just being pounded 630 00:36:11,900 --> 00:36:13,466 by companies of Soviet infantry 631 00:36:13,467 --> 00:36:15,566 filtering into the city from all points. 632 00:36:15,567 --> 00:36:17,566 I mean, literally all points. 633 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:32,899 But in the end, this extraordinary battle, 634 00:36:32,900 --> 00:36:37,967 the Soviet troops begin to converge on the Chancellery. 635 00:36:42,233 --> 00:36:44,733 Beneath the Reich Chancellery, 636 00:36:44,734 --> 00:36:46,733 Hitler is sequestered in a bunker 637 00:36:46,734 --> 00:36:49,232 with his companion, Eva Braun, 638 00:36:49,233 --> 00:36:51,966 and surrounded by aides, secretaries, 639 00:36:51,967 --> 00:36:53,734 and Nazi party officials. 640 00:36:55,066 --> 00:36:57,466 He believes that the military 641 00:36:57,467 --> 00:37:01,199 and the German people have let him down. 642 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:03,632 Hitler wants to keep the resistance going 643 00:37:03,633 --> 00:37:05,466 for as long as possible to inflict 644 00:37:05,467 --> 00:37:08,032 as much damage on the invading armies. 645 00:37:08,033 --> 00:37:12,699 However, he does not want to outlast, to outlive the war. 646 00:37:12,700 --> 00:37:15,299 He does not want to become a prisoner of war. 647 00:37:15,300 --> 00:37:17,966 He does not want to become some type of curiosity 648 00:37:17,967 --> 00:37:20,033 exhibited by his enemies. 649 00:37:21,300 --> 00:37:25,632 And so he has to stay alive as long as possible, 650 00:37:25,633 --> 00:37:28,299 as close to the bitter end as possible 651 00:37:28,300 --> 00:37:32,632 so that there will never really be an idea of Nazi Germany 652 00:37:32,633 --> 00:37:35,667 in people's minds that does not include Adolf Hitler. 653 00:37:36,867 --> 00:37:40,866 He's going to go down in Wagnerian fashion 654 00:37:40,867 --> 00:37:42,467 and take a world with him. 655 00:37:52,133 --> 00:37:54,466 On April 29th, Hitler is informed 656 00:37:54,467 --> 00:37:57,532 that his longtime ally, the Italian dictator 657 00:37:57,533 --> 00:38:01,432 Benito Mussolini, has been executed. 658 00:38:01,433 --> 00:38:04,867 His body put on display by Italian partisans. 659 00:38:06,533 --> 00:38:09,199 Mussolini has just been hung upside down 660 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,532 in a gas station in northern Italy, 661 00:38:11,533 --> 00:38:13,265 along with his mistress, Clara Petacci, 662 00:38:13,266 --> 00:38:16,867 where he's like mocked and spat upon and vilified. 663 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:21,567 Hitler fears the same fate for himself. 664 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:25,766 The Soviets are right outside the Führer bunker. 665 00:38:25,767 --> 00:38:28,400 He's listening to the shelling happening above him. 666 00:38:32,533 --> 00:38:36,265 And so Adolf Hitler, on April 30th, 1945, 667 00:38:36,266 --> 00:38:40,100 commits suicide in the Führer bunker along with Eva Braun 668 00:38:43,367 --> 00:38:45,600 in a city that has been reduced to rubble. 669 00:38:56,100 --> 00:38:57,599 When Hitler commits suicide, 670 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:00,999 Stalin is woken in the night by Marshal Zhukov, 671 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,099 and Marshal Zhukov says to him, 672 00:39:03,100 --> 00:39:05,099 "Marshal Stalin, I've got news. 673 00:39:05,100 --> 00:39:07,499 Hitler is dead and he's committed suicide in the ruins," 674 00:39:07,500 --> 00:39:08,766 and there's a long silence. 675 00:39:08,767 --> 00:39:10,833 And then Stalin says something like, 676 00:39:10,834 --> 00:39:12,599 "So that's the end of the bastard." 677 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:15,567 Puts the phone down and goes back to sleep. 678 00:39:30,500 --> 00:39:33,833 On May 2nd, the Soviets raised their flag 679 00:39:33,834 --> 00:39:35,667 above the ruins of the Reichstag. 680 00:39:39,266 --> 00:39:42,499 On May 7th, German General Alfred Jodl 681 00:39:42,500 --> 00:39:46,000 surrenders to the Western Allies at Reims, France. 682 00:39:47,934 --> 00:39:51,099 A day later, the Germans officially surrendered 683 00:39:51,100 --> 00:39:52,266 to the Soviets. 684 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:54,332 With the stroke of the pen, 685 00:39:54,333 --> 00:39:58,666 Nazi Germany ceases to exist on May 8th, 1945. 686 00:40:06,333 --> 00:40:09,333 This is a solemn but a glorious hour. 687 00:40:10,433 --> 00:40:14,265 General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany 688 00:40:14,266 --> 00:40:16,400 has surrendered to the United Nations. 689 00:40:17,767 --> 00:40:19,933 Here we are at the end of a brutal war 690 00:40:19,934 --> 00:40:22,933 against a brutal adversary in Europe. 691 00:40:22,934 --> 00:40:26,933 And there was such great costs with so much exhaustion. 692 00:40:26,934 --> 00:40:28,933 It's almost impossible to imagine 693 00:40:28,934 --> 00:40:30,467 what that must have been like. 694 00:40:34,834 --> 00:40:37,667 Our rejoicing is sobered and subdued 695 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:41,332 by a supreme consciousness of the terrible price 696 00:40:41,333 --> 00:40:44,666 we have paid to rid the world of Hitler 697 00:40:44,667 --> 00:40:46,633 and his evil band. 698 00:40:48,266 --> 00:40:51,000 Hitler was the ultimate reckless gambler. 699 00:40:52,166 --> 00:40:55,433 Risking everything, even Germany, even Europe. 700 00:40:58,333 --> 00:41:00,833 Let us not forget the sorrow 701 00:41:00,834 --> 00:41:03,999 and the heartache, which today abide 702 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:06,834 in the homes of so many of our neighbors. 703 00:41:07,900 --> 00:41:09,833 The Second World War, unlike the first, 704 00:41:09,834 --> 00:41:12,165 is one in which the majority of the casualties 705 00:41:12,166 --> 00:41:14,900 actually happened among the civilian population. 706 00:41:15,834 --> 00:41:17,566 A lot of it was simply because of 707 00:41:17,567 --> 00:41:20,332 the vast atrocities committed. 708 00:41:24,734 --> 00:41:29,165 The war left terrible scars on the landscape of Europe 709 00:41:29,166 --> 00:41:31,467 and in the memories of the populations. 710 00:41:34,734 --> 00:41:36,899 We must work to bind up the wounds 711 00:41:36,900 --> 00:41:38,666 of a suffering world. 712 00:41:38,667 --> 00:41:42,834 The West is free, but the East is still in bondage. 713 00:41:44,066 --> 00:41:48,899 In the popular mind, World War II tends to wrap up 714 00:41:48,900 --> 00:41:51,066 with the glory of VE Day. 715 00:41:52,900 --> 00:41:55,065 It did not happen that way 716 00:41:55,066 --> 00:41:57,900 for the people who were fighting it. 717 00:41:59,166 --> 00:42:02,567 In the Pacific, there's no end in sight. 718 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:06,232 When the last Japanese division 719 00:42:06,233 --> 00:42:09,399 has surrendered unconditionally, 720 00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:12,400 then only will our fighting job be done. 721 00:42:13,633 --> 00:42:18,165 Until that day, let no man abandon his post 722 00:42:18,166 --> 00:42:19,533 or slacken his efforts. 723 00:42:23,967 --> 00:42:28,966 After VE Day, Europeans facing chaos and uncertainty 724 00:42:28,967 --> 00:42:30,632 begin the long work of putting 725 00:42:30,633 --> 00:42:32,767 their shattered world back together. 726 00:42:33,567 --> 00:42:37,299 In the Pacific, the war is reaching a crescendo. 727 00:42:37,300 --> 00:42:38,966 As the United States fights its way 728 00:42:38,967 --> 00:42:40,799 to the Japanese home islands, 729 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:44,799 a new weapon is tested in the deserts of New Mexico. 730 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:49,266 A noiseless flash with a potential to change the world.