All language subtitles for The Road To Berlin Part II

[Music]

main fuhrer

the russian forces are both capable and

enormous

it is my duty to make that absolutely

clear

it is also my duty to tell you that i

cannot guarantee

that the attack can be repelled

fate faith and strong belief and success

will make up for all these

insufficiencies i tell you

carnal general if you are conscious of

the fact

that this battle should be won it will

be won

the forces i have presented are for the

most part

fighters they're the best of the best

and they

are the troops who are at mont casino

troops whose fame outshone all

others these men have the will the

courage and certainly the experience

5th of april 1945.

deciding strategy against the soviets on

the oda

even azhoukov and konov began feverishly

preparing to hurl 13 armies

with more than a million men at berlin

hitler had another of his famous

intuitions the gathering of the russian

army's at questron directly opposite the

capital

was nothing more than a mighty faint he

concluded the main soviet offensive

would be aimed at prague in the south

not at berlin

ferdinand schoner the commander of army

group center

was the only one of hitler's generals

that shared this opinion

he was amongst the least talented but he

was a favorite of the fuhrer

and was therefore promptly promoted to

field marshall

at the same time hitler issued a fateful

directive

on april 5 he ordered the transfer south

of four of heinrich's veteran panzer

units

the very forces the new commander army

group vestila had been depending on to

blunt the russian drive

the same day at 3 p.m hanuritsi was to

attend a memorable conference

at the fiora bunker in berlin

as we saw in the last episode the bitter

assignment of

who was to hold the soviets on the oda

and save berlin

fell on hanuritzi a man largely unknown

in popular culture

let's have a closer look on the man who

just became the most

important german officer in this last

major battle

of the war colonel general godhard

heinrichy

58 was a seasoned officer

he was the cousin of marshall gervais or

instead

and was considered along with martial

model one of the vermax masters of

defense

he was also seen as an atypical marked

officer

and his career records confirmed this

few german generals had

experienced more of the war and

conversely

few of such high rank had achieved less

prominence

he was no dashing rommel praised for his

successes

and honored with a field martial's baton

no

outside of battle orders heinrich's name

had scarcely appeared in print

the fame and glory that every soldier

seeks

had eluded him his specialty was defense

and in that he had few peers a

thoughtful and precise strategist

a deceptively mild-mannered commander

heinrichy was

nevertheless a tough general of the old

aristocratic school

who had long ago learned to hold the

line with the minimum of men

and at the lowest possible cost

heinrichy hated the highly polished

knee-high jack boot

so popular with german officers he

preferred ordinary

low-cut boots worn with the

old-fashioned

world war one leather leggings that

buckled at the side

as for his overcoats he liked his ratty

sheepskin coat

and refused to part with it despite the

advice he received from fellow officers

he wore his uniforms until they were

threadbare

but if heinriche did not look the part

of a general

he did act like one he was every inch

the soldier

and to the troops he commanded

particularly after his standard moscow

he was a legendary one in december 1941

the german armies were thrown back with

staggering losses

from the gates of moscow and for a time

it seemed as if the terrible retreat of

napoleon's armies in 1812

would be repeated on an even greater and

bloodier scale

the line had to be stabilized and it was

heinrichy

who was given the toughest sector to

hold on january 26

1942 he was placed in command of the

remnants of the fourth army

which was the linchpin of the german

line holding the ground directly facing

moscow

any major withdrawal on its part would

jeopardize the armies on either flank

and might trigger a route

heinrichy then developed a technique

that made him famous

when he knew a russian attack was coming

in a particular sector

he would order his troops to retreat the

night before to new positions

one or two miles back the russian

artillery barrage would land

on a deserted front line as heinrich

himself put it

it was like hitting an empty bag the

russian attack would lose its speed

because my men

unharmed would be ready then my troops

on sectors that had not been attacked

would close in and reoccupy the original

front lines

the trick was to know when the russians

were preparing for an attack

from intelligence reports patrols and

the interrogation of prisoners

plus an extraordinary sixth sense

heinrichy was able to pinpoint the time

and place

with almost mathematical precision it

was not always possible to employ these

methods

but when he did heinrichy had to use

great caution

hitler had punished other generals for

defying his no withdrawal order

for obvious reasons heinrichy had never

been a favorite of hitler

or his court his aristocratic and

conservative military background

demanded that he faithfully observe the

oath of allegiance to hitler

but the call of a higher dictatorship

had always come first

early in the war heinrichy had fallen

afoul of the fuhrer

because of his religious views heinrichy

who had never been a member of the nazi

party

was informed that the fuhrer considers

your religious activities

incompatible with the aims of national

socialism

stonerly heinrichy listen to the warning

the following sunday he

his wife son and daughter attended

church as usual

thereafter he was promoted slowly and

reluctantly

promotion might have been denied him

entirely except for his undeniably

brilliant leadership

and the fact that the various commanders

under whom he

served kept insisting on his promotion

late in 1943 heinrich incurred the

enmity of rex marshal hermann goring

once again on religious grounds goring

vehemently complained to hitler

that during the retreat of the fourth

army in russia heinrich had failed to

carry out the fueler's scorched earth

policy

specifically he charged that the general

had deliberately defied the orders

to burn and lay waste every habitable

building in smolyansk

among other buildings left standing had

been the town's great cathedral

heinrichy explained solemnly that had

small yentz been fired i could not have

withdrawn my forces through it

as colonel general hinolici arrived with

his agilent colonel eisman

he could only make a guess as to the

size and depth of the bunker

from what he could see it appeared

relatively spacious

with doors leading to rooms on either

side of the corridor lounge

and beyond because of its low ceiling

narrow metal doors and the absence of

windows this might have been the

passageway in a small ocean liner

except that they were at least 40 feet

below ground

a tall elegantly dressed ss officer

appeared

this was hitler's personal aid and

bodyguard colonel gunter

hitler's adjutant general bergdorf came

next

then came field marshal keital the okw

chief of staff

followed by himmler admiral dernitz and

the man reputed to be hitler's closest

confidante

martin bormann all greeted the newcomers

loudly

in ritzy's posture stiff serious and

measured

made him look like a real soldier

surrounded by court

whose only goal was to gain importance

in hitler's eyes heinrichy tensed as

himmler walked across the room

toward him in an undertone the general

growled to his agent

that man is never going to set foot in

mind headquarters

if he ever announces a visit tell me

quickly

so i can leave he makes me sick

and indeed heinrich looked pale as

himmler dragged him into conversation

at that moment general krebs guderian's

successor at the okh general staff

came into the room and seeing heinrichy

came across to him immediately

earlier in the day the commander of army

group vistala had learned of the

transfer of his vital armored units to

shrona's army group

even has he blamed krebs for not

vigorously protesting the decision

heinrichy now seemed almost cordial to

the new chief of the army

at least he did not have to continue

talking to himmler

krebs as usual was diplomatic and

solicitous

he had no doubt that everything would

work out all right at the conference

he assured heinrichsie dernitz keitel

and borman now joined them

and listened as heinrichy mentioned some

of his problems

all three promised their support when

heinrich made his presentation to hitler

borman then turned to eisman and asked

what's your opinion about the army group

situation

with soviet troops only 38 miles from

the capital

and the allies racing across germany

from the west

the question seemed to border on madness

iceman replied bluntly the situation is

serious that's why we're here bowman

patted him smoothingly on the shoulder

you shouldn't worry so much the fuhrer

is sure to grant you help

you'll get all the forces you need

iceman stared

where did borman think the forces were

to come from

for a moment he had the uncomfortable

feeling that he and heinrich were the

only sane people in the room

more and more officers and staff were

filing into the already crowded corridor

among them were hitler's operations

chief general yodel

the luftwaffe's chief of staff general

kola

and the okw's staff chief in charge of

supplies and reinforcements

general bulla nearly every man seemed to

be followed by an aide

an orderly or a deputy the resulting

noise and confusion

reminded eisemann of a swarm of bees

in the pact corridor heinrich now stood

silent

listening impassively to the din of

conversation

for the most part it consisted of small

talk

trivial and irrelevant the bunker seemed

unreal

the experienced general had the

disquieting feeling

that the men around hitler had retreated

into a dream world

in which they had convinced themselves

that by some miracle a catastrophe

could be averted now as they waited for

the man who

they believed would produce this miracle

there was a sudden movement in the

corridor

general bergdorf hands high above his

head waving the group into silence

gentlemen gentlemen he said the fiora is

coming

he came shuffling into the bunker

corridor half bent

dragging his left foot the left arm

shaking uncontrollably

he looked much smaller than he was the

eyes that admirers had called magnetic

were feverish and red as if he had not

slept for days his face was puffy

and its color was a blotchy faded gray

a pair of pale green spectacles dangled

from his right hand

because bright light bothered him now

for a moment

he goes expressionlessly at his generals

as their hands shot up into a resounding

hitler the corridor was so crowded

that hitler had some difficulty getting

past everyone to reach the small

conference room

eisemann noticed that the others began

talking

as soon as the furore passed there was

not the respectful silence he had

expected

heinrichy was surprised by the fuhrer's

pitiful appearance

slowly hitler shuffled to his place at

the head of the table

to iceman's surprise he seemed to

crumple

like a sack into the armchair not

uttering a word

and held that prostrate condition his

arms propped up on the sides of the

chair

krebs and boarman moved him behind the

fuhrer to sit on a bench against the

wall

keitel himmler and dernitz took chairs

on the opposite side of the table

krebs began the conference looking first

at heinrichy and said

in order that the commander can get back

to his army group as soon as possible i

propose that he give his report

immediately

hitler nodded put on his green glasses

and gesture to heinrichy to begin

in his measured and precise manner the

general got straight to the point

looking directly at each man around the

table then at hitler he said

mind fearer i must tell you that the

enemy is preparing an attack

of unusual strength and unusual force

as these moments are preparing in these

areas in south auschwitz

to the south of frankfurt on hitler's

own map

lying on the table heinrichy slowly ran

his finger down the threatened section

of the other front

a line roughly 75 miles long touching

briefly on the cities where he expected

the heaviest blows

at schwed in the veritsen area around

the christian bridgehead

and south of frankfurt he said the main

attack will hit busel's ninth army

and it will strike the southern flank of

one muslim instead of panzer army

around streets carefully heinrichy

described

how he had juggled his forces to build

up buses ninth army

against the expected russian onslaught

but because of this need to strengthen

busa von montofil had suffered

part of the third panzer army front was

now being held by inferior troops

aged home guardsmen a few hungarian

units and some divisions of russian

defectors

under general andrei velasov well the

ninth army is now in better shape than

it was

the third panzer armies in no state to

fight at all

so the potential of von mooseville's

troops at least in the middle northern

sectors of his front

is low they have no artillery whatsoever

anti-aircraft guns cannot replace

artillery and

in any case there is insufficient

ammunition

even for this krebs hastily interrupted

the third panzer army will receive

artillery shortly

heinrich inclined his head but made no

comment

he would believe krebs when he actually

saw the guns

continuing as though there had been no

interruption he explained to hitler

that the third panzer owed its present

safe situation

to one thing only the flooded order

i must warn you who said we can accept

this third panzer's weak conditions

only as long as the altar remains

flooded once the waters drop

the russians will not fail to attack

there too

the men in the room listened attentively

if a little uneasily to heinrich's

presentation

such directness at a hitler conference

was unusual

most officers presented the gains and

skipped the drawbacks

not since guderian's departure had

anyone spoken so frankly

and it was clear that heinrichy was only

beginning

now he turned to the matter of the

garrison holding out at frankfurt on oda

hitler had declared the city a fortress

like the ill-fated questrin

heinrich wanted frankfurt abandoned he

felt the troops there were being

sacrificed on the altar of hitler's

fortress mania

they could be saved and used to

advantage elsewhere

gadarian who had shared the same opinion

regarding pustrin

had been broken for his views about that

city

heinrichy might meet the same fate for

his opposition now

but the vestila commander saw the men of

frankfurt as his responsibility whatever

the consequences

he was not to be intimidated he raised

the issue

in the ninth army sector one of the

weakest parts of the front

is around frankfurt the garrison's

strength is very low

as is their ammunition i believe we

should abandon their defense at

frankfurt

and bring the troops out suddenly hitler

looked up and uttered his first words

since the meeting began he said harshly

i refuse to accept this up to this point

hitler had sat not only silent but

unmoving

as though completely disinterested

eisman had had the impression that he

wasn't even listening

now the fuhrer suddenly came awake and

began to take an intense interest

he began asking about the garrison

strength supplies and ammunition

and even for some incomprehensible

reason about the deployment of

frankfurt's artillery

heinrichy had the answers step by step

he built his case

taking reports and statistics from

iceman and placing them on the table

before the fuhrer

he looked at the papers as each was

handed over

and seemed impressed sensing his

opportunity

heinrichy said quietly but emphatically

mine fiera

i honestly feel that giving up the

defense of frankenfoot

would be a wise and sound move to the

astonishment of most of those in the

room

hitler turning to the chief of okh said

krebs i believes the general's opinion

on frankfurt is sound

make out the necessary orders for the

army group and give them to me today

in the stunned silence that followed the

battle of voices in the corridor outside

seemed unduly loud eisman sensed

a sudden and new respect for heinrichy

heinrichy himself

seemed completely unmoved he remembered

but he gave me a look which i

interpreted as

well we've won at that moment there was

a loud commotion in the corridor

and the vast bulk of reich's marshall

gording filled the doorway of the little

conference room

pushing his way in goering loudly

greeted those present

took hitler's hand vigorously and

excused himself for being late

he squeezed in next to donuts and there

was an uncomfortable delay while krebs

brought him quickly up to date

on heinrich's briefing when krebs had

finished

guring got up and placed both hands on

the map table

leaned toward hitler as though to make

some comment on the proceedings

instead smiling widely and with obvious

good humor he said

i must tell you a story about one of my

visits to the ninth parachute division

he got no further hitler sat suddenly

bolt upright in his chair

and then jerked himself to his feet

words poured from his mouth in such a

torrent

that those present could scarcely

understand him

before our eyes recalled eisemann he

went into a volcanic rage

his fury had nothing to do with guring

it was a diatribe against his advisors

and generals

for deliberately refusing to understand

him on the tactical use of forts

he yelled again and again forts have

fulfilled their purpose throughout the

war

this was proven at poison and breslau

how many russians were pinned down by

sem and how difficult they were to

capture

every one of those thoughts was held to

the very last man

history has proved me right and my order

to defend the four to the last man

is right that's why frankfurt is to

retain its starters as a fort

as suddenly as it had begun the tirade

ended

but hitler though slack with exhaustion

could no longer sit still

despite hitler's choleric outburst and

despite his mercurial change of mind

about frankfurt

heinrichy doggedly refused to give up

quietly

patiently almost as though the outburst

had not occurred

he went over all the arguments again

underlining

every conceivable reason for abandoning

frankfurt

dernitz himmler and guring supported him

but it was token's support at best

the three most powerful generals in the

room remained silent

kaitl and yodel said nothing and just as

heinriche had expected

krebs offered no opinion one way or the

other

hitler apparently spent only made tired

gestures with his hands

as he dismissed each argument then with

renewed vitality

he demanded to know the credentials of

the commander of the frankfurt garrison

colonel bieler heinrichy replied

he is a very reliable and experienced

officer

who has proven himself time and time

again in battle

is he agonizing now snapped hitler

referring to general graf von neisenow

who had successfully defended the

fortress of kolberg against

napoleon in 1806 heinrichy

kept his composure the battle for

frankfurt will prove whether he is a

noose now or not

all right send bela to see me tomorrow

so that i can judge him

then i shall decide what's to be done

about frankfurt

mind fuhrer i do not believe the forces

of the altar front

will be able to resist the extremely

heavy russian attacks

which will be made upon them hitler

still trembling was silent heinrich

described the state of the troops

most units in the line were untrained

inexperienced

or so watered down by green

reinforcements as to be unreliable

the same was true of many of the

commanders

for example tonight's parachute division

worries me

its commanders and non-commissioned

officers are nearly all former

administration officers

both untrained and unaccustomed to lead

fighting units

goring suddenly bristled he said in a

loud voice

my paratroopers you're talking about my

paratroopers

they're the best in existence and i

won't listen to such

degrading remarks i personally guarantee

their

fighting capabilities your few

hair rights marshall is somewhat biased

i'm not saying anything against your

troops but experience has taught me that

untrained units

especially those led by korean officers

are often so terribly shaken by their

first exposure to artillery bombardment

that they are not much good for anything

thereafter

hitler spoke again his voice now calm

and rational

everything must be done to train these

formations

there is certainly time to do this

before the battle

training will not give then fighting

experience and that is what's lacking

the right commanders will provide the

experience

and anyway the russians are fighting

with substandard troops too

stalin is nearing the end of his

strength and about all he has left us

slave soldiers

whose capabilities are extremely limited

the time to hammer home the truths of

the desperate situation had arrived

heinrichy said bluntly mind fuhrer

the russian forces are both capable and

enormous

i must tell you that since the transfer

of the armored units to shorena

all my troops good and bad must be used

as front line troops

there are no reserves none will they

resist the heavy shelling preceding the

attack

will they withstand the initial impact

for a time

perhaps yes but against the kind of

attack we expect

every one of our divisions will lose a

battalion a day

this means set all along the battlefront

we will lose divisions themselves at

this rate at once per

week we cannot sustain such losses

we have nothing to replace them with

mindfield at best we can hold out for

just a few days

then it must all come to an end there

was dead silence

heinrichy knew that his figures were

indisputable

the men gathered there were as familiar

with casualty statistics as he

the difference was that they would not

have spoken of them

guring was the first to break the

deafening silence

my fuhrer i will place immediately at

your disposal

100 000 luftwaffe men

they will report to the older front in a

few days

himmler glanced at goring his main rival

than

at hitler as if sampling the fuhrer's

reaction

then he too made an announcement i fear

the ss has the honor to furnish 25 000

fighters for the odor front

donuts was not to be outdone he declared

my pure 12 000 sailors will be released

immediately

from their ships and rushed to the odor

heinrichy stared at them

they were volunteering untrained

unequipped

unqualified forces from their own

private empires

spending men instead of money in a sport

of ghastly auction

they were bidding against one another

not to save germany

but to impress hitler and suddenly the

auction fever became contagious

voices sounded as each man tried to

suggest other forces that might be

available

someone asked for the reserve army

figures and hitler called out for major

general bulla

staff chief in charge of supplies and

reinforcements

as he entered the conference room

heinrichy looked at him and then away

in disgust had obviously been drinking

nobody else seemed to notice or care

including hitler

who put a number of questions to him

about reserves supplies of rifles small

arms and ammunition

bulla answered thickly and heinrichy

thought stupidly

but the answers seemed to satisfy hitler

according to him

another 13 000 troops could be scraped

together from the so-called reserve army

dismissing bula hitler turned to

heinrichy there

you have 150 000 men about 12 divisions

there are your reserves the auction was

over

hitler apparently considered the army

group's problem settled

it all he had done was to buy at most 12

more days for the third reich

and probably at a tremendous cost

heinrichy struggled

to preserve his control these men are

not trained

they have been in rear areas and in

offices or on ships

in maintenance work at luftwaffe bases

they have never fought a safrance

they've never seen a russian gording

cut in the forces i have presented are

for the most part

fighters they're the best of the best

and they are the troops who are at mont

casino

troops whose fame outshone all others

these men have the will the courage and

certainly the experience

dernitz too was angry i tell you the

crews of warships are as good as your

vermont troops

for just a moment heinrichy himself

flared

don't you think there's a big difference

between fighting at sea and fighting on

land i tell you

all these men will be slaughters at a

front slaughtered

if heinrich's sudden outburst moved

hitler he did not show it

as the others fumed he seemed to have

grown icely calm

all right we will place these reserved

troops into second line

about eight kilometers behind the first

the front line will absorb the brunt of

the russian preparatory artillery fire

meanwhile the reserves will grow

accustomed to battle

and if the russians break through they

will then fight

to throw back the russians if they break

true you have to use the panzer

divisions

and he goes to heinrichy as though a

waiting agreement on what was really

a very simple matter heinrichy did not

find it so

you have taken away my most experienced

armored units

sir army group has made a request for

their return

i must have them back there was a

movement behind him and hitler's agent

bergdorf

whispered angrily in heinrich easier

finish

you must finish this but heinrichy stood

his ground ignoring bergdorf he repeated

my fuhrer i must have those armored

units back

hitler waved his hand almost

apologetically

i am very sorry but i had to take them

from you

your pantses are needed much more by

your southern neighbor

the main attack of the russians is

clearly not aimed at berlin

there is a stronger concentration of

enemy forces

to the south of your front in saxony all

of this is merely a support attack

in order to confuse the main thrust of

the enemy will not be directed at berlin

but there at prague consequently

the army group fistula should be well

able to withstand

the secondary attacks heinrichy stared

unbelievably at hitler

then he looked at krebs certainly all

this must seem equally irrational to the

chief of okh

but it did not heinriche had done all he

could

he thought it was now time to conclude

this unreal conversation

my fuhrer i have completed everything

possible to prepare for the attack

i cannot consider these 150 000 men as

reserves

i also cannot do anything about the

terrible losses

we must surely sustain it is my duty

to make that absolutely clear it is also

my duty

to tell you that i cannot guarantee that

the attack can be repelled

at these words hitler was like one

suddenly awakened

struggling to his feet he hit the table

and yelled

fate fate and strong belief and success

will make up for all these

insufficiencies every commander must be

filled with confidence

you you must radiate this fate you must

instill this belief in your troops

mindfura i must repeat that hope

and faith alone will not win this battle

i tell you carnal general if you are

conscious of the fact

that this battle should be won it will

be won

if your troops are given the same belief

then you will achieve victory

and the greatest success of the war in

the tenth silence which followed

heinrichy

whitefaced gathered his papers and

handed them to iceman

the two officers took their leave they

climbed the stairs and went out into the

garden

there for the first time since he left

the conference room

heinrichy spoke wearily it's all of no

use

you might just as well try to bring some

moons down to the earth

it's all for nothing all for nothing

[Music]

you