Chuikov: And the whole garrison? Does your authority extend to it all?
Weidling: Yesterday evening I issued an order to continue resistance, but… later I issued another order.
General Sokolovskii: Where have Hitler and Goebbels gone?
Weidling: As far as I know, Goebbels and his family must have committed suicide. The Fuhrer did the same on 30 April. His wife…took poison.
Chuikov: Did you hear this, or see it?
Weidling: Towards evening on 30 April I was in the Imperial Chancellery. I was informed of this by Krebs, Bormann and Goebbels.
Chuikov: So this is the end of the war?
Weidling: In my opinion, to waste a single life more would be a crime, a madness.
Chuikov: Quite right… Have you served long in the army.
Weidling: Since nineteen hundred and eleven. I started in the ranks…
General Sokolovskii: You must issue an order for full surrender.
Weidling: I was not able to issue orders for surrender at all, since I had not got contact. So there may still be isolated groups in a number of places which will continue resistance. Many people do not know of the Fuhrer’s death, since Dr Goebbels forbade announcement of it.
Chuikov: We have ceased hostilities entirely, and even grounded the air force. You are not aware of the latest developments? Your troops started to surrender, and after that a delegation came here from Fritzsche with a declaration of surrender, and we stopped all action in order to make it easier for them to put this into effect.
Weidling: I shall be glad to help in getting our troops to cease hostilities… The SS want to break through to the north. My authority does not extend to them.
Chuikov: Issue an order for full surrender… So that resistance may not be kept up in even isolated sectors.
Weidling: We have no reserves of ammunition. Resistance cannot therefore go on for long.
Chuikov: We know this. Write an order for full surrender, and then your conscience will be clear.
Weidling conceded that it was a case of better late than never. Commenting that this was the second war in which he had ended up on the losing side, Weidling appeared resigned to his fate, and that of Germany as a defeated nation. He then sat down to draft the surrender order which took him only a short time to write. When it was completed, he started to read it aloud:
Weidling: On 30 April the Fuhrer ended his own life by his own hand…
Sokolovskii (interrupts Weidling): It has come to our knowledge that Doenitz has announced this to the world.
Weidling: No. Yesterday Dr Goebbels told me that only Stalin had learnt of this.
Sokolovskii: Yesterday there was a transmission from an unidentified German radio station, saying that Hitler had died a heroic death.
Not knowing how to respond to Sokolovskii’s assertion, Weidling simply handed over the completed order which read as follows:
On 30 April the Fuhrer ended his life by his own hand and thus we who swore loyalty to him are left alone. According to the Fuhrer’s orders you, the German troops, were still to fight for Berlin, in spite of the fact that ammunition had run out, and regardless of the general situation, which makes further resistance on our part senseless. My orders are: to cease resistance forthwith. Weidling, General of Artillery, former Commandant of the Berlin defence area.
The order was read by Chuikov, Sokolovskii and General Pozharski who had now joined them. According to Chuikov, the formulations in the order were quite satisfactory. However, Sokolvskii thought differently, sparking off a discussion on the exact wording of the order:
Sokolovskii (to Weidling): You need not say ‘former’, you are still Commandant.
Pozharski (to Chuikov): Should we have that formulation about swearing loyalty.
Chuikov: There is no need to alter it. It is his order.
Weidling (to Chuikov): Should it be an order, or an appeal?
Chuikov: An order.
Interpreter (to Chuikov): How many copies.
Chuikov: Twelve. No, as many as possible.
Weidling: I have a large staff. I have two Chiefs of Staff, and two more Generals who have retired but who came to me and put their services at my disposal. They can organise the surrender.
At 11.30hrs, Chuikov gave instructions for copies of the surrender order to be distributed by one of Weidling’s officers accompanied by one of his own officers. Shortly afterwards, Fritzsche arrived in person to accept the terms of unconditional surrender demanded by the Soviet command in Berlin. Fritzsche, Chuikov and Sokolovskii then proceeded to discuss the implementation of the surrender, along with security arrangements which clearly were a matter of concern for the senior Nazi officiaclass="underline"
Sokolovskii (to Fritzsche): We have an interest in ensuring calm in Berlin. We can provide a guard for anyone who is concerned for his safety.
Fritzsche: The German police organs have broken up and fled, but they can be brought together again.
Sokolovskii: We are not interested in the police. Thy will be numbered among the prisoners of war. We are interested in the administrative officials. We will provide guards for them. They will come to no harm.
Fritzsche: I do not understand. Who would do them harm, and where? Who would dare to commit excesses?
Sokolovskii: Some of our soldiers, and the German population, may show cruelty to you in return for the actions of the Gestapo, etc.
Fritzsche: Yes, that is possible.
Sokolovskii: We have provided for everything, and made the appropriate announcements. A Commandant of Berlin has been appointed, the Soviet General Bezarin. A Komendatura has been set up for each district, and these will take all measures. Have you any other wishes?
Fritzsche: I wrote a letter to you, being the last responsible representative of the government. I wrote it in order to avoid bloodshed.
Sokolovskii: We understand your enforced gesture.
Fritzsche: I would like to expand this document, for which purpose I need to establish contact with Doenitz.
Chuikov (to Fritzsche): At nine o’clock this morning, Doenitz addressed himself to the army and the people with a declaration that he had taken the leadership upon himself and that he would continue the struggle against Bolshevism to the end, and likewise against the Americans and the British if they hindered him. But we are not afraid of him; he has bitten off more than he can chew.
Fritzsche: I did not know that. Where am I to remain?
Sokolovskii: Here. Await our further instructions.
Fritzsche was then led away, his part in the drama effectively over. Later he would be transferred to the notorious Lubyanka Prison in Moscow where he underwent torture. Later, he was tried as a major war criminal at Nuremberg, subsequently being acquitted along with fellow defendants Franz von Papen and Hjalmar Schacht.
Following Fritzsche’s departure, Chuikov and Sokolovskii visibly relaxed, chatting informally as the tension created by the protracted surrender negotiations evaporated. Meanwhile, news came in confirming that the fighting for the Reichstag had finally come to an end with the surrender of the last remaining German defenders. With the end of a long and cruel war now clearly in sight, Sokolovskii remarked, ‘The end of the war is approaching’. Chuikov quipped, ‘Yes, let’s smoke a pipe of peace!’. The end was indeed approaching, as in the shattered streets of Berlin, Soviet vehicles equipped with amplifiers played recordings of Weidling’s surrender order.
At 15.00hrs, the Soviet guns fell silent. The time for reflection would come later. For the victors, it was a time of celebration as they broke out the food and drink. Along the East-West Axis, the crews of T-34 and IS-II tanks embraced, thankful that they had somehow survived. In his memoirs, Chuikov wrote about the end of hostilities. His words contain an inevitable note of nationalistic pride, but also a sense of relief that the long struggle was over: