Not all of the troops tenaciously holding on to their shrinking perimeter received the order to break-out. The Latvian SS troops defending the Air Ministry and the French SS troops defending an administrative building near to the Gestapo headquarters on Prinz Albrecht Strasse were thus effectively abandoned to their fate. The Latvian troops broke-out independently, getting as far as Pankow. Here, they split up, leaving each man to fend for himself. The much reduced French volunteer force fought on, in what was fast becoming an apocalyptic scene of destruction. Soviet sappers used incendiary devices to create a searing mass of flame which forced the defenders to take up new positions.
Later that night, General Krukenberg acted on his own initiative by ordering his own SS volunteers from the Nordland Division to gather around Friedrichstrasse Station in preparation for a break-out to the north-west. The majority of the remaining French volunteers received the order which was delivered by one of Krukenberg’s squad leaders named Patzak. However, Patzak didn’t reach SS Captain Henri Fenet’s unit of French volunteers which was still holding out in the Ministry of Security building. Fenet’s troops realised that they were on their own when scouting parties revealed that there were no friendly forces in their vicinity. Later, they made their way to the Air Ministry, where on hearing that the surrender had come into force, gave themselves up.
Meanwhile, the 1,500 troops who gathered for the break-out inevitably drew the attention of Soviet units in the area. Using their last remaining armoured vehicles in the vanguard, the Nordland troops attempted to smash their way through to safety. They were met everywhere by Soviet tanks and artillery which exacted a heavy toll on their lightly armed troops. On Lortzingstrasse (close to the Gesundbrunnen U-Bahn Station) the previous commander of the of the Nordland Division (General Ziegler) was killed by shrapnel from a Soviet mortar round. With no possibility of the break-out succeeding and with his unit shattered and fragmented, Krukenberg hid out in a workshop, having taken off his uniform and disguising his identity by donning a pair of old overalls which he had found. Despite his attempts to melt away, he was discovered and taken prisoner the following day.
On the same day, a sizeable column of troops and civilians struck-out from Ruhleben towards Spandau. The attempt was spearheaded by the remaining tanks and armoured vehicles from the Muncheberg Panzer Division and the 18th Panzer Grenadier Division. Meanwhile, word had spread quickly amongst the civilian population that General Wenck’s 12th Army was at Nauen. There were also rumours that hospital trains were waiting to take the wounded to Hamburg. Desperate to escape the Soviet stranglehold, thousands of civilians joined the troop column heading towards the Havel bridges which were being tenaciously held by the Hitler Youth.
The initial thrust was successful, albeit at a high cost in lives. As the column rushed the Charlotte Bridge, 20mm quick firing guns gave covering fire. The bridge became a scene of bloody chaos, as desperate people scrambled over each other to reach the far side. One of those killed in the mad scramble for safety was Ernst Himmler (brother of Heinrich Himmler). Sheer weight of numbers enabled the column to overwhelm the Soviet defence and break through into Spandau. The town was heavily occupied, with strong defences in and around the town hall. German tanks shelled the building as a preliminary to an assault by troops of 9th Parachute Division. The developing battle provided cover for trucks laden with troops and civilians to make a dash for safety.
One of the would-be escapees was Helmuth Altner, a seventeen year old veteran of the Oder battles and Berlin street fighting. Somehow, he managed to clamber onto the mudguard and bonnet of an overcrowded truck. Holding on for dear life as the truck picked up speed, he was one of the few to survive the pursuing Soviet troops as they sped through Staaken and on to Ketzin. This successful German break-out greatly agitated the Soviet command who were concerned that members of Hitler’s inner circle may have used the opportunity to escape. Burnt-out German tanks and vehicles were checked thoroughly. Much relieved, Zhukov was later able to report that, ‘Among the crews killed, none of Hitler’s entourage were found’. One can only imagine Stalin’s wrath if there was even the slightest suggestion that senior Nazi figures were making a last minute bid to escape.
Meanwhile, Altner had been wounded in the foot. Whilst his wound was painful, he remained hopeful as his column had advanced to within almost touching distance of friendly forces. However, his mood quickly turned to despair as the route through to the nearest German positions was blocked by Soviet troops occupying the village of Pasewin. An attempt to outflank the Soviet position by skirting around the hamlets of Zachow and Roscow ended in failure. Altner then found himself alone, as his foot wound prevented him from keeping up with the others. The area was now swarming with Soviet troops. There was no way out. Altner later recalled the moment of his capture:
I had fallen behind a little, as the pain in my foot had become unbearable. The Russians are walking scattered among us… Suddenly one of the Russians stops and waits for me, as I am the last… I slowly go up to him. Then he takes my arm. I am afraid that he will take me aside somewhere where no one will see us, and put an end to me, but then I notice that he is supporting me, walking in step with me and guiding me… I am astonished. The immense tension of the last few days gives way inside me, and I am suddenly unable to hold back the tears…
Altner’s foot wound proved to be a blessing in disguise. Instead of being marched off to the east, he was taken for treatment in a hospital in Brandenburg. Many others were not so fortunate.
Chapter Eleven
After Hitler
In Berlin, the end of hostilities brought about a sense of relief, mixed with feelings of anxiety about what was to come. The master race were now the conquered, subject to the whims of a people whom Goebbels had characterised as Asiatic barbarians. Indeed, there were acts of barbarism, in which mainly second echelon troops indulged in an orgy of looting and rape. The women of Berlin soon learned to make themselves scarce at night, only emerging in the morning as Soviet troops slept following the drunken excesses of the night before. The number of rape victims in Berlin remains difficult to determine accurately, as some women and young girls were subjected to multiple assaults. For the depersonalised and desexualised young frontovki, rape was very much a group activity. Estimates suggest that there were as many as 100,000–130,000 victims of this appalling crime. If the terrible experiences of the female population of East Prussia are taken as an indication, this figure is certainly not too high, rather it may be something of a conservative estimate.
For all the terrible events that accompanied the fall of Berlin, the occupation policies of the newly established Soviet military administration largely contradicted Goebbels’ terrifying predictions of what would happen to a conquered German population. In what little remained of the Nazi state, Hitler’s theories of racial hatred were perpetuated by his appointed successor and his government in Flensburg. On 2 May, Schwerin von Krosigk (Foreign Minister in Doenitz government) took to the airwaves to highlight the suffering of German civilians at the hands of the rapacious Red Army:
The world can only find peace if the Bolshevik tide does not flood Europe. In a heroic struggle without parallel, for four years Germany fought to its last reserves of strength as Europe’s bulwark, and that of the world, against the Red menace. In the east, an iron curtain is advancing, and behind it, hidden from the eyes of the world, the work of exterminating those who have fallen into Bolshevik hands goes on.