A Soviet soldier captures a German soldier from an underground position. Berlin, May 1945
A Soviet soldier captures a German soldier from an underground position. Berlin, May 1945. The Battle of Berlin, one of the final battles of World War II, took place from 20 April to 2 May in 1945. It ended with the fall of Berlin to the Soviet Red Army. In April 1945, the Soviet Union assembled outside Berlin one of the largest concentrations of military power ever seen. Within the city, already repeatedly pounded by Allied bombing, refugees and citizens were protected by a force of stragglers and the remnants of shattered formations. They were supported by militia/Volkssturm and units of the H*tler Youth - one battalion of which was sent into battle with an average age of 14 In a race to win the glory of capturing the city of Berlin, Soviet marshals Ivan Konev and Georgiy Zhukov were willing to accept enormous casualties and inflict colossal damage. Within five days, the two forces had linked up and encircled Berlin. Soviet artillery fired nearly two million shells during the fina...