Week 296- The Battle of Berlin! - WW2 - April 27, 1945

The Battle for the German capital rages on all week, as the Soviets get ever closer to the Reich Chancellery, under which lies Hitler's bunker. Berlin is surrounded, but can it be relieved? There are also Allied advances in East Prussia, Czechoslovakia, and in Western Germany, but beyond that, it looks like the Axis lines have completely collapsed in Italy. The Allies are also advancing- and quickly- in Burma toward Rangoon, though not much at all on Okinawa, and it is the Japanese who are on the move in Western Hunan. It's a real rollercoaster of a week.

Chapters
01:10 Recap
01:43 Soviets fight their way into Berlin
07:45 Berlin surrounded
10:28 Rokossovsky Advances
12:48 Göring and Himmler betray Hitler
13:57 Fighting on the Eastern Front
15:23 Allied advance in the West
15:51 German Collapse in Italy
17:31 4th Corps racing through Burma
19:36 The Battle of Western Hunan
21:40 Okinawa and the Philippines
22:59 Notes
23:59 Conclusion

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Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
Community Management: Jake McCluskey
Written by: Indy Neidell
Research by: Indy Neidell & James Newman
Map animations by: Daniel Weiss
Map research by: Sietse Kenter
Editing and color grading by: Simon J. James
Artwork by: Mikołaj Uchman
Sound design by: Simon J. James & Marek Kamiński
Colorizations by: Mikołaj Uchman

Image sources:
Source - Image Name/Number

Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
Breathe it in Deep - Hampus Naeselius
Close to the Edge - Hampus Naeselius
Hordes - Jo Wandrini
Peacekeepers
Sense of Betrayal - Experia

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

[finnyishere]

I don’t think Germany are gonna win guys

[pocketmarcy]

Back in August there was an episode titled “Hitler has a bad day” I think this week has definitely topped that day

[neweraamerica]

It’s been an honor. Watched downfall last night in preparation for this video. Crazy how far we have come to this point.

[dennisvansanten]

Spoiler: Steiner couldnt mass enough forces guys

[Cityinlead]

The final comments at the end got me thinking about this quote from a German officer, Peter Rettich where he wrote in his diary, “Who would ever have thought that it would be just a day's march from the Western Front to the Eastern Front?”

[galaxyomega]

“Berlin was no Stalingrad” what a quote

[NickJohnCoop]

The fact there were hundreds of thousands of German troops in Norway when this was happening will always be something I find staggering.

[ericlane]

After watching this series for 6 years, it’s crazy we’re here and I imagine it’s what it felt when Berlin actually fell.

[Sierra]

Haha, that Monty Python bit at the beginning certainly took me by surprise!

And may I take a brief moment to say: this project to cover the entirety of the war, week by week, has been nothing but stellar. Everyone at the Time Ghost team deserves a round of applause for their most excellent presentation and preservation of world history.

[Arete]

3:08 That looks ridiculously dense, the amout of Soviet divisions in that small area is insane.

[saltzkruber]

Only a couple of weeks until the war in europe and the coverage of it ends. Really sad after getting so used to watching it for 6 years

[redheads]

_taking glasses off as hand twitching_
"anyone who doesn't get the downfall memes leave the room now"

[ronaldfinkelstein]

Time to watch that scene from "Downfall"/"Der Untergang". The one where Hitler is informed that Steiner is not making the attack he was ordered to.

[jameslongstreet]

"Das war ein Befehl!! Der Angriff Steiner's war ein Befehl!"

[HistoryfortheAges]

I am covering WWII this week in my college course! You would be amazed how little students know. Only one student knew what the Nuremberg laws were, and none knew the term blitzkrieg. As the WWII generation is passing people are already forgetting the history. I have my entire set of lectures, survey course material, that I am happy to share. I appreciate any channels that make an effort to educate people about WWII.

[andrewhoag]

I didn't know about (eventual) Field Marshall William Slim before this series. Now I have incredible respect for him. Thanks, Indy.

[Professor_sckinnctn]

Years ago, I commented that the schtick of answering the phone was silly, yet you persisted, sometimes proving me absolutely wrong with great effect. None better than this one… thanks for the genuine, hearty laugh! And the closed captions were awesome as a result!

[davidwright]

Mussolini really shouldn’t have tried to repair that piano

[waltertaljaard]

Not only that, but where is Fegelein?
FEGELEIN!! FEGELEIN!! FEGELEIN!!

[dougedsall]

Outside the OKW bunker complex at Zossen, the Soviets find the smoking wreck of a colossal 188 metric ton tank, the V2 prototype of PzKpfw Maus. This massive and gigantic tank was planned from 1942 as the ultimate heavy breakthrough vehicle, with armor all around at least 18cm thick and with both a very powerful 12, 8cm cannon and a secondary 7, 5cm one. The Germans planned to build 135, but American bombing raids on the Krupp plant in Oct 1943 heavily damaged production and the whole thing was cancelled. Only V1 and V2 prototypes would be completed. The Soviets found the damaged V1, which lacked a turret and thus had no guns, near Kummersdorf. They will go on to salvage the V1, and V2's turret and bring them back to their own Kubinka test facility where they remain to this day