Battle in Berlin

The battle in Berlin was an end phase of the Battle of Berlin. While the Battle of Berlin encompassed the attack by three Soviet fronts (army groups) to capture not only Berlin but the territory of Germany east of the River Elbe still under German control, the battle in Berlin details the fighting and German capitulation that took place within the city.

Not to be confused with the Battle of Berlin, the starting phase of the battle which occurred outside the city.

Battle in Berlin
Part of the Battle of Berlin

The Reichstag after the battle, June 1945
Date23 April – 2 May 1945
(1 week and 2 days)
Location
Berlin, Germany
52°31′7″N 13°22′34″E
Result

Soviet victory

Belligerents
 Germany  Soviet Union
Poland
Commanders and leaders
Helmuth Reymann
Helmuth Weidling 		 Georgy Zhukov
Ivan Konev
Vasily Chuikov
Strength
Inside the Berlin Defence Area: approximately 45,000 soldiers, supplemented by the police force, Hitler Youth, and 40,000 Volkssturm

For the investment and assault on the Berlin Defence Area about 1,500,000 soldiers

In Berlin:
464,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
  • Unknown (100,000 soldiers killed in the entire Battle of Berlin)
  • 125,000 civilians dead
 Unknown, total Soviet casualties during the Battle of Berlin were 81,116 dead or missing and 280,251 sick or wounded

The outcome of the battle to capture the capital of Nazi Germany was decided during the initial phases of the Battle of Berlin that took place outside the city. As the Soviets invested Berlin and the German forces placed to stop them were destroyed or forced back, the city's fate was sealed. Nevertheless, there was heavy fighting within the city as the Red Army fought its way, street by street, into the centre.

On 23 April 1945, the first Soviet ground forces started to penetrate the outer suburbs of Berlin. By 27 April, Berlin was completely cut off from the outside world. The battle in the city continued until 2 May 1945. On that date, the commander of the Berlin Defence Area, General Helmuth Weidling, surrendered to Lieutenant-General Vasily Chuikov, commander of the Soviet 8th Guards Army, a component of Marshal Georgiy Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front.

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