''Fall of Berlin – 1945'', ''The Fall of Berlin'', or just ''Berlin'' () is a Soviet documentary film about the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...

, titled in Russian , literally ''The Battle for Berlin – 1945''. The film was directed by

Yuli Raizman Yuli Yakovlevich Raizman (; December 15, 1903 – December 11, 1994) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter and Pedagogy, pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1964) and Hero of Socialist Labour (1973). Career In 1924 he became a ...

and

Yelizaveta Svilova Yelizaveta Ignatevna Svilova (, rendered in Latin as Elizaveta Svilova) (5 September 1900, Moscow – 11 November 1975, Moscow) was a Russian filmmaker and film editor. She is perhaps best known for making films with her husband Dziga Vertov and ...

. The film begins with an animated map of Eastern Europe with Soviet soldier double exposed on the bottom. The narrator lists the names of the rivers that the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

crosses as they march west:

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

, Desna,

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

, Bug, Dvina,

Neman Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms Lithuania–Russia border, the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its s ...

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

, and finally,

Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...

. The Soviet arrival at the Oder river is shown, along with the broken bridges across it. The undeterred men of the Red Army are shown as they cross the river while under German fire. The use of missile artillery by the Soviet forces is showcased. After the Oder is crossed, the assault on Berlin itself begins. Footage of the actual battle is shown, as the Red Army fights German troops, street by street and building by building. This is interspersed with shots of

Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...

films showing parades in the same areas, providing a sense of irony. A dramatic sequence follows a detachment of the Red Army in the assault on the Reichstag, which ends with the famous photograph, raising the Red Flag over the Reichstag. When the Soviet troops entered Berlin, they began to push forward to the Reichstag. There were soldiers from every available battalion, with flame throwers, rifles, sniper rifles, automatic weapons, like the PPSh-41, and others. There were over 40 Soviet T-34 tanks that were pushing the German soldiers back. The battle for Berlin was one of the longest battles for a city in the years 1900–2000. Shortly before the Russian troops entered Berlin, Hitler was ready to make a half-peace with England and the US, giving away Berlin to them. He said: "I'd rather give Berlin to the Americans or the English, only to prevent Russian forces from taking it over!", but he thought of this too late. Shortly after that the Russians approached and attacked Berlin. On 8 May 1945, the flag of the USSR replaced the

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

flag in Berlin. This was the end of World War II in Europe.

External links

* 1945 films 1945 documentary films 1940s historical films 1945 war films 1945 in the Soviet Union 1940s Soviet films 1940s Russian-language films Russian-language documentary films Soviet documentary films Documentary films about Berlin Soviet historical films Soviet war films Soviet black-and-white films Soviet World War II propaganda films Works about the Battle of Berlin Black-and-white documentary films Russian-language historical films Russian-language war films {{WWII-documentary-film-stub

See also

External links