The rule of the Third Reich was coming to its spectacular and violent finale. A demented,
wild-eyed Hitler hid in his bunker under the Reich Chancellery as the Red Army surrounded Berlin
and threatened to put an anticipated end to the thousand-year Reich that was never meant to be.
Refusing to accept the defeat was inevitable,
and Hitler clung to every single promising piece of news in the
hopes that it would be the miracle that would save Germany from the claws of destruction.
On April 12, 1945, the irrational Fuhrer believed the miracle had become a reality
when he learned of the passing of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Hitler rejoiced at the possibility of having to fight just one enemy,
as he was confident incoming President Harry S. Truman would sign a peace treaty with Germany.
However, Truman refused to throw the German dictator a lifeline,
and as Berlin fell under siege, Hitler placed his delusional hopes on General Walther Wenck,
the youngest general in the Wehrmacht and the Commander of the 12th Army,
which was now everything standing between the Allies and Berlin.
Wenck, the last hope of Nazi Germany, was given the impossible order to break the
siege of Berlin at all costs and buy Germany enough time to regroup or sue for peace.
But in a move that drove Hitler to the verges of insanity, Wenck decided to do something for the
civilians instead, and gathered his men one last time to tell them: (QUOTE) "Comrades,
you've got to go in once more. it's not about Berlin anymore, it's not about the Reich anymore,
it’s about the people of Berlin…"
Waiting On A Miracle
Allied strategies had known for months, if not years,
that the defeat of Germany was only a question of time; as 1945 began,
most German officers were also facing the reality that they were fighting a war they could not win.
Still, Hitler and many in the German High Command continued to cling to the idea that they would
somehow turn the tables and transform their ever-growing defeat into a massive resurgence.
Impressive wonder weapons and reaching a deal with the Americans or the Soviets before reaching
Berlin were some of the things Hitler hoped could suddenly shift the tides of the conflict.
The Fuhrer got even more hopeful on April 12 as he learned that
the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had passed away.
Hitler raved frantically, claiming this was the miracle Germany had been waiting for and
that now President Harry S. Truman would surely accept peace from the Third Reich.
However, the US had no interest in negotiating with the dictator.
Nothing seemed to provide the answer Germany was looking for, and Hitler's sanity and
health plummeted just as the Red Army and the Western Allies strode ever closer to Berlin.
On April 16, 1945, the Red Army began its attack on the German capital by unleashing
a force of more than 20 armies, 2.5 million soldiers, and 40,000 mortars and field guns.
Four days later, Hitler celebrated his last birthday in a somber and forced ceremony where the
guests who were eager to leave for the evacuation routes out of Berlin were quickly subsiding before
Allied advances. Hitler blurted "Heil euch," but there was little response from the exhausted
water-deprived troopers, and only the sound of the Soviet artillery guns could be heard.
There was only one option left for Hitler and all his commanders buried
50 feet below the Reich Chancellery: the few armies around Berlin needed
to break the siege and buy them precious time to reach a deal with the Americans.
Treason
Just as the Fuhrer needed his generals the most, they utterly failed him.
Several armies began to break off and retreat, and on April 22,
Heinrich Himmler attempted to negotiate Germany's terms of surrender with the Western Allies.
The following day, Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, sent Hitler a telegram proposing that
he should assume complete control of Germany: (QUOTE) "If no reply is received by ten o'clock
tonight, I shall take it for granted that you have lost your freedom of action."
Hitler was fuming, accusing his generals of high treason and ordering their immediate arrest.
In a fit of rage, he ordered the arrest of Karl Weilding, a Panzer Corps Commander, for deserting
his post. Weilding was actually continuing the fight on the outskirts of Berlin, and after
having to prove his innocence to the dictator, he was named the 'Battle Commandant' of Berlin.
But Weilding had little chance of holding the city,
and Hitler was fervently hoping that the German army could come and break the siege.
Hitler then ordered Waffen SS Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner
to attack the forces of Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front.
Such forces were encircling Berlin from the north, while the troops of Soviet
Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front were encircling from the south.
Steiner was to attack Zhukov and hopefully break
the momentum of the Soviet onslaught on the capital, but with few working
tanks and nearly a division's worth of infantry, Steiner opted to retreat.
With Steiner's withdrawal, Germany's 12th Army,
commanded by 45-year-old General Walther Wenck, became Hitler's last hope to save Berlin.
A Defiant Decision
Walther Wenck, the youngest general in the Wehrmacht,
had just been tasked with leading the 12th Army days before, and was ordered
to abandon his post fighting against the Americans and rush back east to save Berlin.
He was also known as the Boy General, and was ordered to link up with the
remainder of the 9th Army of General der Infanterie Theodor Busse. Together,
they would strike the Soviets surrounding Berlin from the west and from the south.
This was Hitler's last option of delaying the fall of Berlin.
Wenck's mission was preposterous at best, he commanded the last German army in decent shape,
but Berlin was now threatened by 20 Soviet field armies;
even if he could break part of the siege and reach the Reich Chancellery,
the Soviets would regroup and encircle the city again almost immediately.
Still, the Boy General obeyed and marched towards Berlin.
Despite its swift advance, the 12th Army was halted by Soviet resistance outside of Potsdam.
Meanwhile, what was left of the 9th Army also failed to advance to the rendezvous point,
and by April 27, the Soviet armies encircling Berlin had made contact
with one another, completely cutting off anyone inside the war-torn city.
Orders Are Orders
On April 28, Wenck reported to the German Supreme Army Command that his 12th Army
had been forced back and that he had no way of attacking Berlin. He also declared that
the 9th Army could not be expected and that outside city relief was impossible.
Still, the orders were clear; he had to attempt to break the siege no matter what.
Field Marshal Keitel met Wenck after successfully sneaking out of Hitler's bunker and the city.
Keitel lectured Wenck on the dire need for the 12th Army to break the siege and save Hitler.
The Fuhrer, not trusting Field Marshal Keitel to deliver his unquestionable orders,
commanded every radio station to broadcast them over the airwaves. It was the only time
in modern history that military orders had been made public over the radio.
That was when Wenck reached the crossroads of his life, and he made one of his most
important life decisions. He would march towards Berlin, but not to save Hitler.
Wenck could have broken off his forces and fled for the Western Front like many other
generals were doing, or he could have obeyed the orders and sacrificed his men for a lost cause.
Instead, he ignored Hitler and continued to help his people…
Opening a Path to Mercy
By now, many of the soldiers of the 12th Army were eager to surrender to the Western Allies;
they knew the war was over, and they feared the wrath of the Red Army.
The Soviets were not known for their merciful actions towards the Germans;
since their triumph in Stalingrad, the Red Army had advanced over German territory ruthlessly,
executing, torturing, and committing a wide array of atrocities against their reeling enemies.
With any hope of victory long forsaken, both German servicemen and civilians had only one
hope left, to surrender to the Western Allies and not fall into the hands of the Soviets.
Consequently, when Wenck asked his men to fight for one more mission,
many of them responded with reluctance and fear as they longed to flee to the Western Front. But
Wenck was a fearless and decisive leader, and he was able to channel his men's doubts into courage,
telling them that they could save their countrymen from falling into the hands of the Soviets.
The 12th Army then rushed south of Beelitz to help the decimated 9th Army and help them escape.
Once together, both forces orchestrated a plan to open a humanitarian corridor
so that the Germans inside the city could run to the west.
With no clue that Wenck had no intention of following Hitler's orders,
Keitel reported back to the dictator and told him that the 12th Army was on the move.
Hitler had a last rush of optimism as he awaited Wenck to pierce the Soviet wall.
Meanwhile, the Germans continued to blast into the radio the idea that the 12th Army was coming
to liberate Berlin and that the Americans had joined Germany against the Red Army.
Until the Soviet flag was raised from the roof of the Reich Chancellery,
Wenck and his army were seen as the last hope of the Third Reich and his leader.
A Way Out
Wenck was no stranger to humanitarian efforts; his 12th Army had been helping
German refugees fleeing for Berlin for several weeks, with several accounts
reporting that they provided food for about a quarter of a million people daily.
He also helped the people from several refugee camps to the west of Berlin move
further west to the American Front. Wenck felt the plight of the German civilians,
and he understood the fear of Soviet imprisonment. As he put together his
plan to save as many people as possible, he was convinced he was doing the right thing.
As April came to a close and the Red Army surrounding the German capital
moved to invade the city, Wenck took advantage of the chaos to
open a corridor to Berlin through the neighboring forest of Halbe.
As the city was swallowed by the wrath of the Red Army, the German 12th Army was able to provide
a path to safety to thousands of Berliners and soldiers that could and would not fight anymore.
According to several estimates, Wenck was able to evacuate anywhere from tens of thousands
to hundreds of thousands of civilians and get them to safety across the Elbe River.
Wenck's efforts were also heavily aided by the support of American General William Hood Simpson,
who provided vital assistance to the thousands of refugees and deserters looking for safety.
Both continued to help refugees out of the city until it wasn't possible to do so.
On May 7, Wenck was the last member of the 12th
Army to cross the river and surrender to the Americans.
Still, his valiant efforts in the war's final days were recognized by
the Allies and the Germans alike. He was freed in 1947 and returned to Germany,
where he became a successful entrepreneur and a military advisor for the newly formed Bundeswehr.
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