Battle of Berlin

April 16 – May 2, 1945 · Eastern Front Theater

Phases

1. 1Apr 16 — Seelow HeightsApril 16–19, 1945
2. 2Apr 20–25 — The Ring Around the ReichApril 20–25, 1945
3. 3Apr 26–May 2 — The ReichstagApril 26 – May 2, 1945

April 16–19, 1945

Two and a half million Soviet soldiers stand on the Oder, thirty-five miles from Berlin; Stalin has set his two marshals racing each other for the prize. Zhukov opens with the heaviest artillery concentration in history and 143 anti-aircraft searchlights meant to blind the defenders — which instead silhouette his own infantry against the smoke. The Seelow Heights cost three days and 30,000 dead, but the last defensive line before Berlin is broken.

• ➤1st Belorussian Front (Zhukov) — Across the Oder into the searchlit killing ground
• ➤1st Ukrainian Front (Konev) — Across the Neisse — the rival route to Berlin
• ●Seelow Heights — three days, 30,000 Soviet dead