On May 2, 1945, the commander of the defense and the last commandant of Berlin, General Helmut Weidling, signed the act of surrender to the German troops and surrendered with the remnants of the garrison in captivity to the Soviet Army.
It should be noted that
General Weidling leads a carefully thought out and well prepared defense:
1.2 million officers and soldiers, 3000 guns and 250 tanks. 400 reinforced concrete long-term facilities were built, including 6-story bunkers. Weidling organized the defense of the city, fighting for every building. However, the resistance of the Berlin garrison proved to be doomed after General Wenck's attempt to support them with the forces of the 12th Army finally failed on 28 April. General Weidling's last illusions that a miracle would happen collapsed after Hitler's suicide.
In the early hours after midnight on May 2, the radio stations of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian: “We request a cease-fire. We are sending parliamentarians to the Potsdam Bridge.”
The arrived German officer on behalf of General Weidling reports the readiness of the Berlin garrison to end resistance.
At 6 o'clock in the morning, Artillery General Weidling, accompanied by three German generals, crossed the front line and surrendered as a prisoner.
An hour later, already at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army, he wrote an order for surrender: “The Fuehrer has finished with himself, leaving all those who swore allegiance to him to their fate. According to the Führer's order, you German soldiers are obliged to be ready to continue the fighting around Berlin, regardless of the fact that your ammunition is running out and in the current situation, further resistance is pointless. I order you to cease all resistance immediately. Every hour of fighting prolongs the terrible suffering of the civilian population of Berlin and our wounded. By mutual agreement with the high command of the Soviet troops, I call on you to immediately cease hostilities. Weidling, former commander of the Berlin Defense District.”
The order was reproduced and carried over loudspeakers and radio to the units defending the center of Berlin. The resistance in the city was gradually ended. By the end of the day, the troops of the 8th Guards Army cleared the central part of the city from the enemy.
At 2:41 a.m. on May 7, 1945, a preliminary protocol for the surrender of Germany was signed in the city of Reims, the headquarters of Commander-in-Chief General Eisenhower. On May 8, representatives of the High Command of the Wehrmacht, in the presence of representatives of the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers and the Supreme Command of the Soviet Forces, signed in Berlin a final act of surrender, the implementation of which came into force from 24 hours on May 8.
The price of the operation is terribly high both for the military personnel of both sides and for the population of Berlin. More than 80,000 Soviet soldiers and officers, 2,800 Polish died in the Berlin operation. For its part, German losses in killed exceeded 400,000 people.
Who is General Weidling?
Weidling was born into a medical family on 2 November 1891 in Halberstadt in Saxony. Participant in the First World War as an aeronaut-observer. In 1915, he transferred to service with the airships, becoming the commander of the “Zeppelin”. In 1919, due to the liquidation of the Air Force, he transferred to the artillery and made a career there. In the war against Poland he was already a colonel and commanded an artillery regiment. Then he commanded an infantry division, army and tank corps.
From October 1943 to early April 1945, Weidling commanded the 41st Panzer Corps until its complete defeat. Since April 10, he has been the commander of the 56th Tank Corps.