Category
đź“š
LearningTranscript
00:01Sunday, 6th of May, 1945.
00:072.41 a.m.
00:1124 hours from now, one of the most important agreements
00:14in World War II history is going to be signed.
00:20Any delay to the signing of the surrender document
00:23means a continuation of the fighting.
00:25It means more loss of life.
00:27In effect, every minute counts.
00:32Nazi Germany is clinging on to the last of its power.
00:36There are Germans still fighting against the Eastern Front,
00:40but they are in a desperate situation
00:42and they are being pushed back right inside Germany,
00:45what was once the heart of the Nazi Third Reich.
00:50The Nazi ideological determination to fight
00:53until the last bullet costs thousands and thousands of unnecessary lives.
01:00The most destructive war of all time is drawing to a close.
01:06The Allies want to see an end to hostilities, an end to the bloodshed.
01:10How can a war that has consumed an entire continent be finally brought to an end?
01:17May the 8th, 1945 will always be one of those dates that will be remembered.
01:23The iconic celebrations of VE Day are etched on our collective memory.
01:30But peace in Europe was not a foregone conclusion.
01:35Behind the scenes, negotiators are working frantically to stop the fighting.
01:40This 24 hours has helped to shape the course of history in Europe.
01:48This is the forgotten story of Victory in Europe Day.
01:53It is the forgotten story of the Nazi Third Reich,
01:54including the fakejet North-Nade.
01:55It is the forgotten story of the Nazi Third Reich.
01:56In the U.S. forces, the British and the British and the Northern Poland
02:01At the Allied headquarters in Iran's northern France,
02:05representatives from the U.S., Britain, the Soviet Union and France
02:08are coordinating Allied operations from this schoolhouse.
02:13are coordinating Allied operations from this schoolhouse.
02:18Under the command of General Eisenhower,
02:21they're preparing for one of the most important days in world history.
02:27Dwight Eisenhower, Ike, is the commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces.
02:34So he has already led two very significant campaigns.
02:38Operation Torch in North Africa and the D-Day landing.
02:43And now his mission is to secure the complete and final surrender,
02:50unconditional surrender, from the German forces.
02:52The German military had found itself in a state of chaos.
03:17A week of cataclysmic events had forced its leaders to the negotiating table.
03:24The Nazi government is in complete disarray.
03:29Hitler has killed himself a week earlier in his bunker,
03:33encased in concrete and earth under the ground.
03:41Hitler, of course, is the pinnacle of everything in the Third Reich.
03:45With his death, everything starts to fall apart.
03:55The Wehrmacht is in disarray.
03:57The SS is in disarray.
03:58Nobody knows what to do.
04:00And just before Hitler's died, Himmler is disgraced.
04:03Goering is disgraced.
04:04All of these sort of stalwarts who might have taken over the government
04:08have also collapsed.
04:09And so the only person left is Admiral Dönitz,
04:15who becomes the new president of Germany.
04:19They create this kind of bogus government in Flensburg,
04:22and they're flailing about trying to keep everything in order.
04:26And Dönitz doesn't really know how to govern or what to do.
04:29Even as the Allies prepared for the final negotiations,
04:35battles were still being fought across Europe.
04:39There are many, many fronts that are still active.
04:42You've got Western Europe, you've got the Khorland Pocket,
04:45you've got the area around Czechoslovakia.
04:47And every day that goes by, thousands,
04:50even tens of thousands of lives might be at stake.
04:53The Soviet forces were rapidly moving east.
04:56The last areas of German resistance
04:59were surrounded on all fronts by the Allied forces.
05:08Dönitz was fully aware that Germany's defeat was inevitable.
05:12The only question was how and when.
05:15Two attempts to secure terms for a partial surrender
05:25had already failed.
05:29Including sending Admiral von Friedeberg,
05:31a junior representative, to Rennes.
05:35When Friedeberg arrives at Rennes,
05:38he is to negotiate, those are his orders,
05:41with the Allies, who are represented by Bedlesmith
05:44and General Strong, who's translating.
05:47General Bedlesmith had been Eisenhower's chief of staff
05:49since 1942,
05:51a crucial cog in Eisenhower's command.
05:53He's really the buffer between Eisenhower
05:56and most of the outside world.
05:58He's got quite a fearsome temperament.
06:00He's almost the opposite of Eisenhower.
06:02He's somebody you don't want to get on the wrong side of.
06:05If Bedlesmith is sort of the fearsome chief of staff,
06:08Strong is the intellectual general.
06:11He's suave, he speaks fluent German.
06:14He's crucially there to act as translator
06:16in the negotiations.
06:19Von Friedeberg had been tasked with attempting
06:22to negotiate a partial surrender,
06:24on the American lines only.
06:29But Bedlesmith and Strong were quick to point out
06:32that Germany was in no position to negotiate.
06:36The generals have maps set out on the table
06:40on which they've drawn the lines of the front lines
06:43and where the fighting pockets are.
06:45And to that they add large arrows.
06:48Basically, they're trying to show
06:49the absolute desperate situation of the German forces.
06:53It really is hopeless.
06:55After hours of fruitless discussions,
06:58and with the Allies holding firm
06:59on only accepting an unconditional surrender,
07:03Von Friedeberg realised his mission had failed.
07:08Unconditional surrender simply means
07:10that the enemy has to surrender militarily
07:14without any conditions whatsoever.
07:17There were going to be no terms attached.
07:19There's going to be no scope for any sort of negotiation
07:21with anyone attached to the Nazi regime.
07:23It is recorded that he had tears in his eyes
07:28where he realised that he was in an impossible position.
07:32Reluctantly, he handed over a message
07:35and requested for it to be transmitted
07:38to his superiors at Nazi high command.
07:44This is the start of a crucial 24 hours.
07:49The countdown to surrender has begun.
07:53Is now had woken up that morning
07:59and seen that the war room
08:01where the surrender ceremony will take place
08:03is full of cameras and he says,
08:06what's all this goddamn Hollywood stuff?
08:08Get it out.
08:09Whilst the Allies are preparing for a global spectacle,
08:15Von Friedeberg's messenger arrives
08:17at the new Nazi high command.
08:19Bringing the news that they have failed
08:24to secure a partial surrender.
08:28This is bad news for Dönitz's ongoing operation
08:32to extract Germans from the Eastern Front.
08:35Operation Hannibal is a German plan
08:46to evacuate as many civilians,
08:50between 800 and 900,000, some estimates suggest,
08:54and around 300,000 troops
08:57from Eastern Germany across the Baltic Sea
09:00to Western Germany.
09:02A message is received at the Allied headquarters
09:07from Flensburg that says
09:09a more senior representative is going to arrive.
09:14This is part of Dönitz's tactic
09:17to delay the unconditional surrender.
09:21If Operation Hannibal is to continue,
09:26the Germans must keep fighting on the Eastern Front.
09:29In Ranz, the Allies are growing increasingly impatient.
09:50Every minute, the Germans delay
09:52is costing lives on both sides.
09:57At this moment in time,
10:01the German-occupied city of Breslau
10:04is surrounded on all fronts by the Soviets.
10:08The siege of Breslau
10:10is a terrible event in World War II history.
10:13For more than 80 days,
10:16this Nazi-controlled city
10:17has been holding out
10:19against a vicious Soviet siege.
10:22Thousands of civilians
10:23have already perished in the fighting.
10:25Breslau is extremely significant
10:29to the Third Reich
10:30because Hitler has declared Breslau
10:33a fortress
10:33which must be defended at any cost.
10:37Hitler dies on the 30th of April,
10:39but the fighting carries on in Breslau,
10:42the first, the second, the third, the fourth.
10:44So on the 6th of May 1945,
10:48the people of Breslau
10:50and what's left,
10:51the remnants of the Wehrmacht
10:53and the Volkssturm
10:54and these few Hitler youth
10:55are fighting away against the Red Army.
10:58It's an extremely bloody and violent conflict
11:01because the German authorities
11:03refuse to surrender.
11:07They believe that they cannot possibly surrender
11:10to their ideological nemesis,
11:12the Red Army.
11:13The Nazi leaders are still determined
11:17not to surrender to the Soviets
11:19here in Breslau
11:22or at the Allied headquarters.
11:25At Eisenhower's Allied headquarters in Ranz,
11:46everyone is anxiously awaiting
11:47the arrival of the more senior Nazi negotiator.
11:51News arrives that General Alfred Jodl
12:09has landed near Ranz.
12:11Finally, negotiations can resume.
12:14General Alfred Jodl
12:16is the chief of the operations staff
12:19of the Wehrmacht-High Command
12:21and he, like Dönitz,
12:23is an ardent national socialist.
12:29He's appointed to
12:32try to do the same thing
12:35that Friedeburg has just failed in achieving,
12:38namely bring about a separate peace
12:40with the Western Allies.
12:41He played a key role in the Blitzkrieg
12:47and then had been pretty much
12:48in the wolf's lair from then on,
12:50Hitler's advance front and the Prussian front.
12:53And he's just been promoted by Dönitz
12:54and he's been sent in to negotiate.
12:57He is in rank between Friedeburg
13:00and Dönitz himself.
13:02This is the Germans stepping up.
13:05They're providing someone of a greater rank,
13:07but they're still hoping they can negotiate
13:09a conditional surrender.
13:10Dönitz himself notably
13:12isn't going to the meeting.
13:19At around 5.20pm,
13:23Jodl strides into the Allied headquarters
13:26at Ranz.
13:28He behaves extremely arrogantly.
13:31One small detail is noteworthy.
13:33Instead of displaying
13:35the Heil Hitler greeting,
13:36he does a traditional military salute.
13:42I think for a moment he imagines perhaps
13:45that he will be able to sit down
13:47as equal, if you like,
13:49and discuss issues of the German surrender.
13:55Back in the Nazi-controlled fortress city
13:58of Breslau,
14:00the streets have fallen eerily quiet.
14:08At 6pm,
14:09in the early evening of 6th of May 1945,
14:13German officers
14:14walk through the streets of Breslau
14:16carrying a white flag.
14:19These officers realise
14:21this siege,
14:22this battle,
14:23cannot be won.
14:24That is the signal
14:26to the Red Army.
14:28The Germans have surrendered.
14:30Breslau has fallen.
14:33Admiral Dönitz
14:34had put a lot at stake
14:36into keeping Breslau going.
14:38This idea was,
14:40if Breslau still stands,
14:42if they're still fighting,
14:43that somehow maybe
14:44we can still win this thing
14:46or come up with some negotiation
14:48with the Western Allies.
14:50But with the fall
14:51of the siege of Breslau,
14:52Dönitz even realises
14:53the game is up.
14:54Because once Breslau has fallen,
14:56there's no other big city left.
14:58This is it.
15:00The moment of the capitulation,
15:03if you look around Breslau now,
15:05you see absolute devastation,
15:08destruction,
15:10injured civilians,
15:11injured soldiers,
15:12smouldering ruins,
15:14huge swathes of the city
15:15have been destroyed.
15:17It's a cityscape
15:19from Dante's Inferno.
15:21It's hell on earth.
15:24The Nazi reckless determination
15:27to continue fighting
15:29until the last bullet
15:30costs thousands of lives.
15:38Just over 30 miles from Breslau,
15:41the Peterswalda slave labor camp
15:43is still operating.
15:45Despite its proximity
15:47to the front line.
15:48Now it's difficult
15:50to put an exact figure on it,
15:52but there are more than
15:5442,000 camps
15:57dotted across German-occupied Europe.
16:00Right into the final days
16:01of the war,
16:02many of these camps,
16:04sub-camps, satellite camps,
16:05they're still being operated.
16:07Shindy Ehrenwald
16:11was a 14-year-old Jewish girl
16:14from Hungary,
16:15and she,
16:16along with hundreds of thousands
16:18of Hungarian Jews,
16:20were rounded up in 1944.
16:23Shindy and her family
16:25were deported
16:26to Auschwitz
16:28in German-occupied Poland,
16:30and there she was taken
16:33from her family,
16:34who were immediately gassed,
16:37and she was found
16:39suitable for labor,
16:41for work.
16:42Whilst the Allies
16:43are negotiating with Yodel,
16:46Shindy is under the guard
16:47of the SS,
16:48imprisoned in a slave labor camp
16:50for Jewish women
16:51called Petersvaldow.
16:54She's actually making
16:55detonators for bombs,
16:57and she is working
16:58hugely long shifts,
17:00locked into this factory
17:01with a number of other women.
17:04The time slave labor
17:05would be appropriate.
17:08There was high mortality
17:09amongst the inmates
17:11of these camps.
17:13It was back-breaking work
17:14that they were doing
17:14under terrible conditions.
17:16Somehow,
17:17despite her starvation
17:19and her exhaustion,
17:20she manages to still
17:22keep writing her diary
17:23on scraps of paper
17:24and cards stolen
17:25from the factory,
17:26which she keeps hidden
17:28inside her clothes.
17:29Shindy is risking her life
17:31by keeping
17:32the precious diary hidden.
17:38By the 6th of May,
17:40the front line is now
17:41only about 50 kilometers away.
17:46The prisoners in Petersvaldow
17:48will almost certainly
17:49have noticed
17:49at this point
17:50that things are more chaotic
17:53in the camp
17:54than usual.
17:56In many camps
17:57near the front line,
17:59the guards murdered
18:00their prisoners
18:00before the approaching armies
18:02could free them.
18:04Shindy's testimony
18:05tells of her sensing
18:06a worrying change
18:08in the SS guards' behavior.
18:10They have to gauge
18:10everything by the behavior
18:12of the Germans,
18:13and the Germans seem
18:14to be getting quite nervous.
18:16They're, of course,
18:16still completely at the mercy
18:18of the SS personnel
18:19in the camp.
18:20While they might have
18:22had a sense of hope
18:23that they'll soon be liberated,
18:24this will have been mixed
18:26with fear that perhaps
18:29they'd be killed
18:29or that they might be
18:30taken to another camp
18:32or, as we know,
18:33did happen in many cases,
18:35sent on a so-called death march.
18:366.15 p.m.
18:44General Strong escorts
18:45Jodl and von Friedeberg
18:47to General Bedell Smith's office.
18:50The negotiations resume.
18:54Jodl declares
18:55that he doesn't have
18:57the authority
18:58to negotiate
18:59over a total
19:01unconditional surrender
19:02of Germany.
19:03He tells the Allies,
19:05I only have the authority
19:07to negotiate
19:08a partial surrender
19:10on the Western Front.
19:12He is pretending
19:13not to have the authority.
19:16In reality,
19:17he's carrying a signed letter
19:19from Dönitz
19:20authorizing him,
19:23Jodl,
19:24to sign
19:25a document
19:26of unconditional surrender.
19:28The Allies
19:32are quickly
19:33losing their patience.
19:36They are having
19:38none of it.
19:39They are getting
19:40extremely angry.
19:42Their servicemen
19:43are still dying
19:44as the war
19:45is unnecessarily
19:47being delayed
19:48by the rather
19:49pathetic maneuvering
19:51of Hans-Georg
19:53von Friedeberg
19:54and Alfred Jodl.
19:56The Allies
19:57have two
19:58key reasons
19:59that they want
20:00a complete
20:00and total surrender.
20:02Firstly,
20:02they don't want
20:03a repeat of any problems
20:04like with the surrender
20:06in 1918.
20:07They don't want
20:07any regional holdouts.
20:08They want this
20:09to be a final end
20:10to the war in Europe.
20:12Secondly,
20:12Eisenhower is determined
20:13to honor his agreement
20:15with his ally,
20:16Stalin.
20:17The Soviets
20:17have held out
20:18for a complete
20:19and unconditional surrender.
20:21and the Allies
20:22need Soviet help
20:23to continue
20:24the war in the Pacific.
20:26The continuing delays
20:28threaten to stretch
20:29the fragile bond
20:30between the Western Allies
20:31and the Communist Soviets
20:33to breaking point.
20:37But Jodl
20:38is still maintaining
20:39his pretense
20:40that he needs authority
20:41from President Dönitz.
20:44He is permitted
20:45to send another message
20:47to the Nazi High Command.
20:51Essentially,
20:52Dönitz has told Jodl
20:55to slow things down
20:56and if possible
20:58to succeed
20:59where Friedenberg
21:00has failed.
21:01Dönitz wants
21:02to either agree
21:03a separate surrender
21:04with the British
21:05and Americans
21:05or to hold off
21:07for as long as possible
21:08to allow German people
21:10in the East
21:10to escape
21:11the approaching
21:12Soviet forces.
21:14Nazi leaders
21:15like Dönitz
21:16think that World War III
21:17is imminent
21:19because the mortal enemy
21:20not only of the Nazis
21:22but also of the British
21:23and of the Americans
21:24are the Soviets.
21:27The British,
21:28the Americans
21:29absolutely do not want
21:31to have anything
21:31to do with Dönitz
21:33or with what remains
21:34of the German army.
21:36They want them
21:37to surrender unconditionally.
21:38Heisenhower's office
21:50is enormously tense.
21:52For the past week,
21:53no one had left.
21:54They'd been just waiting
21:55for the latest developments.
21:57People had only slept
21:58when they were so exhausted
21:59they could no longer
22:00stay awake.
22:01Heisenhower himself
22:02is whipped up
22:03and beaten down
22:03almost by the tension
22:04and the stress.
22:05all of this
22:07particularly coming
22:08on top of months
22:09and months
22:10of battlefield strain
22:11underlines
22:12the desperation
22:14to bring the fighting
22:15to an end
22:16as soon as possible.
22:20At 9pm
22:21General Strong
22:22phones Eisenhower.
22:24The Germans
22:24are trying to delay
22:25again.
22:27Udall requests
22:28a 48 hour delay
22:30in order to enable
22:32as many German soldiers
22:34and civilians
22:35as possible
22:36to escape the clutches
22:38of the advancing
22:39Soviet forces
22:39and move towards
22:41the Allies
22:43in the West.
22:48For just over
22:49three months
22:50Dönitz has been
22:51overseeing his mission
22:52to extract people
22:53from Germany's
22:55Eastern Fronts.
22:56It's a race
22:58against time now
22:59for the Allies
22:59to secure
23:00an unconditional surrender
23:02from the Nazi Germans.
23:03They want to save
23:05as many lives
23:06as possible
23:07by drawing
23:07the war to a close
23:08and the Germans
23:10have a slightly
23:11different agenda.
23:12Operation Hannibal
23:13is about saving
23:14as many German troops
23:16as possible
23:16for what Dönitz
23:18thinks will be
23:19a showdown
23:20between Britain,
23:22the United States,
23:23Germany on the one hand
23:24and the Soviet Union
23:25on the other.
23:26Dönitz is delaying
23:28because of a deluded
23:29belief he can rebuild
23:31his armies
23:31and join forces
23:33with the Allies
23:34against the Soviets.
23:37With negotiations
23:39stretching into
23:40a second day,
23:41can Eisenhower
23:42really consider
23:43accepting yet another delay?
23:46Eisenhower's temperament
23:47I think is crucial
23:48to his success
23:49as a general.
23:50Yes, he's under
23:51a lot of pressure,
23:51he deals with that pressure
23:52by pacing around,
23:53by reading Westerns,
23:54he's been known
23:56to change smoke
23:56and he's got to remain
23:58calm and rested
24:00so that when he has
24:01to make those decisions
24:03that no one else
24:04can make,
24:04only the Supreme
24:05Commander can make,
24:06he's relatively fresh
24:07and he can come up
24:08with a correct call
24:09when those moments
24:10come along.
24:11The Germans
24:12have strung things out
24:13for long enough.
24:14Eisenhower's lost patience
24:19with the fact
24:20that the Germans
24:20keep trying to play
24:21for time.
24:22He says,
24:22enough of this,
24:23you have 48 hours,
24:25I'm closing the American lines,
24:26no German troops
24:27will be able to come across
24:29and capitulate
24:30or surrender
24:31to the Americans.
24:33The Germans
24:34are still holding off
24:35Soviet forces
24:36in the east,
24:38but any retreat
24:39would require
24:40passing through
24:41Eisenhower's lines.
24:44Eisenhower for all his calmness
24:46is also someone
24:46who realises
24:47that at certain moments
24:48in war
24:48you have to just be decisive,
24:50you have to act
24:50and enough is enough.
24:52It's time for this new
24:53German government
24:54to recognise
24:54the realities
24:55of its situation.
24:57If Eisenhower
24:58is true to his word,
25:00Operation Hannibal
25:01will be in jeopardy
25:02and Dönitz's hopes
25:05of bringing back
25:06his forces
25:06to unite with the Allies
25:08against the Soviets
25:09are over.
25:12The whole German
25:14project is now
25:15on the rocks.
25:28Eisenhower's threat
25:29to close Allied lines
25:30to any retreating
25:31German forces
25:32is a huge blow.
25:36Jodl must relay
25:37this devastating news
25:38to Dönitz.
25:39He drafts a message
25:41for the Allies
25:42to broadcast
25:43on his behalf.
25:47Dönitz hears
25:48of the ultimatum
25:49through a radio message
25:50from Jodl
25:50who explains
25:52in no uncertain terms
25:54what the likely
25:55consequences are
25:56that the Germans
25:57won't be able
25:58to pull any more
25:59of their people
26:00back south.
26:01And Jodl says,
26:03I see no alternative.
26:05It is chaos
26:06or signature.
26:12Could Jodl's message
26:13be enough
26:14to secure the surrender?
26:15This, I think,
26:17is when the tension
26:18is really starting
26:19to build.
26:20Eisenhower tries
26:20to relax
26:21by going to a party
26:22at Women's Auxiliary
26:23Corps House
26:24and he hates
26:25every minute of it.
26:26There are Soviets
26:27there,
26:28they're getting drunk,
26:29drinking American rye
26:31like it's vodka,
26:32the champagne
26:33is also being down
26:34but of course
26:34Eisenhower can't drink,
26:35he can't relax
26:36and so he leaves.
26:37Eisenhower makes
26:38a swift exit,
26:40telling his assistant,
26:41Kay Summersbee,
26:42to keep in touch
26:43with the office.
26:47Eisenhower's ultimatum
26:48is hugely important
26:50for Dönitz.
26:51At this point
26:52his primary objective
26:54is to get
26:55as many German forces
26:57out towards the west
26:59and also
27:00his secondary objective
27:01is still
27:02to use those forces
27:03that he brings out
27:04to join the Allies
27:06to fight off
27:07the communist threat.
27:08If the lines are closed
27:10he won't be able
27:11to do that
27:11so this is
27:12really significant.
27:13While Dönitz
27:14would ideally
27:14like to sign
27:15a separate peace
27:17with the western Allies
27:18he's very aware
27:19that this window
27:21of opportunity
27:22for signing
27:23a surrender
27:24could close.
27:30Dönitz is facing
27:31a dilemma.
27:33Should he give in
27:34to pressure
27:34from the Allies
27:35and sign
27:36or continue
27:37to delay
27:38in hope
27:39of saving
27:39more troops?
27:40by signing
27:42the surrender
27:43he seals
27:44the fate
27:44of those
27:45fleeing
27:45in Operation Hannibal.
27:47His main
27:48consideration
27:49is not
27:51to save
27:51as many lives
27:52as possible.
27:53His main
27:54consideration
27:54is
27:56to save
27:57his neck.
27:58his neck.
28:00So many leading
28:01Nazis
28:02so many
28:03Nazi
28:04senior
28:04officers
28:05pretend
28:06to fight
28:08heroically
28:09for Germany.
28:11In the end
28:12once the masks
28:13are down
28:14their main
28:16priority
28:17is
28:18to save
28:19their own
28:20necks.
28:20So that
28:28night
28:29Eisenhower
28:29goes a bit
28:30early
28:30but the
28:31one problem
28:31Eisenhower
28:32has
28:32is he
28:32has
28:33company
28:33he's got
28:34Winston
28:34Churchill
28:34Churchill
28:35has
28:35a sleep
28:37pattern
28:37which
28:37tires
28:38exhaust
28:39most
28:39of his
28:39aids
28:40Churchill
28:40is
28:41constantly
28:41phoning
28:41up
28:42Eisenhower
28:42asking
28:43for the
28:43latest
28:44development
28:44so Eisenhower
28:45not only
28:45is struggling
28:46with the
28:47tension
28:47and the
28:47stress
28:48of what's
28:48going to
28:48happen
28:48he's
28:49also
28:49having
28:49to
28:49constantly
28:50field
28:50off
28:50these
28:51requests
28:51from the
28:52British
28:52Prime
28:52Minister
28:52desperate
28:53for
28:53information.
28:55After a
28:56long day
28:57Dönitz
28:58receives
28:59a message
29:00from the
29:01Allied
29:01headquarters
29:01in
29:02Reims
29:02from
29:02Jordan.
29:05Just
29:06after
29:0612
29:06midnight
29:07a call
29:08comes
29:08through
29:09to the
29:09WAC
29:10House.
29:12Dönitz
29:12has
29:13conceded.
29:18What
29:18drives
29:19Dönitz's
29:20fast
29:20decision
29:21remains
29:22unclear.
29:25He
29:25is
29:25probably
29:26realizing
29:27that the
29:28time
29:29for
29:30delusion
29:31the
29:32time
29:32for
29:33pipe
29:34dreams
29:34is
29:35finally
29:36over
29:37and that
29:38the
29:39unconditional
29:39surrender
29:40must be
29:41signed
29:42as quickly
29:42as
29:43possible.
29:45Once
29:46Dönitz
29:46has
29:47finally
29:47given
29:47Jodl
29:48permission
29:49to sign
29:50it doesn't
29:50really seem
29:51any point
29:51in waiting
29:52and they
29:53decide to
29:54hold the
29:55ceremony
29:55there in
29:56the middle
29:56of the
29:56night.
29:57The
29:57sooner
29:57it's
29:57done
29:58the
29:58better
29:58and
29:58fewer
29:59people
29:59will
29:59be
29:59killed.
30:11Whilst
30:11plans
30:12are
30:12being
30:12made
30:12for
30:13the
30:13surrender
30:13the
30:15prisoners
30:15at the
30:16Peterswalda
30:16slave
30:17labor
30:17camp
30:18have
30:18been
30:18woken
30:18in
30:19the
30:19middle
30:19of
30:19the
30:19night
30:20and
30:21marched
30:21back
30:22to
30:22their
30:22factory.
30:23They
30:24are
30:24ordered
30:24to
30:25dismantle
30:25the
30:25equipment.
30:27They
30:27drag
30:27out
30:28what
30:28they
30:28can
30:29from
30:29the
30:29machinery
30:29and
30:30are
30:30told
30:30to
30:30throw
30:31it
30:31into
30:31the
30:31river.
30:31the
30:34Germans
30:34disappear
30:35and
30:35the
30:36women
30:36are
30:36just
30:37not
30:37sure
30:37what
30:37to
30:37do.
30:38Should
30:38they
30:38leave?
30:38Should
30:38they
30:38try
30:39and
30:39find
30:39food
30:40or
30:40water?
30:40Should
30:41they
30:41run
30:41away?
30:43They
30:43didn't
30:44know
30:44whether
30:44other
30:45German
30:45personnel
30:46were
30:46going
30:46to
30:46kill
30:47them.
30:49Across
30:49German
30:50held
30:50territories
30:50people
30:51are
30:51fleeing
30:52not
30:52just
30:53from
30:53the
30:53camps
30:54but
30:55from
30:55their
30:55homes.
30:56It's
30:57clear
30:57to
30:58the
30:58German
30:58population
30:59that
31:00the
31:01war
31:01is
31:01lost.
31:03Germany
31:03has
31:04been
31:04devastated
31:05by
31:05Allied
31:06aerial
31:06bombardment.
31:08Many
31:08in
31:09Germany
31:09are
31:10fearful
31:11of
31:11what
31:11the
31:11Soviets
31:11will
31:12do
31:13once
31:13they
31:14reach
31:14German
31:14soil.
31:15When
31:15the
31:15Red
31:16Army
31:16comes
31:16through
31:16they
31:16behave
31:17with
31:17the
31:17utmost
31:18sort
31:18of
31:18fervent
31:19brutality.
31:20The
31:21rape
31:21of
31:21women
31:21pillaging
31:22looting
31:23killing
31:23and
31:24of
31:24course
31:25the
31:25soldiers
31:26who
31:26are
31:26captured
31:26those
31:27who
31:27aren't
31:27killed
31:28outright
31:28end
31:29up
31:29going
31:29into
31:30Soviet
31:30captivity
31:31and
31:32tens
31:33of
31:33thousands
31:33of
31:33them
31:34die.
31:35The
31:35exodus
31:35from
31:35the
31:36east
31:36is
31:36by
31:37foot
31:37by
31:38car
31:38basically
31:39any
31:39way
31:40people
31:40can
31:41make
31:41that
31:41journey.
31:45At
31:46Allied
31:46headquarters
31:47the
31:47surrender
31:48documents
31:48are
31:49still
31:49being
31:50transcribed.
31:52Eisenhower
31:52headquarters
31:52staff
31:53are
31:53busy
31:53typing
31:53up
31:54a
31:54version
31:55of
31:55surrender
31:55document.
31:57The
31:57surrender
31:57document
31:58had
31:58in fact
31:59been
31:59drafted
31:59in
32:00July
32:001944.
32:02They
32:02had
32:02anticipated
32:03that
32:03Germany
32:03would
32:03probably
32:04be
32:04defeated
32:04by
32:04the
32:04autumn
32:05and
32:05said
32:05they
32:06were
32:06getting
32:06ready
32:06for
32:06that.
32:07That
32:07document
32:08was sent
32:08to
32:08Eisenhower
32:09headquarters.
32:10They
32:10then modified
32:11the
32:11document
32:11when the
32:12French
32:13became
32:13involved
32:13for the
32:14French
32:14that
32:14they
32:14wanted
32:14to be
32:15included
32:15in
32:16the
32:16surrender
32:16document
32:17too.
32:17The
32:17actual
32:18surrender
32:18the
32:19Schaefer
32:19officials
32:20were very
32:20confused.
32:21They
32:21didn't
32:21know
32:21which
32:21one
32:21they
32:21had
32:22to
32:22use.
32:23Bedell
32:24Smith
32:24thinks
32:24that
32:24something
32:24just
32:25shorter
32:25and
32:25sharper
32:26will
32:26be
32:26more
32:26appropriate
32:27and
32:27so
32:27he
32:28quickly
32:29gets
32:30a new
32:30version
32:31both
32:32written
32:32up
32:33translated
32:34and
32:34then
32:35the
32:35typing
32:35pool
32:35is
32:36put
32:36to
32:36work.
32:37At
32:381.30
32:38Ruth Briggs
32:39provides
32:40Butcher
32:40with the
32:41information
32:41that the
32:41big
32:42party
32:42is
32:42on
32:42and
32:43so
32:43Butcher's
32:43first
32:43instinct
32:44is
32:44to
32:44hunt
32:45for
32:45pens
32:45gold
32:46pens
32:46that
32:47the
32:48surrender
32:48document
32:48will
32:48be
32:49signed
32:49with.
32:50The
32:51Allies
32:51are
32:51determined
32:51not
32:52to
32:52wait
32:52until
32:52morning
32:53because
32:54every
32:54hour
32:54every
32:55minute
32:55Allied
32:56forces
32:57are
32:57still
32:57being
32:58killed.
32:58This
32:59document
32:59has
32:59to
33:00go
33:01back
33:01to
33:01the
33:01German
33:01headquarters
33:02it's
33:02got
33:02to
33:02be
33:03then
33:03distributed
33:04to
33:04German
33:05soldiers
33:05and
33:06there
33:07is
33:07a
33:07desperation
33:08for
33:08the
33:09Germans
33:09to
33:09lay
33:10down
33:10their
33:10arms
33:10every
33:11hour
33:12that
33:13the
33:13Germans
33:14don't
33:14surrender
33:14is
33:15every
33:15hour
33:16that
33:16an
33:16Allied
33:17soldier
33:17might
33:17be
33:17killed
33:18and
33:18so
33:18there
33:19is
33:19a
33:19real
33:19desperation
33:19for
33:20this
33:20to
33:20happen
33:20sooner
33:21rather
33:21than
33:21later.
33:26The
33:27people
33:27in the
33:27room
33:27when the
33:27ceremony
33:28begins
33:28include
33:29not
33:29just
33:29the
33:30senior
33:30Allied
33:31generals
33:31the
33:32press
33:33are
33:33jostling
33:33for
33:33position
33:33everyone
33:34else
33:35is
33:35still
33:35apart
33:35from
33:35these
33:36reporters
33:36trying
33:37to
33:37get
33:37to
33:37the
33:38front
33:38to
33:38try
33:38and
33:38get
33:39their
33:39best
33:40observation
33:40point
33:41for
33:41the
33:41big
33:41moment.
33:41von
33:47Friedeberg
33:48Jodl
33:49and his
33:49aide
33:49Oxenius
33:50are
33:51summoned
33:51into
33:51the
33:52room.
34:01Everyone
34:01is ready.
34:03The documents
34:03are prepared.
34:05The press
34:06are waiting.
34:06The
34:10signing
34:10of the
34:11unconditional
34:11surrender
34:12is
34:13organised
34:14ad hoc.
34:16The
34:16ceremony
34:17takes
34:17place
34:18in a
34:18very
34:18stuffy
34:19badly
34:20lit
34:20room.
34:22The
34:22stage
34:22is
34:23set
34:23for
34:24an
34:24international
34:24media
34:25spectacle.
34:28Behind
34:29the
34:29smiles
34:30for
34:30the
34:30camera
34:30there
34:31is
34:32uncertainty.
34:34It's
34:35not
34:35just
34:35the
34:35Germans
34:36who
34:36may
34:36refuse
34:37to
34:37sign.
34:40When
34:40the
34:40ceremony
34:41finally
34:41begins
34:42there
34:43are
34:43representatives
34:44from
34:44Britain,
34:46the
34:46United
34:46States
34:46and
34:47France
34:47and
34:48there
34:48is
34:48a
34:48representative
34:49from
34:50the
34:50Soviet
34:50Union
34:51which
34:51would
34:51bar
34:51off.
34:52The
34:52Germans
34:53have
34:53to
34:53sign
34:54the
34:54document
34:54and
34:55then
34:55the
34:55allies
34:56are
34:56going
34:56to
34:57sign.
34:57There's
34:57a
34:57real
34:57problem
34:58for
34:59the
34:59Soviet
34:59representative
35:00what's
35:01he
35:01going
35:01to
35:02do
35:02he
35:02hasn't
35:02had
35:02permission
35:02from
35:03starting
35:03to
35:03sign
35:04but
35:04if
35:04he
35:04doesn't
35:05sign
35:05then
35:05it
35:05clearly
35:06is
35:06a
35:06surrender
35:07only
35:07to
35:07the
35:07Americans
35:08and
35:08the
35:08British
35:09he
35:09is
35:09in
35:09a
35:09real
35:10bind.
35:12Tussapirov
35:13actually
35:13realizes
35:13that
35:14the
35:14situation
35:14is
35:14very
35:14dangerous
35:15for
35:15him.
35:15He's
35:16making
35:16a
35:16decision
35:16to
35:17sign
35:17and
35:18what
35:18happens
35:19if
35:19the
35:20permission
35:20to
35:21sign
35:21doesn't
35:22come
35:22through
35:22from
35:22Stalin
35:23and
35:24so
35:24he
35:24demands
35:25from
35:25the
35:25Western
35:25allies
35:26that
35:26if
35:26Stalin
35:26does
35:27not
35:27recognize
35:28the
35:29signature
35:30at
35:30Rance
35:30as
35:31being
35:31the
35:35has
35:35to
35:35be
35:35a
35:35second
35:36signing
35:36ceremony.
35:38With
35:38no
35:39word
35:39from
35:39Stalin
35:40Susloporov
35:42must
35:42make
35:43his
35:43decision.
35:52Finally
35:53the
35:54moment
35:54has
35:55arrived.
35:56The
35:56allies
35:57are
35:57assembled.
35:58The
35:58documents
35:59are
35:59ready.
36:01Lieutenant
36:01General
36:02Bedell
36:03Smith
36:03asks
36:04if
36:04the
36:04German
36:05delegation
36:05are
36:05ready
36:06to
36:06sign.
36:07Major
36:08General
36:08Strong
36:09translates.
36:12The
36:12chief
36:12of the
36:12operations
36:13staff
36:13of the
36:14Wehrmacht
36:14High
36:14Command
36:15Alfred
36:16Yodel
36:16nods.
36:22At
36:232.41
36:24AM
36:24Yodel
36:26signs.
36:27Then
36:28General
36:28Bedell
36:29Smith.
36:30Then
36:31the
36:31Soviet
36:31representative
36:32Susloporov.
36:34Yodel
36:34Yodel
36:35Yodel
36:35Yodel
36:35Yodel
36:37stands
36:38and
36:38he has
36:40the
36:40audacity
36:40to
36:41request
36:41leniency
36:42from the
36:42Allied
36:43forces.
36:45Claiming
36:46the German
36:46people have
36:47suffered
36:47more than
36:48any others
36:48during the
36:49course of
36:49the war,
36:50Yodel
36:51requests
36:51that the
36:52victors
36:52treat them
36:53with
36:53generosity.
36:54The
36:55Allies
36:55are
36:56shocked
36:56really.
36:56It
36:56comes
36:57from
36:57a
36:57German
36:58commander
36:58who
36:59is
36:59a
37:00senior
37:00part
37:00of
37:00the
37:01Nazi
37:01regime.
37:02They
37:02have
37:03murdered
37:04millions
37:05of
37:05their
37:06own
37:06citizens
37:06and
37:07they
37:08have
37:08enforced
37:09a
37:10protracted
37:10end
37:11to
37:11this
37:11war.
37:11Their
37:12surviving
37:12civilians
37:12have
37:13been
37:13through
37:13absolute
37:14hell
37:14with
37:14bombardment
37:15and
37:16then
37:16he
37:16has
37:17the
37:17audacity
37:17to
37:18request
37:18leniency
37:19from
37:19the Allies
37:20coming
37:20in.
37:20It's
37:21extraordinary.
37:23The Allies
37:24do not
37:24respond.
37:26This is
37:27an
37:27unconditional
37:28surrender
37:28and this
37:29tone-deaf
37:30statement
37:31sounds like
37:31a condition.
37:33Yodel
37:33does not
37:34acknowledge
37:35that the
37:36Nazis
37:36have
37:36murdered
37:37six
37:38million
37:38European
37:40Jews,
37:41that
37:41Germany
37:42has
37:43started
37:43the
37:44Second
37:44World
37:44War
37:45in
37:45Europe.
37:47At
37:482.41
37:49a.m.
37:50on
37:50the 7th
37:51of
37:51May,
37:52this
37:52document
37:53is
37:53signed
37:53which
37:54really
37:54effectively
37:54means
37:55the
37:55end
37:56of
37:56World
37:56War
37:56II
37:56in
37:57Europe.
37:57This
37:57is
37:57a
37:58huge,
37:58huge
37:59moment.
38:00The
38:00importance
38:00of
38:01the
38:01signing
38:01of
38:02the
38:02peace
38:02cannot
38:02be
38:03overestimated.
38:05It
38:05brings
38:05to an
38:06end
38:06a war
38:07that's
38:07gone
38:07on
38:08for
38:08almost
38:08six
38:09years
38:09and
38:10caused
38:11untold
38:12destruction.
38:13So
38:13this
38:13is
38:14a
38:14crucial
38:14moment
38:15for
38:16ending
38:17this
38:17chapter
38:18of
38:18devastation.
38:19While the
38:20ceremony is
38:20underway in
38:21the war
38:21room,
38:21Eisenhower is
38:22pacing as
38:23is his
38:24want between
38:24his office and
38:25Kay Summersby's
38:26office,
38:26trying to adopt a
38:29pose of
38:29detachment but
38:30actually showing
38:31his stress by
38:32chain-smoking
38:33cigarettes.
38:333am.
38:40Kay Summersby has
38:41been waiting
38:42alone at her
38:43desk in
38:43Eisenhower's
38:44office.
38:46Von
38:46Friedeberg,
38:47Jodel and
38:48his aide,
38:48Oxenius,
38:49are escorted
38:50past her to
38:51meet with
38:51General
38:52Eisenhower.
38:55Up
38:55until now,
38:57Eisenhower has
38:58controlled proceedings
38:59from a distance.
39:00He is far too
39:01senior to be
39:02negotiating with
39:03admirals and
39:04generals.
39:05It would have
39:06been insulting for
39:07Eisenhower to be
39:08involved in the
39:10signing of the
39:11surrender, but once
39:12the document has
39:13been signed, he
39:14demands, really, to
39:16know whether the
39:17Germans have
39:17understood all of
39:18those terms.
39:20They reply,
39:21ja, and then it
39:23is done.
39:23They're escorted
39:24out.
39:24this is really a matter
39:28of life and death
39:29for both sides.
39:33The actual signing
39:34the document is one
39:35thing, making sure the
39:36document is actually
39:37obeyed at all levels of
39:39the command is vitally
39:41important.
39:42One small win for
39:43Dönitz is the almost
39:4548-hour postponement of
39:47the official ceasing of
39:48hostilities.
39:51Although there are
39:52ceasefires in place,
39:54this allows the
39:55movement of German
39:56troops to continue
39:57right up until the
39:5911.01 deadline on the
40:008th of May.
40:01At 3.20am on the
40:10morning of May the
40:117th, Eisenhower sends
40:12a message to all
40:13general staff saying
40:14simply, mission
40:16fulfilled.
40:17Once the signing has
40:19been completed, the
40:20Germans are escorted
40:21out of the building.
40:22It is done.
40:23And then it's a press
40:24moment.
40:25Some of the press have
40:25actually been waiting
40:26there overnight for a
40:27couple of days to make
40:28sure they didn't miss
40:29the moment.
40:30There's brief
40:30celebration and
40:31Eisenhower picks up
40:32the two pens, one
40:34from either side who
40:34have signed, and he
40:35puts them into a V
40:36for victory formation
40:37and then the shutters
40:39run.
40:42Then they're pretty
40:43much all exhausted.
40:44There's a quick toast
40:44and they're off to bed.
40:493.57am.
40:52A message is
40:53intercepted by British
40:54intelligence and
40:56decoded at Bletchley
40:57Park.
40:58Yodel has sent a
40:59message to Dönitz,
41:01communicating the contents
41:02of the instrument of
41:03surrender.
41:06News of the ceasefire can
41:09now be relayed to German
41:10forces.
41:13The 7th of May, 1945,
41:168.20am.
41:18A panzer division in Czechoslovakia
41:22is unaware that the fighting
41:23has officially ceased.
41:25They encounter an American
41:27unit.
41:28They start to fire.
41:31They used a machine gun fire
41:33against the Americans and
41:34Private Charlie Haflatt was
41:36actually ducked, but then
41:37raised his head to see what
41:38was going on and
41:40unfortunately took one of the
41:42last bullets of the war.
41:45Just ten minutes later, the
41:47radio message came through of
41:49the surrender and both sides
41:51laid down their arms.
41:53Private Charlie Haflatt is the last
41:58American soldier killed in the
41:59European theater operations in
42:01World War II.
42:03Charlie is one of approximately
42:0515 million people who lost their
42:08lives fighting in Europe.
42:11Over 30 million civilians, men,
42:15women and children have died in
42:18the course of this war, and 65
42:22million are displaced, their homes
42:26in ruins.
42:31The following day, at Stalin's
42:34request, a second surrender
42:37ceremony takes place in Soviet-
42:39occupied Berlin.
42:45Dönitz, Jodl, and von Friedeberg
42:47were arrested for war crimes.
42:51Von Friedeberg committed suicide.
42:55Dönitz was sentenced to ten years
42:57imprisonment, and Jodl was executed.
43:02Yesterday morning, at 2.41 a.m.,
43:08at General Eisenhower's
43:10headquarters, General Jodl, the
43:15representative of the German high
43:17command, signed the act of
43:20unconditional surrender of all
43:23German land, sea, and air forces
43:26in Europe to the Allied
43:30expeditionary force.
43:33General Biedel Smith signed the
43:37document on behalf of the
43:39supreme commander of the Allied
43:42expeditionary force.
43:44hostility will end officially at one
43:49minute after midnight tonight, Tuesday, the 8th of May.
43:54But in the interest of saving lives, the ceasefire began yesterday.
43:59The Allied victory brought an official end to the war in Europe.
44:11On the 8th of May, Shindi and her fellow women, prisoners, are liberated by the Red Army.
44:17The inmates welcomed liberation. However, many of them were in dreadful physical condition, on the verge of starvation, emaciated, and sadly, many prisoners died.
44:30For these people, the nightmare didn't end with liberation.
44:34Shindi is actually reunited with her sister, another survivor of the camps. And she still has 54 pages of her diary still hidden in her clothes. It is, in fact, the only known diary to survive from Auschwitz.
44:49Operation Hannibal ends with the final evacuations taking place even after a capitulation by the Germans.
44:58Dönitz claims that Operation Hannibal was one of the largest humanitarian missions in history.
45:05I do not believe for a minute that Dönitz ever wanted to save people's lives.
45:10This is the end of the Second World War in Europe, but it's also a beginning. It's the start of the Cold War.
45:18This sets the scene for the division of Europe going right through Germany itself.
45:248th of May 1945 is now seen in today's Germany as a day of liberation, not of defeat.
45:32After five and a half years of war, the soldiers at the front will no longer have the prospect of death.
45:37Their families back home will no longer have the prospect of a dreaded telegram.
45:41There will be one big party to celebrate the end of the war, the end of the blackout, the end of the death and destruction of the past five and a half years.
45:53Finally, almost the whole world was combined against the evildoers who are now prostrate before us.
46:02Our gratitude to all our splendid allies.
46:14The war in Europe was won thanks to the cooperation of 51 countries.
46:20United in the pursuit of peace.
46:32Puttin' you in the cockpit of the planes that wrought history, plus the story of a group of Scottish pensioners that spent 25 years building a replica first World War biplane.
46:42New Warplane Workshop stream or watch Monday at 9 on Moor 4.
46:46Up next, what fate awaits Gilead? June is not going to bow out easily.
46:50It's episode one of the final ever series of The Handmaid's Tale.
46:55Thank you for saying goodbye.