Discovery Channel - The Russian Front 1941-1945 (1998) Part 4 The Battles for Berlin

The Russian Front chronicles the war between the Soviet Union and Germany that began on June 22, 1941, when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, and ended with a Soviet assault on Berlin in April 1945. More combatants were killed on the Eastern Front than in all other theaters of World War II combined. The war on the Russian Front was a bitter, deadly struggle, triumphant for the Nazis at first, but eventually proving to be their downfall. Among the military campaigns examined is the brutal battle for Stalingrad in 1942, in which the Red Army lost more than 1 million men in defense of the city, and the engagement at Kursk in July 1943 involving 1 million men and 2,700 tanks. Relive campaign by campaign and battle by battle the bloody war between Nazi Germany and the Red Army of the Soviet Union. Featuring rare archive footage from the front, this fascinating series retells a story of barbarism, heroism, self-sacrifice, patriotism, despair, and triumph. An epic history of war and warfare, it is also the story of ordinary soldiers on both sides who found themselves fighting to the death in an unimaginably harsh and brutal war. Professor John Erickson, the award-winning author of “Road to Stalingrad” and “Road to Berlin” reassesses the titanic struggle between Hitler and Stalin on the Eastern Front. Series features rare archive footage from both Russian and German sources, informative graphics and maps, and incisive commentary and analysis by Professor John Erickson.

Part 4 The Battles for Berlin

On April 16, 1945 the final assault on Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich began as Soviet Red Army forces attacked towards Berlin from the east. The Battle of Berlin was a monumental battle between two adversaries who despised one another. For the Russians who had endured the horrific suffering and loss of lives in defending their nation against the Nazi invasion, the opportunity for vengeance seemed as if fate was on their side. For the German civilians who remained in Berlin, the approach of the Red Army invoked terror. When the city was taken on May 2,1945, over 300,000 Berliners and 80,000 Red Army soldiers lay dead amongst the ruins.

This episode covers the final phase of the war, as the mighty Red Army rolled back the tide of German conquests and surged on the gates of Berlin, the very heart of Nazi Germany.

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