Feldgrau Author: Stephan Hamilton

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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Stephan H. »

Frederick,

Thanks for the kind words; hopefully the book will meet expectations. I'm a little disappointed the book wasn't published for the anniversary of the battle, but at least it is in the production queue at Helion.

You are correct that there will be no definitive book on the battle. Hopefully each book released builds on those that came before it. Unlike other battles like Stalingrad, and Kursk, there are few books in any language about the battle of Berlin. For one thing, the absolute lack of primary documents from any of the fighting German units prevents cross-referencing individual's accounts against some official baseline. This makes many actions open for interpretation. This is one reason it took so long for me to deconflict accounts. Many published books simply reprint accounts as they were told, but I found that in many cases (as we all know) memory is not always accurate so many accounts didn't mesh with the actual events on the ground so I had to correct them where possible.

Second, the Soviets viewed and continue the view the Battle of Berlin as an almost sacred event (the Russian use this word frequently) meaning there is little retrospective analysis on the amount of physical and human destruction wrought on the city. The Soviet assault resembled an orgy of violence more than a act of operational military execution. In fact the Soviets point out that they fired almost as many tons of artillery shells into Berlin in 14 days than the Western Allies dropped on the city in 4+years of war. I was able to cull out some very interesting official and unofficial accounts from the Soviet side that raises significant questions about the state of the Soviet Army at the time and their overall performance. I also make the argument that it is no coincidence that Soviet dominance in Central and Eastern Europe was built on the rubble of Berlin and ultimate collapsed with the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of that divided city.

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Frederick L Clemens
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Frederick L Clemens »

Stephan H. wrote:...For one thing, the absolute lack of primary documents from any of the fighting German units prevents cross-referencing individual's accounts against some official baseline. ...
On the one hand, record-keeping probably wasn't a priority during the late stages of the battle for the German units - on the other hand, there was a long run-up for the battle (basically the defense sectors in Berlin were activated in January) and so there were a lot of records at least about the preparations and intial stages of the battle that the Soviets must have a sizable portion of buried in their archives. (We do have one set of records from one Unterabschnitt available in the West.)
Stephan H. wrote:...Second, the Soviets viewed and continue the view the Battle of Berlin as an almost sacred event (the Russian use this word frequently) meaning there is little retrospective analysis on the amount of physical and human destruction wrought on the city...
Yes, as the title of that one DDR article makes clear, the Soviets blamed all the destruction in Berlin on the calculations of the Wehrmacht leadership. There is a certain truth to that in Hitler's scorched earth mentality but of course, it was the Soviet decision to conquer the city rather than lay siege to it. It is interesting to ponder how such a siege might have played out - there are not many parallels in modern times.
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

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Frederick wrote:the Soviets blamed all the destruction in Berlin on the calculations of the Wehrmacht leadership. There is a certain truth to that in Hitler's scorched earth mentality but of course, it was the Soviet decision to conquer the city rather than lay siege to it. It is interesting to ponder how such a siege might have played out - there are not many parallels in modern times.
Your statement is chocked full of interesting points for discussion.

First, the US Army Officer who made it into Berlin shortly after the fall, points out how the Soviet propaganda was working overtime to convince the German population of the city that the destruction of Berlin was caused primarily by the Western Allies and not the Soviet Union.

Second, the Scorched Earth policy was ignored by Heinrici, and others who actually forbade any reckless destruction of German infrastructure. In fact, Heinrici forbade any German units fighting in Berlin at all. The fact that Berlin was defended at all by German Army formations was by accident and not design. I discuss this aspect in great detail in the book.

Third, the Soviets had no intention to "siege" the city. Stalin wanted it captured, before the Western Allies took the city. Stalin and Stavka believed that Eisenhower has designs on Berlin and Zhukov had explicit orders to take the city quickly at any cost. Interestingly, the street fighting in Berlin foreshadowed the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of modern military urban conflicts. I also touch on this in the Preface. Berlin, more than Stalingrad, the 1944 Warsaw uprising, and the 1945 battle for Manila, showcases modern urban asymmetrical combat.

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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by sniper1shot »

Sounds like an excellant book and I too am waiting for the finished result. :[]
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Frederick L Clemens »

I ordered the book today. Will report when I receive it, if my wife hasn't already killed me over the price!

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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Doug Nash »

Stephan,
Congrats on your upcoming book - I'm looking to get a copy for my library. Funny you mention the Ryan collection at Ohio - I started doing research on the battle of Berlin two years ago & got quite a bit of material from there (tip of the hat to Mr. Howard) but set it aside due to other projects and my day-time job's work schedule. I still plan on doing something about the Battle along the Oder one day, but decided I would zoom out a little and cover the fighting from the perspective of Heeresgruppe Weichsel. While Berlin is an important part of that battle, it's outcome was determined before the first shell was fired, though the sanguinary aspect could only be hinted at. What I'm going to try to do is to look at how the battle unfolded from the perspective of Gen.Oberst Heinrici and how he fought that battle from an operational perspective - and what happened to both 3rd Panzer Army and 9th Army - of course, Berlin will recieve due treatment but I forsee only a chapter dedicated to that, since so many others have done more justice to that battle than I could ever hope to do. So I'll look at the Army group perspective. Will get your book; am looking forward to reading it! Again, congrats and best of luck!
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Doug Nash
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Stephan H. »

Frederick - looks like the book isn't due out to August, which is probably good since every time I check the manuscript I notice something I feel I need to correct/change.

Doug - there is a lot of good stuff in the Ryan Collection, though not too much about the Oderfront except for the AGV War Diary. I do cover the operational picture and to a lesser extent discuss the fighting in the 9th and 12th Armies, and the 3rd Panzer Army operations day-by-day along with the actual fighting in Berlin in order to show how everything was inter-related. I also cover the some key aspects of the rehabilitation of the German Army in March/April. Check out the "Translations" thread I posted regarding an "Order Translation." You will find Heinrici's order that set the stage for the first defense-in-depth on the Eastern Front.

Also, you are right that Berlin's fate was sealed before the battle began. You will find however that there were two different-and competing-strategies being pursued: the Guderian/Heinrici plan to hold the Soviets along the Oder in order to force the Western Allies over the Elbe River and take Berlin before the Russians, and the German High Command/Hitler plan designed to defeat Zhukov at the "Gates" of Berlin and magically fracture the Grand Alliance.

Thanks for the congrats, but now I have to wait to see how the book is received :roll:
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Frederick L Clemens »

Arrgh - not til August!! Well, I was actually expecting that with the heavy graphics. How long do you get to play with the text?

PS I expect the maps to show the location of soup kitchens on BOTH sides - Gulaschkanonen and Borscht Batteries.
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Stephan H. »

Frederick -

I have no control over the publishing date, Helion has pushed it back three months already. :(

Click on this thread and tell mw what you think of the maps: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=28922&p=202970#p202970

The quality will obviously be better in the book.

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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Frederick L Clemens »

Here's the full link:
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=28922&p=202970#p202970

The maps look good, assuming the symbols are a little sexier.
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Stephan H. »

Thanks! It all depend how Helion handles the map and symbols. They took me a long, long, long time to build. I've broken down units to the lowest common denominator feasible, and the aerial images are from Feb-March 1945. It some of the more detailed shots you will see military convoys, road blocks, and people walking the streets of Berlin. I even located some fantastic overhead shots of all three Flak Towers as well.
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Frederick L Clemens »

Makes my mouth water. Just have to wait longer.
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Doug Nash »

Certainly can't wait to get my hands on a copy.
By the way, my treatment of this subject won't see the light of day until 4 or 5 years from now - all I've got so far is an outline. But I was waiting until Eismann's book came out anyway - he was the Ia for Heinrici and due to Hurricane Katrina, the translation had to start all over from scratch, as the translator had the misfortune of living in New Orleans at the time & lost everything. But as for primary sources, here's what I'm working with:

Busse, Theodor. “The Last Battle of the 9th Army,” in Wehrwissenschaftliche Rundschau, Vol. V, April 1955. (Darmstadt: Arbeitsgruppe für Wehrforschung, 1955).
Fudel, Ines, 1945 – Von Küstrin über Seelow – Die Ereignisse entlang der Reichstrasse 1. (Seelow, Germany: Eigenverlag Fudel, 2004).
Weidling, Helmut. “The Final Battle of Berlin April 23 to May 2 1945” in Wehrwissenschaftliche Runschau, Vol. XII, January 1962. (Darmstadt: Arbeitsgruppe für Wehrforschung, 1962).
Woehlermann, Hans Oscar. Remarks on the final defense eastward and in Berlin in April – May 1945. (Cologne: unpublished manuscript, 15 August 1952.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS

Department of the Army Pamphlet 20-269, “Tank Battle Near the Berlin Highway, March 1945,” in Small Unit Actions During the German Campaign in Russia. (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, July 1953).
Foreign Military Studies, MS No. P-136 The German Defense of Berlin. (Historical Division, U.S. Army Europe, 1954.)
Foreign Military Studies, MS No. R-79, Ninth Army’s Last Attack and Surrender 21 April to 7 May 1945 by Magna E. Bauer. (Washington DC: Foreign Studies Branch, Office of the Chief of Military History, April 1956.)

Transcript of Proceedings, 1986 Art of War Symposium. From the Vistula to the Oder: Soviet Offensive Operations October – March 1945. (Carlisle Barracks, PA: Center for Land Warfare, U.S. Army War College, May 1986).

Cornelius Ryan Interviews
Interview with Dr. med. vet. Kurt Wurach, Fortress Frankfurt garrison, Berlin, 5 Feb. 1963.
Interview with General of the Infantry Theodor Busse, Commanding General of the German 9th Army.
Interview with Manuel Schumacher, Lt. in Infantry Regiment, Heeresgruppe Weichsel, Kreuzlingen, Germany 20 August 1963.
Interview with Max Meissner, Hauptmann, Liaison Officer, 9th Army, Berlin, 22 January 1963.
Interview with Hans Wöhlermann, Oberst, LXVI Pz.Korps Artillery, 1963.
Interview with Wolf Hagemann, Generalleutnant, 9th Army and Oder Korps, 1963.
Interview with Albert Fritz, Leutnant, Pz.Div. Muencheberg, Insheim/Pfalz, 6 February 1963.

Books by Le Tissier, Tony:
Death Was Our Companion: The Final Days of the Third Reich. (Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2003).
Durchbruch an der Oder: Der Vormarsch der Roten Armee 1945 (Berlin: Bechtermünz Verlag, 1997, first published in English as Zhukov on the Oder).
Slaughter at Halbe: The Destruction of Hitler’s 9th Army, April 1945. (Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2005).
With Out Backs to Berlin: The German Army in Retreat 1945. (Gloucestershire, UK: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2001).

Secondary Sources:

Beevor, Antony. The Fall of Berlin 1945. (New York: Penguin Books, 2002).
Fey, Willi. Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS 1943 – 1945. (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2003).
Fischer, David and Read, Anthony. The Fall of Berlin. (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992).
Guderian, Heinz. Panzer Leader. (New York: Ballantine Books, 1957).
Knappe, Siegfried. Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936 – 1949. (New York: Dell Publishing, 1992).
von Luck, Hans. Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck. (New York: Dell Publishing, 1989).
McCaul, Edward. “Interview With World War II German Officer Siegfried Knappe.” World War Two Magazine, (Primedia Consumer Media and Magazine Group, Leesburg, VA).
Raus, Erhard. Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus, 1941 – 1945. (Cambridge: De Capo Press, 2003.
Röhricht, Edgar. Probleme der Kesselschlacht. (Karlsruhe: Condor-Verlag, 1958).
Ryan, Corneilus. The Last Battle. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1966).
Spaeter, Helmuth. Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland: A Pictorial History. (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 1990). Originally published under the title Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland Bilddokumentation by Podzun-Pallas Verlag, Friedberg, 1984.
Spaeter, Helmuth. The History of the Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland, Vol. 3. (Winnipeg: J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Inc. 2000). Originally published as Die Geschichte des Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland, Band 3 in Bielefeld, Germany.
Tessin, Georg. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939 – 1945, Vols. I - XVI. (Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag, 1979).
Thorwald, Jürgen. Defeat in the East. (New York: Random House, 1979). Originally published in 1951 as Flight in Winter.
Tieke, Wilhelm. Das Ende Zwischen Oder und Elbe: Der Kampf um Berlin 1945, 4th Edition. (Stuttgart: Motor Buch Verlag, 1995).
Ziemke, Earl. Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East. (Washington DC: The U.S. Army Center of Military History, 1968).

I'm also in the process of purschasing the entire set of microfilms from Heeresgruppe Weichsel, which provides a wealth of information.
One of the key things I don't have yet is the Soviet General Staff Study of the Berlin Operation - David Glantz has a copy, but hasn't had it translated into English yet. That's the most crucial piece in the puzzle, I think.

But anyway, it will be a while before I can get to this project - and like I said, will focus primarily at the Army Group level.
Cheers,
Doug Nash
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Frederick L Clemens »

I have a friend in Laurel, MD who has the Soviet GS studies on microfiche/Microfilm and he is a Russian linguist. I'm sure those studies are useful but they were sanitized as well so they aren't necessarily the last word.
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Re: Bloody Streets: The Soviet Assault on Berlin, April 1945

Post by Stephan H. »

Doug,

Wow! It amazes me how much material is out there when you dig. You have identified a couple of sources I haven't seen before and my bibliography is something like 20+ pages. I'll send you a copy of my draft bibliography later this evening for reference.

I also plan on putting out two more books about the fighting along the Oder due to the richness of my material. I'm currently finishing/polishing the translation of Heinrici's unpublished account of his experiences as commander of AGV he wrote while in captivity. Helion will publish this next year. The working title is Germany's Last Hope: Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici and the Defense of the Oderfront or something close to that. I'm not planning on using too many sources, other than the operational maps (which you need to get a copy of from NA) and the AGV War Diary to corroborate what Heinrici says in his memoir.

Stephan
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