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rayethon favorited a video
(1 day ago)
This film is a colossal Soviet-East German production, entitled in the feature length video I saw as THE LAST DAYS OF HITLER (or "Os Ultimos D...
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This film is a colossal Soviet-East German production, entitled in the feature length video I saw as THE LAST DAYS OF HITLER (or "Os Ultimos Dias de Hitler").The original film or TV series lasts a very Soviet-like 7.5 hours. But the video available in the West is less than two hours long. In fact, no mention is made on the video cover that the original film runs so long. I just found that out on this site. In fact, the film was hard to find on the site. Only listed in its Russian title, I found the film researching the actor who plays Hitler. The production is reportedly "the most expensive film endeavor in the history of the Soviet Union," with "fortunes spent on reconstructing the Fall of Berlin, featuring the most impressive war scenes on film." Whether this assertion is true or not, the blend of rare archival footage and original shots are unique and unforgettable.
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rayethon favorited a video
(2 days ago)
http://www.webalice.it/romanoarchives/
April 1945, Germany. The East Front had almost reached Berlin. Last natural barriers against the upcoming Red...
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http://www.webalice.it/romanoarchives/
April 1945, Germany. The East Front had almost reached Berlin. Last natural barriers against the upcoming Red Army were the rivers Oder and Neisse.
In the early hours on April 16 1945, the Berlin offensive began with a massive bombardment by thousands of artillery pieces and Katyusha rockets in a barrage which was sustained for several days. Shortly afterwards and well before dawn, the 1st Belorussian Front attacked across the Oder, and the 1st Ukrainian Front attacked across the Neisse.
The 1st Belorussian Front was the stronger force, but it had the more difficult assignment and was facing the majority of the German forces.
The initial attack by the 1st Belorussian Front was a disaster; Heinrici anticipated the move and withdrew his defenders from the first line of trenches just before the Soviet artillery obliterated them. The light from 143 searchlights, which were intended to blind the defenders, was diffused by the early morning mist and made useful silhouettes of the attacking Soviet formations. The swampy ground proved to be a great hindrance and under a German counter-barrage, Soviet casualties were enormous. Frustrated by the slow advance, or on the direct orders of Stalin, Zhukov threw in his reserves, which in his plan were to have been held back to exploit the expected breakthrough. By early evening, an advance of almost six kilometres had been achieved in some areas, but the German lines remained intact. In the south, the attack by the 1st Ukrainian Front was keeping to plan. Zhukov was forced to report that the Battle of the Seelow Heights was not going as planned. Stalin, to spur Zhukov, told him that he would give Konev permission to wheel his tank armies towards Berlin from the south.
On the second day, the 1st Belorussian Front staff were reduced to combing the rear areas for any troops which could be thrown into the battle. The Soviet tactic of using massed attacks was proving more costly than usual. By nightfall of April 17, the German front before Zhukov remained unbroken, but only just. To the south, Army Group Centre (under the command of General Ferdinand Schörner) was not proving such a hindrance. IV Panzer Army on the north flank of his formation was falling back under the weight of the 1st Ukrainian Front Attack. He kept his two reserve Panzer divisions in the south covering his centre, instead of using them to shore up the IV Panzer Army. This was the turning point in the battle, because by nightfall the positions of both the Army Group Vistula and southern sectors of Army Group Centre were becoming untenable. Unless they fell back in line with the IV Panzer Army, they faced envelopment. In effect, Konev's successful attacks on Schörner's poor defences to the south of the battle of the Seelow Heights were unhinging Heinrici's brilliant defence.
The cost to the Soviet forces in making this initial breakthrough was very high. Between 1 April and 19 April, the Soviets lost over 2,807 tanks. During the same period, the Allies in the west lost 1,079 tanks.
Montage of German and Russian color footage.
Ludwig Van Beethoven's music added (Demo Only) in 2008 by ROMANO-ARCHIVES.
Editing by ROMANO-ARCHIVES.
"SUBSCRIBING to this Channel is a MUST for researchers and RARE HISTORICAL FOOTAGE fans!!!"
V. Romano
This is a clip from the ROMANO-ARCHIVES' new website-"Unknown World War 2 in Color"-"WW2 Europe" section.
At:
http://www.webalice.it/romanoarchives/
Visit also:
http://romanoarchives.altervista.org/
Or:
http://digilander.libero.it/romanoarc...
A better quality silent version of this clip is available.
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I would like to invite you to view my tribute, I wrote and sing the song, and would love to get your opinion.
Thanks again, A Proud US Navy Veteran!