Year Zero: Berlin 1945 Read online

  Year Zero : Berlin 1945

  by

  David McCormack

  Copyright © 2018 David McCormack

  KINDLE edition

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored, in any form or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author.

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  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  The Good German – Fritz Elsas

  Chapter Two

  Miracle on the Oder

  Youthful Indifference – Brigitte Eicke

  Chapter Four

  An Interesting Proposition at the Hotel Adlon

  Chapter Five

  Blonde Poison – Stella Goldschlag

  Chapter Six

  Intrigues and Deceptions

  Chapter Seven

  The Paladins Depart

  Chapter Eight

  'Are the Russians already so near?'

  Chapter Ten

  Surrender

  Chapter Eleven

  After Hitler

  Chapter Twelve

  Corruption in low places

  Chapter Thirteen

  Renaissance

  Chapter Fourteen

  Hearts and Minds

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Balance Destroyed

  Chapter Sixteen

  Orderly and Humane?

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Christmas has always been a magical time in Germany, even in Hitler's atheistic state the yuletide season was celebrated (albeit in a modified form). By 1944, the focus on civil celebrations had shifted towards a commemoration of the nation's war dead. That year, there was little to celebrate. In Berlin, people continued about their daily business, drawn and haggard from the relentless Allied bombing which had reduced much of their city to rubble. Food was in short supply. The public had been subject to strict rationing from the very beginning, all but the privileged few living on a monotonous starch based diet. For many, the traditional Christmas goose was a faraway memory.

  The irrepressible wit of ordinary Berliners was expressed in its darkest form during the winter of 1944. The most common jokes doing the rounds were, 'Be practical : Give a coffin', 'Enjoy the war while it lasts, the peace will be terrible', and a prescient quip based around the initials for air raid shelters (LSR – Luftschutzraum) which became (LSR - Learnt Schnell Russisch) 'Learn Russian Quickly'. Fear of invasion by the barbarian hordes from the east resulted in an atmosphere in which the individual consciousness began to reassert itself. People began to care for each other again, as the traditional greeting of 'Heil Hitler' gave way to the more solicitous 'Survive'.

  That Christmas, many wondered if it would be their last. They were fearful and uncertain. The world as they knew it, was about to come tumbling down. Their leaders had nothing to offer but more blood, more sacrifice. The enemy was at the gates. Berlin schoolgirl Ilse Shaffer reflected on the dark times which lay ahead :

  Would there really be Christmas again? Was this the time to celebrate? Where did all the people live that one saw on the streets, the overcrowded streetcars and buses? Our army in the east has been defeated. The Russians are in East Prussia and the Allies are getting close to our western border. We can no longer trust the news, but we know that the end is not too far away... This is the sixth Christmas since the war began, and still no peace. Where is God in all the destruction, the dying, the bombings? We saw the first refugees from the east, pulling on little carts with their few possessions, walking in this cold winter, walking, walking, telling us horror stories of murders and rapes by Russian soldiers... What would the next months bring? The bombing has not stopped; it just gets worse, day and night, day and night.

  There are no lights in the streets, not many goods on the shelves, only at night is the sky lit up by the 'Christmas Trees' that come down from heaven... If those bright lights shone over us, we knew that we were the target of their bombs... Mary and Joseph, tired and hungry, could not find a place to stay – so many peoples homes have been bombed, they have no place to live... The baby Jesus had no bed, he slept on a manger – our soldiers sleep on the floor, on straw... Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus had to leave in a hurry, fleeing Herod – whole families : we saw grandparents, mothers and children, fleeing from home. Christmas has taken on a new meaning.

  As well as the refugees flooding into Berlin, this young schoolgirl also witnessed the call-up of young boys and old men to defend Hitler's crumbling Reich. Any other nation would have long since accepted terms, no matter how harsh. Hitler was incapable of doing so, as an absolutist, he was only interested in victory. If the German people failed to give him that victory, they would go down with him.

  Hitler's hubristic approach to his role as warlord produced an apocalyptic clash with the steelily determined Stalin. The Generalissimo was prepared to take 'the lair of the fascist beast' at any cost. By 1944, the forces at his command were both enormous and highly capable. The three fronts available for the 'Berlin Strategic Operation' boasted a combined troop strength of 2,500,000 men, 6,250 tanks and self-propelled guns, 41,600 artillery pieces, 1000 rocket launchers, and 7,500 aircraft. The opposing German forces defending the eastern approaches to Berlin were constantly overestimated by the Soviet High Command. However, the erroneous assumption that German units were fully manned and equipped later served to enhance the prestige of the Soviet forces involved.

  Stalin's motives for taking Berlin before the Allies were in part political as it was a prestigious prize. He was further motivated by the prospect of seizing materials from the nuclear research facility in Berlin-Dahlem. The Cold War was already in its infancy as the cracks that had been papered over in the name of wartime cooperation began to appear again. Thanks to his spy network, Stalin was well briefed about the Anglo – American nuclear weapons programme. However, it came as something of a shock when a weapon was actually deployed against Japan. From this point on, the Cold War rapidly intensified. By the autumn of 1945, the Grand Alliance was all but finished. Roosevelt was dead, Churchill had been voted out of office. Only Stalin remained of the original 'Big Three'. Berlin quickly became the focus of an ideological struggle between the superpowers.

  In 1910, the German art critic Karl Scheffler wrote, 'Berlin is a city condemned to becoming and never to being', Never did his words appear so apposite as they did in the second half of 1945. Berlin was a city of ruins, a lunar landscape created by years of Allied bombing and the more recent Soviet bombardments. It was a tabula rasa on which the occupying powers could imprint their own culture and ideology. However, no matter what the occupying authorities did to restructure their own sectors, Berlin would always be Berlin.

  Chapter One

  The Good German – Fritz Elsas

  By 1945, it was clear to all but the most die-hard supporters of the Nazi regime that the war was lost. Hitler had become a distant figure, all but invisible to the masses. The void was filled by his propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, whose dire warnings of retribution ensured that the majority of the population continued to acquiesce in the less savoury aspects of the regime. Despite this, there were those who remained opposed to the Nazi state's regimentation of society and the genocidal policies carried out in their name. Their resistance was largely uncoordinated and manifested itself through various means, ranging from non-compliance to assassination attempts.
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  Any resistance against Hitler's regime required an enormous amount of courage and determination on an individual level. The penalties for active resistance had from the beginning been most severe. Until 1943, the scope for resistance activities was limited, as the regime ruled with the consent of the majority of Germans. The catastrophic defeat at Stalingrad changed everything. Following this psychological turning point in the conduct of the war, the state focused the terror apparatus of the Gestapo and SS against asocial and subversive elements amongst the German people. Neither social position, nor previous service to the state provided immunity from a despotic tyranny which gave no quarter to either real or perceived enemies of the state. The failed attempt to assassinate Hitler at his East Prussian headquarters in July 1944 unleashed a furious response from the authorities in the form of mass arrests, show-trials and executions. The repression which followed broke the power of the Prussian military aristocracy for good and shattered what few remnants of political opposition were left. Amongst those who paid the ultimate price for their resistance activities was former Deputy Mayor of Berlin, Fritz Julius Elsas.

  Elsas had been a dedicated servant of the Wilhelmine and Weimar states. Along with millions of other loyal Germans, he had volunteered for service with the army in 1914, however he was rejected because of his poor eyesight. Notwithstanding this setback, Elsas went on to serve his country with distinction whilst working for the Chamber of Commerce in Stuttgart. His greatest achievement was in designing a system of food supply which was later adopted throughout Germany. In 1919, Elsas joined the German Democratic Party which subsequently led to his appointment as a city councillor in Stuttgart. His political career suffered a setback in 1921 following a series of anti-Semitic attacks which forced him to withdraw his candidacy in the mayoral elections. Three years later, he effectively succeeded in resurrecting his moribund political career following an appointment to the state parliament of Wurttemberg. In 1926, Elsas moved to Berlin after taking up the vice-presidency of the German Cities Association.

  In April 1931, Elsas was appointed Deputy-Mayor of Berlin. He served with distinction, but for all his successes, the changing political landscape worried him deeply. The dismal failure of the democratic experiment paved the way for the autocratic rule of General von Schleicher and Franz von Papen. These short-lived authoritarian administrations made a Hitler dictatorship possible. In a diary entry dated 27 February 1933, Elsas contemplated the end of his political career :

  I am trying to find out from Steiniger what is going to happen after the elections. For two days there has been a rumour that a decree is being prepared in the Prussian Ministry of the Interior which will allow for the suspension of public officials. If it is true, then we are all out.

  On 14 February 1933, Elsas applied for leave in order to be spared the ignominy of dismissal. Nonetheless, he was forced to resign from his post six months later. Although he had been hounded out of politics, Elsas was at least spared some of the state's more repressive measures due to his mixed-marriage status.

  Elsas used his skills to reinvent himself as a business and foreign exchange expert. He went on to provide valuable services to German-Jewish citizens fleeing Hitler's oppressive policies. During this time, he also joined a resistance group led by District Judge Ernst Strassmann and businessman Hans Robinsohn. Like many of his associates in the Strassmann-Robinsohn group, Elsas was a left-wing libertarian. His liberal outlook was however tinged with a measure of romanticised nationalism. For Elsas, a 'dictatorship of the centre' was preferable to either a Communist or Nazi state.

  Elsas' foreign currency dealings came to the attention of the Gestapo in July 1937. However, a thorough search failed to uncover any incriminating evidence. Nonetheless, he was still charged with violating the strict codes that restricted the flow of currency in and out of Nazi Germany. Following a prolonged period of interrogation, he was sentenced to a term of five months imprisonment in Berlin's Moabit prison. The investigation cost Elsas his secretary, his client base, and ultimately his business. After serving his time with quiet dignity, he returned to the modest Berlin-Dahlem apartment where he lived with his wife Maria.

  Imprisonment and the subsequent trauma of the so-called 'Night of the Broken Glass' had a profound effect on Elsas. The outbreak of war in September 1939 provided a further stimulus for the intensification of his resistance activities. Elsas worked closely with the former Mayor of Leipzig, Carl Friedrich Goerdeler. Anticipating a post-Hitler Germany, he and Goerdeler worked on framing a proclamation which would be broadcast to the public in the event of a successful coup. Elsas also developed contacts with many of the leading players in the 20 July plot. These leading conservatives trusted this German-Jewish liberal implicitly. His active involvement in the resistance movement hints at the lack of conviction of the German social, political and military elite towards Nazi anti-Semitic policies.

  For Elsas, the dangers of active resistance were very real. In her diary, the White Russian exile Marie Vassiltchikov noted that, 'The warrant for Goerdeler's arrest had been issued before the coup, on 17 July'. Goerdeler was twice given shelter by Elsas. However, his lack of discretion finally led to his arrest in Marienwerder on 12 August 1944 (following a tip-off from an innkeeper named Lisbeth Schwaerzel). During his interrogations, Goerdeler overloaded the authorities with information in a bid to buy time for his fellow conspirators.

  The authorities eventually saw through Goerdeler's time wasting tactics. Unbeknown to him, the net had already began closing in on his fellow conspirators. Elsas had been picked up by the authorities two days earlier, and taken to the prison on Lehrter Strasse. Here, he underwent harsh interrogation and torture. Despite this rough handling, Elsas refused to cooperate. As a result, he remained in solitary confinement until his transfer to Sachsenhausen in December. On 4 January 1945, the former Deputy Mayor of Berlin was executed without due legal process at Sachsenhausen's Station Z shooting facility. Two weeks later, the Deutsch Reichsanzeiger newspaper announced the confiscation of his estate. Under the kin liability laws, his wife, son, and two daughters were imprisoned. His son was sent to Buchenwald, whilst his wife and two daughters were sent to Ravensbruck. By some miracle, all four survived the war.

  On 20 July 1954 (ten years to the day since the failed assassination attempt at Hitler's Rastenburg HQ), Elsas was remembered at a commemorative event in Berlin, during which a street was named in his honour. Since then there have been many events commemorating both the anti-Nazi resistance movements and individuals engaged in resistance activities. Following a commemorative event at Berlin's Plotzensee Prison in 2015, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen posed the following questions :

  Did the majority of Germans lose their sense of humanity? Were they too afraid to help? Were they convinced Nazis? Did they hope to profit from the regime? Or did they tell themselves that everything would turn out OK? All of these will have played a part.

  In a few short words, the Defence Minister articulated the thorny issue of why more Germans didn't resist. People are individuals, each with their own drives, desires or fears. Elsas was a driven individual. To begin with, his overriding drive was to serve. Later, as the iniquities of the Nazi state became apparent, his focus switched to resistance. There were others like him, brave men and women who chose a noble path. They were the real heroes.

  Chapter Two

  Miracle on the Oder

  Preparations for the Soviet offensive against Berlin were completed by early December 1944. The massive mechanised Red Army formations stood ready for the final assault on Hitler's Reich. At the Magnuszew bridgehead, Marshal Georgy Zhukov concentrated Colonel General Vasily Chuikov's 8th Guards Army, Colonel General P.A. Belov's 61st Army, and Lieutenant General N.E. Bezarin's 5th Shock Army for the initial thrust against the German 9th Army. The task assigned to these forces was to penetrate German defences up to a depth of thirty kilometres, thereby opening up their lines for tactical exploitation by Colonel General Mikhail Katukov
's 1st Guards Tank Army, Colonel General Semyon Bogdanov's 2nd Guards Tank Army, and Lieutenant General Vladimir Kruikov's 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps. To the south, Zhukov massed additional forces at the Pulawy bridgehead. These forces were comprised of Colonel General Vladimir Kolpakchi's 69th Army and Colonel General Viacheslav Tsetaev's 33rd Army. These formations were reinforced with substantial tank forces, whose mobility would facilitate the rapid link up with neighbouring forces to the west.

  At front level, the normal pre-offensive preparations went ahead. In the crucial sector of operations, Zhukov had at his disposal eight combined-arms armies, two tank armies, two guards cavalry corps, and an air army. Supplying such a massive force created huge logistical problems, Zhukov later recalling that the colossal quantities of stores required, 'had to be brought up as close as possible to the front line, to give us the necessary conditions for a breakthrough in depth'. Zhukov's problems were compounded by a lack of partisan intelligence and the threat of hostile activities which threatened his lines of supply. It was also clear to him that the vanguard of 1st Belorussian Front would meet strong German resistance in their westward drive towards Berlin. Though convinced of ultimate victory, Zhukov knew that the coming battle would be a tough struggle.

  A second Soviet Front was concentrated to the south of Zhukov's forces at the Baranow and Sandomierz bridgeheads. Effective deception measures (Maskirovka) served to convince the German High Command that the main thrust of Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front would be towards Krakow. However, his real intention was to advance from Baranow towards Kielce, destroying any German forces barring his way. His troops would then continue their advance towards the Oder near the Silesian capital of Breslau. For the initial assault, he could deploy three armies and six breakthrough artillery divisions. The second echelon standing ready to exploit the initial breakthrough would consist of General Pavel Rybalko's 3rd Guards Tank Army and General Dmitry Lelyushenko's 4th Guards Tank Army. Konev enjoyed considerably more space for operational manoeuvre than his colleague and rival Zhukov. However, he too knew that his forces faced the prospect of a hard fight against skilful and determined opponents.