This is a Soviet educational movie, No. 19 in a series of 24, which is titled “Assault on Berlin”, showing the final assault on Berlin and the raising of the Soviet flag over the Reichstag by the Rakhimzhan Qoshqarbaev’s group of soldiers. The documentary was produced by Schkola Film, the Central Educational film studio in Moscow, for the Ministry of Education of the USSR, and directed by Svetlana Zagoskina and L. Fany-Girsh. The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
0:20 Footage of a burned-out urban area upon a river, probably Stalingrad (Volgograd). On the rolling background of Soviet Army battle footage, is shown the slow advance towards Germany through crossing of the rivers Volga, Don, Dnieper, Bug, Dvina, Nieman, Vistula and Oder.
1:00 2 generals, 1 of whom bears a Hero of the Soviet Union medal start, crossing a makeshift bridge Soviet army has established a base of operations on the Oder River to prepare the assault of Berlin and are bringing in heavy armor by railroad.
1:18-1:46 Plan of the Nazi German fortifications which were built around Berlin. Narrator : “Berlin is defended by around a million people.” The First Belorussian Army group was chosen to be the one to attack Berlin, while the First Ukrainian Army front group was to move past the German capital and advance through the German territory to meet up with the Allies’ armies in the South, and the Second Belorussian army group was to do the same encircling maneuver in the North.
1:46-3 :05 Artillery and aerial bombardment, aircraft (Il-2 and unidentifiable aircraft) strafing buildings, infantry and armored assault footage, and footage of moving armored groups.
2:11 Narrator: “On the 16th of April 1945 the three army groups went on the offensive”
3:05 Narrator : “After a 5-day offensive, the Soviet Army was on the Berlin outskirts”
3:05-4:11 Urban warfare footage, Soviet soldiers firing field guns, mortaring buildings, shooting and running among burning and collapsing buildings. Later @ 3:25, city dwellers walking the desolate streets of rubble, avoiding a house mid-collapse.
3:20 Narrator : “From his underground bunker, Hitler gives his last order to transform the German capital into living hell for the Soviets: “fight for every street, every block, every house, every parcel of land”
3:43 A German (possibly conscripted civilian?) firing a portable grenade launcher, a Panzerfaust.
4:11-4:17 A Soviet tank crew member carrying another, wounded or killed, tank crew member
4:22 Soviet soldier bandaging a wound
4:30 Narrator: “Finally, the Soviet troops have reached the heart of Berlin!”
4:40 A soldier loading a rocket mortar with rocket shells, bearing the words “To Reichstag !”
4:30-4:50 More urban artillery bombardment footage
4:50-5:08 Soldiers, raising the Soviet flag over Reichstag – actual footage of one of the 4 groups of Soviet soldiers who successively managed to raise the soviet flag there during the fighting of 29th April -1st of May
5:16 Again seen here the “Germania” statue and the flag, raised by Rakhimzhan Qoshqarbaev and his group.
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