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00:00The
00:29prisoners arrive at camp. Since the middle of 1943, captured German generals have been held at the English country estate of Trent Park, near London. They still talk about the war and the Wehrmacht, even though the front line seems very distant in these comfortable surroundings. Stripped of their power among friends, the generals express themselves freely.
00:54They have no idea that their conversations are being secretly recorded, providing a unique record of what they were really thinking at the time.
01:05It's time to make peace. What are we still fighting for?
01:12I can answer that. The party, they can't make peace. Because they know only too well that they will be hacked.
01:20That's right. Nobody wants to discuss peace with them.
01:25Even if our government resigns, it still wouldn't be over.
01:33Then the Allies will come to us to negotiate.
01:37Because they can't get any further.
01:39I don't think we're going to agree about that.
01:42Either we die, or they fall apart.
01:48The Americans don't know what they are fighting for anymore.
01:51And when they suffer too many casualties, they will ask, what in hell are we doing here?
01:58No, no.
02:00It will be all over by spring.
02:01They break through by spring at the latest.
02:07And then it's all over.
02:08Come along, Herr Wildermuth.
02:11After all, at the end of the day, we are still German officers.
02:19What does it take to be a good German soldier?
02:23Does your honor force you to hold out in a hopeless situation?
02:26Every front-line soldier, whatever his rank, his character, or his posting,
02:35will struggle with this question in the final year of the war.
02:39The answers will be as varied as the men themselves.
02:47Commanders.
02:48Like Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner, who pushes his men in every way to give their all.
02:56Ordinary soldiers like Private Kurt Vetter, only a bullet can save his life.
03:09Or a senior officer like Gerhard Graf von Schwerin,
03:13torn as the war progresses between his duty to obey and his common sense.
03:18The 45-year-old lieutenant general is known to be willful,
03:24but he doesn't usually question orders.
03:29I had the impression that he was a loyal officer and general
03:35who carried out his orders, even if he sometimes complained
03:40and maybe now and then raised objections against them
03:44when he felt they were not justified.
03:50In mid-1944, under the overall command of Field Marshal Walter Mordl,
03:56Schwerin leads his panzers into battle against the advancing Allies in the West.
04:00His division is always sent where the action is hottest,
04:06to put out the flames.
04:08But through that summer, crushing Allied superiority forces them back,
04:12closer and closer to the German frontier.
04:15With this in mind, Schwerin unveils a new plan to his officers
04:24at his temporary headquarters at a medieval Belgian manor near Aachen.
04:29Or at least that's the story he tells after the war.
04:32I certainly intended to do everything in my power to end the war,
04:39which had become hopeless.
04:41So I would try to keep the old imperial city of Aachen
04:45out of the combat zone.
04:51You could say that he was very willful.
04:54He had strong opinions and he stood up for them.
04:58You can see that in Aachen.
04:59He was ready to hand over the city without a fight,
05:03against the FĂĽhrer's direct orders.
05:10For this border town steeped in history
05:12is to be held as a fortress at any cost.
05:18Hitler has given strict orders.
05:22If the enemy should enter Aachen,
05:25every house will be defended.
05:27There will be no retreat.
05:29When they reach Aachen,
05:35the Wehrmacht are greeted by chaos.
05:37City and Nazi party officials
05:39have long since left the city
05:40after issuing a vague order to evacuate.
05:43When I entered Aachen,
05:48I saw to my horror that the whole population was on the move,
05:52with children and carts piled high with possessions.
05:56Everyone was crying and upset.
05:58They've been told everyone must leave immediately.
06:01That must have shocked him greatly.
06:08And then he called his officers together
06:13and he ordered them to drive into the city
06:16to calm the population
06:18and to tell them to go back home.
06:21In the meantime,
06:28Schwerin makes arrangements for the peaceful surrender of Aachen.
06:32Apart from a few advanced guards,
06:34he keeps his division outside the city.
06:36He wants to avoid pointless street fighting.
06:38Looking for a way to communicate with the enemy,
06:42he goes to the city's telegraph office.
06:45Here he dares to break a military taboo.
06:47He leaves a message for the Americans,
06:49whose arrival he expects imminently.
06:53He writes in English.
06:55I stop the stupid evacuation of civil population
06:58and ask you to give her relief.
07:00I'm the last commanding officer here,
07:02Gerhard Graf von Schwerin.
07:09Has this Wehrmacht officer distinguished himself with this act
07:13from the ranks of obedient servants of the regime?
07:17To become the savior of Aachen,
07:20as he likes to be called after the war.
07:23Aachen has thanked me in a very special way
07:29for my attempts to save the city from destruction.
07:33But he failed.
07:35Schwerin's plan did not work.
07:39For US forces do not enter Aachen.
07:42After a grueling chase,
07:43they've stopped to catch their breath.
07:50The protector of the city now has a serious problem.
07:54His deliberate defiance of an order will be exposed.
07:56When Schwerin realises on the morning of the 13th
08:02that the Americans aren't coming,
08:04he immediately reverses his decision
08:06and sends his troops straight into the city,
08:09to the very same streets he'd wanted to save
08:11from combat that morning.
08:15Aachen does become a battleground,
08:17with everything that means for the inhabitants.
08:19In order to maintain discipline in the fortress city,
08:25the division now sets up a summary court-martial.
08:29It sentences two suspected looters to death.
08:35They had been caught on the streets.
08:37They're only 14 years old.
08:39It got around like wildfire.
08:45They're shooting kids over there.
08:48Of course, I wondered what was happening.
08:51And then all of a sudden,
08:52they were dragging the kids out of the house.
08:54I was very, very shocked,
08:56because I knew both of the boys.
08:58I just couldn't take it in.
08:59They'd blindfolded the boys
09:02with big men's handkerchiefs.
09:04And Karl kept yelling,
09:06Mama, Mama, Mama,
09:08I don't want to die.
09:09I didn't do anything.
09:10Mama, I don't want to die.
09:16And then suddenly someone yelled,
09:20Fire!
09:20And they started shooting.
09:22And Karl Schwarz fell down,
09:25but he picked himself back up
09:26and started walking off towards Feldmannplatz,
09:29just taking a step at a time.
09:32And a young lieutenant ran after him and said,
09:35What?
09:36You don't want to die?
09:37And finished him off.
09:43On the authority of an order
09:45issued by Schwerin from his headquarters.
09:49Looters will be subject to summary execution
09:51by the Wehrmacht.
09:53Later, he would attempt
09:56to justify this directive.
10:01I was in charge in Aachen,
10:03and I said to myself,
10:05If people start looting here,
10:07that will have to be stopped at all costs.
10:10It is, of course, deplorable
10:12that two 14-year-olds were shot.
10:14If I'd known of it,
10:15I would definitely have said,
10:17Stop.
10:18The day after the event,
10:23things looked a bit different.
10:25In Schwerin's report to his superiors.
10:28I ordered looters to be tried.
10:30Two looters were executed.
10:34Signed, Schwerin.
10:35What happened here
10:40is that by using this extreme force
10:42by killing children,
10:43the Wehrmacht sent a very clear message
10:45to the people of Aachen
10:46that they were in control again.
10:49These executions were meant
10:51to get the people off the streets
10:52and give the Wehrmacht a free hand to act.
10:56And that, of course,
10:57was in very sharp contrast
10:58to what Schwerin had supposedly planned
11:00that morning,
11:01namely to save Aachen
11:03and its inhabitants.
11:06Now Schwerin's priority
11:07is to save his own skin.
11:10His letter to the enemy
11:10could be a death sentence.
11:12He tries to get it back,
11:14but it's too late.
11:15Party officials have long been informed.
11:24Schwerin's superior,
11:25Field Marshal Mordel,
11:27opens proceedings
11:28against his insubordinate
11:29divisional commander
11:30for high treason.
11:31But Schwerin
11:33has influential supporters.
11:38Instead of being punished,
11:39he's transferred
11:40to the Italian front
11:41and later even promoted
11:43to full general.
11:48Schwerin was Aachen's hamlet.
11:51He wanted to save the city,
11:53but he wasn't prepared
11:54to face the consequences.
11:56He wavered between allegiance
12:02to his country,
12:03to the Fuhrer's orders
12:04and common sense.
12:06And, of course,
12:06the soldiers in Aachen
12:07had to pay the price.
12:11Schwerin's original plan
12:12had failed miserably.
12:14Aachen was the first German city
12:16to become a battlefield
12:17and then a field of rubble.
12:19Obeying orders,
12:21Schwerin's successor,
12:22Gerhard Wilk,
12:23let the destruction continue
12:24until the bitter end.
12:26Later, he too
12:27tried to justify his actions.
12:28Of course, I could have stopped earlier,
12:33maybe, to prevent
12:34this senseless bloodshed,
12:36but that would have been it.
12:38I would have been sentenced
12:39to death for breach of duty.
12:42I constantly faced
12:43an inner struggle
12:44between obedience,
12:46duty and honor.
12:47But these insights
12:54only occur to the colonel
12:56after his capture,
12:58from the perspective
12:59of a British prisoner of war camp.
13:01The fighting in Aachen
13:02became utterly pointless,
13:04but retreat was turned down flat.
13:08Hold out, they said,
13:11to complete the slogan,
13:14until your last cartridge
13:15which, in fact,
13:17we did hold out
13:18for four or five days
13:19and then it was all over.
13:22However,
13:23the civilians behaved like swine.
13:26Wherever German soldiers
13:27were holding their positions
13:29or were hiding,
13:30civilians rushed out
13:31to tell the Americans
13:33where they were.
13:34Really?
13:35But why, Wilk?
13:36To bring things to an end.
13:41By the fall of 1944,
13:43the Allies had reached
13:44the borders of Germany,
13:45both in the east and the west.
13:47Now the Wehrmacht
13:48has to hold out
13:49at any price.
13:50In Kurland,
13:51in the Baltics,
13:52for instance,
13:53an entire German army
13:54is cut off.
13:56By October,
13:58forced back
13:58by vastly superior
14:00Soviet armies,
14:01the only place left to go
14:03is Svalbard,
14:05a 200-square-kilometer
14:06peninsula
14:06on the coast of Estonia.
14:08holding this insignificant piece
14:15of Moorland
14:16becomes a matter
14:17of life and death.
14:19Hitler issued the order
14:21which we had to deliver
14:23personally
14:23to all the soldiers.
14:26I will hear of no one
14:27getting off this island
14:29except to go to Siberia.
14:32We had to tell the soldiers.
14:33It was a supreme,
14:36personal command.
14:40None of the 10,000 soldiers
14:42has a hope of leaving
14:43the battlefield in one piece.
14:44The Red Army
14:48continually replenishes
14:49its forces
14:50with fresh troops.
14:53It continues its advance.
14:59The German troops
15:00defending the peninsula
15:01cut off from supplies
15:02and reinforcements
15:04have little left
15:05to offer
15:05but their lives.
15:09Men like Private
15:11Kurt Fetter.
15:14Death is around you
15:18every day.
15:19You ask yourself,
15:21how long are you
15:22going to stick this out?
15:26We knew one thing
15:27for sure.
15:29As an ordinary
15:30frontline soldier,
15:32you'll never get out
15:33in one piece.
15:37There'll come a time
15:38when you get yours.
15:40If you're lucky,
15:41you'll get a wound
15:42that'll send you home.
15:43And if you're unlucky,
15:46your body will be ripped up
15:47or your legs
15:48will be ripped up.
15:51We all knew that.
15:54On October 30th, 1944,
15:57Corporal August MĂĽller
15:58writes home.
16:00My dear wife
16:01and daughter,
16:03no one believes
16:05we're ever going to give up
16:06this little piece of island.
16:08The ground is soaked
16:10with a huge amount of blood.
16:11The Russians are losing
16:14many, many men here.
16:17There are just three men
16:19left from our
16:19original signals unit.
16:22Everyone else
16:23is dead
16:23or wounded.
16:25The war makes
16:26tough demands on us.
16:32Then we went
16:33into the forest
16:34and there was firing
16:36and my friend
16:37and my friend
16:37was hit.
16:39I shook him.
16:40I said,
16:40Bernhard, Bernhard,
16:42what's happened to you?
16:44He didn't answer.
16:46After a while,
16:47we got the order
16:48to withdraw.
16:49What should I do?
16:53I ran
16:54and left him
16:56and left him there,
16:57alone.
17:04That experience
17:06kept shaking me awake
17:08at night.
17:11Leaving your own friend
17:13lying there
17:14because you have to save
17:17your own life.
17:22Air Force General
17:23Flugweil
17:24decorates valiant
17:25soldiers on Swarber.
17:26The deaths
17:27of thousands
17:27of soldiers
17:28become the material
17:29for a heroic epic.
17:33In mid-November,
17:34General Ferdinand Schöner,
17:35the Army Group Commander,
17:37personally visits Swarber
17:38to encourage
17:39the soldiers
17:39to hold out.
17:40He arrived
17:48at the regimental
17:49command post
17:49and naturally
17:50we told him
17:51we had fewer
17:52and fewer
17:52able-bodied soldiers
17:53every day.
17:55Of course,
17:56he would have got
17:56the message
17:57that the peninsula
17:58couldn't be held.
18:00But that message
18:01wasn't enough.
18:03Not when the FĂĽhrer
18:04had personally
18:05ordered us
18:06to hold out
18:06to the last man.
18:10In November,
18:12August MĂĽller writes,
18:15If only this war
18:16could end.
18:17But we're going
18:17to have to wait
18:18a long time for that.
18:20I've been lying
18:21in a foxhole all day.
18:23They've made this place
18:25into a fortress.
18:26I expect
18:27we're going to die
18:28here like dogs.
18:31It came down
18:32to this.
18:33We said,
18:35we have to make sure
18:36we get wounded
18:37and get off
18:39the island that way.
18:40then we drew straws.
18:46Whoever got
18:47the long one
18:48had to do
18:49the shooting.
18:50The one who got
18:51the short one
18:52could stick out
18:53his leg.
18:55I drew the long straw.
18:58My mate stood up
18:59against a tree
19:00about 10 meters away.
19:02I loaded
19:03my machine pistol
19:04and fired.
19:06He fell over
19:10and started to moan.
19:12I said,
19:13cheer up,
19:15you're going home.
19:16Four of us
19:17carried him
19:17in a top ball
19:18into the nearest
19:19first aid station
19:20and more or less
19:21handed him over.
19:22only the wounded
19:27have a chance
19:28to get out.
19:30After six weeks
19:31of bitter fighting,
19:324,000 German soldiers
19:34are dead or missing.
19:35This is how you
19:43could sum up
19:44the fighting
19:44on Swarby.
19:45Completely pointless,
19:47militarily unjustifiable,
19:49politically insane.
19:50The defenders
19:56are at last
19:56given permission
19:57to withdraw.
20:03One man
20:04will get the credit
20:05for their sacrifice.
20:07The commander-in-chief
20:08of Army Group Center,
20:10Ferdinand Schörner.
20:12Schörner was a real
20:14last stand general.
20:16If we heard
20:17he was coming,
20:18then everybody,
20:19everyone who could,
20:20just disappear.
20:21They weren't there.
20:23Because if he got
20:24hold of you,
20:25he could quite easily
20:26say,
20:27you're not needed here,
20:28we need you
20:29on the front line.
20:30Then you were sent
20:31off to one of the divisions.
20:36Even now,
20:37Schörner orders
20:38the last able-bodied
20:39soldiers to defend
20:40the remaining areas.
20:43Regardless of losses
20:44and under massive pressure
20:46from the enemy
20:47and their own side.
20:50They sent in young,
20:53barely trained troops
20:54and put them
20:55in the front lines.
20:57Three days later,
20:58their morale
20:58was shot through.
21:02They were such
21:03young people.
21:05They couldn't take it
21:06anymore
21:07and they ran.
21:08That's a very
21:09natural reaction.
21:11I found it inhumane
21:12that some of them
21:13were court-martialed.
21:14They really couldn't
21:15help it.
21:20The idea
21:21is that fear
21:22for their lives
21:23will boost
21:24their fighting spirit.
21:25We were on our way
21:37to the front
21:38and suddenly Schörner
21:40appeared from
21:40the opposite direction.
21:44We had pitched camp
21:46a little off
21:47to one side
21:48and saw a soldier
21:50walking back
21:51from the front
21:51and went on his own.
21:58Schörner immediately
21:59went over to him.
22:03There was a short
22:03conversation
22:04and then Schörner
22:06gave one of his people
22:07an order.
22:07I couldn't hear
22:12what he said
22:12and he seemed
22:14to pass it on
22:15to someone else
22:16and he walked
22:18the soldier
22:18over to the ditch
22:19beside the road
22:20and shot him.
22:26An estimated
22:2730,000 death sentences
22:28were passed
22:29by the military courts
22:30of the Wehrmacht.
22:32Roughly 20,000
22:33were carried out
22:34most of them
22:35in the last year
22:36of the war.
22:37Mostly
22:39on the eastern front.
22:44Schörner
22:45was always
22:45visiting the front.
22:46We can see that
22:47from his orders.
22:48I have seen
22:49such and such soldiers
22:50at such and such a place
22:51and have made sure
22:52they were either
22:53sent back to the front
22:54or were put
22:55before a summary
22:56court-martial.
22:57That's how it was
22:58and that's what
22:59impressed Hitler.
23:00Schörner wasn't
23:01the kind of general
23:01to sit behind a map.
23:03He went up
23:03to the front line
23:04and looked after
23:05everything.
23:06This gung-ho general
23:10represents Hitler's
23:12ideal national
23:13socialist warrior.
23:14His attitude
23:15and his fanaticism
23:16count for more
23:17than military tradition.
23:18after his early years
23:27in the elite
23:27mountain troops
23:28of the old
23:28Reichswehr
23:29Schörner rose
23:30particularly fast
23:31in the Third Reich
23:32and conformed
23:34to the new way
23:34of thinking.
23:38Hitler appreciates
23:39the fact
23:39that he carries out
23:40ideologically inspired
23:42orders
23:42without a second thought.
23:44Schörner always came
23:48back from meetings
23:49with Hitler
23:50radiating optimism.
23:53And every now and then
23:56he would come out
23:57with
23:58the Fuhrer wants me
24:00to
24:01or the Fuhrer expects
24:04us to hold the front
24:05or the Fuhrer expects
24:08us to straighten out
24:09the front.
24:11It's statements
24:12like that
24:12that make me think
24:14he was a political
24:15soldier.
24:20The political soldier
24:22is the perfect
24:23embodiment
24:24of Nazi ideology.
24:26Since 1944
24:27Wehrmacht soldiers
24:29have received
24:29more and more
24:30political education.
24:31Schörner has been
24:37specially entrusted
24:38with the task
24:39of educating
24:40his troops
24:40politically.
24:46Hitler has long
24:47wanted to create
24:48a new type
24:49of soldier.
24:51As the war
24:52continues
24:52he's more
24:53and more
24:54successful
24:54in imbuing
24:55the troops
24:56with the Nazi
24:56spirit.
24:59There's no
24:59other way
25:00to explain
25:01how they
25:01lasted so long.
25:03German soldiers
25:04held out
25:05longer
25:05and that
25:06meant the
25:07dying
25:07went on
25:07longer too.
25:12The younger
25:13soldiers
25:13especially
25:14remain under
25:15the Fuhrer's
25:15spell
25:16until the end.
25:17For most of
25:18them
25:18holding out
25:19to the very
25:19end
25:20is a matter
25:20of honor.
25:22They're
25:22obeying orders
25:23but they
25:23also feel
25:24a broader
25:24allegiance
25:25to Hitler
25:25and the
25:26Reich
25:26and the
25:27need to
25:27save it
25:28from
25:28destruction.
25:31At the
25:31beginning
25:32of 1945
25:33Schörner
25:33is recalled
25:34from Kurland.
25:35The king
25:36of the
25:36last stand
25:37is urgently
25:38needed
25:38at other
25:39crisis points.
25:42The huge
25:43Soviet
25:44offensive
25:44in the
25:45spring
25:45of 1945
25:46stretches
25:46all the
25:47way
25:47to
25:47Silesia.
25:48outnumbering
26:08the
26:08Germans
26:08by up
26:09to
26:0915
26:09to
26:101
26:10they
26:11drive
26:11the
26:11shattered
26:12Wehrmacht
26:12units
26:13before
26:13them.
26:13It
26:20really
26:22was
26:22a
26:23chaotic
26:23retreat
26:23no
26:24other
26:24way
26:25to
26:25describe
26:25it
26:25a
26:26terrible
26:26retreat
26:27we
26:28just
26:28wanted
26:28to
26:29get
26:29out
26:29to
26:29the
26:30west
26:30it
26:31all
26:31ended
26:31in
26:31lower
26:32Silesia
26:32they
26:33had
26:33interception
26:34officers
26:35there
26:35Schörner
26:36had
26:36put
26:37them
26:37there
26:37to
26:37intercept
26:38the
26:38soldiers
26:39to
26:40stop
26:40the
26:40crazy
26:41retreat
26:41and
26:43firm
26:43up
26:43the
26:43lines
26:44the
26:46soldiers
26:47form
26:47a
26:47defensive
26:48belt
26:48along
26:48a
26:49broad
26:49front
26:49with
26:50some
26:50success
26:50the
26:52propaganda
26:52machine
26:53works
26:53overtime
26:54to
26:54build
26:54confidence
26:55well
26:57lads
26:57you've
26:57built
26:58yourselves
26:58a
26:58great
26:58villa
26:59here
26:59you
26:59can
26:59say
26:59that
27:00again
27:00and
27:00are
27:01the
27:01Russians
27:01leaving
27:01you
27:02alone
27:02here
27:02most
27:02of
27:03the
27:03time
27:03it's
27:03okay
27:03they're
27:04more
27:04scared
27:04than
27:04we
27:05are
27:05newsreels
27:06from
27:06fantasy
27:07land
27:07not
27:08surprisingly
27:09they
27:09were never
27:10shown
27:10and
27:11the
27:11men
27:11know
27:11that
27:11here
27:12they're
27:12defending
27:12german
27:13soil
27:13yes
27:14everyone
27:15understands
27:15that
27:16we
27:16have
27:16to
27:16hold
27:16on
27:16here
27:17and
27:17can't
27:17withdraw
27:18a
27:18single
27:18step
27:18captain
27:21do you
27:21think
27:22that
27:22the
27:22Russians
27:22will
27:23have
27:23a
27:23tough
27:23time
27:23of
27:23it
27:24here
27:24they
27:24certainly
27:25will
27:25the
27:26prussian
27:27officer
27:27of
27:28the
27:28old
27:28school
27:28was
27:29like
27:29a
27:29father
27:30to
27:30his
27:30soldiers
27:30he
27:31made
27:31sure
27:32they
27:32had
27:32as
27:32few
27:32casualties
27:33as
27:33possible
27:34he
27:34took
27:34care
27:35of
27:35his
27:35soldiers
27:36and
27:36so on
27:36and the
27:37nazis
27:38did
27:38the
27:38exact
27:39opposite
27:39they
27:40used
27:40people
27:41not me
27:42as
27:42cannon
27:43fodder
27:43and said
27:44we have
27:44to hold
27:44on
27:45the
27:45usual
27:46stand
27:46firm
27:47orders
27:47from
27:47hitler
27:47the
27:48city
27:48will
27:48be
27:49held
27:49to
27:49the
27:49last
27:49man
27:50that
27:50was
27:50contrary
27:51to
27:51everything
27:51prussian
27:52every
27:54effort
27:54is
27:55futile
27:55in
27:57order
27:57to
27:57disguise
27:58that
27:58fact
27:58any
27:59tiny
28:00counter
28:00offensive
28:00becomes
28:01a
28:01turning
28:01point
28:02in
28:02the
28:02war
28:03the
28:05liberation
28:05of the
28:06city
28:06of
28:06Lauban
28:06at the
28:07beginning
28:08of
28:08march
28:08german
28:08troops
28:09assemble
28:09for
28:09a
28:10counter
28:10attack
28:10on
28:11the
28:11town
28:11as
28:16soon
28:16as
28:16troops
28:17have
28:17taken
28:18Lauban
28:18the
28:19town
28:19receives
28:19a
28:20visit
28:20from
28:20Josef
28:21Goebbels
28:21here
28:22to
28:22spread
28:23the
28:23word
28:23that
28:23victory
28:24is
28:24imminent
28:25with
28:27Hitler
28:27in
28:27hiding
28:28his
28:28propaganda
28:29minister
28:29is
28:29the
28:30Reich's
28:30only
28:30mouthpiece
28:31at
28:33the
28:33town
28:34square
28:34in
28:34Lauban
28:35dr
28:35Goebbels
28:35is
28:36greeted
28:36by
28:36the
28:36army
28:36group
28:37commander
28:37general
28:37scherner
28:38a
28:39combat
28:39unit
28:40of
28:40the
28:40fuhrer's
28:40grenadier
28:41division
28:41marches
28:41past
28:42what
28:44they
28:45were
28:46presenting
28:46as
28:47fighting
28:47troops
28:48were
28:49just
28:50old
28:50people
28:51forced
28:51to
28:52join
28:52the
28:52fog
28:52storm
28:53and
28:53children
28:54wearing
28:54helmets
28:55three
28:55sizes
28:56too
28:56big
28:56for
28:56them
28:56no
29:00it
29:00wasn't
29:00a
29:00very
29:01pretty
29:01picture
29:01we
29:02had
29:02the
29:03feeling
29:03that
29:03they
29:03were
29:03just
29:04putting
29:04on
29:04a
29:05show
29:05on
29:08on
29:08the
29:09market
29:09square
29:09goebbels
29:10lavishly
29:10praises
29:11scherner's
29:11methods
29:12for
29:12raising
29:13morale
29:13he's
29:15particularly
29:15impressed
29:16that the
29:16field
29:17marshal
29:17simply
29:18hangs
29:18deserters
29:19from
29:19the
29:19nearest
29:20tree
29:20i believe
29:27that wherever
29:28our soldiers
29:28move on to
29:29the offensive
29:30on the
29:30eastern front
29:31no mercy
29:32will be
29:32expected
29:33and none
29:34given
29:34and i believe
29:42more strongly
29:43now than i've ever
29:44believed in anything
29:44in my whole life
29:45that we will one day
29:47raise the flag of
29:48victory
29:48wishful thinking
29:53aside
29:54german troops
29:55are retreating
29:56on every front
29:57in the west
30:01the allies
30:02have crossed
30:02the rhine
30:03they're advancing
30:04towards the
30:05industrial center
30:06of the
30:06ruhr valley
30:07by the beginning
30:14of april
30:14they've surrounded
30:15the reich's arms
30:16manufacturing centers
30:17on the
30:18rhine
30:18and ruhr
30:19to mount
30:30the defense
30:30of the
30:30ruhr pocket
30:31hitler can call
30:32on a loyal
30:33army group
30:34commander
30:34someone to whom
30:35he can trust
30:36the toughest
30:36missions
30:37field marshal
30:38model is
30:39respected by
30:40his soldiers
30:40as well
30:42model was a man
30:50who spent an
30:51incredible amount
30:52of time actually
30:53at the front
30:54not the kind
30:55of man who
30:55led from the
30:56back
30:56who sat
30:57with his
30:58maps
30:58instead
30:59he went to
31:00wherever he
31:01believed his
31:01appearance
31:02might do
31:03some good
31:03model is
31:06everywhere
31:06his soldiers
31:07know it
31:07the field
31:08marshal
31:09steps in
31:09wherever it
31:10seems necessary
31:11they used to
31:15they used to say
31:16model modeled it
31:17back together
31:18again
31:18and several times
31:20he managed to
31:21stop the retreat
31:21of an entire
31:22army and later
31:24a whole army
31:25front first in the
31:26east and then in
31:27the west
31:27model would defend
31:33his point of view
31:34with great confidence
31:35even at hitler's
31:36headquarters
31:37no other general
31:39criticized hitler so
31:40openly and so
31:41often but only on
31:43military matters
31:44he did not permit
31:50criticism of hitler
31:51thus he didn't
31:53criticize hitler as
31:54such but he fought
31:55for additional
31:56troops or weapons
31:58or gasoline
31:59and he did that
32:04relentlessly
32:05so that it
32:06frequently came to
32:07screaming matches
32:08between hitler and
32:09model
32:10but hitler probably
32:15didn't hold it
32:16against him
32:17i believe that man
32:22can do it
32:23hitler once said
32:25but i wouldn't like
32:27to serve under him
32:27he wasn't a
32:32politician at all
32:33he was strictly a
32:34military man
32:35and thought only in
32:37military terms
32:38they would hold that
32:41against him later
32:41and rightly so
32:43considering the high
32:44positions he held
32:45war
32:48model issues fiery calls to
32:50combat from inside the
32:51ruhr pocket without the
32:53slightest political
32:54insight
32:54A man who no longer believes in victory cannot fight with the necessary toughness and contempt for death.
33:03But by now, his forces in the Ruhr Valley are a motley mix of home guard, veterans and raw recruits.
33:16Lothar Ester is a 19-year-old officer cadet.
33:19It was our first engagement. The Russian tanks came towards us, and we were in our foxholes, in twos, each of us with an anti-tank rocket launcher.
33:32We got the order to let the first tanks through until they reached the last foxhole.
33:39We obeyed at first until one of us probably got nervous and opened fire.
33:49When that happened, the tanks, which were still there, did something I'd never seen before.
33:59They drove straight for the foxhole in which the German soldiers lay,
34:04made a 360-degree turn on top of the foxhole and drove away,
34:11leaving behind the grave of the two soldiers.
34:13All this sacrifice is in vain.
34:23U.S. forces keep tightening the noose.
34:26They don't even have to try very hard anymore.
34:29The defenders are cut off from their supplies.
34:34Model sends his adjutant on an important mission.
34:37Then Model said goodbye to me, and I believe I saw a tear in his eyes.
34:50He gave me a letter for his wife, and I sensed it was his farewell letter.
34:58I couldn't imagine Model ever becoming a prisoner.
35:04Model sends his messenger to Berlin
35:06so that Hitler will be in no doubt
35:08exactly how bad the situation has become in the Ruhr Pocket.
35:16When Hitler came into the room,
35:18I said that we couldn't hold out more than one more day
35:21because we'd run out of gasoline and ammunition
35:25and the soldiers' morale had hit rock bottom.
35:28And I said the last spark of resistance in the Ruhr Pocket
35:32is Field Marshal Model himself.
35:34But he can't give his troops any orders
35:39because there was nothing more to order.
35:47And then Hitler said,
35:49yes, Model,
35:51he was my best Field Marshal.
35:56Thus the conscientious general has already been written off
35:59without even knowing it.
36:00Nevertheless, he sticks to his task.
36:05Fight to the last and die with a weapon in our hand.
36:08I invite each of you to follow me.
36:12Model still refuses to consider surrendering.
36:15As the enemy advance on German soil continues,
36:27every member of the Wehrmacht now faces the same dilemma.
36:31In the ancient city of Gotha in Eastern Germany,
36:39so far untouched by the war,
36:41Josef Ritter von Gadolla is summoned from his command post
36:44in Castle Friedenstein.
36:46He's ordered to prepare the defense of the town.
36:58With a simple handshake,
37:01Gadolla committed himself to defend Gotha to the last man,
37:05the last drop of blood.
37:08So, of course, they made thorough preparations.
37:10Trenches were dug, 16-year-olds were called up.
37:13Even the wounded in the field hospital were told
37:17that whoever could walk would be expected to fight.
37:24By the beginning of April,
37:26the Americans are a few kilometers from Gotha.
37:32In his command bunker,
37:34it's time for Gadolla, an Austrian by birth,
37:37to show his true colors.
37:43He knew he didn't have enough troops to defend the city
37:46and he expected that casualties would be high.
37:50He wanted to spare human lives.
37:56Gadolla persuades other representatives of the city
37:59to back his plan.
38:01He intends to do something unprecedented
38:03for a Wehrmacht officer.
38:05He will drive in person
38:13from the castle to the American lines
38:15to offer them the peaceful surrender of the city.
38:23But on the way,
38:25an anti-aircraft unit stops him.
38:27He's declared a traitor
38:28and reduced to the ranks.
38:30He's then transported to Weimar.
38:49The next day,
38:51a summary court marshal
38:52sentences him to death
38:54by firing squad.
38:55Within hours,
39:03the sentence is carried out.
39:08Gadolla is one of very few officers
39:10who put conscience before duty.
39:13And yet even today,
39:14he remains largely unknown.
39:20And he achieved his aim.
39:22On the day of his death,
39:30the U.S. Army entered the city
39:32without firing a single shot.
39:35Gadolla had ordered the Wehrmacht to pull out
39:37and had hung out white flags.
39:40The Americans could advance unopposed.
39:43Most German generals
39:44can't appreciate the good sense
39:46of Gadolla's actions
39:47until they themselves
39:48have nothing more to lose.
39:49like the generals
39:51in Trent Park in England
39:52where they're held
39:53as prisoners of war
39:54in the spring of 1945.
39:59I always used to think
40:01it was wrong to surrender.
40:03It would cause a rift
40:05in the nation
40:05that could have
40:06disastrous consequences.
40:09But now,
40:10now it has to end.
40:12It's simply madness.
40:13We will not fall.
40:16Any nation can lose a war.
40:17Because it was stupidly led.
40:21Put in an impossible position
40:23by the politicians.
40:26But it cannot lose a war
40:28if it fights properly
40:30to the end.
40:31It's suicide.
40:34It's a collective suicide
40:35of a nation.
40:38Something history
40:39has never before seen.
40:41At his last headquarters
40:46an estate near Dusseldorf
40:49out of touch
40:50with the reality
40:51of the situation
40:52in the Ruhr pocket
40:53Mordel rejects
40:55every call
40:55for surrender.
41:03He lets his soldiers
41:05decide for themselves
41:06if they want
41:07to continue fighting.
41:08In mid-April
41:10he resigns his post
41:12and hides
41:13with a few
41:13of his most loyal followers
41:15in a forest
41:15near Duisburg.
41:19On April 20th
41:21Hitler's birthday
41:22Goebbels made a speech
41:24that was downright absurd.
41:26Absurd.
41:27The FĂĽhrer
41:29will follow his path
41:30to the very end
41:31where there awaits
41:33not the destruction
41:34of his people
41:35but a new
41:36happier beginning.
41:38A golden age
41:39of German culture
41:40the like of which
41:42has never been seen before.
41:46I was right beside him
41:47and he said
41:48I have sacrificed
41:50my life
41:51for these bastards.
41:54As long as he was
41:55giving orders
41:55from morning to night
41:56he could brush it
41:58all aside
41:58saying
41:59that's politics
42:00don't get involved
42:01in that
42:02do your duty
42:03but now that he'd spent
42:0524 hours in a forest
42:07without his field marshal's baton
42:09sitting around
42:10with just five people
42:11eaten alive by mosquitoes
42:13he finally realized
42:15the absurdity of it all.
42:24Then he said to me
42:27Bear
42:27you can't expect me
42:29a field marshal
42:31accountable for the deaths
42:32of hundreds of thousands
42:34of people or more
42:35who had to accept
42:36responsibility for that
42:38and did
42:38to walk out of this forest
42:40with his hands up
42:42and say
42:42here I am
42:43field marshal
42:45model.
42:47The next day
42:48tortured by the idea
42:50that he served
42:51a false god
42:52the now powerless general
42:54accepts the consequences
42:55and escapes
42:56his responsibilities.
42:58If the generals had said
43:04enough is enough
43:05Hitler could have done
43:06anything
43:07and it wouldn't have worked
43:08If the generals had said
43:12enough is enough
43:12it would have been over
43:14but they didn't
43:15they soldiered on
43:16to the very end
43:17especially on the eastern front
43:22at his command post
43:26a Czech resort hotel
43:27near König Gretz
43:28field marshal Schörner
43:30celebrates the
43:31FĂĽhrer's birthday
43:31in his own way
43:33On Hitler's birthday
43:41the entire staff
43:43was summoned
43:44and there was Schörner
43:46still spouting fiery words
43:49glorifying Hitler
43:51The FĂĽhrer has entrusted us
43:57with a mission
43:57and it is our duty
43:59not to disappoint him
44:01but to live up
44:02to his trust
44:03True to his words
44:07Schörner's men fight on
44:08even after Hitler's death
44:10when soldiers elsewhere
44:12gradually started to come
44:13to their senses
44:14At the end of the war
44:17this commander
44:19who drove his people
44:20to hold out
44:20to the very last moment
44:21turned out to be
44:23remarkably adaptable
44:24Seeing Schörner
44:26that morning
44:30wearing a civilian suit
44:32was something of a shock
44:33I couldn't make sense of it
44:35He asked me to drive
44:41with him to the airfield
44:42When we reached the airfield
44:45there was only one plane there
44:47and we said goodbye
44:48in a rather businesslike fashion
44:51Hoping to land
44:56in American captivity
44:58Schörner heads west
44:59on May the 9th
45:00abandoning his army
45:02to an uncertain fate
45:03But he has miscalculated
45:06The Americans sent him back
45:08to the Soviets
45:09as a prisoner
45:10He returns home
45:13in 1955
45:14In West Germany
45:16he's prosecuted
45:17for his wartime record
45:18but he's unrepentant
45:20The one bond
45:24that held
45:25army group centers
45:26together
45:27to the last day
45:28of the war
45:29was the confidence
45:30my soldiers had in me
45:32and the boundless trust
45:33I had in my soldiers
45:35Between January and May 1945
45:401.2 million
45:41German soldiers
45:42have died
45:43The enemy's losses
45:45also run into millions
45:46The Wehrmacht had proved
45:53to be the deadliest tool
45:55any dictator
45:55had ever had
45:56at his disposal
45:57until its own destruction
46:01From a military
46:03or political point of view
46:05they should have stopped
46:06much earlier
46:06The whole strategy
46:08if you want to call it that
46:10amounted to nothing more
46:11than self-destruction
46:12You either win
46:13or you die
46:14The death
46:18destruction
46:19and misery
46:20that this army
46:21brought on the world
46:22finally rebounded on it
46:25The wounds still hurt
46:29today
46:30And there'll be more
46:37frontline programs
46:38tomorrow afternoon
46:39from 4 to 6
46:40Next today
46:42analysis of one of the
46:43most devastating bloodbaths
46:44of World War II
46:45The Great Battle for Stalingrad
46:47in Battlefield Detectives
46:49here on the History Channel
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