Soviet Flag on the Reichstag

The ETO

Central Europe

bigpigeon.us webpage WW II - Germany > ETO > Central Europe > Central Germany, updated by RAC 7 Oct '19.

In the winter and spring of 1945, Soviet forces advancing through Poland overran the part of Germany north of Czechoslovakia, including the German capital of Berlin, while the Western Allies crossed the Rhine in March and then fought east through the remainder of Germany.

Here are some memorable dates, including Soviet operations, for this, the last phase of World War II in Europe:

• ​1 Apr 1945 - Ruhr, Germany's largest industrial area, surrounded.
• 12 Apr 1945 - Anticipating future Holocaust-deniers, General Eisenhower visits the liberated concentration camp at Ohrdruf near Buchenwald.
• 12 Apr 1945 - President Roosevelt dies suddenly in Warm Springs, Georgia.
• 16 Apr 1945 - Russians begin Battle of Berlin.
• 25 Apr 1945 - American and Russian troops meet at Torgau on the Elbe River northeast of Leipzig.
• 30 Apr 1945 - Adolf Hitler suicides in his Berlin bunker.
• 2 May 1945 - Berlin falls after massive, lengthy, and bloody Russian attack.
• 7 May 1945 - Germany surrenders at Reims, France.
• 8 May 1945 - V-E (Victory in Europe) Day, European hostilities cease.

Occupying the Ruhr - March-April 1945

Elements of the US 1st Army betan crossing the Rhine with the siezure of the bridge at Remagen on March 7. The 9th Army crossed  with British General Bernard Montgomery's Army Group in Operation Plunder near Wesel beginning on March 23.
 
Once across the Rhine, the  9th Army was returned from British control to become part of General Omar Bradley's 12th  Army Group. The 9th and the 1st Armies thus coordinated their efforts to seal off and then capture the Ruhr, on the east side of the Rhine and Germany's largest industrial area. 

Most German forces in the Ruhr Pocket surrendered on April 16. Organized resistance ended on April 18. By then, much of the 9th and 1st Armies had advanced well to the east.

Enveloping the Ruhr

The Western Allies Drive Across Central Germany - April-May 1945

By April 19, the 9th and 1st Armies had reached the west bank of the Elbe River, with Russian forces already on the east bank.

For the last several weeks of the war, Patton's 3rd Army, to the south of the 1st Army, occupied most of southeastern Germany, penetrating into small portions of Czechoslovakia and Austria. The 7th Army and the 1st French Army focused on occupying southwestern Germany, with elements of the 7th Army making contact with the US 5th Army at Brenner Pass on the Austrian - Italian border.

Final Phase of the Central European Campaign - 19 Apr - 7 May 1945

Germany Surrenders - 7 May 1945

Germany forces in Italy had already surrendered effective May 2.

In the final weeks of the war, some high-ranking German figures attempted to negotiate a conditional surrender to the Western Allies. These attempts were rebuffed.

The unconditional German surrender to the Allies occurred on May 7, 1945 at General Eisenhower's ETO headquarters in Reims, France, in a building now housing a museum. General Jodl, who represented Germany,  was one of the Nazi leaders later executed in 1946. Although the surrender document was signed early on May 7, hostilities were to cease late on May 8.

I know of two events where smaller German military units acted independently and with compassion before the German government's surrender.

•  The German Army in the Netherlands allowed the Western Allies to begin bringing relief supplies for Dutch civilians, 25,000 of whom had died of starvation during the previous winter.
• On May 5 at Schloss Itter in northern Austria, German troops joined US forces to protect high-ranking French prisoners from diehard German SS troops.

How the world celebrated on May 8!

General Jodl at the Surrender Table

V-E Day - Winston Churchill and the Royal Family

The Allied Armies at the End of the War with Germany

The accompanying map shows the position of the Allied armies just after hostilities ended. Some commentary:

• To conform with previous agreements with the Soviet Union, the US First Army soon turned over the German territory just north of Czechoslovakia to the Russian Army.
  
• People in the densly populated western Netherlands had not been liberated and an estimated 20,000 had died of starvation. With an agreement with the Germany Army, Allied air drops of food started on 29 April.

The Allied Armys at Wars End

After the Surrender

Germany was divided into four occupation zones, with Berlin in the middle of the Russian zone.

• Berlin was also divided into four zones, an unfortunate decision that resulted in much anguish during the ensuing Cold War between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.
• The French shared their zone with American forces, and the United States had one or more enclaves in the British zone.

Germany after WW II - Partitioned and shorn of eastern territory

Sources for the WW II - Central Germany webpage

• ​The header photo is courtesy of rarehistoricalphotos.com. The Battle of Berlin raged from 16 Apr to 2 May. 80,000 Russian troops died; German losses, including civilians, were higher. The first Soviet flag was raised at night on 30 Apr and removed by German soldiers. This photo, taken on 2 May by Yevgeny Khaldei, was subject to a bit of editing, including adding smoke.
• The Enveloping the Ruhr map is courtesy of historynet.com.
• The Final Phase of the Central European Campaign map is courtesy of the United States Military Academy.
• The photo of General Jodl at the surrender table is courtesy of ww2db.com.
• The V-E Day Buckingham Palace photo is courtesy of the Imperial War Museum in London.​
• I found The Allied Armies at Wars End map at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_contact#/media/File:Allied_army_positions_on_10_May_1945.png.
• The Germany after WW II map is courtesy of http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org.

Pottawattamie County, Iowa WW II Dead - Central Germany
(taken from the bigpigeon.us WW II Dead webarea)

• 03-07 - Central Europe - Central Germany: (ten dead, updated 6 Oct ’19)
  † Browning, William Albert - SN 37-489-019, US Army
  Co. K, 22nd Inf. Regt., 4th Inf. Div.; KIA 5 Apr ’45 near Ochsenfurt, Bavaria, Germany.
  † Cutler, Donald Lee - SN 39-603-009, US Army
  Co. E, 254th Inf. Regt., 63rd Inf. Div.; KIA 8 Apr ‘45 near Weißbach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
  † Hartwig, Harold William - SN 37-260-353, US Army
  Co. I, 357th Inf. Regt., 90th Inf. Div.; KIA 18 Apr ’45 in SE Germany, near Schwartzenbach & Hof, Bavaria, Germany.
  † Henderson, Max O. - SN 37-485-581, US Army
  406th Inf. Regt., 102nd Inf. Div.; KIA 18 Apr ’45, E of Hanover, near the Elbe River, Germany.
  † Herrell, George Walter - SN 37-699-107, US Army
  Co. A, 60th Armored Inf. Bn., 9th Armored Div.; KIA 31 Mar ’45 attacking Luftwaffe airfield near Fritzlar, Germany; unconfirmed Silver Star.
  † + Macalister, Bruce Richard - SN O-444938, US Army
  C.O. Co. K, 346th Inf. Regt., 86th Inf. Div.; WIA 30 Apr ’45 near Berglern, Bavaria, Germany ~ 30 miles NE of Munich; DOW 1 May ’45.
  † Moore, Walter Lee - SN 37-699-139, US Army
  Co. F, 33rd Armored Regt., 3rd Armored Div.; KIA 30 Mar ’45, near Hamborn, Duisburg Ruhr, Germany.
  † Punteney, Charles Edward - SN 37-699-132, US Army
  33rd Armored Regt., 3rd Armored Div.; KIA 26 Mar ’45 near Altenkirchen, E of Bonn, Germany.
  † Swanson, Jack Leonard - SN 37-652-893, US Army
  Troop B, 116th Cavalry Recon. Sqdn., 101st Cavalry Gp., 7th Army; KIA 16 Apr ’45 in Bavaria, Germany.
  † Zentz, Ervin Emory - SN 37-699-101, US Army
  Co. B, 756th Tank Bn., 3rd Inf. Div.; WIA 18 Apr ’45 in Battle of Nuremberg, Germany; DOW 21 Apr ’45 in hospital, France.