Slaughter at Halbe

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Operation 'Berlin', launched on 16 April 1945 by Marshals Zhukov and Koniev, aimed to isolate the German 9th Army and numerous refugees in the Spreewald 'pocket', southeast of Berlin. Stalin ordered the encirclement and destruction of the 9th Army, led by General Busse, who was pushed into a small area east of Halbe. Concurrently, General Wenck's 12th Army, tasked with disengaging from American forces on the Elbe, launched a desperate attack from the southwest to rescue the 9th. The remnants of the 9th Army had to navigate through Halbe, where barricades created by both sides posed significant challenges, compounded by heavy Soviet artillery fire. Ultimately, when the 9th Army managed to escape and link up with the 12th Army, it had suffered over 40,000 casualties and 60,000 prisoners. Teenaged refugees share their harrowing experiences alongside Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS veterans struggling to uphold military order amid the chaos of retreat. As commanders work to save their beleaguered units, demoralized soldiers abandon their uniforms for civilian clothes and flee into the woods. Through a day-by-day account, the narrative reveals the profound effects of total war on both soldiers and civilians, enriched by the memories of those who lived through these catastrophic events.