Surrender - The Fall of the Reich

Part 1 of a two part documentary, chronicling the last year of the war in the European theater, from the D-Day Landings in Normandy in June 1944 to Nazi Germany's surrender in May 1945. This film traces the very last months of World War II in Europe, following the military leaders and the battles they fought, but also giving voice to the forgotten: The foot soldiers, the civilians, the women and the children, scarred by unspeakable hardship and looking to better times.

While the allied troops were confronted to the death camp horrors, the Russian soldiers were engaged in a merciless fight at the gates of Berlin. Just in this battle, the Russians lost up to 15,000 men per day! The Nazi commanders, enraged, kept throwing crowds of armed civilians on the streets - including many adolescents and old men - and continued to proclaim that victory was close! While the Russians successfully took over the Reichstag on April 30, 1945, Hitler committed suicide in his bunker. On May 7 and 8, 1945, Germany's surrender was signed both in Reims, France and in Berlin.