Berlin 1945: The Journal of a Capital

Berlin, early 1945. Every day, bombardments hit the city. The inhabitants disguise in the bunkers as soon as they hear the English planes. Daily life, however, tries to resume its course, with the reopening of cinemas, concert halls and shops. If the third Reich has not yet lost anything of its power, the allies are constantly getting closer. War strikes men and women, children and old men. At the Reich chancellery, we send the young people to battle. The soldiers of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht fight in the middle of the street. without an overall vision, both sides advance to the blind.

30 April 1945. The red flag is raised above the Reichstag. Hitler committed suicide. The city will hold two days before going, leading to the fall of Nazi Germany. This defeat is synonymous with liberation. the allies take power and share the capital. If English, French and American are slow to take possession of the place, the Soviets are quick to work: they place a mayor at the head of the city, organize the arrival of food, dismantle the old quarters of the party and track war criminals with too much haste, condemning innocents to heavy forced labor. while displaced persons wandered in search of their families, officials arrived from Moscow. In this post-war confusion, cultural life still resumes and Berlin seems to live again, but once the common enemy was defeated, the allies were torn apart, and the cold war was to settle.

The British, French and Americans are waiting to enter Berlin. In the meantime, the Soviets appoint mayors, organize the food supply and go on the hunt for war criminals. The Jewish community, among whom there are few survivors, regroup. The fate of the city is determined at the Potsdam Conference. Life returns to the ruins, theaters reopen and orchestras play in the open air. By the end of 1945, the bond that held the Allies together is torn apart - and the Cold War begins.