On 1 May 1945, amidst fierce fighting in Berlin and with both Hitler and Goebbels having committed suicide in the span of 36 hours, the Commander of the Berlin Defense Area Helmut Weidling clearly saw the writing on the wall. Soviet troops were certainly just days away from taking the city, and Weidling recognized that the only way to end the continued civilian suffering would be to negotiate peace with the Soviet command.
On 2 May, Weidling had his Chief-of-Staff arrange a meeting with Soviet Lieutenant General Vasily Chuykov. Weidling told the Soviets about the suicides of Hitler and Goebbels, and Chuykov demanded complete capitulation.
At the direction of Chuykov and Vasily Sokolovsky (Zhukov’s Chief of Staff), Weidling put his surrender order in writing. The document, written by Weidling himself, follows:
Am 30. 4. 45 hat sich der Führer selbst entleibt und damit uns, die wir ihm die Treue geschworen hatten, im Stich gelassen. Auf Befehl des Führers glaubt Ihr noch immer um Berlin kämpfen zu müssen, obwohl der Mangel an schweren Waffen, an Munition und die Gesamtlage den Kampf als sinnlos erscheinen lassen. Jede Stunde, die Ihr weiterkämpft, verlängert die entsetzlichen Leiden der Zivilbevölkerung Berlins und unserer Verwundeten. Jeder, der jetzt noch im Kampf um Berlin fällt, bringt seine Opfer umsonst. Im Einvernehmen mit dem Oberkommando der sowjetischen Truppen fordere ich Euch daher auf, sofort den Kampf einzustellen.
( Weidling ) General der Artillerie und Befehlshaber Verteidigungsbereich Berlin
In Hans Dollinger‘s book “The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan,” Weidling’s document was translated from German to English by Arnold Pomerans as follows:
On 30 April 1945, the Führer committed suicide, and thus abandoned those who had sworn loyalty to him. According to the Führer’s order, you German soldiers would have had to go on fighting for Berlin despite the fact that our ammunition has run out and despite the general situation which makes our further resistance meaningless. I order the immediate cessation of resistance. Every hour you keep on fighting prolongs the suffering of the civilians in Berlin and of our wounded. Together with the commander-in-chief of the Soviet forces I order you to stop fighting immediately. WEIDLING, General of Artillery, former District Commandant in the defence of Berlin.
Translating History has recently stumbled upon the official Russian-language translation of the document, presumably (but not certainly) translated during the meeting between Weidling, Chuykov, and Sokolovsky. We’ve translated the Russian into English, and were interested enough in the slight differences between the three documents overall to provide you with the results. We feel that the translation from German to Russian left behind some of the elegance (for lack of a better word), and the differences between our translation and that of Pomerans reflect that stylistic shift.
We’ll never know the reason for the adjustments made by the Russian translator, but given the dynamic nature of the circumstances in the moment, and the level of brass in the room, the Russian translator may have been encouraged to get it down ASAP.
The original German document, signed by Weidling, appears below. Next is the original copy of the Russian translation, followed by our English translation from the Russian version.
Translating History 