Third Reich
Tag
(378)1945
January
February
- 23
- Turkey declares war on GermanyOn 23 February 1945 the Turkish Grand National Assembly unanimously declared war on Germany and Japan to secure a place among the founders of the UN.
- The raid on PforzheimOn the evening of 23 February 1945 RAF bombers burned Pforzheim in 22 minutes. Some 17,600 died – proportionally the deadliest single raid on a Reich city.
March
April
- 09
- The capture of KönigsbergOn 9 April 1945 General Otto Lasch surrendered Königsberg after a four-day assault by the 3rd Belorussian Front. The East Prussian capital lay in ruins.
- The raid on KielOn the night of 9/10 April 1945, 591 RAF Lancasters bombed the port of Kiel. The Admiral Scheer capsized; the Admiral Hipper and Emden were badly damaged.
- The execution of Dietrich BonhoefferAt dawn on 9 April 1945 Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged at Flossenbürg, together with Admiral Canaris, General Oster and three other conspirators.
May
- 02
- The flag over the ReichstagOn 2 May 1945 the German garrison of the Reichstag surrendered. The red banner had flown on the roof since 30 April; Khaldei's famous photograph was staged.
- The breakout from the bunkerOn the night of 1–2 May 1945 the occupants of Hitler's bunker tried to break out of Berlin. Krebs and Burgdorf shot themselves; Bormann died while fleeing.
- 07
- Key eventThe surrender at ReimsAt 2.41 a.m. on 7 May 1945, at Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims, General Alfred Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of all German armed forces.
- Göring taken prisonerOn 7 May 1945 Hermann Göring, freed from SS arrest, surrendered to the Americans in Austria. He hoped to meet Eisenhower but ended up in prison and in the dock.
- 23
- The arrest of the Flensburg governmentOn 23 May 1945 at Flensburg-Mürwik, British troops acting on Eisenhower's orders arrested Dönitz, Jodl and the ministers of the Third Reich's last government.
- The death of HimmlerDetained on 21 May 1945 with false papers, Himmler revealed his identity in a British camp. On 23 May at Lüneburg he bit a cyanide capsule and died.