By Liana Jacob
THE DESPERATION of the Nazis in the final days fighting the Battle of Berlin has been laid bare in this footage showing captured female and child soldiers some of which were just SIX-years-old.
The period video of the Volkssturm (People’s Storm) militia army from April 1945 exposes the naïve and worried faces of young boys marching in line in their uniforms as they are led away by victorious American GI’s, with all of their possessions hanging from their shoulders.
Other scenes show young women in groups looking concerned as they prepare for captivity. Some of the children were believed to be of German origin, others were recorded as being Hungarian Nazi child soldiers.
The video was created by the United States (US) Department of Defence, an executive branch department of the federal government of the US.
It was produced between April 25 to 27, 1945, during the Battle of Berlin at the end of World War II.
This battle was said to be especially disastrous to its formations, but many members of the German army fought to the death or committed suicide, rather than face capture by the US or Soviet Army.
Hitler’s army during the Battle of Berlin made up the Volkssturm, which translates to ‘people’s storm’ in German.
The Volkssturm was a national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. Its official existence was not announced until October 16, 1944.
The army was mainly made up of young boys from the ages of 13 to 18 and old men and were used as a last attempt to defend Berlin, although US forces recorded children as young as six shown in this video being forced to fight.
