Battle of Berlin: Tragedy of the Faithful „Nordland“

Vehicles of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 Norge

Dead soldier next to a Horch 108 of the Nordland

Shot-up vehicles of 11.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland

The survivors of the 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland, under command of SS-Brigadeführer Dr Gustav Krukenberg, held out against overwhelming odds when trapped in Berlin. On April 30 1945, they were issued that those who could were to break out to the west. The breakout from the Reich Chancellery and Führerbunker started at 23:00 hours on May 1 1945. The breakthrough route began at the Weidendammer Brücke and ran further northwest along Friedrichstraße. The breakout faltered – as civilians and soldiers were mowed down by Soviet fire. Several small groups managed to reach the Americans at Charlottenburg, but many more did not, among them the Swedish SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans-Gösta Pehrsson's 3rd Company of the SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 who fought a desperate and ultimately useless battle to escape the surrounding Soviets. The few Waffen-SS volunteers of the Nordland who surrendered to the Soviet Red Army were sent eastward, most never to be seen again. Top image: vehicle of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 Norge at Oberwallstraße in Berlin. The photo was taken in early May 1945 by American William Vandivert who was the first Western photojournalist on the scene after the battle for Berlin ended. His photos speak of death and destruction. William Vandivert found almost every famous building in Berlin a shambles. LIFE photo archive. Fair use. Middle image: a dead soldier next to a Horch 108 heavy off-road passenger car on Friedrichstraße in Berlin around May 2nd 1945. This vehicle like the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track towing a light infantry howitzer seen in the background belonged to the Nordland division. Russian State Military History Archive. Bottom image: Volkswagen Schwimmwagens of the Nordland division. One with the tactical marking of (motorized) divisional headquarters. The photograph was taken at Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin-Mitte in July 1945 with the Deutscher Dom in the background. Public domain.