Battle of Berlin: ϟϟ-Sturmbannführer der Waffen-SS Sørensen

Danish Per Sørensen as Legion-Obersturmführer

A Berlin defender lies dead as Soviets rush into the city

Top screenshot shows the Danish volunteer Per Sørensen who joined the Waffen-SS and Freikorps Danmark in 1941. In the years to come, whether in the tough back-and-forth fighting that raged in the relief corridor to the Demyansk Pocket or in the Belarus, Estonia, Latvia or Pomerania, Sørensen was always found in the hottest spots with his Schmeißer MP dangling from his neck. SS-Sturmbannführer Per Sørensen received command of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 24 Danmark east of Berlin in April 1945. The last commander of the Nordland's Panzergrenadier regiment Danmark Per Sørensen died from a sniper's bullet in the city of Berlin on April 24 1945. The same day, elements of 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front completed the encirclement of the city. On the next day, in the midst of the desperate battle for Berlin, SS-Sturmbannführer Sørensen was given a military funeral in the Ploetzensee cemetery by European volunteers from the SS division Nordland. Meanwhile, the Soviet investment of Berlin was consolidated, with leading Soviet units probing and penetrating the S-Bahn defensive ring. Top image: screenshot from Danish propaganda film showing Per Sørensen wearing the trifos collar tabs as Legion-Obersturmführer in 1941. Sørensen was awarded, among others, the rare Ehrenblatt des Heeres, the German Cross in Gold, the Iron Cross First Class, the Infantry Assault Badge and the Wound Badge in Silver. PD. Bottom image: Red troops advancing into the heart of Berlin with the Jewish Soviet propagandist Ilya Ehrenburg's leaflet distributed in 1945 in their pockets: Kill them all, men, old men, children and the women, after you have amused yourself with them! ... Break the racial pride of the German women. Take her as your legitimate booty. Kill, you brave soldiers of the victorious Soviet Army. Russian State Military History Archive (RGVIA).