Liberation (film series)
Encyclopedia
Liberation is an epic five-part film series considered the most large-scale World War II film ever made in the Soviet Union. Filmed from 1967 to 1971, the first part was released during 1970 for the 25th anniversary of Victory Day. The series was a Soviet
-Polish
-East German
-Italian
-Yugoslavian
co-production, by the studios Mosfilm
, ZF-Start/PRF-ZF
, Deutsche Film AG, Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
and Avala Film
. It was directed by Yuri Ozerov
. The script was written by Yuri Bondarev
and Oscar Kurganov.
The films are a dramatized account of the liberation of the Soviet Union's territory and the subsequent defeat of Nazi Germany
in the Great Patriotic War, focusing on five major Eastern Front campaigns: the Battle of Kursk
, the Lower Dnieper Offensive, Operation Bagration, the Vistula-Oder Offensive
and the Battle of Berlin
.
The series was created under the aegis of Soviet authorities, with the military and political establishment heavily involved in the production. Liberation was intended to present a heroic depiction of the Soviet role in the Second World War. Although many critics described it as an unrealistic glorification of the past, it became one the most widely recognized Soviet films dealing with the subject.
. On 5 July, Soviet troops capture a German sapper who reveals that an all-out offensive would commence on 0300. General Konstantin Rokossovsky
orders General Vasily Kazakov
to launch a preemptive artillery strike. At 0310, Captain Tzvetaev, an anti-tank gun battery commander, observes his quiet sector along with Major Orlov and Major Maximov. Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, tells them to prepare for the upcoming assault.
General Nikolai Vatutin puts General Mikhail Katukov
's force on combat alert. Sergeant Dorozhkin hastens to wake up his commander, Lieutenant Vasiliev. Soon after, the Germans finally attack. In the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
, General Andrei Vlasov addresses the Soviet prisoners of war, exhorting them to join the Russian Liberation Army
. Yakov Dzhugashvili
refuses to write to his father when Vlasov offers to exchange him for Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus
.
The German tanks advance, overwhelming the Soviet defenses. Many soldiers panic. Maximov flees, but turns back when he is accused of cowardice. After being knocked unconscious, he is captured. The visiting Walter Model
sets him free so he could tell of the inevitable German victory. Shocked, Maximov taunts his interrogator, who shoots him.
When General Aleksei Antonov
informs Stalin about the German proposal regarding Yakov, he rejects it, saying he will not trade a Field Marshal for a soldier. In Yugoslavia, Tito's partisans break out of an encirclement.
On 11 July the Soviet counter-offensive is launched
. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein
commits all his forces to a final assault. Vasileev's crew are drawn into a combat between German and Soviet tank crewmen who abandoned their burning vehicles.
Vatutin begs Vasilevsky to call Stalin and convince him to send in the reserve. The 5th Tank Army
and the 5th Guards Army counter-attack, repelling the Germans
. The commander of the 19th Panzer Division
commits suicide after failing to defeat the Soviets. The Red Army is victorious.
is arrested on the King
's orders. In Warsaw, The Polish Resistance bombs a German cinema. After Mussolini is rescued, Hitler tells him that the Soviets will never breach the Dnieper line
.
The Red Army reaches the river. Lukin's regiment crosses it, presumably as the division's vanguard. Lukin's commander, Gromov, is told that his soldiers on the other bank are merely a ploy to mislead the enemy, and the main crossing would take place elsewhere. The regiment is cut off without reinforcements and wiped out in the fighting against the Germans and the RLA
. Lukin is killed. Tzvetaev leads the surviving soldiers back to their lines.
In Moscow, Stalin orders Antonov to capture Kiev
until 6 November, the eve to the anniversary of the October Revolution
. General Rybalko
stealthily redeploys his Tank Army
to support the operation. When Zhukov doubts General Kiril Moskalenko's plan to take the city, General Yepishev
assures him it would work. After a fierce fight, Kiev is liberated. In Tehran, the Allied leaders meet to discuss the future of the war
.
steals classified documents. In Poland, Vatutin is killed in an ambush. In the Kremlin, the Stavka
decides to strike in Belarus.
Meanwhile, Orlov's battalion is engaged in heavy fighting. Zoia insists to evacuate the wounded. To save her from being captured, Orlov leads his soldiers in a charge and takes the enemy-held height.
After concluding that the Belarus marshes are passable, Rokossovsky
demands that the main effort will be directed towards Bobruisk and insists on it until Stalin approves. Zhukov suggests sending the four Tank Armies to Ukraine. The German High Command is convinced that the offensive would be in that direction.
Panteleimon Ponomarenko
orders the Belorussian partisans
to attack all railways. Operation Bagration is launched. When his plane crashes, the Normandie-Niemen
pilot Jacques is rescued by Soviet pilot Zaitsev. After Zaitsev takes off, they are both shot down by Flak.
's forces. Outside the city, Tzvetaev tells Zoia that in spite of the war, he is happy to have met her. The Belorussian partisans and the Red Army liberate Minsk. 50,000 German prisoners are paraded in Moscow. A group of German officers tries to assassinate Hitler and take power, but fails. Churchill is pleased to hear of this, telling that the resulting peace would have left the Allies in Normandy while Stalin is at the gates of Europe. Hitler appoints Guderian
as the new chief of the OKH.
In Poland, Zawadzki and Berling
watch the Bug River
. Zawadzki says he will never forget the day in which they returned home. Rokossovsky joins them, adding in Polish that he will never forget it either. The Polish 1st Army
crosses the river, waved to by the Red Army soldiers.
in order to relieve the Allies, who are threatened by the Ardennes Offensive. In Poland, Zhukov appoints Orlov to a regiment commander. Karl Wolff
is sent to negotiate with the Americans
at Geneva.
Zhukov rejects Stavka's order to take Berlin, assessing that the Germans would strike his flank in Pomerania
and redeploying his forces accordingly
. In Yalta
, Stalin notifies Churchill and Roosevelt that he knows of their secret dealings with the enemy. Saying that the mutual trust between them is of the highest value, he tears apart the picture showing Allen Dulles and Wolff.
The German attempt to counter-attack
fails. Dorozhkin and the Polish sergeant Pelka liberate a group of concentration camps' prisoners, among them the German communist Wilnie. Zhukov orders to cross the Oder with searchlights directed at the opposite bank, to dazzle the Germans. Hitler appoints Hans Krebs
as the new chief of the OKH, instead of Guderian.
The Red Army crosses the Oder and the Neisse rivers, scattering the German defenders
and approaching Berlin
. General Lelyushenko's soldiers capture a fifteen-year-old Hitlerjugend sniper; the General sends him to his mother.
Vasilev's tank crushes into a house. He and Dorozhkin have a pleasant meal with the German owner and his family while their Kyrgyz driver repairs the vehicle. The Soviets and the Poles storm the Tiergarten
, avoiding causing harm to the animals.
, Tzvetaev captures a German soldier who is certain the Soviets would execute him, but is sent free. Hitler orders to flood the U-Bahn tunnels. Tzvetaev drowns while rescuing civilians.
Colonel Zhenchik
, commander of the 150th Rifle Division's 756th Regiment, selects Yegorov and Kantaria
to carry the Victory Banner
when Captain Neustroev
's soldiers would attack the Reichstag
. Dorozhkin is assigned to Neustroev's company as a radio operator. In the Führerbunker
, after marrying Eva Braun
, Hitler murders her and commits suicide. At the Reichstag, Dorozhkin is killed in the fighting. The Victory Banner is unfurled on the dome. On 2 May, after negotiations, the Berlin garrison surrenders unconditionally.
Outside the Reichstag, Vasiliev - who failed to find Dorozhkin - asks the crying Zoia why is she mourning when they have won. Next to them, Orlov, Yartsev and an immense crowd of Red Army soldiers celebrate victory. In the last scene, the question What has Fascism brought to the world? is answered with the death toll of World War II by country. The film ends with a shot of the inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
: Your Name Unknown, Your Deed Immortal.
, he swore that if he will survive, one day he would tell of his experiences. After demobilization, Ozerov became a director in the Mosfilm
studios, making his first film at 1952. During the 1960s, he was dismayed and offended by several Western films that he perceived as belittling the role of the Red Army during the Second World War. The Soviet government shared Ozerov's sentiments, especially in regards to the 1962 film The Longest Day
. At October 1965, in a meeting of officials from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Culture
and Ministry of Finance, it was decided to create a "monumental epic" that would demonstrate the USSR's contribution to the victory. Ozerov was chosen to direct it.
In the Brezhnev
-era Soviet Union, the commemoration of the war against Germany was awarded unprecedented importance. At a time of growing skepticism toward the Communist system, the memory - or, as the historian Nina Tumarkin called it, "cult" - of the Great Patriotic War was to provide inspiration for a new generation and remind them of the hardships their parents faced. Historian Denise J. Youngblood dubbed Liberation as the "Brezhnev era's canonical war film", writing that it was "clearly designed to buttress the war cult."
The Second World War was always a crucial topic for Soviet filmmakers. Immediately after the war, propaganda epics like The Fall of Berlin
(1949) presented it as an heroic, collective effort of the people that was brilliantly led by Stalin. After his death, the Khruschev Thaw enabled filmmakers to depict the war as a personal, inglorious experience of the individual participants - with films as Ivan's Childhood or Ballad of a Soldier
. The Brezhnev administration supported a return to a more conservative style, presenting the war as a noble, ideological struggle once more. In an essay on the series, Dr. Lars Karl wrote: "In this context, Liberation held special importance. Even only in quantitative measures, it overshadowed anything made hitherto".
was involved in the production, as well as General Alexei Yepishev
, the Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces' Political Directorate. Lazar Lazarev, a member of the Soviet Filmmakers Association, wrote in his recollections of the time: "Liberation ...was forced down from above, from the Ideological Departments". From the very beginning, it was made clear that the films should not deal with the darker chapters of World War II, such as the defense of Moscow
and Stalingrad
, but only with the Red Army's unbroken string of victories from the Battle of Kursk and onwards.
At first, two prominent authors, Konstantin Simonov
and Viktor Nekrasov
, were offered to write the story. Both saw Liberation as an effort to rehabilitate Stalin, and declined. During the Khruschev Thaw, in the aftermath of the XX Party Congress and De-Stalinization
, Eastern Block films rarely depicted Stalin, if at all. Scenes featuring him were edited out from many older pictures. Liberation presented Stalin as the Supreme Commander, his first major appearance on screen since the Secret Speech - a token to the Brezhnev Era softer view of him, in comparison with the Khruschev years. Still, his character did not occupy a central role as it had done in the films produced during his reign. Ozerov later claimed that he never included the controversial figure in the script, and had to shoot the Stalin scenes secretly, at night. He told interviewer Victor Matizen that the "State Secretary for Cinematography almost had a seizure when he found out."
Another contentious character was that of General Andrey Vlasov
. Liberation presented him for the first time in Soviet cinema. It was the most secretive role in the cast, referred to only as "the General" on set and not mentioned in the credits.
After Nekrasov's and Simonov's refusal, Yuri Bondarev and Oscar Kurganov were tasked with writing the script. Originally, the series was supposed to be a purely historical, documentary-like trilogy called the Liberation of Europe and consisting of Europe-43, Europe-44 and Europe-45. Fearing that this style would damage the films' popularity, it was decided to combine fictional characters into the plot. Bondarev wrote the live action scenes; The Dniepr bridgehead storyline was based on his book The Battalions Request Fire. Kurganov wrote the historical parts, featuring the leaders and generals. Those sections were intentionally filmed in black-and-white, to resemble old footage. Ozerov wanted the films to portray the war both from the common soldier's standpoint and from a bird's-eye view upon the major occurrences: "There were many films about the war, but they were films that depicted isolated episodes of it... I wanted to tell of the war as a whole, to portray it as it was". The script of the first two parts was completed by the end of 1966, and the producers began preparing to commence filming shortly after.
, arrived in Yugoslavia shortly before the battle and was killed during it. or the actions of the Polish Resistance. Foreign film studios were invited to take part in the production, beside Mosfilm: The East German company DEFA, The Yugoslav Avala Film
and the Italian Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
. Zespół Filmowy Start, the first Polish film studio to participate in the co-production of Liberation, was closed at April 1968, in the crackdown on the Polish media after the March Events. It was replaced by Przedsiębiorstwo Realizacji Filmów-Zespoły Filmowe
(PRF-ZF), established after the political turmoil was over (on 1 January 1969). Studio Start appears in the credits of films I and II. The dialog in the non-Soviet scenes is in the local languages.
to take the position, and the Warsaw Pact
Forces Chief-of-Staff received it. In spite of this, Ozerov consulted with Zhukov unofficially,The series treats Zhukov favourably. His failed idea to cross the Oder with searchlights is presented as brilliant, and his version on the events of the Berlin Offensive is accepted as true (After the war, Chuikov
claimed that the Red Army should have rushed to Berlin in February 1945, before its defenses were strengthened. Zhukov was keen to do so at the time, yet Stalin ordered him to secure the northern flank by attacking Pomerania. Later, he denied this and stated that their forces were too overstretched for attacking the enemy's capital, presenting the delay as his own idea. see . In The Battle of Berlin, Stavka orders to take Berlin at once, and Zhukov defies it.) and the Marshal provided him with the draft of his memoirs.
Beside Shtemenko, the producers brought in several other veterans of the war as advisors: Colonel-General Alexander Rodimtsev
, Colonel-General of the Armored Corps Grigory Oriol
, Lieutenant-General of the Aviation Sergei Siniakov
and Vice-Admiral Vladimir Alexeyev
. Member of the Sejm
and retired Colonel Zbigniew Załuski
served as the consultant for matters relating to the Polish People's Army. National People's Army
Colonel Job von Witzleben
, who served in the Wehrmacht as a Major, assisted with the German military issues.
150 Soviet Army tanks, allocated by Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky
before the filming began, were involved in the battle scenes, alongside military aircraft, artillery and thousands of soldiers. The troops were lent as extras by the Military districts
of Moscow, Kiev, the North Caucasus and Belarus, the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
and the Baltic Fleet
. Polish Army soldiers took part in the later films, as well.
Ozerov lengthily dwelt on the question who would be cast as Zhukov, until the Marshal himself provided him with a solution: he told the director that he recently watched The Chairman
and thought that the main protagonist, whose name he did not know, would be fit to for the task. Thus, Mikhail Ulyanov
received the role. Marshal Ivan Konev
was irritated by Yuri Leghkov, who depicted him in the first two parts. He demanded that Ozerov would replace him by someone else, complaining that the actor was constantly bothering him with questions. Vasily Shukshin
was called to substitute Leghkov.
For the character of Captain Tzvetaev, Ozerov chose the young Nikolay Olyalin
, an actor of the Krasnoyarsk
Children Theater. Olyalin had received several offers to appear in other films, but the theater managers dispersed of them, fearing that he would leave their institute. One of the theater employees told Olyalin of Ozerov's offer. To be exempted from his work, the actor claimed he was sick. Then, he boarded a plane to Moscow.
An assistant-director saw the Kazakh SSR
's People's Artist
Yuri Pomerantsev in theater, and suggested him for the role of Vlasov. Pomerantsev had difficulties finding any material on the Russian Liberation Army
's commander. Bukhuti Zaqariadze
, People's Artist of the Georgian SSR, was selected to appear in the sensitive role of Joseph Stalin. Vasily Shukshin
recounted that upon seeing Zaqariadze in the Stalin costume, General Shtemenko instinctively stood to attention and saluted.
According to the memories of Dilara Ozerova, East German actor Fritz Diez
was reluctant to portray Hitler; Diez, a communist who left Nazi Germany
in the 1930s, had already appeared as Hitler in three other films and feared becoming "a slave to one role"
. Diez's wife, Martha, appeared as the old woman who served coffee to Tzvetaev in Berlin. The Italian Ivo Garrani
played Benito Mussolini
.
and Panther
tanks, so they could use them in close-up shooting. Eventually, replicas of 10 Tigers and 8 Panthers (converted from T-44
and IS-2 tanks respectively) were produced in a Soviet tank factory in Lvov. Beside those, many T-55
's, T-62
's and IS-3's - models that were developed after the war - can be clearly seen in the film, painted as wartime German or Soviet tanks. All German trucks were actually masqueraded Ural-375D
vehicles.
Dilara Ozerova, the director's wife and the film's costume designer, had to have hundreds of German uniforms sewn. The German military decorations were reproduced in Mosfilm's workshops. The helmets worn by the extras were manufactured of plastic, for lighter weight. Stalin's own tailor was contacted, and Bukhuti Zaqariadze's costume was made by him.
where Art Director Alexander Myaghkov was free to use live explosives. The combat scenes in the first two parts were shot there, at the summer of 1967. 3000 troops, 100 tanks, 18 military aircraft and 2000 artillery pieces were used to recreate the Battle of Kursk. 30 kilometers of trenches were dug to resemble the wartime fortifications. Ozerov supervised the set from a specially-built tower, using a handkerchief to signal the engineers when to detonate the charges. On one occasion, the director absentmindedly blew his nose, and "one and half tons of TNT went off". The outdoor photography for Main Blow took place in Lithuania, near Pabradė
, since the marshes in Belarus - the location of the 1944 battles depicted in the film - were being drained. The Mussolini parts were shot in Rome, while the Yalta Conference was filmed in the Livadia Palace
.
Filming also took place in Poland. The scenes in Warsaw were shot in the city's Castle Square and at the Służewiec neighbourhood. The 20th July 1944 assassination attempt was filmed in the original Wolfsschanze
, where Diez and Giese, in costumes, shocked a group of tourists. On seeing a photo of Ozerov and 'Hitler' hugging on the set, a maid in a Potsdam
hotel caused a pandemonium, convinced the director was an old friend of the genuine dictator.
With the help of the East German government, the scenes in Berlin were mostly shot in the city itself. Foreign Minister Otto Winzer
had authorized the producers to use the ruins of the Gendarmenmarkt
. Ozerov, accompanied by a crew of some 2000 people, cordoned off a part of the area and used an old, abandoned cathedral to substitute for the Reichstag. The hoisting of the Victory Banner was shot atop the Haus der Technik in the Wilhelmstraße
, in the city's center. Indoor fighting was filmed in Mosfilm's studios, and the U-Bahn scene took place in Moscow's metro - where Myaghkov rebuilt the Kaiserhof
station.
. Bondarev invited Lazarev to attend. In his memoirs, the writer recalled that Shtemenko had only two, "rather bizarre" comments to make: first, a scene showing a soldier entertaining local girls in his tank had to be removed; Second, when seeing the actor portraying him with Major General ranks, he claimed he was already a Lieutenant General at the time. Ozerov answered that according to their material, he was not. The aforementioned scene does not appear in the film.
A more important pre-release viewing had to be held for Defense Minister Andrei Grechko
and General Alexei Yepishev
. After the screening ended, the generals headed for the exit without saying a word. Ozerov asked for their opinion; Grechko answered, "I will not say a word to you!" and left the room. The film had to be edited four times before it was authorized for public screening on 1969, together with the already finished second part, Breakthrough.
. The films were distributed in 115 countries and were received especially well in France and Japan.
The Russian author Igor Muskyi estimated that worldwide, Liberation was watched by more than 400 million people.
, and Yuri Ozerov received a special prize of the Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship Society.
Ozerov, Bondarev, Cinematographer Igor Slabnevich and Art Director Alexander Myaghkov were all awarded the Lenin Prize
in 1972 for their work on Liberation. The films won the Best Film award at the 1972 Tiflis All-Union Film Festival
, and Ozerov received the Polish-Soviet Friendship Society
's Silver Medal in 1977. The series was submitted by the Soviet Union as a candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film in the 46th Academy Awards
, but not nominated.
The films were noted for the scales of the production: at 1977, Film critics Mira and Antonin Liehm cited it alongside Waterloo and War and Peace as foremost among Soviet "monumental films, which, with the expenditure of immense amounts of money, brought... history to the screen." Soviet critic Rostislav Yurenev "praised the meticulously recreated battle scenes", which were referred to as "gigantic" by the Liehm couple. A Der Spiegel
review from 1971 praised Ozerov for portraying the German side "with due consideration" for details.
However, the series was not seen as an artistic achievement. Ozerov wrote an article in the February 1971 issue of the Soviet magazine Art of Cinema, in which he declared that his film should be considered as one of the best dealing with the theme of the Great Patriotic War, along the likes of the 1964 The Living and the Dead
. Two months later, the important author Semion Freilikh completely ignored Liberation when discussing the genre of war films in the same magazine. Denise Youngblood wrote that this was no coincidence. Eventually, the series was never selected to appear on the official lists of the greatest World War II films, which were compiled on every fifth Victory anniversary. Lazar Lazarev wrote in his memoirs that Liberation was a return to the style of the propagandistic films before the Thaw. When Bondarev asked for his opinion at 1970, he called the film "a modern version of the Fall of Berlin
".
Critics abroad were scathing, as well. A year after the Last Assault was released, David Robinson called Liberation a "hollow, spectacular, monumental display." Mira and Antonin Liehm dubbed it as "entirely sterile" and "almost reminiscent of the 'Artistic Documentary' period" - the era of the Stalinist epics. Author Ivan Butler simply described it as a "stranded whale of a film."
Denise J. Youngblood wrote that, considering the "unprecedented" public relations campaign the film received and the forced attendance of viewers, the last part's success of drawing only 28 million moviegoers was "almost pitiable". She attributed this, partially, to the "grandiose scale" of the films, which made it hard to maintain the interest of the audience. Youngblood concluded that the series was a "relative failure".
Historian Lisa A. Kirshenbaum assessed that in comparison to more sincere Great Patriotic War films, like The Ascent
or The Cranes Are Flying
, the "heroic, if not kitschy" Liberation conformed to the "Cult of the Great Patriotic War". Lars Karl regarded it as one of the films ushering the Brezhnev Stagnation
into Soviet cinema, in which "a new conservatism and sharpened censure molded the cinematic image of the war into conventional patterns."
Denise J. Youngblood stated that the films - depicting the protagonists as human and imperfect - were still influenced by the Khruschev Thaw's artistic freedom, writing that: "It is, however, important to stress that Ozerov was far from a 'tool' of war cult propaganda... Liberation is a much better film than critics allowed". When interviewing Nikolay Olyalin
, journalist Dmitry Gordon commented that unlike the Stalinist war films, Liberation showed Red Army soldiers panicking and breaking under pressure, depicting the "Blood, death, sweat and tears" of war. German author Christoph Dieckmann wrote that "Despite of all the propaganda, Liberation is an anti-war film, a memento mori to the uncountable lives sacrificed for victory."
saw the series as a succinct representation of the Soviet official view on the war's history: "The dominant understanding of the war is shown in the film epic Liberation... All other versions only elaborated on this theme." He characterized this view as one that allowed "a number of unpleasant facts" to be "repressed from mass consciousness".
Dr. Lars Karl claimed that "Ozerov wanted to show that Europe's liberation from Fascism was enabled by the Red Army... And therefore, the Soviet Union had a right to have a say in the matters of Europe." Karl noted that Roosevelt and Churchill are depicted as "paper tigers" who are keen to reach a settlement with Hitler; in the Battle of Berlin, Stalin informs the Western leaders that he knows of the covert Dulles-Wolff
dealings when they assemble in the Yalta Conference, on 4 February 1945 - a month before the actual negotiations took place
; Averell Harriman officially notified Vyacheslav Molotov
on the matter beforehand. Karl also wrote that no mention is made of the Stalin-Hitler Pact. Polish author Łukasz Jasina commented that the Bug River
, the line along which Poland was partitioned between the Soviet Union and Germany at 1939, is spoken of as the Polish border already during 1944 - although the USSR annexed the eastern territories of Poland only after the war. Russian historian Boris Sokolov wrote that the film's depiction of Battle of Kursk was "completely false" and the German casualties were exaggerated. Liberation presents the civilian population in Berlin welcoming the Red Army; German author Jörg von Mettke wrote that the scene in which the German women flirt with the Soviet soldiers "might have happened, but it was mostly otherwise." General Gustav Schmidt
, who committed suicide rather than to be captured by the Soviets, is shown to have done so after disappointing von Manstein and failing to defeat the enemy.
Grigory Filaev called the films an "encyclopedia of myths", and claimed that they spread the falsehood according to which Stalin ordered to capture Kiev before the eve of the 26th Anniversary of the October Revolution. Victor Suvorov wrote that in reality, Zhukov had objected to Rokossovsky's decision to launch a preemptive artillery strike in Kursk, and that the latter even wrote to the producers a letter protesting the decision to portray the events otherwise. Yakov Dzhugashvili
's daughter, Galina, claimed that the phrase "I will not trade a Field Marshal for a soldier", that is strongly associated with Yakov's story, was never uttered by her grandfather and is "just a quote from Liberation". Yakov Dzhugashvili's appearance in The Fire Bulge was anachronistic: he is depicted meeting General Vlasov on 5 July 1943. Yakov died at 14 April 1943.
and Gerd Michael Henneberg
, for example, appeared as Zhukov and Keitel also in Soldiers of Freedom
(1977), Battle of Moscow
(1985) and Stalingrad
(1989).
The series is regularly broadcast on the Russian television's Channel One
during Victory Day. At August 2001, shortly before Yuri Ozerov's eightieth birthday, Russian Minister of Culture Mikhail Shvidki announced that the series would be restored as had been done to War and Peace. At 2003, the films were remastered by a team from Mosfilm, headed by Anatoly Petritzky, and released on DVD format. Some footage from the original version was not included for technical reasons, and the new edition is shorter.
During a presidential interview for the 2010 Victory Day, when asked about the war's casualties, Dmitry Medvedev
told: "I recall the lines in the end of Liberation... On the screen, it was written that more than twenty million Soviet people lost their lives." At an official debate on the commemoration of World War II held in the Federation Council of Russia
, deputy Oleg Panteleev commented: "I hope that the youth of today would read some of those literary works (on the war), listen to Shostakhovich
and watch Liberation". Member of the Verkhovna Rada
and former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk
announced that he would send the series to Vladimir Putin
as a new year's gift for 2011, claiming the films demonstrate Ukraine's importance for the victory in the war.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-Polish
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
-East German
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
-Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-Yugoslavian
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
co-production, by the studios Mosfilm
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
, ZF-Start/PRF-ZF
Zespoły Filmowe (film studio)
Przedsiębiorstwo Realizacji Filmów "Zespoły Filmowe" was a Polish state-owned film studio, founded in 01.01.1969. after the closure of the production company Zespoły Autorów Filmowych following the March 1968 events.-Select filmography:...
, Deutsche Film AG, Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, or the Dino de Laurentiis Entertainment Group, is an Italian film-production company.-Origin and operations:It was founded in 1946 by Dino de Laurentiis and has since produced nearly 100 films....
and Avala Film
Avala Film
Avala Film is a Serbian film studio, the first one founded in post-war Yugoslavia. Since its inception in 1945, the company has produced more than 600 movies, mainly documentaries but numerous feature films as well, and participated in over 120 co-productions with foreign studios...
. It was directed by Yuri Ozerov
Yuri Ozerov (director)
Yuri Ozerov was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 20 films between 1950 and 1995.-Early life:...
. The script was written by Yuri Bondarev
Yuri Bondarev
-Biography:Bondarev took part in World War II as an artillery officer and became a member of the CPSU in 1944. He graduated in 1951 from the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute...
and Oscar Kurganov.
The films are a dramatized account of the liberation of the Soviet Union's territory and the subsequent defeat of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in the Great Patriotic War, focusing on five major Eastern Front campaigns: the Battle of Kursk
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...
, the Lower Dnieper Offensive, Operation Bagration, the Vistula-Oder Offensive
Vistula-Oder Offensive
The Vistula–Oder Offensive was a successful Red Army operation on the Eastern Front in the European Theatre of World War II; it took place between 12 January and 2 February 1945...
and the Battle of Berlin
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
.
The series was created under the aegis of Soviet authorities, with the military and political establishment heavily involved in the production. Liberation was intended to present a heroic depiction of the Soviet role in the Second World War. Although many critics described it as an unrealistic glorification of the past, it became one the most widely recognized Soviet films dealing with the subject.
Film I: The Fire Bulge
Both the Germans and the Soviets prepare for the anticipated Battle of KurskBattle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...
. On 5 July, Soviet troops capture a German sapper who reveals that an all-out offensive would commence on 0300. General Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...
orders General Vasily Kazakov
Vasily Kazakov
Vasily Ivanovich Kazakov was a Soviet Marshal of the Artillery.-Early life:...
to launch a preemptive artillery strike. At 0310, Captain Tzvetaev, an anti-tank gun battery commander, observes his quiet sector along with Major Orlov and Major Maximov. Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, tells them to prepare for the upcoming assault.
General Nikolai Vatutin puts General Mikhail Katukov
Mikhail Katukov
Marshal of the Armored Troops Mikhail Efimovich Katukov served as a commander of armored troops in the Red Army during and following World War II. He is viewed as one of the most talented Soviet armor commanders.-Pre-War:...
's force on combat alert. Sergeant Dorozhkin hastens to wake up his commander, Lieutenant Vasiliev. Soon after, the Germans finally attack. In the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
, General Andrei Vlasov addresses the Soviet prisoners of war, exhorting them to join the Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army was a group of predominantly Russian forces subordinated to the Nazi German high command during World War II....
. Yakov Dzhugashvili
Yakov Dzhugashvili
Yakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili was one of Joseph Stalin's four children . Yakov was the son of Stalin's first wife, Ekaterina Svanidze...
refuses to write to his father when Vlasov offers to exchange him for Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus was an officer in the German military from 1910 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generalfeldmarschall during World War II, and is best known for having commanded the Sixth Army's assault on Stalingrad during Operation Blue in 1942...
.
The German tanks advance, overwhelming the Soviet defenses. Many soldiers panic. Maximov flees, but turns back when he is accused of cowardice. After being knocked unconscious, he is captured. The visiting Walter Model
Walter Model
Otto Moritz Walter Model was a German general and later field marshal during World War II. He is noted for his defensive battles in the latter half of the war, mostly on the Eastern Front but also in the west, and for his close association with Adolf Hitler and Nazism...
sets him free so he could tell of the inevitable German victory. Shocked, Maximov taunts his interrogator, who shoots him.
When General Aleksei Antonov
Aleksei Antonov
Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov was a General of the Soviet Army, awarded the Order of Victory for his efforts in World War II.-Career:...
informs Stalin about the German proposal regarding Yakov, he rejects it, saying he will not trade a Field Marshal for a soldier. In Yugoslavia, Tito's partisans break out of an encirclement.
On 11 July the Soviet counter-offensive is launched
Operation Kutuzov
Operation Kutuzov was a military operation by the Red Army in its fight against the German Wehrmacht during World War II. It was named after Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, the Tsarist General credited with saving Russia from defeat during the invasion by Napoleon in 1812.The Operation began on 12...
. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...
commits all his forces to a final assault. Vasileev's crew are drawn into a combat between German and Soviet tank crewmen who abandoned their burning vehicles.
Vatutin begs Vasilevsky to call Stalin and convince him to send in the reserve. The 5th Tank Army
5th Guards Tank Army (Soviet Union)
The 5th Guards Tank Army was a Soviet Guards armoured formation which fought in many notable actions during World War II.The 5th Guards Tank Army was formed on 10 February 1942. Its organisation varied throughout its history, but in general included two or more Guards Tank Corps and one or more...
and the 5th Guards Army counter-attack, repelling the Germans
Battle of Prokhorovka
The Battle of Prokhorovka was fought on the Eastern Front during the Second World War as part of the Battle of Kursk in the Soviet Union . Principally, the German Wehrmachts Fourth Panzer Army clashed with the Soviet Red Army's 5th Guards Tank Army...
. The commander of the 19th Panzer Division
Gustav Schmidt (general)
Gustav Richard Ernst Schmidt was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme...
commits suicide after failing to defeat the Soviets. The Red Army is victorious.
Film II: Breakthrough
After the Allied landing in Sicily, MussoliniBenito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
is arrested on the King
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
Victor Emmanuel III was a member of the House of Savoy and King of Italy . In addition, he claimed the crowns of Ethiopia and Albania and claimed the titles Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Albania , which were unrecognised by the Great Powers...
's orders. In Warsaw, The Polish Resistance bombs a German cinema. After Mussolini is rescued, Hitler tells him that the Soviets will never breach the Dnieper line
Panther-Wotan line
The Panther-Wotan Line was a defensive line partially built by the German Wehrmacht in 1943 on the Eastern Front. The first part of the name refers to the short northern section between Lake Peipus and the Baltic Sea at Narva.-Purpose :...
.
The Red Army reaches the river. Lukin's regiment crosses it, presumably as the division's vanguard. Lukin's commander, Gromov, is told that his soldiers on the other bank are merely a ploy to mislead the enemy, and the main crossing would take place elsewhere. The regiment is cut off without reinforcements and wiped out in the fighting against the Germans and the RLA
Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army was a group of predominantly Russian forces subordinated to the Nazi German high command during World War II....
. Lukin is killed. Tzvetaev leads the surviving soldiers back to their lines.
In Moscow, Stalin orders Antonov to capture Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
until 6 November, the eve to the anniversary of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. General Rybalko
Pavel Rybalko
Marshal of the Armoured Troops Pavel Semjonovich Rybalko was a commander of armoured troops in the Red Army during and following World War II.-Pre-war:Pavel Rybalko served in the Russian and then the Soviet Army from 1914...
stealthily redeploys his Tank Army
3rd Guards Tank Army (Soviet Union)
The 3rd Guards Tank Army was a tank army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of the Soviet Union, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia until the defeat of Germany in 1945...
to support the operation. When Zhukov doubts General Kiril Moskalenko's plan to take the city, General Yepishev
Alexei Yepishev
General of the Army Alexei Alexeyevich Yepishev was a Soviet party and military figureand chief of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy from 1962 to 1985...
assures him it would work. After a fierce fight, Kiev is liberated. In Tehran, the Allied leaders meet to discuss the future of the war
Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference was the meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill between November 28 and December 1, 1943, most of which was held at the Soviet Embassy in Tehran, Iran. It was the first World War II conference amongst the Big Three in which Stalin was present...
.
Part 1
In Tehran, Stalin declares that a Soviet offensive would take place soon after the Normandy landings. At the British embassy in Ankara, the ambassador's butlerElyesa Bazna
Elyesa Bazna was a famous World War II secret agent. An Albanian from Kosovo who spied for the Germans during the Second World War, and was widely known by his code name Cicero...
steals classified documents. In Poland, Vatutin is killed in an ambush. In the Kremlin, the Stavka
Stavka
Stavka was the term used to refer to a command element of the armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus′, more formally during the history of Imperial Russia as administrative staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Soviet Union...
decides to strike in Belarus.
Meanwhile, Orlov's battalion is engaged in heavy fighting. Zoia insists to evacuate the wounded. To save her from being captured, Orlov leads his soldiers in a charge and takes the enemy-held height.
After concluding that the Belarus marshes are passable, Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...
demands that the main effort will be directed towards Bobruisk and insists on it until Stalin approves. Zhukov suggests sending the four Tank Armies to Ukraine. The German High Command is convinced that the offensive would be in that direction.
Panteleimon Ponomarenko
Panteleimon Ponomarenko
Panteleimon Kondrat'evich Ponomarenko ; 9 August 1902 18 January 1984) was a general in the Red Army before becoming a Soviet administrator in Belarus and then Kazakhstan. He was born in Krasnodar Krai, Russia....
orders the Belorussian partisans
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
to attack all railways. Operation Bagration is launched. When his plane crashes, the Normandie-Niemen
Normandie-Niemen
The Normandie-Niemen Regiment was a fighter squadron, later regiment of the French Air Force. It served on the Eastern Front of the European Theatre of World War II with the 1st Air Army...
pilot Jacques is rescued by Soviet pilot Zaitsev. After Zaitsev takes off, they are both shot down by Flak.
Part 2
The Soviets march on Bobruisk, destroying General HamannAdolf Hamann
-Early life:Hamann joined the Schwerin 89th Grenadier Regiment in 16 July 1901. He was promoted to corporal on 27 January 1904 and to Unteroffizier at 27 January the following year. Hamann became a Sergeant on 3 March 1908, and a Feldwebel at 1 October 1911. In 1914, during the first year of WWI,...
's forces. Outside the city, Tzvetaev tells Zoia that in spite of the war, he is happy to have met her. The Belorussian partisans and the Red Army liberate Minsk. 50,000 German prisoners are paraded in Moscow. A group of German officers tries to assassinate Hitler and take power, but fails. Churchill is pleased to hear of this, telling that the resulting peace would have left the Allies in Normandy while Stalin is at the gates of Europe. Hitler appoints Guderian
Heinz Guderian
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...
as the new chief of the OKH.
In Poland, Zawadzki and Berling
Zygmunt Berling
Zygmunt Henryk Berling was a Polish general and politician. He fought for the independence of Poland in the early 20th century. During Second World War he was sentenced to death in absentia for desertion from the Polish Army of General Władysław Anders...
watch the Bug River
Bug River
The Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...
. Zawadzki says he will never forget the day in which they returned home. Rokossovsky joins them, adding in Polish that he will never forget it either. The Polish 1st Army
First Polish Army (1944-1945)
The Polish First Army was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from the previously existing Polish I Corps as part of the People's Army of Poland . The First Army fought westward, subordinated to the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front, during the offensive against Germany that led to...
crosses the river, waved to by the Red Army soldiers.
Film IV: The Battle of Berlin
In late 1944, Stalin orders to hasten the Vistula-Oder offensiveVistula-Oder Offensive
The Vistula–Oder Offensive was a successful Red Army operation on the Eastern Front in the European Theatre of World War II; it took place between 12 January and 2 February 1945...
in order to relieve the Allies, who are threatened by the Ardennes Offensive. In Poland, Zhukov appoints Orlov to a regiment commander. Karl Wolff
Karl Wolff
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Schutzstaffel , ultimately holding the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS. He became Chief of Personal Staff to the Reichsführer and SS Liaison Officer to Hitler until his replacement in 1943...
is sent to negotiate with the Americans
Operation Crossword
During World War II, Operation Crossword or Operation Sunrise was a series of secret negotiations conducted in March 1945 in Switzerland between representatives of Nazi Germany and the Western Allies to arrange a local surrender of German forces in northern Italy...
at Geneva.
Zhukov rejects Stavka's order to take Berlin, assessing that the Germans would strike his flank in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
and redeploying his forces accordingly
East Pomeranian Offensive
The East Pomeranian Strategic Offensive operation was an offensive by the Red Army in its fight against the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front...
. In Yalta
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
, Stalin notifies Churchill and Roosevelt that he knows of their secret dealings with the enemy. Saying that the mutual trust between them is of the highest value, he tears apart the picture showing Allen Dulles and Wolff.
The German attempt to counter-attack
Operation Solstice
Operation Solstice , also known as Unternehmen Husarenritt or the "Stargard tank battle", was one of the last German armoured offensive operations on the Eastern Front in World War II....
fails. Dorozhkin and the Polish sergeant Pelka liberate a group of concentration camps' prisoners, among them the German communist Wilnie. Zhukov orders to cross the Oder with searchlights directed at the opposite bank, to dazzle the Germans. Hitler appoints Hans Krebs
Hans Krebs (general)
Hans Krebs was a German Army general of infantry who served during World War II.-Early life:Krebs was born in Helmstedt. He volunteered for service in the Imperial German Army in 1914, was promoted to lieutenant in 1915, and to first lieutenant in 1925...
as the new chief of the OKH, instead of Guderian.
The Red Army crosses the Oder and the Neisse rivers, scattering the German defenders
Battle of the Seelow Heights
The Battle of the Seelow Heights , was a part of the Seelow-Berlin Offensive Operation ; one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions of World War II. It was fought over three days, from 16–19 April 1945...
and approaching Berlin
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
. General Lelyushenko's soldiers capture a fifteen-year-old Hitlerjugend sniper; the General sends him to his mother.
Vasilev's tank crushes into a house. He and Dorozhkin have a pleasant meal with the German owner and his family while their Kyrgyz driver repairs the vehicle. The Soviets and the Poles storm the Tiergarten
Tiergarten
Tiergarten is a locality within the borough of Mitte, in central Berlin . Notable for the great and homonymous urban park, before German reunification, it was a part of West Berlin...
, avoiding causing harm to the animals.
Film V: The Last Assault
In Berlin, Lt. Yartsev's men fight their way into a house where they meet Tzvetaev. They are welcomed by the old woman who owns the home. Afterwards, while fighting in the U-BahnBerlin U-Bahn
The Berlin is a rapid transit railway in Berlin, the capital city of Germany, and is a major part of the public transport system of that city. Opened in 1902, the serves 173 stations spread across ten lines, with a total track length of , about 80% of which is underground...
, Tzvetaev captures a German soldier who is certain the Soviets would execute him, but is sent free. Hitler orders to flood the U-Bahn tunnels. Tzvetaev drowns while rescuing civilians.
Colonel Zhenchik
Fedor Zinchenko
Fedor Matveevich Zinchenko was a Soviet officer who commanded the 150th Rifle Division's 756th Regiment during the Storming of the Reichstag...
, commander of the 150th Rifle Division's 756th Regiment, selects Yegorov and Kantaria
Meliton Kantaria
Meliton Varlamovich Kantaria or Kantariya , Hero of the Soviet Union , was a Georgian sergeant of the Soviet Army credited to have together with M. A...
to carry the Victory Banner
Victory Banner
The Soviet Banner of Victory is the banner raised by the Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag building in Berlin, on April 30, 1945. It was raised by three Soviet soldiers: Alexei Berest, Mikhail Yegorov, and Meliton Kantaria, from Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia respectively.The Victory Banner, made...
when Captain Neustroev
Stepan Neustroev
Stepan Andreevich Neustroev was a Soviet officer, commander of the 1st Battalion in the 756th Regiment of the 150th Rifle Division. His unit stormed the Reichstag.Neustroev worked in the local mine as a mechanic from a young age...
's soldiers would attack the Reichstag
Reichstag (building)
The Reichstag building is a historical edifice in Berlin, Germany, constructed to house the Reichstag, parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire. During the Nazi era, the few meetings of members of the...
. Dorozhkin is assigned to Neustroev's company as a radio operator. In the Führerbunker
Führerbunker
The Führerbunker was located beneath Hitler's New Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex which was constructed in two major phases, one part in 1936 and the other in 1943...
, after marrying Eva Braun
Eva Braun
Eva Anna Paula Hitler was the longtime companion of Adolf Hitler and, for less than 40 hours, his wife. Braun met Hitler in Munich, when she was 17 years old, while working as an assistant and model for his personal photographer and began seeing him often about two years later...
, Hitler murders her and commits suicide. At the Reichstag, Dorozhkin is killed in the fighting. The Victory Banner is unfurled on the dome. On 2 May, after negotiations, the Berlin garrison surrenders unconditionally.
Outside the Reichstag, Vasiliev - who failed to find Dorozhkin - asks the crying Zoia why is she mourning when they have won. Next to them, Orlov, Yartsev and an immense crowd of Red Army soldiers celebrate victory. In the last scene, the question What has Fascism brought to the world? is answered with the death toll of World War II by country. The film ends with a shot of the inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow)
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a war memorial, dedicated to the Soviet soldiers killed during World War II...
: Your Name Unknown, Your Deed Immortal.
Soviet actors
- Nikolay OlyalinNikolay OlyalinNikolay Vladimiriovich Olyalin was a Soviet and an Ukrainian actor....
as Captain Tzvetaev. - Larisa GolubkinaLarisa GolubkinaLarisa Ivanovna Golubkina is a Russian actress.She entered the Moscow Musical School in 1955, graduating after four years, and then enrolled into the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts...
as nurse Zoia. - Vsevolod Sanaev as Lieutenant Colonel Lukin.
- Boris SeidenbergBoris SeidenbergBoris Ilyich Seidenberg was a Soviet actor and a Meritorious Artist of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic.-Biography:...
as Major Orlov. - Viktor AvdyushkoViktor AvdyushkoViktor Antonovich Avdyushko was a Soviet actor and a People's Artist of the Russian SFSR.-Early life:...
as Major Maximov. - Yuri NazarovYuri NazarovYuriy Nazarov is an Russian film and television actor.He was born Yuri Vladimirovich Nazarov in Novosibirsk, Russia. His father, Nikolai Aldomirovich Nazarov , was an ethnic Chechen Lieutenant of the Red Army, who served in the Eastern Front and the Crimean Offensive in 1944.In 1989, Nazarov was...
as Russian Liberation ArmyRussian Liberation ArmyRussian Liberation Army was a group of predominantly Russian forces subordinated to the Nazi German high command during World War II....
soldier. - Mikhail GluzskyMikhail GluzskyMikhail Gluzsky was a Soviet film actor. He appeared in 90 films between 1939 and 2001. He starred in the 1972 film, Monologue, which was entered into the 1973 Cannes Film Festival...
as Sergeant Ryazhentzev. - Ivan MykolaychukIvan MykolaychukIvan Mykolaychuk was a Ukrainian actor, producer, and screen writer.He is best known for playing the Hutsul Ivan in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors , based on Mykhailo Kotsyubynsky's book of the same name...
as Sergeant Savchuk. - Georgi BurkovGeorgi BurkovGeorgi Ivanovich Burkov was a Soviet film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1967 and 1988. He died on July 19, 1990 at the age of 57 due to thrombosis.-Selected filmography:Actor* Liberation * Stariki-razboyniki...
as commander of Tzvetaev's adjacent battery. - Vladimir KashpurVladimir KashpurVladimir Terentyevich Kashpur was a Russian and Soviet actor. A native of Altai Krai, Kashpur appeared in Ballad of a Soldier and about 115 other films, with roles ranging from Vladimir Lenin to Baba Yaga...
as soldier with wooden footwear. - Leonid KuravlyovLeonid KuravlyovLeonid Vyacheslavovich Kuravlyov is a Soviet/Russian actor and People's Artist of the RSFSR .Leonid Kuravlyov was born in Moscow in 1936. He lost his father when he was still a little boy. In 1941, Kuravlyov's mother was falsely accused and exiled to the Russian North, where they would spend...
as signaler sent by Chuikov. - Bukhuti ZaqariadzeBukhuti ZaqariadzeBukhuti Zaqariadze was a Soviet actor and a People's Artist of the Georgian SSR.-Biography:...
as Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. - Mikhail UlyanovMikhail UlyanovMikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov was a Soviet and Russian actor who was one of the most recognizable persons of the post-World War II Soviet theatre and cinema. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1969 and received a special prize from the Venice Film Festival in 1982.Mikhail Alexandrovich...
as Marshal Georgy ZhukovGeorgy ZhukovMarshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
. - Ivan PereverzevIvan PereverzevIvan Pereverzev was a Soviet actor. He appeared in 47 films between 1940 and 1977.-Selected filmography:* It Happened in the Donbass * The Third Blow * Dream of a Cossack...
as General Vasily ChuikovVasily ChuikovVasily Ivanovich Chuikov was a Russian lieutenant general in the Red Army during World War II, twice Hero of the Soviet Union , who after the war became a Marshal of the Soviet Union.-Early life and career:Born into a peasant family in the village of Serebryanye Prudy, he joined the Red Army during...
. - Roman TkachukRoman TkachukRoman Denisovich Tkachuk was a Soviet theatre and film actor.-Biography:He was born on August 31, 1932 in Sverdlovsk , USSR.He graduated from an institute for film directors named after Aleksandr Ostrovsky in Tashkent in 1955....
as General Alexei YepishevAlexei YepishevGeneral of the Army Alexei Alexeyevich Yepishev was a Soviet party and military figureand chief of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy from 1962 to 1985...
. - Anatoly Borisovich KuznetsovAnatoly Borisovich KuznetsovAnatoly Borisovich Kuznetsov is a Soviet and Russian actor, probably best known for his role as a Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov in White Sun of the Desert . He graduated from Theatrical School of Moscow Art Theater in 1955. His brother Mikhail Kuznetsov is a Russian actor. Anatoly Kuznestov was...
as General Georgi ZakharovGeorgi ZakharovNot to be confused with Army General Georgiy Zakharov.Georgi Nefiodovich Zakharov was a Soviet Air Force general....
. - Viktor BortsovViktor BortsovViktor Andreyevich Bortsov was a Soviet/Russian theatrical and cinema actor. He was a People's Artist of Russia.Viktor Bortsov was best known as Savva Ignatevich in the 1982 film Pokrov Gates ....
as General Grigory OriolGrigory OriolGrigory Nikolaevich Oriol was a Soviet armored corps general.-Early life:Oriol joined the Red Army in 1924. At the mid-1930s, he attended the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization , where he became close friends with General Sergei Shtemenko...
. - Yuri Leghkov as Marshal Ivan KonevIvan KonevIvan Stepanovich Konev , was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, retook much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin....
(films I-II). - Vasily ShukshinVasily ShukshinVasily Makarovich Shukshin was a notable Soviet/Russian actor, writer, screenwriter and movie director from the Altay region who specialized in rural themes. Upon his death, Shukshin was interred at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.-Biography:...
as Marshal Ivan Konev (films III-V). - Vladimir Samoilov as Colonel Gromov
- Mikhail Nozhkin as Lieutenant Yartsev
- Roman Khomiatov as German interpreter who shot Maximov.
- Yuri Kamorny as Lieutenant Vasiliev.
- Valeri Nosik as Sergeant Dorozhkin.
- Vladimir Samoilov as Colonel Gromov.
- Evgeny Burenkov as Marshal Aleksandr VasilevskyAleksandr VasilevskyAleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky was a Russian career officer in the Red Army, promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense during World War II, as well as Minister of Defense from 1949 to 1953...
. - Sergei Kharchenko as General Nikolai Vatutin.
- Vladlen Davydov as General Konstantin RokossovskyKonstantin RokossovskyKonstantin Rokossovskiy was a Polish-origin Soviet career officer who was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, as well as Marshal of Poland and Polish Defence Minister, who was famously known for his service in the Eastern Front, where he received high esteem for his outstanding military skill...
. - Dimitry Franko as General Pavel RybalkoPavel RybalkoMarshal of the Armoured Troops Pavel Semjonovich Rybalko was a commander of armoured troops in the Red Army during and following World War II.-Pre-war:Pavel Rybalko served in the Russian and then the Soviet Army from 1914...
. - Vladislav Srtzhelchik as General Aleksei AntonovAleksei AntonovAleksei Innokentievich Antonov was a General of the Soviet Army, awarded the Order of Victory for his efforts in World War II.-Career:...
. - E. Kolchinski as General Ivan ChernyakhovskyIvan ChernyakhovskyIvan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, also Cherniakhovsky, ; Oksanina, Uman, Russian Empire , - Mehlsack, today Pieniężno, Poland, 18 February 1945) was a Soviet General of the Army , twice Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, who died from wounds received outside...
. - Valeri Kern as General Hovhannes BagramyanHovhannes BagramyanIvan Khristoforovich Bagramyan , also known as Hovhannes Khachaturi BaghramyanPronunciation: Bagramyan's name is most commonly written in English as Bagramyan "bahg-rahm-yahn" or Bagramian...
. - Nikolai Rushkovski as General Kiril Moskalenko.
- Vladimir Kosenko as General Kiril Meretskov.
- Konstantin Zabelin as General Mikhail KatukovMikhail KatukovMarshal of the Armored Troops Mikhail Efimovich Katukov served as a commander of armored troops in the Red Army during and following World War II. He is viewed as one of the most talented Soviet armor commanders.-Pre-War:...
. - Vladimir Zamansky as General Pavel BatovPavel BatovPavel Ivanovich Batov was a senior Red Army general during the Second World War and afterwards....
. - Klion Protasov as General Sergei ShtemenkoSergei ShtemenkoSergei Matveevich Shtemenko was a Soviet general, who served as the Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces' General Staff from 1948 to 1952.-Early life:...
. - Aleksander Afanasiev as General Dmitry Lelyushenko.
- Grigory Mikhaylov as General Mikhail MalininMikhail MalininMikhail Sergeevich Malinin was a Soviet general.-Early years:...
. - Vyacheslav Voronin as General Alexei BurdeineiAlexei BurdeineiOleksi Semenovich Burdeinei was a Soviet general....
. - Anatoly Romashin as General Vasily ShatilovVasily ShatilovVasily Mitrofanovich Shatilov was a Soviet general who commanded the 150th Rifle Division during the Battle of Berlin.-Early life:Born to a peasant family, Shatilov joined the Red Army at 1924, becoming a member of the Communist Party three...
. - Nikolai Rybnikov as General Mikhail PanovMikhail PanovMikhail Feodorovich Panov was a Soviet general.-Early life:...
. - Alex Presnetsov as General Sergei RudenkoSergei Rudenko (general)Serhi Gnatovich Rudenko was a Soviet Marshal of the Aviation.-Early life:...
. - Nikolai Lebedev as General Stepan KrasovskyStepan KrasovskySczyapan Yakimavich Krasuisky Sczyapan Yakimavich Krasuisky Sczyapan Yakimavich Krasuisky (Belorussian: Сцяпан Якімавіч Красоўскі, Russified: Stepan Akimovich Krasovsky [Степан Акимович Красовский];...
. - Leonid Dovlatov as General Sergei GaladzhevSergei GaladzhevSarkis Theodorosi Galajyan was an Armenian-Soviet general and a political officer.-Early life:Born to an impoverished family, he started working in a...
. - Peter Glebov as General Pavel RotmistrovPavel RotmistrovChief Marshal of Armoured Troops Pavel Alexeyevich Rotmistrov was a commander of armoured troops in the Red Army during and following World War II.-Pre-War:...
. - A. Petrov as General Vasily KazakovVasily KazakovVasily Ivanovich Kazakov was a Soviet Marshal of the Artillery.-Early life:...
. - Piotr Scherbakov as General Konstantin TeleginKonstantin Telegin-Early life:Telegin joined the Red Army in 1918 and fought in the Russian Civil War, becoming a member of the Russian Communist Party in 1919. He served as a Regimental Commissar assistant. In 1931 he graduated from the Lenin Military-Political Academy. At first he was a political officer in the...
. - Yuri Maximov as General Semion IvanovSemion IvanovSemion Pavlovich Ivanov was a Soviet general.-Early life:Ivanov was born to a peasants' family. He worked in railroad maintenance since the age of twelve, while continuing to study at school during his spare time. He volunteered into the Red Army in 1926, and was sent to the 1st Infantry School in...
. - Sergei Lyachnitzki as General Semen BogdanovSemen BogdanovSemen llyich Bogdanov was a Soviet Marshal of the Armour.From the start of the Eastern Front in world war two he was commander of the 30th tank division...
. - Alexei Alexeev as General Vasily KuznetsovVasily Kuznetsov (general)Vasily Ivanovich Kuznetsov was a Soviet General and a Hero of the Soviet Union.-Early life:...
. - Mikhail Postinkov as General Vasily SokolovskyVasily SokolovskyVasily Danilovich Sokolovsky was a Soviet military commander.Sokolovsky was born into a peasant family in Kozliki, a small town in the province of Grodno, near Białystok in Poland . He worked as a teacher in a rural school, where he took part in a number of protests and demonstrations against the...
. - Lev Polyakov as General Andrei GrechkoAndrei GrechkoAndrei Antonovich Grechko was a Soviet general, Marshal of the Soviet Union and Minister of Defense.-Biography:Born in a small town near Rostov-on-Don, the son of Ukrainian peasants, he joined the Red Army in 1919, where he was a part of the legendary “Budyonny Cavalry”...
. - Vadim Grachev as Colonel Anatoly Golubov.
- O. Olenikov as Captain of the 2nd Rank Stepan Lyalko.
- Viktor Baikov as Vyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
. - Nikolay BogolyubovNikolay Bogolyubov (actor)Nikolay Ivanovich Bogolyubov was a Soviet actor and a People's Artist of the RSFSR . In 1933 he played in Boris Barnet's Okraina; in 1941, he was awarded the Stalin Prize.-Selected filmography:* Tommy...
as Marshal Kliment VoroshilovKliment VoroshilovKliment Yefremovich Voroshilov , popularly known as Klim Voroshilov was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman...
. - Alexei Glazrin as Panteleimon PonomarenkoPanteleimon PonomarenkoPanteleimon Kondrat'evich Ponomarenko ; 9 August 1902 18 January 1984) was a general in the Red Army before becoming a Soviet administrator in Belarus and then Kazakhstan. He was born in Krasnodar Krai, Russia....
. - A. Bugatkin as Vasily KozlovVasily Kozlov (politician)Vasil Ivanavich Kazlow was a Soviet politician.-Early life:...
. - Lev Lobov as Colonel Fedor ZinchenkoFedor ZinchenkoFedor Matveevich Zinchenko was a Soviet officer who commanded the 150th Rifle Division's 756th Regiment during the Storming of the Reichstag...
. - Vladimir Korenev as Captain Stepan NeustroevStepan NeustroevStepan Andreevich Neustroev was a Soviet officer, commander of the 1st Battalion in the 756th Regiment of the 150th Rifle Division. His unit stormed the Reichstag.Neustroev worked in the local mine as a mechanic from a young age...
. - Eduard Izotov as Lieutenant Alexei BerestAlexei BerestOleksi Prokopovich Berest was a Soviet political officer and one of the three Red Army soldiers who hoisted the Victory Banner.-Early life:Born to an impoverished...
- Genadi Khrashenikov as Mikhail Yegorov.
- Gogi Kharabdze as Meliton KantariaMeliton KantariaMeliton Varlamovich Kantaria or Kantariya , Hero of the Soviet Union , was a Georgian sergeant of the Soviet Army credited to have together with M. A...
. - Yuri Pomernatzev as General Andrei Vlasov.
- Olev Eskola as Arthur von Christmann.
- Heino Mandri as Anton KaindlAnton KaindlAnton Kaindl was an SS-Standartenführer and commandant of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp from 1942-1945....
. - Tõnu Aav as Kaindl's deputy.
- Ioseb Gugichaishvili as Yakov DzhugashviliYakov DzhugashviliYakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili was one of Joseph Stalin's four children . Yakov was the son of Stalin's first wife, Ekaterina Svanidze...
. - Yuri Durov as Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. - Evgeni Vlasov as Anthony EdenAnthony EdenRobert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
. - Aleksander Barushnoi as Field Marshal Alan Brooke.
- Konstantin Tirtov as Harry HopkinsHarry HopkinsHarry Lloyd Hopkins was one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's closest advisers. He was one of the architects of the New Deal, especially the relief programs of the Works Progress Administration , which he directed and built into the largest employer in the country...
. - Elizaveta Alexeeva as Eleanor RooseveltEleanor RooseveltAnna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
. - Nikolay Yeryomenko as Marshal Josip Broz TitoJosip Broz TitoMarshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
. - Voldemārs Akurāters as Captain William F. Stuart.
- Yulia Dioshi as Magda GoebbelsMagda GoebbelsJohanna Maria Magdalena "Magda" Goebbels was the wife of Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels...
. - Visarion Dzhakhutashvili as General Vittorio AmbrosioVittorio AmbrosioVittorio Ambrosio was an Italian general who served in the Italo-Turkish War, World War I, and World War II...
. - Amiran Dolidze as General Angelo CericaAngelo Cerica-Early life:Born to Pietro Felice and Luisa Villa in Alatri, Cerica attended the Conti-Gentili Lyceum in his native town and later entered a military academy. At September 1906, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and joined the 74th Infantry Regiment, being promoted to full lieutenant on...
. - Yuri Vishinsky as Dr. Nicolò de Cesare.
- Georgi Tusuzov as King Victor Emmanuel IIIVictor Emmanuel III of ItalyVictor Emmanuel III was a member of the House of Savoy and King of Italy . In addition, he claimed the crowns of Ethiopia and Albania and claimed the titles Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Albania , which were unrecognised by the Great Powers...
.
East German actors
- Fritz DiezFritz DiezNot to be confused with the West German industrialist Fritz Dietz.Fritz Diez was a German actor, producer, director and theater manager.-Early life:...
as Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. - Horst GieseHorst GieseHorst Fritz Otto Giese was an East German actor.-Biography:In 1945, Giese made his debut on stage at his native Neuruppin, then in the Soviet occupation zone. Later he appeared on television. His first role in a movie was at the 1954 Alarm in the Circus...
as Bruno Fermella (Part I)/Joseph GoebbelsJoseph GoebbelsPaul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
(Part I - voice, Parts IV-V - in person). - Gerd Michael HennebergGerd Michael HennebergGerd Michael Henneberg was a German actor and theater director.-Biography:Gerd Henneberg's father, Richard, was a theater director. After the young Heeneberg took private acting classes, he made his debut on stage at the age of sixteen, in the Leipzig Theater...
as Field Marshal Wilhelm KeitelWilhelm KeitelWilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal . As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II...
. - Werner DisselWerner DisselWerner Friedrich Dissel was a German actor and director.-Biography:Dissel's began working as a newspaper photographer in the late 1920s. After the Nazis' rise to power, he became a member of an antifascist group headed by Harro Schulze-Boysen, and was involved in the resistance newspaper Wille zum...
as General Alfred JodlAlfred JodlAlfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl was a German military commander, attaining the position of Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command during World War II, acting as deputy to Wilhelm Keitel...
. - Siegfried WeißSiegfried Weiß (actor)-Biography:Weiss made his artistic debut on the stage of the Halberstadt Theater, at 1924. He continued his career in the theaters of Luebeck, Koenigsberg, Magdeburg, Leipzig and Berlin, where he acted in the Berlin Ensemble, among others....
as Field Marshal Erich von MansteinErich von MansteinErich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...
. - Peter SturmPeter SturmNot to be confused with the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control director by the same name.Josef Michel Dischel , known by his adopted stage name Peter Sturm, was an Austrian and an East German actor.-Early life:Josef Michel Dischel was born into a religious Jewish family...
as General Walter ModelWalter ModelOtto Moritz Walter Model was a German general and later field marshal during World War II. He is noted for his defensive battles in the latter half of the war, mostly on the Eastern Front but also in the west, and for his close association with Adolf Hitler and Nazism...
. - Hannjo HasseHannjo Hasse-Biography:Hasse began studying acting in 1938, and attended Lily Ackermann's Institute for Stage Artists' Education in Berlin. At 1941, he was drafted for the Labour Service, and later to the Army...
as Field Marshal Günther von KlugeGünther von KlugeGünther Adolf Ferdinand “Hans” von Kluge was a German military leader. He was born in Posen into a Prussian military family. Kluge rose to the rank of Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
. - Alfred StruweAlfred StruweAlfred Struwe was a German actor, best known for his television role as Dr. Alexander Wittkugel in Zahn um Zahn....
as Colonel Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg. - Martha Beschort-DiezFritz DiezNot to be confused with the West German industrialist Fritz Dietz.Fritz Diez was a German actor, producer, director and theater manager.-Early life:...
as old woman in Berlin. - Horst Gill as Otto GünscheOtto GünscheOtto Günsche was a Sturmbannführer in the Waffen-SS and a member of 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler before he became Adolf Hitler's personal adjutant. He was captured by soldiers of the Red Army on 2 May 1945...
. - Angelika Waller as Eva BraunEva BraunEva Anna Paula Hitler was the longtime companion of Adolf Hitler and, for less than 40 hours, his wife. Braun met Hitler in Munich, when she was 17 years old, while working as an assistant and model for his personal photographer and began seeing him often about two years later...
. - Erich Thiede as Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
. - Kurt Wetzel as Herman Göring.
- Joachim Pape as Martin BormannMartin BormannMartin Ludwig Bormann was a prominent Nazi official. He became head of the Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolf Hitler...
. - Fred Alexander as Elyesa BaznaElyesa BaznaElyesa Bazna was a famous World War II secret agent. An Albanian from Kosovo who spied for the Germans during the Second World War, and was widely known by his code name Cicero...
. - Gerd Ehlers as General Werner KempfWerner KempfGeneral Werner Kempf was a Panzer General in the German army during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves ....
. - Willi Wenghöfer as General who interrogated Maximov.
- Peter Marx as General Theodor BusseTheodor BusseErnst Hermann August Theodor Busse was a German officer during World War I and World War II.- Career :...
. - Hans-Ulrich Lauffer as General Gustav SchmidtGustav Schmidt (general)Gustav Richard Ernst Schmidt was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme...
. - Erich Gerberding as Field Marshal Ernst Busch.
- Ralf Böhmke as General Adolf HamannAdolf Hamann-Early life:Hamann joined the Schwerin 89th Grenadier Regiment in 16 July 1901. He was promoted to corporal on 27 January 1904 and to Unteroffizier at 27 January the following year. Hamann became a Sergeant on 3 March 1908, and a Feldwebel at 1 October 1911. In 1914, during the first year of WWI,...
. - Wilfried Ortmann as General Friedrich OlbrichtFriedrich OlbrichtGeneral Friedrich Olbricht was a German general and one of the plotters involved in the attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia on 20 July 1944.-Early life:...
. - Hans-Edgar Stecher as Werner von HaeftenWerner von Haeften- See also :* German Resistance* List of members of the July 20 plot...
. - Werner Wieland as General Ludwig BeckLudwig BeckGeneraloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....
. - Otto Dierichs as Field Marshal Erwin von WitzlebenErwin von WitzlebenJob-Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben was a German army officer and in the Second World War an Army commander and a conspirator in the July 20 Plot.-Early years:...
. - Paul Berndt as Colonel Albrecht Mertz von QuirnheimAlbrecht Mertz von QuirnheimAlbrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim was a German officer and a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany involved in the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler.-Biography:...
(III)/Arthur Axmann (IV-V). - Max Bernhardt as Doctor Carl Friedrich GoerdelerCarl Friedrich GoerdelerCarl Friedrich Goerdeler was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime...
. - Manfred Bendik as Major Ernst John von FreyendErnst John von FreyendLieutenant Colonel Ernst John von Freyend was a German Oberkommando der Wehrmacht officer who served during World War II as the adjutant to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel...
. - Ernst-Georg Schwill as SS receptionist.
- Rolf Ripperger as General Adolf HeusingerAdolf HeusingerAdolf Heusinger was a German General. He briefly served as Chief of the General Staff of the Army during World War II and served as the first Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, the West German armed forces, from 1957 to 1961...
. - Fritz-Ernst Fechner as Colonel Heinz BrandtHeinz BrandtGeneralmajor Heinz Brandt was a German Wehrmacht staff officer who served during World War II as an aide to Generalleutnant Adolf Heusinger, who was the head of the operations unit of the General Staff...
. - Willi Schrade as Lieutenant Heurich.
- H. Schelske as General Friedrich FrommFriedrich FrommFriedrich Fromm was a German army officer. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.-Early life:Fromm was born in Charlottenburg...
. - Hinrich Köhn as Major Otto Ernst RemerOtto Ernst RemerOtto-Ernst Remer was a German Wehrmacht officer who played a decisive role in stopping the 1944 20 July Plot against Adolf Hitler. During the war he was wounded nine times in combat...
. - Ulrich Teschner as Lieutenant Bock.
- Regina Beyer as Goebbles' secretary.
- Herbert Körbs as General Heinz GuderianHeinz GuderianHeinz Wilhelm Guderian was a German general during World War II. He was a pioneer in the development of armored warfare, and was the leading proponent of tanks and mechanization in the Wehrmacht . Germany's panzer forces were raised and organized under his direction as Chief of Mobile Forces...
. - Joseph (Sepp) Klose as Karl WolffKarl WolffKarl Friedrich Otto Wolff was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Schutzstaffel , ultimately holding the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS. He became Chief of Personal Staff to the Reichsführer and SS Liaison Officer to Hitler until his replacement in 1943...
. - Fred Mahr as General Sepp DietrichSepp DietrichJosef "Sepp" Dietrich was a German SS General. He was one of Nazi Germany's most decorated soldiers and commanded formations up to Army level during World War II. Prior to 1929 he was Adolf Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard but received rapid promotion after his participation in the murder of...
. - Gert Hänsch as General Helmut Weidling.
- Hans-Hartmut Krüger as General Hans KrebsHans Krebs (general)Hans Krebs was a German Army general of infantry who served during World War II.-Early life:Krebs was born in Helmstedt. He volunteered for service in the Imperial German Army in 1914, was promoted to lieutenant in 1915, and to first lieutenant in 1925...
. - Peter Friedrich as Lieutenant who accompanied Krebs.
- Werner Pfeifer as Vice-Admiral Hans-Erich VossHans-Erich VossHans-Erich Voss was a German Vice Admiral and one of the final occupants of the Führerbunker during the battle of Berlin in 1945....
. - Erwin Felgenhauer as Ludwig StumpfeggerLudwig StumpfeggerSS-Obersturmbannführer Ludwig Stumpfegger was a German SS doctor in World War II and Adolf Hitler's personal surgeon from 1944....
. - Otto Busse as Heinz LingeHeinz LingeHeinz Linge was an SS officer who served as a valet for German dictator Adolf Hitler.- Early life :Linge was born in Bremen, Germany. Before joining the SS in 1933 he was employed as a bricklayer and was selected by Sepp Dietrich to be one of 117 original bodyguards for Adolf Hitler...
. - Gerd Steiger as Wilnie.
- Ingolf Gorges as the soldier captured by Tzvetaev.
- Günther Polensen as priest.
- Georg-Michael Wagner as Walter WagnerWalter Wagner (notary)Walter Wagner was the notary who married Adolf Hitler to Eva Braun in the Führerbunker on April 29, 1945.Wagner was a lawyer, and a member of the Nazi party. He was known to Joseph Goebbels, who had previously worked with him in Berlin. As the Allies approached Berlin he had been drafted into the...
.
Polish actors
- Jan EnglertJan EnglertJan Englert is a Polish film actor. He has appeared in over 60 films since 1957.-Selected filmography:* Liberation * Salt of the Black Earth * Pearl in the Crown * Osadeni Dushi...
as Jan Wolny. - Stanisław JaśkiewiczStanisław JaśkiewiczStanisław Jaśkiewicz was a Polish actor.He graduated from the Warsaw Conservatory in 1929, making his theatrical debut at 21 November that year as Francis Flute in the Vilnius Municipal Theater production of A Midsummer Night's Dream...
as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. - Daniel OlbrychskiDaniel OlbrychskiDaniel Olbrychski is a Polish actor best known for leading roles in several Andrzej Wajda movies and also known for playing the Russian defector and spymaster Vassily Orlov, alongside Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie in the movie Salt....
as Henryk. - Barbara BrylskaBarbara BrylskaBarbara Brylska is a native Polish actress who also was featured in numerous films throughout the countries of the Warsaw Pact including the Soviet Union. She is noted especially for her role as Nadya in the 1975 Soviet comedy film Irony of Fate.-Biography:Barbara Brylska was born on June 5, 1941,...
as Helena.
- Wieńczysław Gliński as 'Blacksmith'.
- Ignacy Machowski as stableman.
- Michał Adamczewski as German officer.
- Cezary Julski as drunken German officer.
- Tadeusz Schmidt as General Zygmunt BerlingZygmunt BerlingZygmunt Henryk Berling was a Polish general and politician. He fought for the independence of Poland in the early 20th century. During Second World War he was sentenced to death in absentia for desertion from the Polish Army of General Władysław Anders...
. - Maciej Nowakowski as Alexander Zawadzki.
- Franciszek PieczkaFranciszek PieczkaFranciszek Pieczka is a Polish film and stage actor. A graduate of the Theatrical Academy in Warsaw, he first made his debut in the theatre in Jelenia Góra...
as Pelka.
Others
- Ivo GarraniIvo GarraniIvo Garrani is an Italian actor. In films since 1952, Garrani is possibly best known for his role as Prince Vajda in Mario Bava's Black Sunday .-External links:...
as Benito MussoliniBenito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. - Erno Bertoli as Lieutenant Colonel Pierre PouyadePierre PouyadePierre Pouyade was a French Air Force general and one of the commanders of the Normandie-Niemen squadron.- Early life :...
. - Florin PiersicFlorin Piersic-Biography:His family left Cluj when it was ceded to Hungary in 1940, and moved to Cernăuţi after the city's occupation by Romania the following year. There, his father was appointed to the role of chief municipal veterinary. Later they returned home, and Florin graduated from the High School for...
as Otto SkorzenyOtto SkorzenyOtto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he was chosen as the field commander to carry out the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity...
. - B. White as Sir Hughe Knatchbull-HugessenHughe Knatchbull-HugessenSir Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen KCMG was a British diplomat, civil servant and author.-Background and education:...
.
Background
Yuri Ozerov studied at the Lunacharsky Theater Institute when he was conscripted into the Red Army at 1939. His return to civilian life was postponed on the outbreak of the war with Germany. Ozerov told his wife that during the Battle of KönigsbergBattle of Königsberg
The Battle of Königsberg , was one of the last operations of the East Prussian Offensive during World War II. In four days of violent urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Königsberg...
, he swore that if he will survive, one day he would tell of his experiences. After demobilization, Ozerov became a director in the Mosfilm
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
studios, making his first film at 1952. During the 1960s, he was dismayed and offended by several Western films that he perceived as belittling the role of the Red Army during the Second World War. The Soviet government shared Ozerov's sentiments, especially in regards to the 1962 film The Longest Day
The Longest Day (film)
The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
. At October 1965, in a meeting of officials from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Culture (Soviet Union)
The Ministry of Culture of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , formed in 1936, was one of the most important government offices in the Soviet Union. It was formerly known as the State Committee on the Arts . The Ministry, at the all-Union level, was established in 1953, after existing as a...
and Ministry of Finance, it was decided to create a "monumental epic" that would demonstrate the USSR's contribution to the victory. Ozerov was chosen to direct it.
In the Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
-era Soviet Union, the commemoration of the war against Germany was awarded unprecedented importance. At a time of growing skepticism toward the Communist system, the memory - or, as the historian Nina Tumarkin called it, "cult" - of the Great Patriotic War was to provide inspiration for a new generation and remind them of the hardships their parents faced. Historian Denise J. Youngblood dubbed Liberation as the "Brezhnev era's canonical war film", writing that it was "clearly designed to buttress the war cult."
The Second World War was always a crucial topic for Soviet filmmakers. Immediately after the war, propaganda epics like The Fall of Berlin
The Fall of Berlin (film)
The Fall of Berlin is a 1950 two-part Soviet film directed by Mikhail Chiaureli. The plot revolves around the history of the Great Patriotic War, focusing on the role that Joseph Stalin played in the events...
(1949) presented it as an heroic, collective effort of the people that was brilliantly led by Stalin. After his death, the Khruschev Thaw enabled filmmakers to depict the war as a personal, inglorious experience of the individual participants - with films as Ivan's Childhood or Ballad of a Soldier
Ballad of a Soldier
Ballad of a Soldier , is a 1959 Soviet film directed by Grigori Chukhrai and starring Vladimir Ivashov and Zhanna Prokhorenko. While set during World War II, Ballad of a Soldier is not primarily a war film...
. The Brezhnev administration supported a return to a more conservative style, presenting the war as a noble, ideological struggle once more. In an essay on the series, Dr. Lars Karl wrote: "In this context, Liberation held special importance. Even only in quantitative measures, it overshadowed anything made hitherto".
Development
The work on the series commenced at 1966. Ozerov was closely supervised - Mikhail SuslovMikhail Suslov
Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1965, and as unofficial Chief Ideologue of the Party until his death in 1982. Suslov was responsible for party democracy and the separation of power...
was involved in the production, as well as General Alexei Yepishev
Alexei Yepishev
General of the Army Alexei Alexeyevich Yepishev was a Soviet party and military figureand chief of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy from 1962 to 1985...
, the Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces' Political Directorate. Lazar Lazarev, a member of the Soviet Filmmakers Association, wrote in his recollections of the time: "Liberation ...was forced down from above, from the Ideological Departments". From the very beginning, it was made clear that the films should not deal with the darker chapters of World War II, such as the defense of Moscow
Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...
and Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
, but only with the Red Army's unbroken string of victories from the Battle of Kursk and onwards.
At first, two prominent authors, Konstantin Simonov
Konstantin Simonov
Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov was a Russian/Soviet author, known especially as a war poet.-Early years:He was born in Petrograd. His mother was born Princess Obolenskaya, of a Rurikid family. His father, an officer in the Tsar's army, left Russia after the Revolution in 1917. He died in Poland...
and Viktor Nekrasov
Viktor Nekrasov
Viktor Platonovich Nekrasov was a Russian writer, journalist and editor.-Biography:Nekrasov was born in Kiev and graduated with a degree in architecture in 1936. Between 1937 and 1941, he was an actor and set designer with the Kiev Russian Drama Theater...
, were offered to write the story. Both saw Liberation as an effort to rehabilitate Stalin, and declined. During the Khruschev Thaw, in the aftermath of the XX Party Congress and De-Stalinization
De-Stalinization
De-Stalinization refers to the process of eliminating the cult of personality, Stalinist political system and the Gulag labour-camp system created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in March 1953...
, Eastern Block films rarely depicted Stalin, if at all. Scenes featuring him were edited out from many older pictures. Liberation presented Stalin as the Supreme Commander, his first major appearance on screen since the Secret Speech - a token to the Brezhnev Era softer view of him, in comparison with the Khruschev years. Still, his character did not occupy a central role as it had done in the films produced during his reign. Ozerov later claimed that he never included the controversial figure in the script, and had to shoot the Stalin scenes secretly, at night. He told interviewer Victor Matizen that the "State Secretary for Cinematography almost had a seizure when he found out."
Another contentious character was that of General Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov or Wlassow was a Russian Red Army general who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early career:...
. Liberation presented him for the first time in Soviet cinema. It was the most secretive role in the cast, referred to only as "the General" on set and not mentioned in the credits.
After Nekrasov's and Simonov's refusal, Yuri Bondarev and Oscar Kurganov were tasked with writing the script. Originally, the series was supposed to be a purely historical, documentary-like trilogy called the Liberation of Europe and consisting of Europe-43, Europe-44 and Europe-45. Fearing that this style would damage the films' popularity, it was decided to combine fictional characters into the plot. Bondarev wrote the live action scenes; The Dniepr bridgehead storyline was based on his book The Battalions Request Fire. Kurganov wrote the historical parts, featuring the leaders and generals. Those sections were intentionally filmed in black-and-white, to resemble old footage. Ozerov wanted the films to portray the war both from the common soldier's standpoint and from a bird's-eye view upon the major occurrences: "There were many films about the war, but they were films that depicted isolated episodes of it... I wanted to tell of the war as a whole, to portray it as it was". The script of the first two parts was completed by the end of 1966, and the producers began preparing to commence filming shortly after.
International involvement
The final script had a broad scope, dealing not only with the Soviet side but also dedicating attention to events in other countries, like the Battle of the SutjeskaIn the film, Tito converses with an English delegate (played by Voldemārs Akurāters) whom he calls 'Captain Stuart'. Captain William F. Stuart, a Canadian operative of the Special Operations ExecutiveSpecial Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
, arrived in Yugoslavia shortly before the battle and was killed during it. or the actions of the Polish Resistance. Foreign film studios were invited to take part in the production, beside Mosfilm: The East German company DEFA, The Yugoslav Avala Film
Avala Film
Avala Film is a Serbian film studio, the first one founded in post-war Yugoslavia. Since its inception in 1945, the company has produced more than 600 movies, mainly documentaries but numerous feature films as well, and participated in over 120 co-productions with foreign studios...
and the Italian Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, or the Dino de Laurentiis Entertainment Group, is an Italian film-production company.-Origin and operations:It was founded in 1946 by Dino de Laurentiis and has since produced nearly 100 films....
. Zespół Filmowy Start, the first Polish film studio to participate in the co-production of Liberation, was closed at April 1968, in the crackdown on the Polish media after the March Events. It was replaced by Przedsiębiorstwo Realizacji Filmów-Zespoły Filmowe
Zespoły Filmowe (film studio)
Przedsiębiorstwo Realizacji Filmów "Zespoły Filmowe" was a Polish state-owned film studio, founded in 01.01.1969. after the closure of the production company Zespoły Autorów Filmowych following the March 1968 events.-Select filmography:...
(PRF-ZF), established after the political turmoil was over (on 1 January 1969). Studio Start appears in the credits of films I and II. The dialog in the non-Soviet scenes is in the local languages.
Military involvement
Ozerov asked Marshal Zhukov to be the films' chief military consultant, and the old commander agreed. However, Zhukov was a political pariah at the time, and the establishment did not approve of the nomination. The Marshal suggested Army General Sergei ShtemenkoSergei Shtemenko
Sergei Matveevich Shtemenko was a Soviet general, who served as the Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces' General Staff from 1948 to 1952.-Early life:...
to take the position, and the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
Forces Chief-of-Staff received it. In spite of this, Ozerov consulted with Zhukov unofficially,The series treats Zhukov favourably. His failed idea to cross the Oder with searchlights is presented as brilliant, and his version on the events of the Berlin Offensive is accepted as true (After the war, Chuikov
Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov was a Russian lieutenant general in the Red Army during World War II, twice Hero of the Soviet Union , who after the war became a Marshal of the Soviet Union.-Early life and career:Born into a peasant family in the village of Serebryanye Prudy, he joined the Red Army during...
claimed that the Red Army should have rushed to Berlin in February 1945, before its defenses were strengthened. Zhukov was keen to do so at the time, yet Stalin ordered him to secure the northern flank by attacking Pomerania. Later, he denied this and stated that their forces were too overstretched for attacking the enemy's capital, presenting the delay as his own idea. see . In The Battle of Berlin, Stavka orders to take Berlin at once, and Zhukov defies it.) and the Marshal provided him with the draft of his memoirs.
Beside Shtemenko, the producers brought in several other veterans of the war as advisors: Colonel-General Alexander Rodimtsev
Alexander Rodimtsev
Aleksandr Ilich Rodimtsev was a Colonel-General in the Soviet Red Army during World War II and twice won the Hero of the Soviet Union award .Rodimtsev joined the Red Army in the 1920s...
, Colonel-General of the Armored Corps Grigory Oriol
Grigory Oriol
Grigory Nikolaevich Oriol was a Soviet armored corps general.-Early life:Oriol joined the Red Army in 1924. At the mid-1930s, he attended the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization , where he became close friends with General Sergei Shtemenko...
, Lieutenant-General of the Aviation Sergei Siniakov
Sergei Siniakov
-Biography:A son of a country priest, Siniakov went to study in the Moscow State University. He joined the Red Army during the Civil War. In 1925 he attended a course for senior cavalry commanders in the Leningrad Cavalry School, but eventually was transferred to the Air Force...
and Vice-Admiral Vladimir Alexeyev
Vladimir Alexeyev (admiral)
-Early life:Alexeyev was the son of Nikolai Alexeyev, a doctor and Bolshevik leader, who received the title Hero of Socialist Labor at 1963 for his contribution to the public health system in Siberia....
. Member of the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
and retired Colonel Zbigniew Załuski
Zbigniew Załuski
Zbigniew Załuski was a Polish army officer, writer and Member of Parliament.-Biography:...
served as the consultant for matters relating to the Polish People's Army. National People's Army
National People's Army
The National People’s Army were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic .The NVA was established in 1956 and disestablished in 1990. There were frequent reports of East German advisors with Communist African countries during the Cold War...
Colonel Job von Witzleben
Job von Witzleben (Historian)
Job Wilhelm Henning Dietrich von Witzleben was a German army officer and a military historian.-Early life:Born in Saxony to the old noble family of von Witzleben, he was a descendant of the Prussian general Job von Witzleben and grand-nephew to Erwin von Witzleben...
, who served in the Wehrmacht as a Major, assisted with the German military issues.
150 Soviet Army tanks, allocated by Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky
Rodion Malinovsky
Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was a Soviet military commander in World War II and Defense Minister of the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s. He contributed to the major defeat of Nazi Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Budapest...
before the filming began, were involved in the battle scenes, alongside military aircraft, artillery and thousands of soldiers. The troops were lent as extras by the Military districts
Military district (Soviet Union)
In the Soviet Union, a military district was a territorial association of military units, formations, military schools, and various local military administrative establishments...
of Moscow, Kiev, the North Caucasus and Belarus, the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
The Group of Soviet Forces in Germany , also known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany and the Western Group of Forces were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany....
and the Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
. Polish Army soldiers took part in the later films, as well.
Casting
A major obstacle facing the producers was that most of the Soviet leadership took part in the war; Many high-ranking officers and politicians were portrayed in the films with their wartime ranks, and the actors depicting them had to receive the models' blessing.Ozerov lengthily dwelt on the question who would be cast as Zhukov, until the Marshal himself provided him with a solution: he told the director that he recently watched The Chairman
The Chairman (1964 film)
The Chairman is a 1964 Soviet film directed by Aleksei Saltykov and starring Mikhail Ulyanov, Nonna Mordyukova and Ivan Lapikov. This film was honored with a Second Prize at All-Union Film Festival in Kiev .-Plot:...
and thought that the main protagonist, whose name he did not know, would be fit to for the task. Thus, Mikhail Ulyanov
Mikhail Ulyanov
Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov was a Soviet and Russian actor who was one of the most recognizable persons of the post-World War II Soviet theatre and cinema. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1969 and received a special prize from the Venice Film Festival in 1982.Mikhail Alexandrovich...
received the role. Marshal Ivan Konev
Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev , was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, retook much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin....
was irritated by Yuri Leghkov, who depicted him in the first two parts. He demanded that Ozerov would replace him by someone else, complaining that the actor was constantly bothering him with questions. Vasily Shukshin
Vasily Shukshin
Vasily Makarovich Shukshin was a notable Soviet/Russian actor, writer, screenwriter and movie director from the Altay region who specialized in rural themes. Upon his death, Shukshin was interred at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.-Biography:...
was called to substitute Leghkov.
For the character of Captain Tzvetaev, Ozerov chose the young Nikolay Olyalin
Nikolay Olyalin
Nikolay Vladimiriovich Olyalin was a Soviet and an Ukrainian actor....
, an actor of the Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia, with the population of 973,891. Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of...
Children Theater. Olyalin had received several offers to appear in other films, but the theater managers dispersed of them, fearing that he would leave their institute. One of the theater employees told Olyalin of Ozerov's offer. To be exempted from his work, the actor claimed he was sick. Then, he boarded a plane to Moscow.
An assistant-director saw the Kazakh SSR
Kazakh SSR
The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Kazakh SSR for short, was one of republics that made up the Soviet Union.At in area, it was the second largest constituent republic in the USSR, after the Russian SFSR. Its capital was Alma-Ata . Today it is the independent state of...
's People's Artist
People's Artist of the USSR
People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to citizens of the Soviet Union.- Nomenclature and significance :...
Yuri Pomerantsev in theater, and suggested him for the role of Vlasov. Pomerantsev had difficulties finding any material on the Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army
Russian Liberation Army was a group of predominantly Russian forces subordinated to the Nazi German high command during World War II....
's commander. Bukhuti Zaqariadze
Bukhuti Zaqariadze
Bukhuti Zaqariadze was a Soviet actor and a People's Artist of the Georgian SSR.-Biography:...
, People's Artist of the Georgian SSR, was selected to appear in the sensitive role of Joseph Stalin. Vasily Shukshin
Vasily Shukshin
Vasily Makarovich Shukshin was a notable Soviet/Russian actor, writer, screenwriter and movie director from the Altay region who specialized in rural themes. Upon his death, Shukshin was interred at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.-Biography:...
recounted that upon seeing Zaqariadze in the Stalin costume, General Shtemenko instinctively stood to attention and saluted.
According to the memories of Dilara Ozerova, East German actor Fritz Diez
Fritz Diez
Not to be confused with the West German industrialist Fritz Dietz.Fritz Diez was a German actor, producer, director and theater manager.-Early life:...
was reluctant to portray Hitler; Diez, a communist who left Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in the 1930s, had already appeared as Hitler in three other films and feared becoming "a slave to one role"
Typecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
. Diez's wife, Martha, appeared as the old woman who served coffee to Tzvetaev in Berlin. The Italian Ivo Garrani
Ivo Garrani
Ivo Garrani is an Italian actor. In films since 1952, Garrani is possibly best known for his role as Prince Vajda in Mario Bava's Black Sunday .-External links:...
played Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.
Props and costumes
When the making of the film had begun, assistants were dispatched to look for equipment used during the war. The producers searched in vain for real Tiger ITiger I
Tiger I is the common name of a German heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E, often shortened to Tiger. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of...
and Panther
Panther tank
Panther is the common name of a medium tank fielded by Nazi Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945. It was intended as a counter to the T-34, and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV; while never replacing the latter, it served alongside it as...
tanks, so they could use them in close-up shooting. Eventually, replicas of 10 Tigers and 8 Panthers (converted from T-44
T-44
The T-44 was a medium tank first produced towards the end of the Second World War by the Soviet Union. It was the successor to the famous T-34...
and IS-2 tanks respectively) were produced in a Soviet tank factory in Lvov. Beside those, many T-55
T-55
The T-54 and T-55 tanks were a series of main battle tanks designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in March 1945, just before the end of the Second World War. The T-54 entered full production in 1947 and became the main tank for armored units of the Soviet Army, armies of...
's, T-62
T-62
The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank, a further development of the T-55. Its 115 mm gun was the first smoothbore tank gun in use.The T-62 was produced between 1961 and 1975. It became a standard tank in the Soviet arsenal, partly replacing the T-55, although that tank continued to be...
's and IS-3's - models that were developed after the war - can be clearly seen in the film, painted as wartime German or Soviet tanks. All German trucks were actually masqueraded Ural-375D
Ural-375D
The Ural-375D is a general purpose 4.5 ton 6x6 truck, produced at the Ural Automotive Plant in the Russian SFSR since 1961. The ZIL-157 was the standard Soviet truck until it was replaced by the Ural-375D, which became the standard Soviet truck in 1979. The Ural-375D was soon replaced by the...
vehicles.
Dilara Ozerova, the director's wife and the film's costume designer, had to have hundreds of German uniforms sewn. The German military decorations were reproduced in Mosfilm's workshops. The helmets worn by the extras were manufactured of plastic, for lighter weight. Stalin's own tailor was contacted, and Bukhuti Zaqariadze's costume was made by him.
Principal photography
The producers considered filming the Fire Bulge in Kursk, but the old battlefield was littered with unexploded ammunition. Therefore, a special set was constructed in the vicinity of Pereiaslav-KhmelnytskyiPereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi
Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi is a town located where Alta River flows into Trubizh River in the Kiev Oblast in central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi Raion , the town itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
where Art Director Alexander Myaghkov was free to use live explosives. The combat scenes in the first two parts were shot there, at the summer of 1967. 3000 troops, 100 tanks, 18 military aircraft and 2000 artillery pieces were used to recreate the Battle of Kursk. 30 kilometers of trenches were dug to resemble the wartime fortifications. Ozerov supervised the set from a specially-built tower, using a handkerchief to signal the engineers when to detonate the charges. On one occasion, the director absentmindedly blew his nose, and "one and half tons of TNT went off". The outdoor photography for Main Blow took place in Lithuania, near Pabradė
Pabrade
Pabradė is a city in Lithuania, in Švenčionys district municipality, on Žeimena river, 38 km south-west of Švenčionys.Pabradė is a busy place as the Vilnius–Daugavpils railway is close to the city. It was quite a small settlement until the 19th century, when the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg...
, since the marshes in Belarus - the location of the 1944 battles depicted in the film - were being drained. The Mussolini parts were shot in Rome, while the Yalta Conference was filmed in the Livadia Palace
Livadia Palace
Livadia Palace was a summer retreat of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family in Livadiya, Crimea in southern Ukraine. The Yalta Conference was held there in 1945, when the palace housed the apartments of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and other members of the American delegation...
.
Filming also took place in Poland. The scenes in Warsaw were shot in the city's Castle Square and at the Służewiec neighbourhood. The 20th July 1944 assassination attempt was filmed in the original Wolfsschanze
Wolfsschanze
Wolf's Lair is the standard English name for Wolfsschanze, Adolf Hitler's first World War II Eastern Front military headquarters, one of several Führerhauptquartier or FHQs located in various parts of Europe...
, where Diez and Giese, in costumes, shocked a group of tourists. On seeing a photo of Ozerov and 'Hitler' hugging on the set, a maid in a Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
hotel caused a pandemonium, convinced the director was an old friend of the genuine dictator.
With the help of the East German government, the scenes in Berlin were mostly shot in the city itself. Foreign Minister Otto Winzer
Otto Winzer
Otto Winzer was an East German diplomat. He returned from exile in the Soviet Union as part of the Ulbricht Group, charged with setting up the Soviet Military Administration in Germany after World War II. He served as the foreign minister of East Germany between 1965 and 1975.- References :...
had authorized the producers to use the ruins of the Gendarmenmarkt
Gendarmenmarkt
The Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin, and the site of the Konzerthaus and the French and German Cathedrals. The centre of the Gendarmenmarkt is crowned by a statue of Germany's poet Friedrich Schiller. The square was created by Johann Arnold Nering at the end of the seventeenth century as the...
. Ozerov, accompanied by a crew of some 2000 people, cordoned off a part of the area and used an old, abandoned cathedral to substitute for the Reichstag. The hoisting of the Victory Banner was shot atop the Haus der Technik in the Wilhelmstraße
Wilhelmstraße
The Wilhelmstrasse is a street in the center of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Between the mid 19th century and 1945, it was the administrative centre, first of the Kingdom of Prussia and then of the unified German state, housing in particular the Reich Chancellery and the Foreign Office...
, in the city's center. Indoor fighting was filmed in Mosfilm's studios, and the U-Bahn scene took place in Moscow's metro - where Myaghkov rebuilt the Kaiserhof
Mohrenstraße (Berlin U-Bahn)
Mohrenstraße is an underground railway station in the German capital city of Berlin. It is part of the Berlin U-Bahn and is located on the line in the district of Mitte.-Overview:...
station.
Approval
The Fire Bulge was completed on late 1968. A special screening was made to General Sergei ShtemenkoSergei Shtemenko
Sergei Matveevich Shtemenko was a Soviet general, who served as the Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces' General Staff from 1948 to 1952.-Early life:...
. Bondarev invited Lazarev to attend. In his memoirs, the writer recalled that Shtemenko had only two, "rather bizarre" comments to make: first, a scene showing a soldier entertaining local girls in his tank had to be removed; Second, when seeing the actor portraying him with Major General ranks, he claimed he was already a Lieutenant General at the time. Ozerov answered that according to their material, he was not. The aforementioned scene does not appear in the film.
A more important pre-release viewing had to be held for Defense Minister Andrei Grechko
Andrei Grechko
Andrei Antonovich Grechko was a Soviet general, Marshal of the Soviet Union and Minister of Defense.-Biography:Born in a small town near Rostov-on-Don, the son of Ukrainian peasants, he joined the Red Army in 1919, where he was a part of the legendary “Budyonny Cavalry”...
and General Alexei Yepishev
Alexei Yepishev
General of the Army Alexei Alexeyevich Yepishev was a Soviet party and military figureand chief of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy from 1962 to 1985...
. After the screening ended, the generals headed for the exit without saying a word. Ozerov asked for their opinion; Grechko answered, "I will not say a word to you!" and left the room. The film had to be edited four times before it was authorized for public screening on 1969, together with the already finished second part, Breakthrough.
Distribution
The Fire Bulge and Breakthrough were released on 7 May 1970, two days before the 25th Victory Day, and the audiences viewed them in a single screening session. The third, exceptionally long sequel Main Blow was distributed to the cinemas in July 1971. Finally, the two concluding films, The Battle of Berlin and The Last Assault were released in a single band on November 1971. In the West, a shorter, 110 minutes long version of The Fire Bulge/Breakthrough was disseminated. In the English-speaking world, it was titled The Great Battle. The film was screened in the United Kingdom at 1971, but reached the United States only at October 1974, where it was distributed by Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. The films were distributed in 115 countries and were received especially well in France and Japan.
Box office
It was reported that the Communist Party instructed all of it members to purchase tickets for Liberation; yet, The Fire Bulge/Breakthrough was watched by only 56 million viewers, falling short of the producers' expectations. Still, it became the highest-grossing Soviet film of 1970. Main Blow had 35.8 million tickets sold for it, falling to the slot of the 9th highest-grossing film of 1971. The Battle of Berlin/Last Assault was viewed by 28 million people, deteriorating further down to 16th place on the Soviet box office in 1972.The Russian author Igor Muskyi estimated that worldwide, Liberation was watched by more than 400 million people.
Awards
The Fire Bulge/Breakthrough was screened outside the competition in the 1970 Karlovy Vary International Film FestivalKarlovy Vary International Film Festival
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....
, and Yuri Ozerov received a special prize of the Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship Society.
Ozerov, Bondarev, Cinematographer Igor Slabnevich and Art Director Alexander Myaghkov were all awarded the Lenin Prize
Lenin Prize
The Lenin Prize was one of the most prestigious awards of the USSR, presented to individuals for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was created on June 23, 1925 and was awarded until 1934. During the period from 1935 to 1956, the Lenin Prize was...
in 1972 for their work on Liberation. The films won the Best Film award at the 1972 Tiflis All-Union Film Festival
All-Union Film Festival
The All-Union Film Festival was one of the most important film festivals of the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1958 and held regularly from 1964-1988. It was held annually from 1972 onwards, and bi-annually before that...
, and Ozerov received the Polish-Soviet Friendship Society
Polish-Soviet Friendship Society
The Polish–Soviet Friendship Society was a Polish organisation founded in 1944. It was a vehicle for organized propaganda, like the celebration of anniversaries of the October Revolution, trips to the Soviet Union, exchange programs, promotion of Soviet culture, technology, books or movies as...
's Silver Medal in 1977. The series was submitted by the Soviet Union as a candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film in the 46th Academy Awards
46th Academy Awards
The 46th Academy Awards were presented April 2, 1974 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by John Huston, Diana Ross, Burt Reynolds, David Niven....
, but not nominated.
Contemporary response
Liberation was strongly supported by the Soviet government. The series was branded as an "epic" before the shooting began. The press excessively promoted the film, and war veterans published columns that praised its authenticity. When Ozerov briefed delegates of the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union about Liberation, he was welcomed with applause. The readers of the journal Sovietsky Ekran, the State Committee for Cinematography's official publication, chose The Direction of the Main Blow as the best film of 1971. As late as 1986, the state-approved Soviet encyclopedia of cinema cited Liberation as correcting the "falsification of history" presented in The Longest Day.The films were noted for the scales of the production: at 1977, Film critics Mira and Antonin Liehm cited it alongside Waterloo and War and Peace as foremost among Soviet "monumental films, which, with the expenditure of immense amounts of money, brought... history to the screen." Soviet critic Rostislav Yurenev "praised the meticulously recreated battle scenes", which were referred to as "gigantic" by the Liehm couple. A Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
review from 1971 praised Ozerov for portraying the German side "with due consideration" for details.
However, the series was not seen as an artistic achievement. Ozerov wrote an article in the February 1971 issue of the Soviet magazine Art of Cinema, in which he declared that his film should be considered as one of the best dealing with the theme of the Great Patriotic War, along the likes of the 1964 The Living and the Dead
The Alive and the Dead
The Alive and the Dead is a 1964 Soviet film directed by Aleksandr Stolper based on the eponymous novel by Konstantin Simonov.-Cast:* Kirill Lavrov - Ivan Sinzov* Viktor Avdyushko* Anatoli Papanov - General Serpilin* Aleksei Glazyrin - Malinin...
. Two months later, the important author Semion Freilikh completely ignored Liberation when discussing the genre of war films in the same magazine. Denise Youngblood wrote that this was no coincidence. Eventually, the series was never selected to appear on the official lists of the greatest World War II films, which were compiled on every fifth Victory anniversary. Lazar Lazarev wrote in his memoirs that Liberation was a return to the style of the propagandistic films before the Thaw. When Bondarev asked for his opinion at 1970, he called the film "a modern version of the Fall of Berlin
The Fall of Berlin (film)
The Fall of Berlin is a 1950 two-part Soviet film directed by Mikhail Chiaureli. The plot revolves around the history of the Great Patriotic War, focusing on the role that Joseph Stalin played in the events...
".
Critics abroad were scathing, as well. A year after the Last Assault was released, David Robinson called Liberation a "hollow, spectacular, monumental display." Mira and Antonin Liehm dubbed it as "entirely sterile" and "almost reminiscent of the 'Artistic Documentary' period" - the era of the Stalinist epics. Author Ivan Butler simply described it as a "stranded whale of a film."
Denise J. Youngblood wrote that, considering the "unprecedented" public relations campaign the film received and the forced attendance of viewers, the last part's success of drawing only 28 million moviegoers was "almost pitiable". She attributed this, partially, to the "grandiose scale" of the films, which made it hard to maintain the interest of the audience. Youngblood concluded that the series was a "relative failure".
Critical analysis
Liberation is still acclaimed for its size; Martin J. Manning and Clarence R. Wyatt wrote that, among the films of the Brezhnev era, the series was "standing out due to its massive scale, length and sheer volume." Lars Karl claimed that "it was a gigantic work... The cinematic monumentality was to prove the Soviet Union's might." In an essay on Soviet films, Denise J. Youngblood called Liberation the "most grandiose Soviet WWII picture".Historian Lisa A. Kirshenbaum assessed that in comparison to more sincere Great Patriotic War films, like The Ascent
The Ascent
The Ascent , is a 1977 black-and-white Soviet war film directed by Larisa Shepitko and made at Mosfilm. It was Shepitko's last film before her death in a car accident in 1979...
or The Cranes Are Flying
The Cranes are Flying
The Cranes Are Flying is a Soviet film about World War II. It depicts the cruelty of war and the damage suffered to the Soviet psyche as a result of World War II . It was directed at Mosfilm by the Georgian-born Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov in 1957 and stars Aleksey Batalov and Tatiana...
, the "heroic, if not kitschy" Liberation conformed to the "Cult of the Great Patriotic War". Lars Karl regarded it as one of the films ushering the Brezhnev Stagnation
Brezhnev stagnation
The Era of Stagnation, also known as Brezhnev stagnation or the Stagnation Period, refers to a period of economic stagnation under the rules of Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko in the history of the Soviet Union which started in the mid-1970s.-Terminology:Various authors...
into Soviet cinema, in which "a new conservatism and sharpened censure molded the cinematic image of the war into conventional patterns."
Denise J. Youngblood stated that the films - depicting the protagonists as human and imperfect - were still influenced by the Khruschev Thaw's artistic freedom, writing that: "It is, however, important to stress that Ozerov was far from a 'tool' of war cult propaganda... Liberation is a much better film than critics allowed". When interviewing Nikolay Olyalin
Nikolay Olyalin
Nikolay Vladimiriovich Olyalin was a Soviet and an Ukrainian actor....
, journalist Dmitry Gordon commented that unlike the Stalinist war films, Liberation showed Red Army soldiers panicking and breaking under pressure, depicting the "Blood, death, sweat and tears" of war. German author Christoph Dieckmann wrote that "Despite of all the propaganda, Liberation is an anti-war film, a memento mori to the uncountable lives sacrificed for victory."
Historical accuracy
The sociologist Lev GudkovLev Gudkov
Lev Dmitrievich Gudkov is a Russian sociologist, director of the analytical Levada Center and editor-in-chief of the journal The Russian Public Opinion Herald.-Scientific activity:...
saw the series as a succinct representation of the Soviet official view on the war's history: "The dominant understanding of the war is shown in the film epic Liberation... All other versions only elaborated on this theme." He characterized this view as one that allowed "a number of unpleasant facts" to be "repressed from mass consciousness".
Dr. Lars Karl claimed that "Ozerov wanted to show that Europe's liberation from Fascism was enabled by the Red Army... And therefore, the Soviet Union had a right to have a say in the matters of Europe." Karl noted that Roosevelt and Churchill are depicted as "paper tigers" who are keen to reach a settlement with Hitler; in the Battle of Berlin, Stalin informs the Western leaders that he knows of the covert Dulles-Wolff
Karl Wolff
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Schutzstaffel , ultimately holding the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS. He became Chief of Personal Staff to the Reichsführer and SS Liaison Officer to Hitler until his replacement in 1943...
dealings when they assemble in the Yalta Conference, on 4 February 1945 - a month before the actual negotiations took place
Operation Crossword
During World War II, Operation Crossword or Operation Sunrise was a series of secret negotiations conducted in March 1945 in Switzerland between representatives of Nazi Germany and the Western Allies to arrange a local surrender of German forces in northern Italy...
; Averell Harriman officially notified Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
on the matter beforehand. Karl also wrote that no mention is made of the Stalin-Hitler Pact. Polish author Łukasz Jasina commented that the Bug River
Bug River
The Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...
, the line along which Poland was partitioned between the Soviet Union and Germany at 1939, is spoken of as the Polish border already during 1944 - although the USSR annexed the eastern territories of Poland only after the war. Russian historian Boris Sokolov wrote that the film's depiction of Battle of Kursk was "completely false" and the German casualties were exaggerated. Liberation presents the civilian population in Berlin welcoming the Red Army; German author Jörg von Mettke wrote that the scene in which the German women flirt with the Soviet soldiers "might have happened, but it was mostly otherwise." General Gustav Schmidt
Gustav Schmidt (general)
Gustav Richard Ernst Schmidt was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme...
, who committed suicide rather than to be captured by the Soviets, is shown to have done so after disappointing von Manstein and failing to defeat the enemy.
Grigory Filaev called the films an "encyclopedia of myths", and claimed that they spread the falsehood according to which Stalin ordered to capture Kiev before the eve of the 26th Anniversary of the October Revolution. Victor Suvorov wrote that in reality, Zhukov had objected to Rokossovsky's decision to launch a preemptive artillery strike in Kursk, and that the latter even wrote to the producers a letter protesting the decision to portray the events otherwise. Yakov Dzhugashvili
Yakov Dzhugashvili
Yakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili was one of Joseph Stalin's four children . Yakov was the son of Stalin's first wife, Ekaterina Svanidze...
's daughter, Galina, claimed that the phrase "I will not trade a Field Marshal for a soldier", that is strongly associated with Yakov's story, was never uttered by her grandfather and is "just a quote from Liberation". Yakov Dzhugashvili's appearance in The Fire Bulge was anachronistic: he is depicted meeting General Vlasov on 5 July 1943. Yakov died at 14 April 1943.
Legacy
Liberation won great acclaim for Yuri Ozerov, both in the Soviet Union and abroad. Until the end of his career, the director devoted himself to the subject of the Second World War. Several actors continued to depict their characters from Liberation in Ozerov's other works: Mikhail UlyanovMikhail Ulyanov
Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov was a Soviet and Russian actor who was one of the most recognizable persons of the post-World War II Soviet theatre and cinema. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1969 and received a special prize from the Venice Film Festival in 1982.Mikhail Alexandrovich...
and Gerd Michael Henneberg
Gerd Michael Henneberg
Gerd Michael Henneberg was a German actor and theater director.-Biography:Gerd Henneberg's father, Richard, was a theater director. After the young Heeneberg took private acting classes, he made his debut on stage at the age of sixteen, in the Leipzig Theater...
, for example, appeared as Zhukov and Keitel also in Soldiers of Freedom
Soldiers of Freedom
Soldiers of Freedom is a 1977 film directed by Yuri Ozerov and starring Mikhail Ulyanov, Yevgeny Matveyev, Vasily Lanovoy. Soldiers of Freedom is the World War II historical drama.-Plot:...
(1977), Battle of Moscow
Battle of Moscow (film)
The Battle of Moscow is a 1985 Soviet two-part film, presenting a dramatized account of the 1941 Battle of Moscow and the events preceding it. The films were a Soviet-East German-Czechoslovak-Vietnamese co-production directed by Yuri Ozerov who also wrote the script...
(1985) and Stalingrad
Stalingrad (1989 film)
Stalingrad is a 1989 two-part Soviet-East German-Czechoslovak-American co-production directed by Yuri Ozerov, who also wrote the script. The film revolves around the Battle of Stalingrad.-Film I:...
(1989).
The series is regularly broadcast on the Russian television's Channel One
Channel One (Russia)
Channel One is the first television channel to broadcast in the Soviet Union. The channel was renamed Ostankino Channel 1 in 1991, after the Soviet Union broke up and the Russian SFSR became the Russian Federation. According to a recent government publication, the Russian government controls 51%...
during Victory Day. At August 2001, shortly before Yuri Ozerov's eightieth birthday, Russian Minister of Culture Mikhail Shvidki announced that the series would be restored as had been done to War and Peace. At 2003, the films were remastered by a team from Mosfilm, headed by Anatoly Petritzky, and released on DVD format. Some footage from the original version was not included for technical reasons, and the new edition is shorter.
During a presidential interview for the 2010 Victory Day, when asked about the war's casualties, Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
told: "I recall the lines in the end of Liberation... On the screen, it was written that more than twenty million Soviet people lost their lives." At an official debate on the commemoration of World War II held in the Federation Council of Russia
Federation Council of Russia
Federation Council of Russia ) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , according to the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation...
, deputy Oleg Panteleev commented: "I hope that the youth of today would read some of those literary works (on the war), listen to Shostakhovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
and watch Liberation". Member of the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
and former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Arseniy Yatsenyuk
Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer. Yatsenyuk served in the government of Ukraine as Minister of Economy from 2005 to 2006; subsequently he was Foreign Minister of Ukraine in 2007 and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada from 2007 to 2008.-Early life:Arseniy...
announced that he would send the series to Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
as a new year's gift for 2011, claiming the films demonstrate Ukraine's importance for the victory in the war.
External links
- The Fire Bulge, Breakthrough, Direction of the Main Blow part I and part II, The Battle of Berlin and The Last Assault on Mosfilm's official Youtube channel.
- The Fire Bulge, Breakthrough and Direction of the Main Blow, Battle of Berlin, The Last Storm for free viewing on the official site of the Mosfilm Studio.
- A 2005 television interview with Dilara Ozerova.
- A 2011 television interview with Dilara Ozerova.
- Stills related to Liberation on RIA Novosti's photographs archive.
- Liberation on Kino-Teatr.ru.
- Liberation on Melofanas.lt.
- Liberation on Filmportal.de.
- Liberation on Ostfilm.de.