Berlin's breakthrough is a scene in Downfall that is rarely used in parodies.
In Downfall[]
- Bold indicates this part is only present in the Extended Edition
Gathered in the Reich Chancellery, Wilhelm Mohnke informs the remaining figures of the Führerbunker (Traudl Junge, Gerda Christian, Otto Günsche) and a large unit of soldiers that the next day Helmuth Weidling will hand over Berlin to the authority of the Soviets. For soldiers, it means becoming prisoners of war. Ernst-Günther Schenck sees Max Müller approach behind him and says he's glad to have him on board. Mohnke continues that he must hand over Hitler's will to Admiral Karl Dönitz who is now the President of the Reich. Martin Bormann sneaks his way into the crowd in uniform with the hope of fleeing the country and not ending up in Soviet custody.
Mohnke says all those who wish to join are welcome, but they must get past the Russian lines by the next morning. Mohnke asks if anyone has questions, nobody responds, he takes command by leading the first of ten groups and the women will come with him. And all other groups will leave every twenty to thirty minutes. He wishes them luck. Everybody gears up prepared to leave.
Leaving out through the walls of the Reich Chancellery, the first group makes their way to the nearest underground train station passing burning buildings, and a group of three men presumably cutting open a dead cow for food. On the underground railway tracks, Traudl trips along with a few other members, and is helped by Schenck, the group stops presumably having reached in front of Russian soldiers. However, Mohnke points out they would've been killed already. They turn on the flashlight and see a solider and German civilians. They ask each other if they have seen any Russians to which they answer no. Mohnke's unit moves forward heading upstairs to the main platform.
The main platform is also like the underground railway, a shelter for the civilians and injured soldiers whom they pass, suffering from various ailments including one where his stomach remains are trying to be pushed back in by a fellow soldier. Doctors are also performing operations in railway cars. The uninjured soldiers are being awarded the Iron Cross for their brave actions on the front.
Once they leave the station in order to cross a bridge, Traudl sees Constanze Manziarly apart from the group and tells her to come. However, Constanze refuses. Traudl tells her to, but she doesn't budge and is taken away by Schenck. The group safely crosses through the bridge. Constanze, who separated, opens her hand holding a cartridge. On the other side of the bridge, the second group has arrived, but are shot as soon as they touch the bridge. Gerda gets up and is horrified remarking, "Oh my God." She is then pulled down by Müller who gets shot in the crossfire. Günsche grabs her and the group moves forward.
Traveling through the ruins, they spot an elderly couple sitting on a table at what is definitely their home. Asked why don't they come with them, the woman responds saying they're not leaving and she wishes Traudl good luck. Later, they're taking a break eating around a campfire. The guards are alarmed by someone's presence. Coming over the hill is Walther Hewel who tells them that he's a German. Traudl recognizes him and is glad he's alive. She asks him where everyone else is to which he responds that he doesn't know and that most of the people from his group are probably dead. Hewel regrets leaving the bunker and felt he should have shot himself. Schenck, being cheeky, says he should eat first as there is always time to die.
In the Parodies[]
So far, this scene is only used in story-based parodies, such as The Assassination of Hitler and The Console Wars by Joster285.
Trivia[]
- This is the last appearance of Constanze Manziarly and Martin Bormann.
- It is not known what exactly happened to Constanze. Rumors have suggested that she took a cyanide capsule to kill herself on May 2, 1945, in order to avoid capture by the Soviets. The film suggests she might have shot herself as she is holding a cartridge, but Junge recounts Manziarly leaving with her group, "dressed too much like a soldier." In 1989, Junge recalled the last time Manziarly was seen was when the group of four women who had been given the task of delivering a report to Karl Dönitz split up, and Manziarly tried to blend in with a group of local women. In her 2002 autobiography Until the Final Hour, Junge alluded to seeing Manziarly, "the ideal image of Russian femininity, well built and plump-cheeked", being taken into a U-Bahn subway tunnel by two Soviet soldiers, reassuring the group that "[T]hey want to see my papers." Manziarly was never seen again and is presumed dead.
- As for Martin Bormann, he for many years was unfound after the end of the war and was tried and convicted at the Nuremberg Trials in absentia for war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. He was confirmed to have died on May 2, 1945, after his skull remains were conclusively identified as Bormann's in 1998 when German authorities ordered genetic testing on fragments of the skull. The testing was led by Wolfgang Eisenmenger, Professor of Forensic Science at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Tests using DNA from one of his relatives identified the skull as that of Bormann. Bormann's remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Baltic Sea on 16 August 1999.