National Geographic - Surrender! the Fall of the Reich (2015)

An event programme for the 70th Anniversary of V-E Day, recounting the final episodes of World War II and the first steps into a new world emerging, from Christmas 1944 to summer 1945.
"Surrender" captures the saga that unfolded during the final episodes of World War II and the first steps into a new world: from the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes in the winter of 1944 to VE Day on May 8, 1945, ending the war in Europe. Between chaotic times and new hopes, stories will be told by civilians and soldiers, caught up in these defining moments.
On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany capitulated. After more than five years of war that left more than 42 million dead, the world celebrated the victory of the Allied forces over the Third Reich. Millions of refugees who had been displaced, exiled, and deported by the conflict were thrown onto devastated country roads. Never had the end of a war been so violent and uncertain. Six months earlier, nothing hasn not yet been decided. In December 1944, Adolf Hitler launched his last major offensive in the Ardennes, inflicting heavy losses on Anglo-American troops. On the Eastern Front, faced with the advance of the Red Army, the Nazi general staff put up fierce resistance and led the German people into its destructive madness.

Part 1: The Nazis' Last Stand
Part 1 of a two part documentary, chronicling the last year of the war in the European theater, from the D-Day Landings in Normandy in June 1944 to Nazi Germany's surrender in May 1945. This film traces the very last months of World War II in Europe, following the military leaders and the battles they fought, but also giving voice to the forgotten: The foot soldiers, the civilians, the women and the children, scarred by unspeakable hardship and looking to better times.

Part 2: The Fall of Nazi Germany
While the allied troops were confronted to the death camp horrors, the Russian soldiers were engaged in a merciless fight at the gates of Berlin. Just in this battle, the Russians lost up to 15,000 men per day! The Nazi commanders, enraged, kept throwing crowds of armed civilians on the streets - including many adolescents and old men - and continued to proclaim that victory was close! While the Russians successfully took over the Reichstag on April 30, 1945, Hitler committed suicide in his bunker. On May 7 and 8, 1945, Germany's surrender was signed both in Reims, France and in Berlin.