Soviet rocket-launchers blast German positions in
Potsdam railroad station in the finals days of
the Battle of Berlin

April 23
Western Front, Germany
The last German defenders in the Harz Mountains are captured. Farther north, the British Second Army enters the outskirts of Hamburg.

April 25-27
Eastern Front, Germany
Marshal Georgi Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front and Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front complete the encirclement of Berlin, trapping its defenders. The assault on the city begins on the 26th, preceded by heavy air strikes and artillery bombardments, with attacks from all sides simultaneously. By the 27th, 'Fortress Berlin' has been reduced to an east-to-west belt 10 miles (16 km) long by three miles (5 km) wide. German forces within the city are affected by widespread desertions and suicides.

April 28
Politics, Holland
The first meeting between Allied and German representatives takes place in western Holland. The Reichskommissar for the Netherlands, Artur von Seyss-Inquart, has offered the Allies the freedom to import food and coal into German-occupied western Holland to alleviate the plight of the civilian population if they will halt their forces to the east. This leads to a cessation of hostilities and saves the country from the ravages of further fighting.

Politics, Italy
Mussolini's puppet fascist state collapses along with German resistance in the north of the country. Attempting to flee to Austria, Il Duce and his mistress Claretta Petacci are captured by partisans. On the orders of the Committee of National Liberation, Walter Audisio, a communist member of the Volunteer Freedom Corps, shoots them both. Their mutilated bodies are later hung up in the Piazzale Loreto, Milan.

Eastern Front, Germany
Soviet troops begin the assault on the Reichstag by attacking across the Moltke Bridge. The Germans launch furious counterattacks, and at the strongpoints of the Ministry of the Interior (defended by SS troops) and the Kroll Opera resistance is fierce.

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