Berlin's Hated WW2 Memorial 

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I’ve spent the last 47 years studying WW2 and I can confidently say I still don’t know half as much as Dr. Felton, a true scholar.

The 1990 treaty apparently also includes a provision that arranges for the protection of German war graves in Russia. This may explain the German governments reluctance to change anything about this memorial or any other former Soviet Union memorial. edit: changed "Russian memorial" to "Soviet Union memorial". Thanks Marat.

When I was in Berlin in 2011 I got lost and happened upon this memorial. It was surreal!

The site for this memorial was not chosen randomly, as it was meant to be the main reference point from where all roads would start their path across the Third Reich, similar to the Column in Rome in the Forum, which designated the end/starting point of all roads in the Roman Empire. It's been a while since I read the memoirs of Albert Speer " Inside the Third Reich", where he describes in detail. I recommend this book to everyone who is interested in this topic. Overall, there are 3 Soviet Memorials with soldier burials in Berlin. This one in Tiergarten, another one in Treptower Park (The largest one), and in Pankow.

I think the T34/76 are veterans of the Battle of Berlin. One of the two tanks received two armor-piercing hits next to the bow machine gun and a presumed one hit by a Panzerfaust on the turret.

I was in Berlin right after the wall went down. Streets were being renamed and the telephone exchanges between East and West Berlin were still being connected. The main thing I noticed about the memorial was that it was just about the only thing that had not been spray painted with graffiti. There was so much graffiti, it looked as though some paint company had handed out thousands of cans of spray paint to everybody and told them to spray the city. The memorial was graffiti free.

Ukrainian, Belorussian etc. Fronts are just names. They consisted of people ethnicities and nationalities from all over USSR. It didnt mean that the soldiers from the Ukrainian front were only Ukrainian. Just in case if some people didn't know that, , which I highly doubt.

I love how since the very beginning when this channel was up and coming this man has not changed his format. I like it when RU-vidrs stick to what made them popular instead of trying to conform to trends and what not.

I don't think saying that the Ukranian Front consisted of ukranians is exactly accurate. Soviet fronts were mainly named after the locations where they were originally formed, not the ethnicity of its soldiers. So it was formed not only from the conscripts of Ukraine (which was only like a half ethnically ukranian at the time) but also from old allready formed and reformed divisions that happend to be there at the time.

I spent my teenage years in then West Berlin in the first half of the 80’s, as my father was in the USAF. It was possible to visit East Berlin as part of controlled groups, and one of the places was the large Soviet War Memorial that lies in the eastern part of current Berlin (am Treptower IIRC). So there are two Soviet War memorials that existed in Berlin in whole. There were also Soviet armed troops at Spandau Prison 3 months a year in West Berlin, since the 4 Allied powers rotated who guarded it. Additionally unarmed Soviets were occasionally seen in West Berlin as well. Legal spying. It applied to us also. It was called the Military Liaison Mission (MLM) and one of the members, Major Arthur Nicholson was shot and killed in East Germany. He lived just around the corner from me.

Fun (or really not so fun) Fact: The location of the memorial is deliberate, it was built on the route of the former Siegesallee where the statues of German medieval and (modern) kings, rulers, and the like were built, going from the Tiergarten to the Konigsplatz in front of the Reichstag. With the monument in place, it was then impossible to rebuild the pathway.

You've no idea how much the Hungarians hate the WWII memorial monument the Communists put up in Budapest.

It should be mentioned that pre-unification there was nothing extraordinary in having Soviet soldiers in the British sector. The four power agreement stipulated that all had the right to this as well as running patrols through the other sectors. Around 1986 I saw American patrols driving through East Berlin as well as Soviet patrols in West. They all insisted on exercising this right upto the end of the occupation in the early 1990-s.

Gallipoli in Turkey also has an Australian war memorial for when the Aussies landed in Gallipoli during WW1. There is a memorial service on ANAZAC day every year in Turkey that has now been going for over 100 years. The Turkish president Erdogan hates it and outright denounced it on camera.

I live in Berlin and I have never heard it called that until it spread in the last few weeks.

Just imagine how beautiful Berlin would be today if it were not for the war.

I'm always amazed at how alliances change depending on the circumstances

When I was the management officer at the US Embassy Office in Berlin during the early 1990s, I had a chance to climb into a manhole in the Tiergarten and descend into both the autobahn and railway tunnels that are located under this monument. The Berlin city engineers were engaged on a program to rediscover the "lost" tunnels and bunkers under the city. It was an amazing experience.

I can’t thank you enough for not cropping the vintage video that you use in your content. I hate it when people do that.

Suposedly, the two T-34 tanks were the first ones to enter Berlin (according to the tourist information displayed at the memorial)

Ukrainien front was not composed by Ukrainians. It was called that for geographical reason but Mark knows it very well.

Visited this while in the US Army in 1983 with the 509th Airborne. The Russians refused to change guards while we were there. Our guide had the buses leave and hide around the corner and once they started the changing, we rushed back and got to see it.

The remains of Germans found in Russia today are placed in war cemeteries without incident in Russia. There is also a large memorial in Russia listing the names of Germans killed in and around Stalingrad. Best for both sides to respect each others war dead from that war.

You can compare this monument with a Nazi war memorial. Both the Soviets and the Nazis were horrible. It would be better to turn that monument into a monument to all victims (civil and military) of the battle of berlin.

When I lived in Berlin I also heard talk that building material from Goering's demolished residence 'Karinhall', outside of Berlin was used for the memorial.

I flew Air Force cadets into Tegal (French airport) in Berlin in the mid eighties while the wall was still up and visited this memorial as well as the massive grave for the 5000 soviet casualties and the tomb of the unknown patriot. You should show these as well for historical perspective. Even in the eighties, the comparison between East and Western Berlin was stark with battle damage still prominent in the Soviet sector.

Dr. F is a real one! I’ve learnt so much mane its help me with the history part of my GED test. Keep up the good work sir

I was living in Berlin for over 5 years with German girlfriend and nobody complained about the soviet monuments at all

I'm certainly not pro-Soviet by any stretch, but it's a rare decent thing that the memorial has been preserved (probably so the German memorials in Russia/ex-Soviet republics are too, but still). What always boggles my mind though, is seeing all the cities in complete ruins at the end of WW2 all fully rebuilt, and now with 2022 technology the tiniest of maintenance work take forever

Mark, Thanks very much for this interesting and informative feature. I live in Berlin myself and have visited the Memorial on several occasions. I too find it well-kept and very interesting-as is its companion memorial at Treptower Park. Compliments on your channel and work.

With every video I learn something new. They are very informative.

Memorials are a reminder of past atrocious mistakes and must remain as to make sure it never happens again for future generations knowledge!

Hi Mark, I like your History channel, Your explanation is detailed and good

By the way, Berlin was hit so hard by the war that it still has a lower population than it had in 1942.

Once again an excellent video on a little known memorial.

Hi Dr. Felton. Could you do a video on the memorial at Treptower Park. I visited a few times and keep being awestruck to find it in the middle of Berlin. Such a surreal site it is!

Dr. Mark Felton, the man, the historian and the legend is back...to grace us with another history lesson.

Whether it’s true or not it’s an interesting story. My father served in the grenadier guards during his national service in 1953-54 and was stationed in Berlin. The story went that these two tanks were involved in the battle for Berlin and were knocked out and the crew killed. He claimed that the Russians filled both tanks with concrete with the crew interred in them before placing them on this memorial. I could imagine it’s true but have no evidence. Good story/ myth though.

I love your videos. I always learn something, or get a different perspective on something that I knew a little bit about. Thanks for all the work and sharing.

Soviets did something similar in Vienna. The Austrians spent recently spent over a million euros to redo the monument. It maintenance was written into the State treaty giving Austria its independence in 1955.

Interestingly it feels totally different from Russian Soviet war memorials except for surplus military equipment placed there. It's concept, shape and writings are like from different culture.

In Soviet terms "Ukrainian front" doesnt stands for Ukrainian fighters, it means "front, located on Ukraine"

If this doesn’t show us that history is complicated, I don’t know what does.

This deserves a subscribe, Truly fascinating.

Me everytime that Mark Felton intro music hits: 🕺 🕺 🕺 🕺 🕺

Please never change that intro music, Mr. Felton. Its perfect! On an unrelated note: I plan on buying your book The Fujita Plan as an early birthday gift!

There remains a smaller but quite similar Soviet war memorial in Dresden, walking distance from the Bundeswehr Museum.

I learn a lot every time I tune in. Respect

I LOVE Berlin. My favorite city in all of Germany. Especially former East Berlin. It's like a time capsule. Plus, the world famous museum island is in the east. Hell, all of the former DDR is filled with historical treasures of Germany's rich history. Leipzig, Weimar, Dresden and Eisenach, just to name a few. There is so much more to Germany than World War 2 and the Cold War. You should travel there and see for yourself.

Dr. Felton brings extremely unique stories

In the early '70's I was stationed in Bamberg and did frequent border duty from another base in Colberg. Both in Bavaria. Drove border patrol in jeeps. And did overnight duty in a shack next to the border. Both parts, while watching the fenced & mined border, and its guard towers with armed East German guards. This, plus training constantly at a couple of NATO sites was my assignment as a member of the 2/2 Armored Cavalry Regiment's H Company as a gunner on an M60A1 Main Battle Tank ... .................. Toujours Pret ..................

Was in Berlin in 1990 after the fall of the Wall and was floored to see Soviet troops at the memorial. The statue on top was in much better shape then.

I've seen this memorial in person. It's a lonely memorial compared to the many tourists that flock to the Brandenburg Gate. Which is just a 10 minute walk away from this.

Thank you Dr Felton. I saw this memorial in 2001 and now I know what is behind it. It certainly is impressive.

I’ve been to this place… what captured my attention the most was the artillery pieces in front at the time (it was many years ago)

I was at this memorial on my first visit to Berlin 15 years ago. I was genuinely baffled by it at the time. Very interesting to watch this today - like 100% of Mark Felton's content.

I actually visited this memorial a couple of weeks ago when I went to Europe on vacation. There was also a Ukraine war stand right across the street and lawn from the Reichstag when I was there.

Now that's interesting! You make great documentaries, although you are a real mark for yourself with you glamour shot at the beginning and your face as an avatar.

Another German critical commentary about the memorial is that his arm is pointing down because it's weighed down by all the stolen wrist watches.

Georgi Zhukov was right in 1945: "we liberated [Europe,] and they will never forgive us for this."

Once again, you have astonished me with information I did not know - particularly, about the continuous Soviet honor guard inside West Berlin.

Thanks, Mark - I will be going to Berlin later this year and I will pay a visit to this monument if I get the chance. I may not like what it represents, but it is a historic war memorial all the same, and I do appreciate history.

Is the Soviet War Memorial in Treptow, Berlin, worth a video? It’s massive.

There is fort at sandy hook new jersey that has a memorial to foreign invaders. The British has a group of 13 men led by Lt Douglas Haliburton lost to exposure during the revolutionary War. A tomb and memorial was erected during the war and destroyed after the war (unclear if it was intentional or not) but the tomb was lost untill the early 1900's when it was found during construction tion of a rail line at the then fort Hancock seacoast defense fort. The hatred towards the British had cooled off and a new stone marker was erected at the site which still stands today.

When i was in Berlin with my brother & sister in 1987 i missed out on this memorial but i got to see the Soviet military cemetery with the big statue of the Russian soldier holding the child, i also remember some of the older people on the tour having a rather lively and often heated discussion with the East German tour guide who blamed the Soviet occupation on the western allies for not getting to Berlin first.

I visit the monument and the ajoining Soviet cemetery hedges every time I’m in Berlin. I can’t help but get chills every time.

Thank you for the history lesson.

Shocking to see the extensive damage in those old films to what must have been a beautiful city before all the insanity.

Having lived in Berlin very recently (and 3 other German cities) the title is misleading - some people might hate the memorial but they are in the minority. Most people are somewhat indifferent, and a lot of people recognise this, and particularly Treptower Park, as important historical landmarks. Even in the former DDR there are dozens of monuments where major battles were fought and despite the region’s well known nationalist politics today there is little issue with these monuments. I’ve discussed this with my Ossie friends from different generations, and hatred is a word that’s too strong from my experience.

The memorial is also a burial ground so leave it untouched. There are quite some cemeteries with fallen German soldier all over the former sovjet union. Those should not be touched either.

A Memorial, as the name suggests, is there to remember the things of the past. It's not there to like them. If you remove the memorial, you remove the memory and with it the lessons of the past. In light of recent events one might argue if it is worth to remember soviet fallen Soldiers and the answer to that is yes. Why? Because the only thing we can draw from the past is a lesson. If we choose to forget then they truely died in vain.

In Vienna there is one Soviet monument. It's gold and the sodier is smiling. There's a joke, that he's the only one who stayed in Vienna (Russians occupied Austria until 1955)

I've been there. Back in 1987. Seeing the wall, East and West Berlin, and Germany divided, it was quite sobering for a 17 year old.

Outstanding, very interesting.

As part of the USSR’s withdrawal, Helmut Kohl agreed in writing to maintain, protect Soviet war memorials. Now let’s talk about the Katyn Forest Massacre.

2 million subs vid suggestion: if you feel comfortable telling your audience, I know we’d love to hear your/your family’s experience during WWII. My grandpa never talked about his service much, but I do know he was in one of the units that took over Hitler’s villa in Bavaria. His service was extended to the Pacific Theater due to being a part of supplies corps, but he came home after a few weeks once the bombs dropped. My grandpa was maybe my age or a little older when the atomic age started, and never spoke much of his experiences. WWII feels increasingly distant as time goes on. My Grandpa passed a few years ago, and with him one of the only WWII vets I knew personally. Hearing your family’s experience or even what got you so interested in this period of history would be a great video!

Thank you, Mark. Just wanted to say, that names of the Soviet fronts have nothing to do with the nationality of soldiers fighting there. It pinpoints geographical position of any particular front. In the final stages of the war the names of the fronts pretty much stayed the same as they were named while still inside the USSR borders. In the beginning of the war and later the names were often changed, new fronts would appear. So, Ukrainians were fighting everywhere, starting from polar regions and down to the Black Sea. There wasn't any consideration of soldier's nationality, it was random. If there was a new unit forming, very much depended on where it was formed. Naturally, most soldiers in this unit would be locals.

been there once with my fiancé, despite being in the center of Berlin, it has a strange atmosphere

See also the Karlshorst Military Museum - very interesting with many things not normally seen in other museums of the period

I was at that memorial back in July. Berlin is an amazing city.

It is a common misconception that Ukrainians only served in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Ukrainian Fronts. They were all over RKKA, just like all other nationalities of the Soviet Union.

Didn't know it had such a bad reputation. Used to go there sometimes for a break from one of the many clubs nearby. Made quite the impression on the tourist girls as well.. felt more like an oasis of peace and solitude.

I have had the honor of seeing this memorial in person. Beautiful but also thought provoking

I remember touring Berlin the first time after winning 3rd Combat Aviation "Soldier of the year" in 1981. Went up on the famous 5th Corp "Troop Train" back when the Army still had Trains. After getting settled in, I fell in with a small group of fellow EMs and we took an organized tour of East Berlin...a location I ended up visiting more than 30 times to include being there the week the week the Wall fell.. and my being the first US Army Officer ever to set foot inside an East German Grenztruppen guard tower...with active duty/armed guards still on duty! (I have a great video of this....) anyway...On my bus tour there was an Air Force LTC and his family. After initially seeing the Red Army memorial on the West side (above) which still had Red Army Soldiers guarding it. We then went into Treptow to see the massive Red Army memorial and cemetery. The East German tour guide was going on and on about "the great Patriotic War, Russian sacrifices, defeating Nazism ad nausem"...the Colonel turned around to us and said "it looks like a Communist plot to me boys"! We broke out laughing, and the tour guide almost had an aneurysm! Good times!

Personally, my favorite monument is made in memory of fallen and perished Romanis (kaatuneiden romanien muistomerkki). Built in 2003 and located in Hietaniemi, Helsinki. Perished means those who were executed for desertion or deported to Stutthof concentration camp. Fallen means killed in action 1939-45. Both sides of the coin in one monument.

Dr. Felton does it again. I enjoy having a meal and watching one of his videos

In Alsace as well there are some upseting monuments. The Kleber Denkmal in Strasbourg, the Croix de Lorraine in Thann, the colonne Thurenne in Turckheim, etc.

This is a War Grave dedicated to the troops who fell in that location, no different to the German or British ones in France

Perfect timing! Thanks Mark Felton for producing such interesting videos for us!

I don't know who you are, but I'd like to see a source for the assumed hatred for this statue. I'm not a Berliner, but I know that Berlins local politian held debates and demands to remove this monument or parts of it more than once. Last time was a few months after the current war, when CDU politicians made such demand, but the party in charge for such questions, Die Linke, denied it to obviously not insult the fight over fascism, other parties on both sides joined in: so I don't see how it can be called sheerly hated, if it holds such support and protest. But to appease you, I shall tell, that someone (maeby the government) put two roses through the tank barrels to protest the war, and they are permenat. In East Germany it was a tradition for school classes to take their children to the other greater Soviet war memorial in the Treptow Park: those who have lived in this tradition often remember it fondly, as giving them a sense of history (with natural outlines) - for our modern children there would be no damage done in reviving such traditions. I also heard that every year people gather by those memorial, you guessed it, on the 9th March - Victory Day. I'm not only speaking of Russians living in Germany, especially the elder ones who place pictures and flowers for their fallen soldiers, but also former soldiers of Nazi Germany to remember their time on the eastern flank and to honor those on whom they or their army committed horrible atrocities. These people are of course leaving us as time matches on, but I heard that their children, at least some of them, are continuing this practice. Thankfully someone who tries to preserve at least some kind of tradition in Germany. And lastly I've heard that the Russians are keeping quit a lot of WW2 museums in former Stalingrad, especially houses in which the last German soldiers barecated themselfs and tried to hold through the last intense fighting. These house are supposed to be untouched leftovers from those times.

When I was there in 2013 someone had spray painted a large anarchist's circle A front and center on the memorial.

Ever since I watched WW2 in colour with (Robert Powell)as the narrator when I was a kid loved watching studying history. Thanks Mark every-time you upload makes me smile and making me fall in love with this subject. Edit: As someone mentioned it was actually Robert Powell that done WW2 in colour, no matter both been a big influence on me and have made history a joy for me

That has to be such an odd feeling having memorials to foreigners in your country.

Really intersting video ❤

The best anti-ad for curiosity stream!)

A peek on some Post-WW2 secret societies would be cool

I'm surprised it's still standing to be honest.

I like that 1958 Chevrolet station wagon in the opening scene.

Germany basically got Genghis Khan'd from 1944-1945. To this day they still have not really fully recovered.