SS Charlemagne: The 33rd Waffen-Grenadier Division of the SS

Rostaing and sixteen other French survivors were sleeping exhausted in the ruins of Potsdammer railway station at around midnight when they were awakened by a call to surrender or the station would be blown up.

General Krukenberg concluded his account:

Having crossed the Spree, I sent the two officers that lived locally off on reconnaissance, but neither of them returned, so towards 0300 hours on the morning of the 2nd May I made a reconnaissance myself accompanied by my French detachment. An attempt to go through the Charité Hospital failed because Professor Sauerbruch (the hospital director), in agreement with the Russian command, had declared it a neutral zone, so I tried to go via Chausseestrasse. I encountered elements of the Nordland with SS-General Ziegler, who had joined us with his companions. There were four or five holders of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross in our group, including the Frenchman Vaulot.

Meanwhile day was dawning and the Soviets, seeing our column, brought it under violent fire. We turned around with the hope of leaving via Gesundbrunnen towards Pankow and from there on to Wittenau.

Following Brunnenstrasse we were suddenly hit by well directed mortar fire at the level of Lortzingstrasse, apparently coming from the railway ring. We sought shelter in the courtyard of a building on the corner, where SS-General Ziegler was mortally wounded near me by explosions that wounded other members of our group. Soviet infantrymen that had infiltrated the quarter took us under fire in turn, obliging us to turn back towards the city.

At the level of Ziegelstrasse we saw the ‘Tiger’ tank I had placed at the disposal of the Chancellery the day before, burnt out and abandoned, with no trace of its crew. All the area, including the Weidendammer Bridge, was still clear of the enemy at 0900 hours that morning.

By 1500 hours all resistance had definitely ceased in Berlin. That evening the German armies in Italy and Austria also capitulated.

Having succeeded in hiding myself away with some friends in Dahlem for several days, I eventually surrendered to the Soviet authorities in Berlin-Steglitz.

The known success of the Charlemagne contingent in the battle for Berlin is summarised in the following table:

Name	Formerly	Tanks	Decoration	Fate
SS-Lt Wilhelm Weber	SS	8	Knight’s Cross	-
Sgt Eugène Vaulot	Navy	8	Knight’s Cross	Killed
Ssgt François Appolot	Navy	6	Knight’s Cross	-
Sgt Jules Bocau	SS	4	Iron Cross I	-
Gren Claude	-	4	Iron Cross I	Wounded
Sgt François de Lannurien	SS	3	Iron Cross I	-
Sgt Albert	SS	4	Iron Cross I	Killed
Gren Audry	LVF	2	-	Killed
Gnr Blaise	-	1	-	Killed
Gren Aubin	-	1	-	-

Chapter Nine Finale