Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman
Once they're in Berlin, see Antony Beevor's Berlin: The Downfall 1945 for a good description of the situation. They're liable to get conscripted almost at random for units to fight in the defence, by people with direct orders from the Führer, so keeping a very low profile is advisable. The Führerprinzip was exploitable, but could bite back.
Getting back out again is harder. If they leave their vehicles unguarded, they will be stolen. Getting picked up by aircraft is conceivable, but the Berlin airfields are all subject to Soviet attack and ones further west will still have Luftwaffe ground troops with AAA even if they don't have much in the way of aircraft. Getting picked up by submarine is hard: Berlin is some way from the Baltic coast, and the Danish Straits are still heavily mined; the Western Allies have left the Baltic to the Soviets.
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I agree that Beevor's book is an excellent start. He interviewed many people from all walks of life, he seems comfortable in German and Russian, and his tendency to hate Communists more than Fascists is not as visible there as in some of his other books.
Anyone who looks like they are fleeing is also in danger of being arrested and summarily executed
um die andere zu ermütigen, and some would-be arresters will have a lot of guns.
A setting for an Icelander-adventure for sure!