Editing Nazi Germany (section)

==== Turning point and collapse ====
{{See also|Mass suicides in 1945 Nazi Germany|Flensburg Government|German Instrument of Surrender}}
Losses continued to mount after Stalingrad, leading to a sharp reduction in the popularity of the Nazi Party and deteriorating morale.{{sfn|Kershaw|2011|p=208}} Soviet forces continued to push westward after the failed German offensive at the [[Battle of Kursk]] in the summer of 1943. By the end of 1943, the Germans had lost most of their eastern territorial gains.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1007}} In Egypt, Field Marshal [[Erwin Rommel]]'s ''Afrika Korps'' were defeated by British forces under Field Marshal [[Bernard Montgomery]] in October 1942.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=467}} The Allies landed in Sicily in July 1943 and were on the Italian peninsula by September.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=471}} Meanwhile, American and British bomber fleets based in Britain began [[Defence of the Reich|operations against Germany]]. Many sorties were intentionally given civilian targets in an effort to destroy German morale.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=438–441}} The bombing of aircraft factories as well as [[Peenemünde Army Research Center]], where [[V-1 flying bomb|V-1]] and [[V-2 rocket|V-2]] rockets were being developed and produced, were also deemed particularly important.{{sfn|Reisner|2015}}{{sfn|Strüber|2018}} German aircraft production could not keep pace with losses, and without air cover the Allied bombing campaign became even more devastating. By targeting oil refineries and factories, they crippled the German war effort by late 1944.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=461}}

On 6 June 1944, American, British, and Canadian forces established a front in France with the [[Normandy landings|D-Day]] landings in [[Normandy]].{{sfn|Beevor|2012|pp=576–578}} On [[20 July plot|20 July 1944]], Hitler survived an assassination attempt.{{sfn|Beevor|2012|pp=604–605}} He ordered brutal reprisals, resulting in 7,000&nbsp;arrests and the execution of more than 4,900&nbsp;people.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1072}} The failed [[Ardennes Offensive]] (16 December 1944&nbsp;– 25 January 1945) was the last major German offensive on the western front, and Soviet forces entered Germany on 27 January.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=1090–1097}} Hitler's refusal to admit defeat and his insistence that the war be fought to the last man led to unnecessary death and destruction in the war's closing months.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=910–912}} Through his Justice Minister [[Otto Georg Thierack]], Hitler ordered that anyone who was not prepared to fight should be court-martialed, and thousands of people were executed.{{sfn|Kershaw|2011|pp=224–225}} In many areas, people surrendered to the approaching Allies in spite of exhortations of local leaders to continue to fight. Hitler ordered the destruction of transport, bridges, industries, and other infrastructure—a [[scorched earth]] decree—but Armaments Minister [[Albert Speer]] prevented this order from being fully carried out.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=910–912}}

[[File:SFP 186 - Flug ueber Berlin.ogv|thumb|[[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Force]] film of the aftermath of the destruction in central Berlin in July 1945|alt=]]

During the [[Battle of Berlin]] (16 April&nbsp;– 2 May 1945), Hitler and his staff lived in the underground ''[[Führerbunker]]'' while the Red Army approached.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1108}} On 30 April, when Soviet troops were within two blocks of the [[Reich Chancellery]], Hitler and his wife [[Eva Braun]] [[Death of Adolf Hitler|committed suicide]].{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=954–955}} On 2 May, General [[Helmuth Weidling]] unconditionally surrendered Berlin to Soviet General [[Vasily Chuikov]].{{sfn|Beevor|2002|p=386}} Hitler was succeeded by Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz]] as Reich President and Goebbels as Reich Chancellor.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1126}} Goebbels and his wife [[Magda Goebbels|Magda]] committed suicide the next day after murdering their [[Goebbels children|six children]].{{sfn|Beevor|2002|p=381}} Between 4 and 8 May 1945, most of the remaining German armed forces unconditionally surrendered. The [[German Instrument of Surrender]] was signed 8 May, marking the end of the Nazi regime and the [[end of World War II in Europe]].{{sfn|Beevor|2002|pp=400–403}}

Popular support for Hitler almost completely disappeared as the war drew to a close.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=714}} Suicide rates in Germany increased, particularly in areas where the Red Army was advancing. Among soldiers and party personnel, suicide was often deemed an honourable and heroic alternative to surrender. First-hand accounts and propaganda about the uncivilised behaviour of the advancing Soviet troops caused panic among civilians on the Eastern Front, especially women, who feared being raped.{{sfn|Kershaw|2011|pp=355–357}} More than a thousand people (out of a population of around 16,000) [[Mass suicide in Demmin|committed suicide in Demmin]] around 1 May 1945 as the 65th Army of [[2nd Belorussian Front]] first broke into a distillery and then rampaged through the town, committing mass rapes, arbitrarily executing civilians, and setting fire to buildings. High numbers of suicides took place in many other locations, including [[Neubrandenburg]] (600 dead), [[Słupsk|Stolp in Pommern]] (1,000 dead),{{sfn|Lakotta|2005|pp=218–221}} and Berlin, where at least 7,057 people committed suicide in 1945.{{sfn|Goeschel|2009|p=165}}