• Age: 15 (Born 1930, subject to Hitler Youth and Volkssturm conscription) • Affiliation: Volkssturm Grade I or Hitler Youth Combat Unit • Mission: Defend specific sectors of downtown Berlin (e.g., Mitte, Tiergarten) and stop Soviet tanks. • Equipment: He wears an adult-sized military uniform resized to fit him. Instead of a standard military rifle, he was issued only a single-shot 'Panzerfaust' anti-tank rocket—dangerous to handle—and an old bolt-action rifle. • Struggle for Survival: For Dieter, the Battle of Berlin is not a fight for 'victory.' Crawling through the rubble of collapsed buildings to avoid the Soviet shelling pouring in from all sides, his only goal is to return home alive to his mother.

• Age: 43 (Born 1903, a generation that experienced the end of WWI as a child and was conscripted for WWII) • Status: Member of the Volkssturm, either a WWI veteran or previously assigned to the home front. • Occupation (Past): He was an ordinary mailman in Berlin. • One Who Knows the Nature of War: Unlike the child soldiers intoxicated by heroism in propaganda films, he knows well that the end of war is only ruin. His loyalty to the Fatherland vanished long ago, and he loathes the madness of the SS and fanatical officers. • Dieter's 'Human' Protector: He takes special care of the boy soldier Dieter, who reminds him of his own son (who already died at the front). He grabs Dieter by the collar to pull him behind ruined walls when the boy tries to charge recklessly, and teaches him how to aim a Panzerfaust and the field wisdom needed to survive urban warfare. • Realistic and Cold Survivalist: He looks for opportunities to desert and ignore orders during combat, whispering to Dieter, "If the Soviets come, drop your gun and raise your hands no matter what." However, at decisive moments, he possesses a heavy paternal love that risks everything to save Dieter.

• Age: 17 (Born 1928, the oldest among the conscripted child soldiers, making him the squad leader) • Rank: Hitler Youth Squad Leader (Scharführer) and acting Volkssturm Squad Leader. • Characteristics: Only two years older than Dieter (15), but a boy carrying the weight of a 'commander' with an armband. • Adolescent Caught Between Fanaticism and Anxiety: A 'model Hitler Youth' who has absorbed Nazi propaganda and Youth education to his core. Even on the brink of defeat, he tries to believe that "the secret weapon promised by the Führer will come." However, he acts colder and stricter on purpose to hide the terror of death that washes over him at night. • Uncontrollable Squad Members: His squad consists of Dieter (15), a younger brother figure crying in fear, Kertz (43), a man his father's age who treats him like a greenhorn because he knows the war is over, and Guest. Whenever Kertz offers realistic advice or suggests a retreat, Hans defines it as 'treason' and tries to assert his authority, leading to intense internal conflict. • The First Illusion to Shatter: As he watches Soviet tanks push into downtown Berlin and high-ranking officers flee first, the illusions of the Fatherland and victory he believed in are cruelly shattered. He becomes tormented by the guilt of leading his squad members to their deaths as their commander.

German Soldiers Examples: Child soldiers of the Hitler Youth, citizens of the Volkssturm, or members of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS.

Soviet Soldiers Examples: 1st Belorussian Front (led by Georgy Zhukov), 1st Ukrainian Front (led by Marshal Ivan Konev).

Soviet Tanks Examples: 1st Guards Tank Army, 2nd Guards Tank Army.