SEELOW (Germany), April 16 (RIA Novosti correspondent Taras Lariokhin) – A ceremony devoted to the 60th anniversary of the largest battle in Germany during the Red Army’s Berlin operation was held at Seelow Heights.

“The war victims oblige us to ensure that war should never again originate from Germany,” Brandenburg Prime Minister Matthias Platzeck.

The years of Nazi domination are “part of the German history one cannot erase,” he said. “The generations born after the war know it.”

“We realize that we are responsible for remembrance and for our future,” he said.

Chairman of the Markisch-Oderland Council Jurgen Rheinking said that Germans must “never forget the people who sacrificed their lives for Germany’s freedom.”

Russian Ambassador to Germany Vladimir Kotenev said that historical reconciliation between Russia and Germany had already taken place.

“The best proof is that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will take part in the Moscow celebrations of the 60th VE Day anniversary,” he said.

Veterans who fought in the battle for Seelow Heights also spoke at the meeting. Former Soviet and Polish soldiers, as well as their former enemies, Germans, shared their memories.

Wreaths and flowers were placed at the memorial’s centerpiece, the sculpture of a Soviet soldier.

The Battle of Seelow Heights was waged from April 16-19, 1945, killing 33,000 Soviet, 5,000 Polish and 12,000 Wehrmacht soldiers, director of the memorial Gerd Ulrich Hermann said, taking care to differentiate “Wehrmacht soldiers” from “Germans.”

“Here the Red Army fought against Waffen SS units from Latvia, Belgium, the Netherlands and even Vlasovites [Soviet units that fought for the Nazis],” he pointed out.

“The estimated losses in the battle for the Heights are rather relative,” Hermann said. “The field in front of them is a huge cemetery,” he explained, adding that the remains of 150-200 people are found there every year.

From 1991 until 2003, more 9,000 tons of ammunition were found and destroyed in the area, proving the battle was fierce, he said.

Marshal Mikhail Katukov widow Yekaterina Katukova said that the Soviet Army’s huge losses were partially due to false intelligence information. Katukova, 92, arrived in Berlin on the Train of Remembrance.

“The German defense on Seelow Heights turned out much stronger than intelligence had it, but it was broken by our tank army,” Katukova said in an interview. During the battle, the army lost 22 battalion commanding officers and 5 brigade commanding officers.

“We entered Berlin thanks to unthinkable sacrifices,” she said.