Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich. Joachim Fest 0330431706, 9780330431705

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“Remarkable.. .[a] vivid (and beautifully translated) account.” —Jerusalem Post

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Hitler’s

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THE LAST DAYS OF THE TAIRA JOALHlin FESi REi[H

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ALSO B7 JOACHIM FEST

Speer: The Final Verdict Plotting Hitler’s Death: The Story of the German Resistance Hitler The Face of the Third Reich: Portraits of Nazi Leadership

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the special mission for which he had been chosen by Provi¬ dence. In fact, he told the wedding guests, the idea of National Socialism was finished, never to be reborn. He was looking for¬ ward to death as a release. Then he left the wedding guests in order to dictate his last will and testament. He drew up both a political and a personal will. The former was dominated by protestations of his innocence and accusa¬ tions against “statesmen who were either of Jewish origin or worked for Jewish interests,” as well as recriminations against the “blind and characterless individuals” who had betrayed

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their own cause. Once again he justified his decision to remain in the Reich capital, there to “choose death ... of one’s own free will.” Under no circumstances did he want to “fall into the hands of the [hated] enemy who needed a new spectacle, staged by Jews, for the amusement of their inflamed crowds.” He named Fleet Admiral Karl Donitz to succeed him as head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces. Re¬ ferring to a navy code of honor that ruled out any thought of surrender, he assigned Donitz the task of carrying on the war even after his death, to the ultimate doom. He expelled Goring' and Himmler from the Party and from all their offices, and ap¬ pointed a new Reich government with Joseph Goebbels as chancellor and Martin Bormann as Party minister. Finally, he appealed to the loyalty and obedience “unto death” of all Ger¬ mans, and in his last sentence returned again to the obsession that was his wild personal fantasy: “Above all, I call on the lead¬ ers of the nation and their followers to scrupulously observe the racial laws and to mercilessly resist international Jewry, the universal poisoner of all peoples.”

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Hitler’s personal testament was much shorter. In it he justi¬ fied his decision to “take as his wife the young woman who after long years of true friendship voluntarily cam? to this prac¬ tically besieged city in order to share her destiny with mine.” In addition he listed a few provisions for his estatd and named his “most loyal Party comrade Martin Bormann” as the executor of his will. The document concluded with the words “I and my wife choose death in order to escape the shame of deposal and surrender. It is our will that our bodies

burned immediately

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Adenauer, Konrad, x Afghanistan, 133 American forces in Germany, 11, 61, 74, 124 meeting up with Soviet forces on April 25, 87 Anschluss, 82 Ardennes offensive, 16, 130 Arnim, Bettinavon, 17 Austria, 82 Axmann, Artur, 48, 94, 115, 144, 149 Barbarossa, Emperor, 47 Barenfanger, Colonel Erich, 152 Baur, General Hans, 17, 99, 11214, 121-22, 148, 149 Below, Colonel Nicolaus von, viii,

101 Berlin, Germany: after German surrender, 169-70 casualties in battle for, 155

chaos in, 31, 70-71, 88 conditions in, 31, 70-73, 8889, 138, 153-54, 169 debauchery in, 88-89 defense of, 7-9, 25-27, 45-46, 47, 49-54, 56-60, 66-67, 73, 90-92, 96, 104-105, 106, 118-20, 149-53 destruction of, 87, 169 East-West Axis, 85-86, 90, 95 encirclement of, 85, 96-97 heavy shelling by Soviet artillery, 86, 87, 88, 108,

110-11 Hitlers erratic military ideas, see Hitler, Adolf, erratic military ideas house-to-house fighting, 91—92, 104, 148 landing strip in, see Berlin, Germany, East-West Axis

184

Index

Berlin, Germany {cont.) Ninth Army’s appeal to Hitler for breakout from encircle¬ ment, 96—97, 110, 127 peace negotiations and fighting in, 135-41, 149-53 rape of women, by Red Army soldiers, 88 Soviet offensive, see Soviet offensive on Berlin suicides in, see suicides Bernadotte, Count Folke, 94, 100 Bersarin, General Nikolai, 88 Betz, Georg, 112, 148 Bismarck, Otto von, 35, 41 Blanter, Matvej I., 136-37 Blondi (Hitler’s dog), 105-106 Bohlen, Charles, 160 Bonhoeffer, Klaus, 73 Bormann, Gerda, 31 Bormann, Martin, 17, 18, 29, 41— 42, 43, 44,48, 49, 64, 95, 112, 116, 135,144,148,160 death of, 149 as executor of Hitler’s will, 103 Fegelein and, 99 Goring telegram addressing succession plans and, 84 Hitler-Braun suicide and, 11718, 122, 141 Hitler’s political will and, 103 as witness at Hitler-Braun wedding, 101 Braun, Eva, 44-45, 49 dressing room, 158 Fegelein and, 97, 98, 99, 100 last hours, 109, 111, 112 marriage certificate, 101, 102, 104 suicide and corpse of, ix, 101102, no, 114, 115-18, 12122, 136, 146, 158, 162-64 wedding, ix, 100-102, 146, 158

Braun, Margarete, 97, 98, 99 British Empire as Germany’s ideal ally, 39, 79, 80 Bunker, Fuhrer, viii, xi, 169-70 construction of, 16-17 described, 16—20 effects of heavy artillery shelling on, 87, 108, 110-ir layout of, 15, 20 marriages among occupants of, 101 physical conditions in, 21 set on fire, 146 telephone service to, 87, 105 Burgdorf, General Wilhelm, 17, 41^3, 52, 59-60, 63, 64, 75, 108, 112, 117, 147 death of, 149 at Hitler-Braun wedding, 101 peace negotiations and, 137—39 Busse, General Theodor, 6, 7, 9, 47, 56, 57, 59, 60, 62, 64, 92, 146 Christian, Major General Eckhard,

68 Chuikov, General Vasili Ivanovich, 6, 7, 120 peace negotiations and, 135— 37. 140, 147 Churchill, Winston, 80, 169-70 courts-martial, special German, 30,31 Danzig, Germany, 131-32 Deutsche Erinnerungsorte (Historical German Places), xi Dolmatovski, Yevgeni, 149-51 Dombrowski, Inge, 73-74 Donitz, Fleet Admiral Karl, 9, 45,64, 85,95, 104,147, 148

Index peace negotiations and, 137 praising of murderers, 128 as successor to Hitler, 103, 141, 171 unconditional surrender and, 167 Dresden, Germany, destruction of, viii Echtmann, Fritz, 163-64 Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander-in-Chief Dwight D., 11, 68-69, 168 evacuation of German cities and regions, 124 Fegelein, Hermann, 17, 64, 68, 97-100 execution of, 98, 100, 146 Final Solution, 35 Forster, Gauleiter Albert, 131 France, 77, 79, 132 Fran9ois, Etienne, x Frederick the Great, 14, 19, 41, 114 Friedeburg, Admiral Hans Georg von, 168 Fritzsche, Hans, 55, 137-39 Funk, Walther, 79 Gall, Leonhard, 16 German history. Hitler in, 33-43 German people, 166 annihilation of, 127, 128 blaming, for loss of the war, 55-56, 80, 130 Hitler s expressions of hatred for, 130-31 resistance beyond all reason, 75-76 German Romanticism, 35 Germany: destruction of, viii, 123-34, 169

185

scorched-earth policy, 123-24, 125, 166 surrender negotiations, 85, 9495, 100, 135-41, 149 unconditional surrender, 16769 Goebbels, Helga, 144, 145, 158 Goebbels, Helmuth, 115-16, 117, 143- 44, 145, 158 Goebbels, Joseph, viii, 13-14, 21, 30-31, 44, 48, 58, 62, 66, 75,79, 82, 95, 114, 133, 143 call for total war, 77 as Chancellor, 136, 137, 139, 140-42 decision to remain in Berlin, 104 defense of Berlin and, 27-29, 45-46, 49-52 destructive drive, 125, 127 Hitler s decision to remain in Berlin and, 47, 64, 111 Hitlers farewell to, 108, 111,

112 Hitlers political will and, 103 justifications for policies of Nazi regime, 141-42 peace negotiations and, 136, 137, 139 placing blame for failure of the Great Plan, 55-56 publicizing of Hitler s death, 140, 141 succession plans and, 84 suicide and remains of, 117, 144- 46, 158, 163 as witness at Hitler-Braun wedding, 101 Goebbels, Magda, 108, 111, 112, 114-15 murder of her children, 114, 143- 44, 145, 158 suicide and remains of, 114, 144- 46, 158, 163-64

186

Index

Goring, Hermann, 9, 46, 54, 68, 77 arrest for treason ordered, 85, 87 escape to South Germany, 47-48^ Hitler’s political will and, 103 Karinhall, 44 succession to Hitler and, 83—85, 141 , Graff, Anton, 19, 114 Grawitz, Professor Ernst, 89 Greece, 81 Greim, General Ritter von, 85-87, 95, 96 named as commander-in-chief of the air force, 87 Guderian, Heinz, 13, 23-24 Giinsche, Otto, 99, 110, 112-18, 122, 147, 162 Haase, Dr. Werner, 116 Haider, Franz, 128-29 Harriman, Averell, 160 Haushofer, Albrecht, 73 Heidegger, Martin, 76 Heiden, Konrad, 19 Heinrici, General Gotthard, 5—6, 27, 47, 60-62, 92-94 desire to protect his remaining troops and civilian population, 94 encirclement by Red Army and, 9-11 Operation Steiner and, 57-58 relieved of his command, 94 Hentschel, Johannes, 158 Hewel, Walter, 55, 68, 108, 112, 147, 148^9 Heydrich, Reinhard, 35 Himmler, Heinrich, 9, 30, 44, 48, 65, 73, 85 betrayal of Hitler, 94-96, 97, 100, 105, 146

Fegelein and, 97, 99 Hitler’s political will and, 103 negotiations with western powers, 94—95, 100 succession to Hitler and, 68—69, 141 Hitler, Adolf, 25 assassination attempt on, viii, 73 birthday party, 44-48 blaming the generals, 54—55, 63,95-96,114 cake cravings, 22—23, 131 confusion over death and remains of, 159—64 corpse of, ix, 110, 114, 117—18, 121-22, 134, 158, 159-64, 169, 173 decision to remain in Berlin, 47, 63, 64, 65-67, 78, 82, 83, 103 denunciation of all existing worldviews, 167 destructive drive of, viii, 32, 123-34, 171-73 dogs, 24, 105-106 early military victories, 77, 129, 132 epitaph, 114 erratic military ideas, 27, 46— 47, 52-54, 56-58, 60, 73, 90, 128 failing health, ix, 21—22, 23, 45, 60, 131 farewells, 108-109, 111—12 Fegelein and, 97—100 final review of his life, 79-81 as gambler turned politician, 41,43 in German history, 33—43 Himmler’s betrayal and, 94—96, 97, 100, 105 hypnotic power, 23

Index invasion of Soviet Union, 77, 81, 130 the Jews and, see]ews lack of sense of responsibility, 41, 173 last hours, 109-15 marriage certificate, 101, 102, 104 marriage of, ix, 100-102, 146, 158 at Munich Conference, 132 Mussolini’s death and, 107-108 New World Order and, 40 personal will, 103-104 photographs of, 18 political will, 102-103, 104 “principle” of fighting, 132-34 publicizing of death of, 140, 141, 153, 171 racial ideology, 8, 40—41, 103, 128, 166, 167 rages, 23-24, 63, 84, 95, 97, 134 rumors about death of, 105 Soviet attack on Berlin and, see Soviet offensive on Berlin succession to, 68—69, 83-85, 136,141 suicide of, ix, 101-102, 11518, 129, 134, 136, 146, 158, 171 on surrender, vii-viii, 85, 103, 109, 139 survival of the fittest, belief in, 134, 166 talk of suicide, 63, 64, 74, 108, no, 114 uncontested authority of, ix, 131 wedding, ix, 100-102, 146, 158 wills of, 102—104 Hitler Youths, 48, 50—51,91

187

Hogl, 148 Holste, General Rudolf, 92, 108, 146 Hopkins, Harry L., vii, 160, 169 Horthy de Nagybanya, Miklds, 132 Hiibner, Lieutenant General Rudolf, 30 Hungary, 13 Italy, 79, 80-81 Jews, 8, 81 extermination of, 35, 128 Hitler’s political will and, 102, 103 Jodi, General Alfred, 58, 63, 66, 67, 68, 83, 92, 105, 107108, 133, 171 Junge, Gertraud “Traudl,” 64, 113,115 Juttner, SS General Hans, 97 Kaether, Colonel Ernst, 58-59 Karnau, SS Unterfiihrer Hermann, 121-22, 173 Keitel, Field Marshal Wilhelm, 27, 63, 64, 66-68, 83, 92-93, 105, 108, 168, 171 unconditional surrender, 168, 169 Kempka, Erich, 110, 117 Kesselring, Field Marshal Albert, 45 KhaJdei, Yevgeni, 120 Klimenko, Lieutenant Ivan L, 155-58 Koller, General Karl, 52-54, 68, 83, 95 Konev, Marshal Ivan S., 10, 56, 57, 158 encirclement of Berlin, 85

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188

Index

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Krebs, General Hans (German Army Chief of Staff), 11, 17, 27, 29, 42, 54, 57-58, 5961, 63, 64, 75, 96* 105, 108, no, 112, 117, 147, 160, 171 death of, 149 at Hitler-Braun wedding, 101 peace negotiations and, 13537, 139, 140, 147 Kunz, Dr. Helmut, 143

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Fegelein and, 99, 100 , Hitler’s farewell to, 108-109 ' negotiations with Soviet high command, 135 Monologues in the Fiihrer’s Headquarters (Hider),. 167 Montgomery, Field Marshal Bernard Law, 168 Morell, Dr. Theodor, 23, 49 Muller, Heinrich, 100 Mummert, Major General Hans, j

hammers, Hans Heinrich, 83—84 Last Days of Hitler, The (TrevorRoper), ix Laval, Pierre, 132 League of Nations, 56 Lebensraum, 39, 40 Leibstandarte (Hitler’s personal SS division), 45, 66, 75, 106,

31 Munich Conference, 132 Mussolini, Benito, 80—81, 132

135 Ley, Robert, viii, 44, 79 Linge, Heinz, 111-12, 113, 116-18, 149, 162 London Times, 162 Lorenz, Heinz, 104 Ludendorff, Erich, 40

149 Nazi regime, see names of individuals “Nero command,” viii, 124 New Reich Chancellery, see Reich Chancellery, New

Mansfeld, Rottenfuhrer Erich, 173 Manteuffel, General Hasso von, 93 Manziarly, Constanze, 108, 111 map of military positions at start of Soviet offensive against Berlin, 12 Meinecke, Friedrich, 33 Meissner, Otto, 49 Misch, Rochus, 106, 144 Model, Field Marshal Walter, 13 Mohnke, SS Brigadier General Wilhelm, 45, 66, 67, 75, 90, 105, 146-47, 149 destructive drive, 125-27

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death of, 107 mythologizing of Nazi movement, 127 Naumann, Dr. Werner, 101, 142,

Norway, 77 Operation Steiner, 56—58, 62-63, 91,92 Perels, Friedrich Justus, 73 Perevertkin, General Semen L, 119 Petacci, Clara, 107 Poland, 77, 129, 132 political prisoners, 73 Potsdam Conference, 169, 170 prisoners of war: German, 128, 149, 154-55, 156-67 liberation of Soviet, in Berlin, 92 propaganda of the German Reich, 24-25, 29-30, 77

4

Index

189

i. Quandt, Harald, 143, 145 radio newscasts, information reaching the bunker from enemy, 87, 109 Rattenhuber, SS Major General Johann, 97, 108, 112, 113, 116, 121, 122, 147-48, 149, 162 refugees, 31, 61, 70 Reich, Das, 52 Reich Chancellery, New, 45, 106, 149, 169 defense of grounds around, 8 Soviet storming of, ix-x, 109, 155-59 underground bunker, see Bunker, Fiihrer Reichstag, Soviet assault on the, 109,118-21 Reitsch, Hanna, 86—87, 95, 96, 143 Reuters news agency, 94 Reymann, Lieutenant General Hellmuth, 25—27, 28, 58 Ribbentrop, Joachim von, 44, 65, 68, 134 succession plans and, 84 Rienzi (opera), 129 Rochling, Hermann, 54 Rokossovski, Marshal Konstantin, 56 Roosevelt, Franklin D., death of, 13-14 Schaub, Julius, 66 Schleicher, Rudiger, 73 Schbrner, Field Marshal Ferdinand, 65, 104, 105 Schulze, Hagen, x Schwagermann, SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Gunter, 144^6, 149

scorched-earth policy, 123-24, 125, 166 situation conferences, ix, 19, 22, 62-64, 77, 78, 82, 85, 87, 90, 106, 125, 171 last, 109 Weidling’s report on encirclement of Berlin at, 96-97 Soviet Department of Counterintelligence, 163 Soviet offensive on Berlin, 45-69, 86-88, 109-11, 131 casualties, 155 closing in on center of the city, 52-54, 66, 91-92 defense against, see Berlin, Germany, defense of encirclement, 85, 96—97 escape corridors, 46, 47 fear of Red Army’s desire for revenge, 77 fleeing of government leaders, 49,146-49 house-to-house fighting, 92, 104-105, 148 ignoring of orders from the bunker, 61-62, 68, 106 map, 12 peace negotiations and, 135-41, 147, 149-50 Reichstag attacked, 109, 118-21 start of, 3-13 state of the German forces, 13, 25, 28-29, 31-32, 90-91, 96, 104-105, 106 storming of Reich Chancellery, ix-x, 109, 155-59 Soviet prisoners of war in Berlin, liberation of, 92 Soviet Union, Hitler’s campaign , against, 77, 81, 130, 134

190

Index

Speer, Albert, 13, 41, 44, 48, 85, 94, 130 farewell to Hitler, 74-75 on Fegelein, 98 Stalin, Joseph, 10, 29, 158, 160, 162, 165, 168, 171 peace negotiations and, 136 Stalingrad, 77, 130 Stauffenberg, Claus Schenk von, viii Steiner, SS General Felix, 54, 5658, 60, 62-63, 91, 95,146 relieved of command, 92 Stumpfegger, Dr. Ludwig, 143, 149 Stumpff, General Hans-Jiirgen, 168 suicides: among German people and military forces, 13, 73—74, 77, 89-90, 148^9, 152 of Hitler, see Hitler, Adolf, suicide of Vorbunker ^iscxissions of, 107 ■ surrender, 171 “flag order,” 124-25 German negotiations for, 85, 94-95,100,135^1, 149 Hitler on, vii-viii, 85, 103, 109, 139 news of German, 155 unconditional, Germany’s, 167-69 Table Talk (Hitler), 167 Taylor, A.J.P., 75 Tito, Josip Broz, 13 Treaty of Versailles, 37, 39, 40 Trevor-Roper, Hugh R., ix, x Versailles Treaty, 37, 39, 40 Vienna, Austria, 14

Volkssturm, 88, 155 defense of Berlin and, 9, 25, 28 Vorbunker(znte.-h\xnk£T), 17,21, 106, no, 112 carousing in the, 115 exodus of remaining residents of, 147-49 hospital set up in, 106—107 inhabitants of, 107 layout of, 20 talk of suicide in, 107 Voss, Vice-Admiral Hans-Erich, 112, 147, 149 Wannsee Conference, 35 Warsaw, Poland, 129 Weidling, General Helmuth, 9, 47, 59-60 end of fighting in Berlin and, 139^1, 147, 149 Hitler’s last “Fiihrer command” to, no as prisoner of war, 155 reports at situation conferences, 96-97, 109 Weimar Republic, 34, 37 Wenck, General Walter, 146 defying of order to head for Berlin, 68 expectations of Berlin’s rescue by, 60—61, 62, 64, 65, 67— 68, 74, 90, 92, 105, 108 Wolff, SS General Karl, 131 World War I, Germany after, 36-38 Zhukov, Marshal Georgi K., 4—6, 9, 56, 76, 120, 158, 170, 171 encirclement of Berlin, 85 mock-ups of Berlin, 91-92 peace negotiations and, 136

♦

ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

Grateful acknowledgement is made for permission to reproduce the fol¬ lowing illustrations and maps:

pp. 57,156-157: © Bildarchiv, Preussischer Kulturbesitz pp. ii, 6, 7 right, 26, 98,102,113,150-151,161,172: SV-Bilderdienst p. 67: Bundesarchiv, Berlin p. 170: Margaret Bourke-White/Time Pix pp. 18, 50-51,120: Keystone Germany pp. 4, 7 left, 42, 59, 65, 91,126,138,145,168: Ullstein Bilderdienst pp. 12,15, 20: Peter Palm, Berlin/Germany

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EST describes in RIUETinC DETAIL THE FIRflL IDEEKS OF THE IHHR, from the desperate battles that raged night and day in the ruins of Berlin, fought by boys and old men, to the growing paranoia that marked Hitler’s

mental state, to his suicide and the efforts of his loyal aides to destroy his body before the advancing Russian annies reached Berlin. Inside Hiller's Bunker combiner meticulous research with spellbinding storytelling and sheds light on events that, for those who survived them, were nothing less than the end of the world.

“A lifetime of reflection on the Nazi perion| and incisive book.”

—MICHAEL BURLE

joflCHiin FEST

Hin 1926. His previous

books include The

^mh; Hitler, his celebrated

biography of Adolf W^^^hf&fll^tler’s Death; and Speer: The Final Verdict, for which he has won numerous awards. A film adaptation of Inside Hitler's Bunker, entitled The Downfall, has become a European blockbuster.

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