Adolf Hitler's Final Days
Nazi Leader Spent Last Few Days of His Life in an Underground Bunker
Mar 4, 2009
April 20th, 1945 was Adolf Hitler's birthday. He was fifty-six years old. If history had been different and Germany was on the winning side the atmosphere in his underground bunker would have been celebratory and full of the typical Nazi pomp and zeal that was so prevalent at the beginning of the war, when they were securing easy victories.
But things were quite the opposite. In the Führerbunker located near the Reich Chancellery, Adolf Hitler was a broken man. The subsequent events of the last ten days of his life illustrated the desperation, euphoria and madness of the Nazi dictator as the Soviet noose tightened around his neck.
April 20th
The Russians were approaching from the east and the south, commanded by two generals, Georgi Zhukov and Ivan Koniev. Within the Zitadelle, a line of Hitler youth had stood in a line to greet the Nazi leader on his birthday and to receive personal decorations for bravery. The Führer handed out Iron Crosses to them all and went back down to the bunker. This was to be his last trip above ground and his last public appearance. All of his staff were with him, including the ultra loyal Heinrich Himmler, leader of the dreaded Schutzstaffel (SS) which included the Gestapo, Hermann Göring, chief of the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force) and the venomous, anti-Semitic Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda.
April 21st
Riding on a wave of hysterical optimism, Hitler ordered Waffen-SS officer Felix Steiner, one of his favourite commanders, to attack the Soviets at the northern edge of Berlin. Ignoring comments about the inadequate numbers of combat troops to do the job, Hitler responded, "The Russians are about to suffer the bloodiest defeat of their history at the gates of Berlin."
April 22nd
Steiner's men of course didn't attack at all. Upon hearing this Hitler, in one of his most famous documented outbursts, pounded his fist into his palm and screamed, "The war is lost!" His staff were shaken and tried to reassure him, but now he was convinced that defeat was inevitable. Bent over in a permanent stoop and clutching the walls for support, Hitler was ragged and exhausted.
April 23rd
Hermann Göring, who had fled to Berchtesgaden in southern Germany a few days before ostensibly to command the Luftwaffe, sent a carefully worded telegram stating that he should be the one to take charge of Germany should Hitler be incapacitated. Hitler snapped and ordered Göring to be arrested immediately.
April 24th
More bad news awaited Hitler when he heard that the Soviet encirclement of Berlin was complete. He then ordered a large road in the capital to be turned into an improvised landing strip.
April 25th
American and Russian soldiers had met, shaken hands and embraced on the Elbe River at Torgau, putting a quick end to Hitler's last hope that the alliance between those two countries would collapse.
April 26th
Russian artillery fire made some direct hits on the Chancellery buildings above the bunker. That same evening, a plane carrying female test pilot Hanna Reitsch and Luftwaffe General Ritter von Greim landed near the bunker after being wounded by Russian ground fire. Hitler informed Greim he would replace Göring as commander of the Luftwaffe.
April 27th
The Soviet onslaught was getting louder and closer as they occupied Tempelhof Airfield in Berlin. Hitler told his staff that upon his death Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner would take command of the German Army.
April 28th
Late in the afternoon Hitler dictated his personal and political testament to his secretary, Traudl Junge. Later he was furious when he learned Heinrich Himmler was trying to surrender himself to the Allies and ordered his execution.
April 29th
The Russians were close enough to knock on Hitler's door. He learned of the death of his friend and Fascist dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini and swore to avoid the same fate. He tested cyanide pills on his favourite dog, Blondi. Shortly after midnight, he married Eva Braun.
April 30th
The exact time of Hitler's suicide is unknown. What is known however is that his wife had used cyanide and he used a combination of cyanide and a pistol. Their bodies were taken outside, covered with petrol and set on fire.
The Third Reich had crumbled. Goebbels, Göring and Himmler had all committed suicide.
Sources:
The Second World War - Ambitions to Nemesis Bradley Lightbody, Routledge 2004
Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich Joachim C. Fest, Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2004
Hitler 1936-45: Nemesis Ian Kershaw W.W. Norton & Company 2000
