The last days of the 3rd Reich of the Hitler Youth. Nine days without Hitler. The last moments of the Third Reich. Goebbels cabinet and attempted truce

Hugh Trevor-Roper

Protected by the legislation of the Russian Federation on the protection of intellectual rights. Reproduction of the entire book or any part of it is prohibited without the written permission of the publisher. Any attempt to break the law will be prosecuted.

Ten years have passed since the book was written. During this time, over some secrets of the Second World War, the fog cleared, and over others it became even thicker. New books and articles were written that changed or challenged old judgments. But no new revelation has changed the history of the last ten days of Hitler's life, history as reconstructed by me in 1945 and published in 1947. For this reason, I see no reason to correct the text of the book in this new edition of it, except, of course, for minor corrections, which are inevitable in any reprint. Undoubtedly, I could insert some additions in different places of the text, but since there are no errors in the book that are subject to unconditional correction, and there are no gaps that need to be filled, I decided to follow the wise example of Pontius Pilate: what I wrote, I wrote.

I felt that any book worth republishing should bear the imprint of the time in which it was written. Any new comments that came to my mind I have included in the footnotes and in this preface. In this preface I will try to do two things. First, I will describe in detail my research that led to the writing of the book. Secondly, I will summarize some data that have appeared since the publication of the first edition, data that, without changing the essence of the whole story, can shed light on certain circumstances and facts of Hitler's last days.

In September 1945, the circumstances of Hitler's death or disappearance had been shrouded in an impenetrable darkness of mystery for five months. A great many versions of his death or his flight were made public. Some claimed that he was killed in battle, others said that he was killed by German officers in the Tiergarten. Many believed that he fled - by plane or submarine - and settled either on a foggy island in the Baltic Sea or in a mountain fortress in the Rhineland; according to other sources, he hid either in a Spanish monastery, or on a South American ranch. There were people who thought that Hitler hid in the mountains of Albania, among friendly robbers. The Russians, who had the most reliable information about Hitler's fate, preferred to stir up uncertainty. First they declared Hitler dead, then this statement was refuted. The Russians later announced the discovery of the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun, identified by their teeth. After that, the Russians accused the British of hiding Eva Braun, and possibly Hitler, in their zone of occupation. It was after this that the Office of British Intelligence in Germany, considering that all this hoax creates unnecessary difficulties, decided to collect all the data and finally find out the truth, if it turns out to be possible. This task was entrusted to me. In the British zone, I was given all the necessary powers, and the American authorities in Frankfurt without delay placed at my disposal all the materials they had on this issue. I was allowed to interrogate the prisoners, and besides, the Americans provided me with support from their counterintelligence.

What was the state of affairs at that time? The only authoritative evidence of Hitler's death was a radio speech by Admiral Dönitz, with which he addressed the German people on the evening of May 1, 1945. In his speech, Dönitz announced that Hitler died in Berlin on the afternoon of May 1, fighting at the head of troops loyal to him. At that time, Dönitz's statement was considered reliable for purely practical reasons. A note on Hitler's death was printed in The Times the next day. M. de Valera visited the German ambassador in Dublin and expressed his condolences, and the name of Hitler (in contrast to the name of Bormann, about whose fate no statements were made) was deleted from the list of war criminals who were to be tried in Nuremberg. On the other hand, there was no more reason to believe Dönitz's report than some other statements. Dönitz's statement was corroborated by a certain Dr. Karl Heinz Speth of Stuttgart, who, while in Illertissen (Bavaria) testified under oath that he personally examined Hitler in connection with a chest wound he received in Berlin during an artillery attack, and declared his death in a bunker near the zoo. This allegedly happened on the afternoon of May 1. However, at the same time in Hamburg, the Swiss journalist Carmen Mori testified under oath that Hitler, according to irrefutable information, was in the same Bavarian estate with Eva Braun, her sister Gretl and Gretl's husband Hermann Fegelein. Carmen Mori herself offered to investigate this fact, using her own connections (she was sent to a German concentration camp for espionage and had a good intelligence network). Maury, however, warned the British authorities that an attempt to find Hitler and the others without her participation could end in failure, for, noticing the approach of people in a foreign military uniform, all four will immediately commit suicide. Both of these stories did not inspire any credibility from the very beginning, as did many other oral and affidavits.

Anyone who conducts investigations of this kind will soon be faced with one important fact: such evidence cannot be trusted. Any historian is ashamed at the mere thought of how much of history is based on foundations as dubious as the statements of Admiral Dönitz, Dr. Shpet, or Carmen Maury. If such statements were made regarding some of the obscure circumstances of the death of the Russian Tsar Alexander I, then many historians, perhaps, would take them seriously. Fortunately, in this case, these were the statements of contemporaries, and they could be verified.

The English historian James Spedding said that each of his colleagues, faced with a statement regarding any fact, should ask himself the question: who first said this and did this person have the opportunity to know this? Many historical testimonies crumble to dust when subjected to this test. In search of Dr. Karl Heinz Speth, I went to the address he himself had given in Stuttgart. It turned out, however, that this was not a residential building, but the building of a technical school. No one at the school knew who Dr. Shpet was. Moreover, I could not find this name in any city directory. It became clear that he introduced himself with a fictitious name and made public a fictitious address. Since his testimony turned out to be false, it became clear that this man could not be trusted in other matters where ignorance could be excusable. As for the testimony of Carmen Mori, it did not withstand even light criticism. She never saw Hitler and never talked to people who might know the facts. The facts that she presented were obviously fakes, and the arguments with which she connected these facts were completely devoid of logic. Mori's statements, like Dr. Shpet's, were pure fantasy.

But why did these people bear false witness? interpret human motives- an ungrateful occupation, but sometimes they can be guessed. Carmen Mori, once in a concentration camp, became a Gestapo agent who selected victims among prisoners for murders and criminal medical experiments. The prisoners knew this, and when the Allies took over the camp and freed the prisoners, it was only a matter of time before Maury was accused of collaborating with the Nazis. Perhaps Maury thought that by making up this story, which she herself wanted to investigate, she could delay retribution and enlist the support of the British occupation authorities. If this was the case, then Maury was mistaken: the British did not need her help, and she herself was soon arrested, tried and sentenced to death. On the eve of the execution, Mori managed to commit suicide.

THE LAST DAYS OF THE THIRD REICH

Hitler planned to leave Berlin and head to Obersalzberg on April 20, the day he turned 56, from there, from the legendary mountain stronghold of Frederick Barbarossa, to lead last battle third reich. Most of the ministries have already moved to the south, transporting them there in overcrowded trucks government documents and panic-stricken officials desperately trying to break out of doomed Berlin. Ten days earlier, Hitler had sent most of the domestic staff to Berchtesgaden to prepare the mountain villa Berghof for his arrival.

However, fate decreed otherwise and he no longer saw his favorite haven in the Alps. The end was approaching much faster than the Fuhrer expected. The Americans and Russians were rapidly advancing towards the meeting point on the Elbe. The British stood at the gates of Hamburg and Bremen, threatening to cut Germany off from occupied Denmark. In Italy, Bologna fell, and the allied forces under the command of Alexander entered the Po valley. Having captured Vienna on April 13, the Russians continued to advance up the Danube, and the American 3rd Army marched down the river to meet them. They met in Linz, Hitler's hometown. Nuremberg, on the squares and stadiums of which demonstrations and rallies were held throughout the war, which should have meant the transformation of this ancient city to the capital of Nazism, was now besieged, and parts of the American 7th Army bypassed it and moved to Munich? home of the Nazi movement. In Berlin, the thunder of Russian heavy artillery was already heard.

"In a week, ? noted in his diary for April 23, Count Schwerin von Krosig, the frivolous Minister of Finance, who fled headlong from Berlin to the north at the first report of the approach of the Bolsheviks, ? nothing happened, only the messengers of Job came in an endless stream. To all appearances, a terrible fate is destined for our people.”

The last time Hitler left his headquarters in Rastenburg was on November 20, as the Russians were approaching, and from then until December 10 he stayed in Berlin, which had hardly been seen since the beginning of the war in the East. He then proceeded to his western headquarters at Ziegenberg, near Bad Nauheim, to direct the colossal adventure in the Ardennes. After her failure, he returned on January 16 to Berlin, where he remained until the end. From here he led his crumbling armies. His headquarters was located in a bunker located 15 meters below the Imperial Chancellery, whose huge marble halls were left in ruins as a result of Allied air raids.

Physically, he noticeably deteriorated. The young army captain, who first saw the Fuhrer in February, later described his appearance as follows:

“His head was shaking a little. His left hand hung like a whip, and the brush trembled. His eyes sparkled with an indescribable feverish brilliance, causing fear and some strange numbness. His face and bags under his eyes gave the impression of complete exhaustion. All movements betrayed in him a decrepit old man.

Since the attempt on his life on July 20, he has ceased to trust anyone, even old party comrades. "I'm being lied to from all sides," he indignantly told one of his secretaries in March.

“I can't rely on anyone. I'm being betrayed all around. All this just makes me sick... If anything happens to me, Germany will be left without a leader. I don't have a successor. Hess? crazy, Goering is unsympathetic to the people, Himmler will be rejected by the party, besides, he is completely unartistic. Break your head and tell me who can be my successor.

It seemed that at this historical period of time the question of a successor was purely abstract, but this was not so, and it could not have been otherwise in the crazy country of Nazism. Not only did the Fuhrer suffer from this question, but, as we shall soon see, the leading candidates for his successor.

Although Hitler was already physically a complete ruin and faced with impending disaster, as the Russians advanced towards Berlin and the Allies devastated the Reich, he and his most fanatical minions, Goebbels above all, stubbornly believed that a miracle would save them at the last moment.

One fine evening in early April, Goebbels read aloud to Hitler his favorite book, The History of Frederick II by Carlyle. The chapter spoke of the dark days of the Seven Years' War, when great king felt the approach of death and told his ministers that if there was no turn for the better in his fate before February 15, he would surrender and take poison. This historical episode, of course, evoked associations, and Goebbels, of course, read this passage with a special, inherent drama...

"Our brave king! ? continued reading Goebbels. ? Wait a little longer and your days of suffering will be behind you. The sun of your happy fate has already appeared in the sky and will soon rise over you. Queen Elizabeth died, and a miracle happened for the Brandenburg dynasty.

Goebbels told Krosig, from whose diary we learned about this touching scene, that the Fuhrer's eyes filled with tears. Having received such moral support, and even from an English source, they demanded to bring them two horoscopes, stored in the materials of one of Himmler's numerous "research" departments. One horoscope was drawn up for the Fuhrer on January 30, 1933, the day he came to power, another? was compiled by a famous astrologer on November 9, 1918, the birthday of the Weimar Republic. Goebbels later reported to Krosig the result of a re-examination of these amazing documents.

“A startling fact has been discovered? both horoscopes predicted the beginning of the war in 1939 and victories until 1941, as well as the subsequent series of defeats, with the heaviest blows to fall in the first months of 1945, especially in the first half of April. In the second half of April we expect a temporary success. Then there will be a lull until August, and then peace will come. Over the next three years, Germany will have to go through hard times, but from 1948 it will begin to revive again.

Encouraged by Carlyle and the startling predictions of the stars, Goebbels issued an appeal to the retreating troops on April 6:

“The Fuhrer said that already this year there should be a change in fate ... The true essence of a genius? it is foresight and firm confidence in the coming changes. The Führer knows the exact hour of their attack. Fate sent us this man so that at the hour of great internal and external upheavals we would become witnesses of a miracle ... "

Barely a week had passed when, on the night of April 12, Goebbels convinced himself that the hour of the miracle had come. On this day, new bad news came. Americans appeared on the Dessau freeway? Berlin, and the high command hastily ordered the destruction of the last two gunpowder factories located near it. From now on German soldiers would have to make do with the ammunition they had available. Goebbels spent the whole day at the headquarters of General Busse in Kustrin in the Oder direction. As Goebbels told Krosig, the general assured him that a Russian breakthrough was impossible, that he "would stay here until he received a kick in the ass from the British."

“In the evening they sat together with the general at the headquarters, and he, Goebbels, developed his thesis that, according to historical logic and justice, the course of events should change, as miraculously happened in the Seven Years' War with the Brandenburg dynasty.

"Which queen will die this time?" ? asked the general. Goebbels did not know. "But fate, ? he replied, has many possibilities."

When the Minister of Propaganda returned to Berlin late in the evening, the center of the capital was on fire after another British air raid. The fire engulfed the surviving part of the office building and the Adlon Hotel on Wilhelmstrasse. At the entrance to the Propaganda Ministry, Goebbels was greeted by a secretary who told him the urgent news: "Roosevelt is dead." The Minister's face lit up in the reflections of the fire that engulfed the office building on opposite side Wilhelmstrasse, and everyone saw it. "Bring me the best champagne, ? exclaimed Goebbels, and put me in touch with the Fuhrer." Hitler waited out the bombing in an underground bunker. He went to the phone.

"My Fuehrer! ? exclaimed Goebbels. ? I congratulate you! Roosevelt is dead! The stars predicted that the second half of April would be a turning point for us. Today is Friday, April 13th. (It was past midnight.) This is the turning point!” Hitler's reaction to this news is not recorded in the documents, although it is not difficult to imagine, given the inspiration he drew from Carlyle and horoscopes. Evidence of Goebbels' reaction has survived. In the words of his secretary, "he fell into ecstasy." His feelings were shared by the well-known Count Schwerin von Krosig. When Goebbels' secretary of state informed him by telephone that Roosevelt had died, Krosig, according to the entry in his diary, exclaimed:

“It is the angel of history who has descended! We feel the flutter of its wings all around us. Isn’t this the gift of fate that we have been waiting for with such impatience?!”

The next morning, Krosig called Goebbels, conveyed his congratulations to him, which he proudly wrote in his diary, and, apparently not considering this sufficient, sent a letter welcoming Roosevelt's death. "God's judgment ... God's gift ..."? so he wrote in a letter. Government ministers like Krosig and Goebbels, educated at the oldest universities in Europe and long in power, seized on the predictions of the stars and rejoiced wildly at the death of the American president, considering it a sure sign that now, at the last minute, the Almighty would save the Third Reich from inevitable disaster. . And in this atmosphere of a madhouse, as the capital engulfed in flames seemed to be, the last act of the tragedy was played out until the moment when the curtain was supposed to fall.

Eva Braun arrived in Berlin to join Hitler on 15 April. Only very few Germans knew about its existence and few? about her relationship with Hitler. She had been his mistress for over twelve years. Now, in April, she has arrived, according to Trevor-Roper, for her wedding and ceremonial death.

Her role in the last chapter of this story is rather curious, but as a person she is of little interest. She was neither the Marchioness of Pompadour nor Lola Montez.

The daughter of poor Bavarian burghers, who at first strongly objected to her connection with Hitler, although he was a dictator, she served in the Munich photograph of Heinrich Hoffmann, who introduced her to the Fuhrer. This happened a year or two after the suicide of Geli Raubal, Hitler's niece, for whom, alone in his life, he apparently had a passionate love. Eva Braun was also driven to despair by her lover, though for a different reason than Geli Raubal. Eva Braun, although she was given spacious apartments in Hitler's Alpine villa, did not tolerate long separation from him well and tried to commit suicide twice in the first years of their friendship. But gradually she came to terms with her incomprehensible role? not a wife, not a lover.

Hitler's last major decision

Hitler's birthday, April 20, passed quietly enough, although General Karl Koller, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, who attended the celebration in the bunker, noted it in his diary as a day of new disasters on rapidly collapsing fronts. In the bunker were the Nazis of the old guard Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Ribbentrop and Bormann, as well as the surviving military leaders? Doenitz, Keitel, Jodl and Krebs? And new boss general staff ground forces. He congratulated the Fuhrer on his birthday.

The Supreme Commander was not, as usual, gloomy, despite the prevailing situation. He still believed, as he had told his generals three days earlier, that on the outskirts of Berlin the Russians would suffer the most brutal defeat they had ever suffered. However, the generals were not so stupid and at a military meeting held after the festive ceremony, they began to persuade Hitler to leave Berlin and move south. "In a day or two, ? did they explain? the Russians will cut the last withdrawal corridor in this direction.” Hitler hesitated. He didn't say yes or no. Obviously, he could not comprehend the terrifying fact that the capital of the Third Reich was about to be captured by the Russians, whose armies, as he assured many years ago, were "completely destroyed." As a concession to the generals, he agreed to form two separate commands in case the Americans and Russians linked up on the Elbe. Then Admiral Doenitz will lead the northern command, and Kesselring? southern. The Fuhrer was not quite sure of the suitability of the latter's candidacy for this post.

That evening began a mass exodus from Berlin. Two of the most trusted and trusted associates? Himmler and Goering were among those who left the capital. Goering was leaving with a column of cars and trucks filled to the brim with trophies and property from his fabulously rich Karinhalle estate. Each of these Nazis of the old guard left Berlin in the belief that his beloved Fuhrer would soon be gone and that he would come to replace him.

They did not get to see him again, nor did Ribbentrop, who hurried to safer places that same day, late in the evening.

But Hitler still did not give up. The day after his birth, he ordered SS General Felix Steiner to launch a counterattack on the Russians in the area south of the suburbs of Berlin. It was supposed to throw into battle all the soldiers that could be found in Berlin and its environs, including those from the ground services of the Luftwaffe.

“Each commander who evades the order and does not throw his troops into battle, ? Hitler shouted at General Koller, who remained in command of the Air Force, ? pay with his life within five hours. You are personally responsible for ensuring that every last soldier is thrown into battle.

All that day and most of the next, Hitler waited impatiently for the results of Steiner's counterattack. But no attempt was even made to carry it out, since it existed only in the inflamed brain of a desperate dictator. When the meaning of what was happening finally reached him, a storm broke out.

April 22 marked the last turn on Hitler's path to collapse. From early morning until 3 pm, like the previous day, he sat on the phone and tried to find out at various CPs how Steyier's counterattack was developing. Nobody knew anything. Neither the planes of General Koller, nor the commanders of the ground units were able to detect it, although presumably it was supposed to be applied two to three kilometers south of the capital. Even Steiner, although he existed, could not be found, let alone his army.

A storm erupted at a 3 o'clock afternoon meeting in the bunker An angry Hitler demanded a report on Steiner's actions. But neither Keitel, nor Jodl, nor anyone else had information on this score. The generals had news of a completely different nature. The withdrawal of troops from positions north of Berlin to support Steiner weakened the front there so much that it led to a breakthrough by the Russians, whose tanks crossed the city limits.

For the Supreme Commander, this turned out to be too much. All survivors testify that he has completely lost control of himself. So he never got angry. "This is the end, ? he squealed piercingly. ? Everyone left me. Around treason, lies, venality, cowardice. Everything is over. Wonderful. I am staying in Berlin. I will personally take charge of the defense of the capital of the Third Reich. The rest can go wherever they want. This is where I will meet my end."

Those present protested. They said that there was still hope if the Fuhrer retreated to the south. Field Marshal Ferdinand Scherner's army group and Kesselring's significant forces are concentrated in Czechoslovakia. Dönitz, who had traveled to the northwest to take command of the troops, and Himmler, who, as we shall see, still played his own game, telephoned the Fuehrer, urging him to leave Berlin. Even Ribbentrop contacted him by phone and said that he was ready to organize a "diplomatic coup" that would save everything. But Hitler no longer believed any of them, even the “second Bismarck,” as once, in a moment of disposition, he, without thinking, called his foreign minister. He said he had finally made up his mind. And, to show that this decision was irrevocable, he called the secretary and in their presence dictated a statement that was to be read immediately over the radio. It said that the Fuhrer remained in Berlin and would defend it to the end.

Hitler then sent for Goebbels and invited him, his wife and six children, to move into a bunker from his heavily bombed house in the Wilhelmstrasse. He was sure that at least this fanatical follower would stay with him and his family until the end. Then Hitler busied himself with his papers, selecting those he thought should be destroyed and handing them over to one of his adjutants? Julius Schaub, who carried them into the garden and burned them.

Finally, in the evening, he called Keitel and Jodl to him and ordered them to move south and take direct command of the remaining troops. Both generals, who were next to Hitler throughout the war, left a rather colorful description of the last parting with the supreme commander. Keitel, who never disobeyed the Führer's orders, even when he ordered the most vile war crimes to be committed, remained silent. In contrast, Jodl, who was less of a lackey, replied. In the eyes of this soldier, who, despite fanatical devotion and faithful service to the Fuhrer, still remained faithful to military traditions, the supreme commander abandoned his troops, shifting responsibility to them at the time of the catastrophe.

"You can't lead from here, ? Yodl said. ? If there is no headquarters near you, how can you manage anything at all?

"Well, then Goering will take over the leadership there,"? Hitler objected.

One of those present remarked that no soldier would fight for the Reichsmarschall, and Hitler interrupted him: “What do you mean by 'fight'? How much is left to fight? Nothing at all." Even the mad conqueror had finally lifted the veil from his eyes.

Or the gods sent him enlightenment for a moment in these last days of his life, similar to a waking nightmare.

The Fuhrer's violent outbursts on 22 April and his decision to remain in Berlin were not without consequences. When Himmler, who was in Hohenlichen, northwest of Berlin, received a telephone report from Hermann Fegelein, his liaison officer from the SS headquarters, he exclaimed in the presence of subordinates: “Everyone has gone crazy in Berlin. What should I do?" "Go straight to Berlin"? answered one of his chief assistants, Gottlieb Berger, chief of staff of the SS. Berger was one of those simple-hearted Germans who sincerely believed in National Socialism. He had no idea that his venerable chief Himmler, instigated by Walter Schellenberg, had already established contact with the Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte regarding the surrender of the German armies in the West. "I'm going to Berlin, ? Berger said to Himmler, and your duty is the same.

That same evening Berger, not Himmler, went to Berlin, and his trip is of interest because of the description he left as an eyewitness to Hitler's momentous decision. When Berger arrived in Berlin, Russian shells were already exploding not far from the office. The sight of Hitler, who appeared to be "a broken, broken man," shocked him. Berger dared to express admiration for Hitler's decision to remain in Berlin. According to him, he told Hitler: "It is impossible to leave the people after they have held on so long and so faithfully." And again these words infuriated the Fuhrer.

"All this time, ? Berger later recalled, The Fuhrer didn't say a word. Then he suddenly shouted: “Everyone has deceived me! Nobody told me the truth. The military lied to me." And then in the same spirit, louder and louder. Then his face turned purple-purple. I thought that at any moment he could have a stroke.

Berger was also Himmler's head of administration for prisoners of war, and after the Führer calmed down, they discussed the fate of eminent English, French and American prisoners, as well as Germans such as Halder and Schacht, and the former Austrian chancellor Schuschnigg, who were transferred to the south east to prevent their release by the Americans advancing deep into Germany. That night, Berger was to fly to Bavaria and deal with their fate. The interlocutors discussed, in addition, reports of separatist actions in Austria and Bavaria. The thought of what's in his native Austria and his second homeland? Bavaria may break out a rebellion, again caused Hitler to convulse.

“His arm, leg and head were shaking, and, according to Berger, he kept repeating: “Shoot them all! Shoot them all!"

Whether this order meant to shoot all the separatists or all the eminent prisoners, or maybe both, Berger was not clear. And this narrow-minded person, obviously, decided to shoot everyone in a row.

Goering and Himmler's attempts to take power into their own hands

General Koller refrained from attending a meeting with Hitler on 22 April. He was responsible for the Luftwaffe, and, as he notes in his diary, he could not bear to be insulted all day long. His communications officer in the bunker, General Eckard Christian, called him at 6.15 p.m. and said in a broken voice, barely audible: “There are historical events decisive for the outcome of the war. About two hours later, Christian arrived at the headquarters of the Air Force in Wildpark-Werder, located on the outskirts of Berlin, to personally report everything to Koller.

"The Fuhrer is broken!" ? gasped Christian, a committed Nazi married to one of Hitler's secretaries. It was impossible to make out anything other than the fact that the Fuhrer had decided to meet his end in Berlin and was burning papers. Therefore, the chief of staff of the Luftwaffe, despite the heavy bombing that the British had just begun, urgently flew to headquarters. He was going to look for Jodl and find out what happened that day in the bunker.

He found Jodl in Krampnitz, located between Berlin and Potsdam, where the high command, having lost the Fuhrer, organized a temporary headquarters. He told his friend from the Air Force the whole sad story from beginning to end. In secret, he also told something that no one had yet told Koller and that should have led to a denouement in the coming terrible days.

“When it comes to negotiations (for peace), ? the Fuhrer once said to Keitel and Jodl, Göring is more suitable than me. Goering does it much better, he can get along with the other side much faster. Now Jodl repeated this to Koller. Air force general realized that his duty? fly immediately to Goering. It was difficult, and even dangerous, to explain the current situation in a radiogram, given that the enemy was listening to the air. If Göring, whom Hitler officially appointed as his successor a few years ago, is to enter into peace negotiations, as the Fuehrer proposes, then there is not a moment to lose. Jodl agreed with this. At 3.20 am on April 23, Koller took off in a fighter, which immediately headed for Munich.

In the afternoon he arrived at Obersalzberg and delivered the news to the Reichsmarschall. Goering, who, to put it mildly, had long looked forward to the day when he would succeed Hitler, nevertheless showed more discretion than one might have expected. He did not want to become a victim of his mortal enemy? Bormann. The precaution, as it turned out, was well justified. He even broke into a sweat, solving the dilemma that confronted him. “If I take action now,” he told his advisers, “? I may be branded as a traitor. If I remain inactive, I will be accused of not doing anything in the hour of trial.

Goering sent for Hans Lammers, Secretary of State of the Reich Chancellery, who was in Berchtesgaden, to obtain from him legal advice, and also took out a copy of the Fuhrer's decree of June 29, 1941 from his safe. The decree defined everything clearly. It provided that in the event of Hitler's death, Goering would become his successor. In the event of Hitler's temporary inability to lead the state, Goering acts as his deputy. Everyone agreed that, left to die in Berlin, deprived in his last hours of the opportunity to direct military and state affairs, Hitler is unable to perform these functions, so Goering's duty according to the decree? take power into your own hands.

Nevertheless, the Reichsmarschall compiled the text of the telegram very carefully. He wanted to be firmly convinced that power was really transferred to him.

My Fuehrer!

In view of your decision to remain in Fortress Berlin, do you agree that I immediately take over the overall leadership of the Reich, with full freedom of action in the country and abroad, as your deputy in accordance with your decree of June 29, 1941? If there is no reply by 10 p.m. today, I will take it for granted that you have lost your freedom of action and that the conditions for the entry into force of your decree have arisen. I will also act in the best interests of our country and our people. You know what feelings I have for you at this difficult hour of my life. I don't have words to express it. May the Almighty protect you and send you here as soon as possible, no matter what.

Loyal to you

Hermann Goering.

That same evening, several hundred miles away, Heinrich Himmler met with Count Bernadotte at the Swedish consulate in Lübeck on the Baltic coast. "Faithful Heinrich", as Hitler often affably addressed him, did not ask for power as a successor. He had already taken her into his own hands.

“The great life of the Fuhrer, ? he told the Swedish count, is nearing the end. In a day or two, Hitler will die." Himmler then asked Bernadotte to immediately inform General Eisenhower of Germany's readiness to capitulate in the West. In the East, he added, the war would continue until the Western powers themselves opened a front against the Russians. Such was the naivete, or stupidity, or both, of this SS arbiter of destinies, who in this moment, sought for himself dictatorial powers in the Third Reich. When Bernadotte asked Himmler to put his offer to surrender in writing, the letter was hastily drafted. This was done by candlelight, since the British air raids that evening deprived Lübeck of electrical lighting and forced the deliberators to go down to the cellar. Himmler signed the letter.

But both Goering and Himmler acted, as they quickly realized, prematurely. Although Hitler was completely cut off from the outside world, except for limited radio communications with the armies and ministries, since by the evening of April 23 the Russians completed the encirclement of the capital, he still sought to show that he was able to rule Germany by the sheer force of his authority and suppress any treason, even from especially close followers, for which one word was enough, transmitted over a crackling radio transmitter, the antenna of which was attached to a balloon hanging over his bunker.

Albert Speer and one witness, a very remarkable lady, whose dramatic appearance in the last act in Berlin will soon be outlined, left a description of Hitler's reaction to Goering's telegram. Speer flew into the besieged capital on the night of April 23, landing a tiny plane at the eastern end of the Vostok freeway? West? wide street that ran through the Tiergarten, ? at the Brandenburg Gate, a block from the Chancellery. Learning that Hitler had decided to stay in Berlin until the end, which was not far off, Speer went to say goodbye to the Führer and confess to him that "the conflict between personal loyalty and public duty," as he called it, was forcing him to sabotage the "scorched earth" tactics. He believed, not without reason, that he would be arrested "for treason" and possibly shot. And it certainly would have happened if the dictator knew that two months ago Speer made an attempt to kill him and everyone else who managed to escape the Stauffenberg bomb. The brilliant architect and minister of armaments, although he always prided himself on his apolitical nature, finally had a belated epiphany. When he realized that his adored Fuhrer intended to destroy the German people through scorched earth decrees, he decided to kill Hitler. His plan was to file poisonous gas into the ventilation system of a bunker in Berlin at the time of a major military meeting. Since they were now invariably attended not only by generals, but also by Göring, Himmler and Goebbels, Speer hoped to destroy the entire Nazi leadership of the Third Reich, as well as the high military command. He got the right gas and checked the air conditioning system. But then he discovered, as he later said, that the air intake in the garden was protected by a pipe about 4 meters high. This pipe was recently installed on Hitler's personal order to avoid sabotage. Speer realized that it was impossible to supply gas there, since this would be immediately prevented by the SS guards in the garden. Therefore, he abandoned his plan, and Hitler again managed to avoid an assassination attempt.

Now, on the evening of April 23, Speer admitted that he did not obey the order and did not carry out the senseless destruction of objects vital to Germany. To his surprise, Hitler showed neither indignation nor anger. Perhaps the Fuhrer was touched by the sincerity and courage of his young friend? Speer just turned forty, ? to whom he had a long attachment and whom he regarded as a "companion in art". Hitler, Keitel noted, was strangely calm that evening, as if the decision to die here in the coming days brought peace to his soul. This calm was not so much the calm after the storm as it was the calm before the storm.

Before the conversation ended, he dictated a telegram, prompted by Bormann, accusing Göring of committing "high treason" for which only death could be the penalty, but given his long service to the Nazi Party and state, his life could be spared if he immediately resign from all posts. Was he asked to answer in monosyllables? Yes or no. However, this was not enough for the sycophant Bormann. At his own peril and risk, he sent a radiogram to the SS headquarters in Berchtesgaden, ordering Goering to be immediately arrested for treason. The next day, before dawn, the second most important person in the Third Reich, the most arrogant and richest of the Nazi bosses, the only Reichsmarschall in German history, the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, became a prisoner of the SS.

Three days later, on the evening of April 26, Hitler spoke out against Goering even more harshly than in the presence of Speer.

The last visitors to the bunker

In the meantime, two more interesting visitors had arrived at Hitler's madhouse-like bunker: Hannah Reitsch, a brave test pilot who, among other virtues, had a deep hatred of Goering, and General Ritter von Greim, who was ordered to come from Munich on April 24 to the Supreme Commander, which he did. True, on the evening of the 26th, when they flew up to Berlin, their plane was shot down over the Tiergarten by Russian anti-aircraft guns and General Greim's leg was crushed.

Hitler came to the operating room, where the doctor was dressing the general's wound.

Hitler: Do you know why I called you?

Greim: No, my Fuhrer.

Hitler: Hermann Goering betrayed me and the fatherland and deserted. He made contact with the enemy behind my back. His actions can only be regarded as cowardice. Against orders, he fled to Berchtesgaden to save himself. From there, he sent me an irreverent radiogram. It was…

"Here, ? recalls Hanna Reich, who was present at the conversation, ? the Führer's face twitched, his breathing became heavy and short.

Hitler: ...Ultimatum! Rough ultimatum! Now there's nothing left. Nothing got past me. There is no such betrayal, such betrayal, which I would not have experienced. They are not faithful to the oath, they do not value honor. And now this too! Nothing left. There is no evil that has not been done to me.

I ordered Goering to be immediately arrested as a traitor to the Reich. Removed him from all posts, expelled him from all organizations. That's why I called you!

After that, he appointed the discouraged general, who was lying on his bed, the new commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe. Hitler could announce this appointment over the radio. This would have allowed Greim to avoid injury and be at Air Force Headquarters, the only place from where he could still manage what was left of the Air Force.

Three days later, Hitler ordered Greim, who by this time, like Fraulein Reich, expected and wished for death in a bunker next to the Fuhrer, to fly to the place and deal with a new betrayal. And treason among the leaders of the Third Reich, as we have seen, was not limited to the actions of Hermann Goering.

During these three days, Hannah Reitsch had ample opportunities to observe the life of madmen in the underground lunatic asylum and, of course, to participate in it. Since she was emotionally as unstable as the high-ranking owner who sheltered her, her recordings are ominous and at the same time melodramatic. And yet, in the main, they obviously correspond to reality and are even quite complete, since they are confirmed by the testimonies of other eyewitnesses, which makes them an important document in the final chapter of the history of the Reich.

On the night of April 26, after her arrival with General Greim, Russian shells began to fall on the office, and the dull sounds of explosions and crumbling walls from above only exacerbated the tension in the bunker. Hitler took the pilot aside.

My Fuhrer, why are you staying here? ? she asked. ? Why should Germany lose you?! The Fuhrer must live so that Germany can live. This is what the people demand.

No Hannah? answered, according to her, the Fuhrer. ? If I die, I will die for the honor of our country, because, as a soldier, I must obey my own order? defend Berlin to the end. My dear girl, ? he continued, I didn't expect this to happen. I firmly believed that we would be able to defend Berlin on the banks of the Oder ... When all our efforts ended in nothing, I was more horrified than everyone else. Later, when the encirclement of the city began ... I thought that by staying in Berlin, I would set an example for all ground troops and they would come to the rescue of the city ... But, my Hannah, I still hope. General Wenck's army is approaching from the south. He must? and can? drive the Russians far enough to save our people. We will retreat, but we will hold on.

Hitler was in this mood at the beginning of the evening. He still hoped that General Wenck would liberate Berlin. But just a few minutes later, when the Russian shelling of the office intensified, he again fell into despair. He handed Rach the poison pods: one? for herself, another? for Graham.

"Hanna, ? he said, ? you are one of those who will die with me ... I do not want even one of us to fall into the hands of the Russians alive, I do not want them to find our bodies. Eve's body and my body will be burned. And you choose your path."

Hannah took the poison capsule to Greim, and they decided that if "the end really comes," they would swallow the poison and then, to be sure, pull the pin from the heavy grenade and hold it tightly to themselves.

On the 28th, Hitler seemed to have new hopes, or at least illusions. He radioed Keitel: “I expect the pressure on Berlin to ease. What is Henry's army doing? Where is Wenck? What's going on with the 9th Army? When will Wenk link up with the 9th Army?"

Reich describes how, on that day, the Supreme Commander restlessly paced "through the hideout, waving the road map that was rapidly spreading in his sweaty hands, and discussing Wenck's campaign plan with anyone who was willing to listen to him."

But Wenck's "campaign", like Steiner's "strike" a week earlier, existed only in the Fuehrer's imagination. Wenk's army was already destroyed, as was the 9th Army. North of Berlin, Henry's army quickly retreated to the West to surrender Western allies, not Russian.

All day on April 28, the desperate inhabitants of the bunker waited for the results of the counterattacks of these three armies, especially Wenck's army. The Russian wedges were already at a distance of several blocks from the office and were slowly approaching it along several streets from the east and north, as well as through the Tiergarten. When no news was received from the troops coming to the aid, Hitler, instigated by Bormann, suspected new perfidy. At 8 pm Bormann sent a radiogram to Doenitz:

“Instead of urging the troops to move forward in the name of our salvation, the responsible persons remain silent. Apparently, betrayal has replaced fidelity. We are staying here. The office is in ruins.

Later that night, Bormann sent another telegram to Doenitz:

"Scherner, Wenck and others must prove their loyalty to the Führer by coming to his aid as soon as possible."

Bormann now spoke in his own name. Hitler decided to die in a day or two, but Bormann wanted to live. He probably could not be Hitler's successor, but he wanted to be able in the future to press the secret springs behind the back of anyone who comes to power.

On the same night, Admiral Foss sent a telegram to Doenitz, informing him that communication with the army was broken, and demanded that he urgently inform the fleet about major events in the world. Soon some news arrived, not from the Navy, but from the Ministry of Propaganda, from its listening posts. For Adolf Hitler, the news was devastating.

In addition to Bormann, there was another Nazi figure in the bunker who wanted to stay alive. It was Hermann Fegelein, Himmler's representative at headquarters, a typical example of a German who came to the fore under Hitler's rule. A former groom, then jockey, completely uneducated, he was the protégé of the notorious Christian Weber, one of Hitler's old party comrades. After 1933, through the machinations of Weber, he amassed a solid fortune and, being obsessed with horses, started a large stable of horses. With the support of Weber, Fegelein managed to rise high in the Third Reich. He became a general of the Waffen-SS, and in 1944, shortly after Himmler's appointment as liaison officer at the Fuhrer's headquarters, he further strengthened his position at the top by marrying Eva Braun's sister Gretel. All the surviving SS leaders unanimously note that Fegelein, having agreed with Bormann, did not hesitate to betray his SS chief Himmler to Hitler. This infamous illiterate and ignorant man, such as Fegelein, seemed to have an amazing instinct for self-preservation. He knew how to determine in time whether the ship was sinking or not.

On April 26, he quietly left the bunker. The next evening, Hitler discovered his disappearance. The Fuhrer, already wary, had a suspicion, and he immediately sent a group of SS men to search for the missing person. He was found already in civilian clothes at his home in the Charlottenburg region, which was about to be captured by the Russians. He was taken to the office and there, stripped of the rank of SS Ober-Gruppenführer, was put under arrest. Fegelein's attempt to defect made Hitler suspicious of Himmler. What was the SS chief up to now, having left Berlin? There has been no news since his liaison officer, Fegelein, left his post. Now the news has finally arrived.

April 28, as we have seen, was a difficult day for the inhabitants of the bunker. The Russians were getting closer. The long-awaited news of Wenck's counterattack still did not arrive. In desperation, the besieged inquired over the radio network of the Navy about the situation outside the besieged city.

A radio eavesdropping post at the Ministry of Propaganda picked up a report from the BBC radio station in London about events taking place outside Berlin. On the evening of April 28, the Reuters news agency transmitted such a sensational and incredible message from Stockholm that one of Goebbels' assistants, Heinz Lorenz, rushed headlong through the area riddled with shells into the bunker. He brought several copies of this message to his minister and the Fuehrer.

The news, according to Hannah Reich, “fell upon society like a death blow. Men and women screamed in rage, fear and despair, their voices merging into one emotional spasm. Hitler had it much stronger than the rest. According to the pilot, "he raged like crazy."

Heinrich Himmler, "faithful Heinrich", also fled from the sinking ship of the Reich. The Reuters report spoke of his secret negotiations with Count Bernadotte and the readiness of the German armies in the West to surrender to Eisenhower.

For Hitler, who never doubted Himmler's absolute loyalty, this was a severe blow. "His face, Reich remembered, became crimson red and literally unrecognizable ... After a rather long fit of anger and indignation, Hitler fell into some kind of stupor, and silence reigned in the bunker for a while. Goering at least asked the Führer for permission to continue his work. And the "faithful" SS chief and Reichsführer treacherously made contact with the enemy, without a word notifying Hitler of this. And Hitler told his henchmen, when he came to his senses a little, what is it? the meanest act of betrayal he had ever encountered.

This strike, along with the news received a few minutes later that the Russians were closing in on Potsdamerplatz, located just a block away from the bunker, and likely to storm the Chancellery on the morning of April 30, that is, 30 hours later, meant that the end was coming. This forced Hitler to make the last decisions of his life. Before dawn, he married Eva Braun, then laid out his last will, made a will, sent Greim and Hannah Reitsch to collect the remnants of the Luftwaffe for a massive bombardment of Russian troops approaching the office, and also ordered the two of them to arrest the traitor Himmler.

“After me, a traitor will never become the head of state! ? said, according to Hannah, Hitler. ? And you have to make sure that doesn't happen."

Hitler burned with impatience to take revenge on Himmler. In his hands was the liaison officer of the SS chief Fegelein. This former jockey and current SS general was immediately taken from the cell, carefully interrogated for Himmler's treason, accused of complicity and, on the orders of the Fuhrer, was taken to the garden of the office, where he was shot. Fegelein did not help even the fact that he was married to the sister of Eva Braun. And Eve did not lift a finger to save the life of her son-in-law.

On the night of April 29, somewhere between one and three, Hitler married Eva Braun. He fulfilled the desire of his mistress, crowning her with legal bonds as a reward for loyalty to the end.

Hitler's last will and testament

As Hitler wished, both of these documents survived. Like his other documents, they are essential to our narrative. They confirm that the man who ruled Germany with an iron fist for more than twelve years, and most of Europe? four years, learned nothing. Even failures and crushing defeat did not teach him anything.

True, in the last hours of his life, he mentally returned to the days of his reckless youth, which passed in Vienna, to noisy gatherings in Munich pubs, where he cursed the Jews for all the troubles in the world, to far-fetched universal theories and lamentations that fate again deceived Germany , depriving her of victory and conquest. This farewell speech, addressed to the German nation and the whole world, which was supposed to be the final appeal to history, Adolf Hitler composed from empty phrases calculated for cheap effect, pulled from " mein kampf”, adding to them their false fabrications. This speech was a natural epitaph for a tyrant whom absolute power had completely corrupted and destroyed.

The "political testament," as he called it, is divided into two parts. The first is an appeal to descendants, the second? his special plans for the future.

“More than thirty years have passed since I, as a volunteer, made my modest contribution to the First World War imposed on the Reich.

Over these three decades, all my thoughts, actions and life have been guided only by love and devotion to my people. They have given me the strength to make the most difficult decisions a mortal has ever made...

It is not true that I or anyone else in Germany wanted war in 1939. She was coveted and provoked by those statesmen other countries that were either themselves of Jewish origin or worked in the name of the interests of the Jews.