Hitler’s last days. On April 30, 1945, the dictator who dreamed of the “1000-year Reich” committed suicide in his bunker

79 years ago, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker under the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. Eyewitness accounts collected by Western secret services after the end of the war provide a fascinating insight into Hitler’s final days in April 1945.

In June 1945, the Soviets announced – falsely – that Hitler’s remains had not been found and that he was probably still alive.

This announcement caused a predictable flurry of “Hitler sightings” across Europe. Allied officers tried to establish beyond doubt that Hitler had indeed died in his bunker. To this end, they questioned various members of Hitler’s personal entourage who had been with the dictator in late April 1945.

Historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, who served as a British military intelligence officer during the war, used these accounts to investigate the circumstances of Hitler’s death and refute claims that Hitler was still alive and living somewhere in the West. He published an account of his findings in 1947 in his book The Last Days of Hitler.

At the end of World War II, various members of Hitler’s personal entourage who had been with him in the bunker in April 1945 were interrogated by Allied officers trying to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Hitler was dead.

Their investigators focused on the events that took place in the bunker during the last days of April. By then the Red Army had surrounded Berlin and the sound of fire could be heard clearly from inside the Führerbunker.

Hitler retreated to the bunker in January 1945

Hitler retreated to his bunker in January 1945 as the Russians advanced through Poland into eastern Germany and the Allied Air Force bombarded Berlin. By early April 1945, 2.5 million Russian soldiers had arrived in the German capital. Two weeks later, they had reached the center of the city and were fighting only a few hundred meters from Hitler’s hideout.

On 28–29 April, Hitler dictated his will, in the form of a political and personal testament, to Gertrud “Traudl” Junge, who was one of his secretaries. Shortly thereafter, Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun married.

From the accounts of two of the secretaries present it was recorded that they were called to see the newly married couple. Hitler and Eva emerged from the map room where the marriage ceremony had taken place, accompanied by Goebbels, his wife Magda and Hitler’s private secretary Martin Bormann. Turning to Hitler’s personal secretary, Gerda Christian, Eva pointed to the wedding ring on her finger and received congratulations.

A party followed to celebrate the event. According to Christian, Hitler mostly talked about the past and happier times. However, he admitted to them that he knew the war was lost. He added that he would never allow himself to be taken prisoner by the Russians, but intended to shoot himself. He told Junge that the wedding had been an emotional experience, but that for him death would only mean personal redemption for his many worries and what had been a very hard life.

Christian, who was used to joining Hitler and Eva for certain meals, was invited to the wedding breakfast after the ceremony, but left early, telling Junge that he could not stand the atmosphere of gloom and despair.

Preparations for death

On the morning of April 29, the inhabitants of the bunker received the news of the execution by Italian partisans of Mussolini and his mistress, Claretta Petacci. One of those interrogated commented that this would have served to strengthen Hitler’s resolve that neither he nor Eva Braun should meet this fate.

Hitler ordered his staff to prepare for the end. An eyewitness noted that Hitler’s SS bodyguards were destroying his personal papers. Elsewhere, one of the doctors was instructed by Hitler to poison Blondi, his Alsatian dog. Eyewitnesses also described how, on the afternoon of April 29, Hitler went from room to room shaking hands with everyone except his close staff, saying a few words of encouragement and thanks to each.

By the morning of April 30, Russian forces had reached nearby Potsdamer Platz. One recorded version suggests that Eva was heard crying: “I’d rather die here. I don’t want to escape”. She and Hitler later left their apartment and walked through the room where Hitler’s entourage was, silently shaking hands. Everyone knew the time had come.

Junge recalled that both she and Christian asked Hitler for a poison capsule after noticing the rapid effect the poison had on Hitler’s dog. Hitler gave them one each, saying he was sorry he didn’t have a better parting gift and wished his generals had been as level-headed and brave as they were. Eva hugged Junge and, in what appear to have been her last recorded words, said, “Take my fur coat as a souvenir. I always like well-dressed women.” Then, saying “It’s over, goodbye,” Hitler took Eva back to their rooms for the last time. During the afternoon, Hitler shot himself and Eva took the poison capsule he gave her.

Disposal of corpses

Soon after, their bodies were carried up the stairs to a small garden outside the bunker. Hitler’s driver helped transport Eva and noted that once there, her body was placed on the ground next to Hitler’s. He told his interrogators that he noticed she was wearing a blue summer dress made of real silk, that her shoes had cork heels and that her hair was “artificially blonde”.

Moments later, the same witness saw Goebbels and Bormann gathered near the bodies. One of them poured gasoline from a can over the bodies. Then they retreated to the safety of a doorway with the sound of Russian artillery all around them. Hitler’s adjutant ignited a rag soaked in gasoline and threw it over the corpses, which immediately caught fire. The group gave the Hitlergruss (Nazi salute) and retreated.

One of the bunker guards arrived late on the scene. He described how he was very surprised to see the two bodies burst into flames as if by spontaneous combustion.

The bodies were only partially destroyed by fire and were later hastily buried in a shallow bomb crater. According to Russian reports, the bodies were exhumed by Soviet troops and taken to Magdeburg in East Germany, where Hitler’s body was said to have finally been destroyed in April 1970 by the KGB. Two body fragments were preserved, a jaw and a skull. They were displayed in an exhibition at the Russian Federal Archives in Moscow in April 2000.

Hitler’s final days in the Berlin bunker have been portrayed in several films, most recently Oliver Hirschbiegel’s 2004 film Der Untergang (“Downfall”).

Publisher: RK