The Bunker Of Hitler

[Nickie Koskinen]

Hitlertook up residence in the Fhrerbunker on 16 January 1945, and it became the centre of the Nazi regime until the last week of World War II in Europe. Hitler married Eva Braun there on 29 April 1945, less than 40 hours before they committed suicide.

The Reich Chancellery bunker was initially constructed as a temporary air-raid shelter for Hitler, who actually spent very little time in the capital during most of the war. Increased bombing of Berlin led to expansion of the complex as an improvised permanent shelter. The elaborate complex consisted of two separate shelters, the Vorbunker ("forward bunker"; the upper bunker), completed in 1936, and the Fhrerbunker, located 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) lower than the Vorbunker and to the west-southwest, completed in 1944.[2][3] They were connected by a stairway set at right angles and could be closed off from each other by a bulkhead and steel door.[4] The Vorbunker was located 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) beneath the cellar of a large reception hall behind the old Reich Chancellery at Wilhelmstrasse 77.[5] The Fhrerbunker was located about 8.5 m (28 ft) beneath the garden of the old Reich Chancellery, 120 m (390 ft) north of the new Reich Chancellery building at Vostrae 6.[6] Besides being deeper under ground, the Fhrerbunker had significantly more reinforcement. Its roof was made of concrete almost 3 m (9 ft 10 in) thick.[7] About 30 small rooms were protected by approximately 4 m (13 ft 1 in) of concrete; exits led into the main buildings, as well as an emergency exit up to the garden. The Fhrerbunker development was built by the Hochtief company as part of an extensive programme of subterranean construction in Berlin begun in 1940.[8] The construction cost for the Fhrerbunker totaled 1,349,899.29 Reichsmarks.[9]

Hitler's accommodations were in this newer, lower section, and by February 1945 it had been decorated with high-quality furniture taken from the Chancellery, along with several framed oil paintings.[10] After descending the stairs into the lower section and passing through the steel door, there was a long corridor with a series of rooms on each side.[11] On the right side were a series of rooms which included generator/ventilation rooms and the telephone switchboard.[11] On the left side was Eva Braun's bedroom/sitting room (also known as Hitler's private guest room), an antechamber (also known as Hitler's sitting room), which led into Hitler's study/office.[12][13] On the wall hung a large portrait of Frederick the Great, one of Hitler's heroes.[14] A door led into Hitler's modestly furnished bedroom.[13] Next to it was the conference/map room (also known as the briefing/situation room) which had a door that led out into the waiting room/anteroom.[12][13]

The bunker complex was self-contained.[15] However, as the Fhrerbunker was below the water table, conditions were unpleasantly damp, with pumps running continuously to remove groundwater. A diesel generator provided electricity, and well water was pumped in as the water supply.[16] Communications systems included a telex, a telephone switchboard, and an army radio set with an outdoor antenna. As conditions deteriorated at the end of the war, Hitler received much of his war news from BBC radio broadcasts and via courier.[17]

Hitler moved into the Fhrerbunker on 16 January 1945, joined by his senior staff, including Martin Bormann. Eva Braun and Joseph Goebbels joined them in April, while Magda Goebbels and their six children took residence in the upper Vorbunker.[18] Two or three dozen support, medical, and administrative staff were also sheltered there. These included Hitler's secretaries (including Traudl Junge), a nurse named Erna Flegel, and Sergeant Rochus Misch, who was both bodyguard and telephone switchboard operator. Initially, Hitler continued to use the undamaged wing of the Reich Chancellery, where he held afternoon military conferences in his large study.[19] Afterwards, he would have tea with his secretaries before returning to the bunker complex for the night. After several weeks of this routine, Hitler seldom left the bunker except for short strolls in the chancellery garden with his dog Blondi.[19] The bunker was crowded, the atmosphere was oppressive, and air raids occurred daily.[20] Hitler mostly stayed on the lower level, where it was quieter and he could sleep.[21] Conferences took place for much of the night,[20] often until 05:00.[22]

On 16 April, the Red Army started the Battle of Berlin, and they started to encircle the city by 19 April.[23] Hitler made his last trip to the surface on 20 April, his 56th birthday, going to the ruined garden of the Reich Chancellery where he awarded the Iron Cross to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth.[24] That afternoon, Berlin was bombarded by Soviet artillery for the first time.[25]

On 23 April,[a] Hitler appointed General of the Artillery Helmuth Weidling, commander of the LVI Panzer Corps, as the commander of the Berlin Defense Area, replacing Lieutenant Colonel (Oberstleutnant) Ernst Kaether.[30] The Red Army had consolidated their investment of Berlin by 25 April, despite the commands being issued from the Fhrerbunker. There was no prospect that the German defence could do anything but delay the city's capture.[31] Hitler summoned Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim from Munich to Berlin to take over command of the Luftwaffe from Hermann Gring, and he arrived on 26 April along with his mistress, the test pilot Hanna Reitsch.[32]

On 28 April, Hitler learned that Reichsfhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler was trying to discuss surrender terms with the Western Allies through Count Folke Bernadotte,[33] and Hitler considered this treason.[34] Himmler's SS representative in Berlin, Hermann Fegelein, was shot after being court-martialed for desertion, and Hitler ordered Himmler's arrest.[35][32] On the same day, General Hans Krebs made his last telephone call from the Fhrerbunker to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of German Armed Forces High Command (OKW) in Frstenberg. Krebs told him that all would be lost if relief did not arrive within 48 hours. Keitel promised to exert the utmost pressure on Generals Walther Wenck, commander of the Twelfth Army, and Theodor Busse, commander of the Ninth Army. Meanwhile, Bormann wired to German Admiral Karl Dnitz: "Reich Chancellery a heap of rubble."[32] He said that the foreign press was reporting fresh acts of treason and "that without exception Schrner, Wenck and the others must give evidence of their loyalty by the quickest relief of the Fhrer".[36]

That evening, von Greim and Reitsch flew out from Berlin in an Arado Ar 96 trainer. Field Marshal von Greim was ordered to get the Luftwaffe to attack the Soviet forces that had just reached Potsdamer Platz, only a city block from the Fhrerbunker.[b][37][38] During the night of 28 April, General Wenck reported to Keitel that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front and it was no longer possible for his army to relieve Berlin.[39] Keitel gave Wenck permission to break off the attempt.[36]

Late in the evening of 29 April, Krebs contacted Jodl by radio: "Request immediate report. Firstly of the whereabouts of Wenck's spearheads. Secondly of time intended to attack. Thirdly of the location of the Ninth Army. Fourthly of the precise place in which the Ninth Army will break through. Fifthly of the whereabouts of General Rudolf Holste's spearhead."[39] In the early morning of 30 April, Jodl replied to Krebs: "Firstly, Wenck's spearhead bogged down south of Schwielow Lake. Secondly, Twelfth Army therefore unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of Ninth Army surrounded. Fourthly, Holste's Corps on the defensive."[39][42][43][d]

SS-Brigadefhrer Wilhelm Mohnke, commander of the centre government district of Berlin, informed Hitler during the morning of 30 April that he would be able to hold for less than two days. Later that morning, Weidling informed Hitler that the defenders would probably exhaust their ammunition that night and again asked him for permission to break out. Weidling finally received permission at about 13:00.[44] Hitler shot himself later that afternoon, at around 15:30, while Eva took cyanide.[45][46] In accordance with Hitler's instructions, his and Eva's bodies were burned in the garden behind the Reich Chancellery.[47] Goebbels became the new Head of Government and Chancellor of Germany (Reichskanzler) in accordance with Hitler's last will and testament. Reichskanzler Goebbels and Bormann sent a radio message to Dnitz at 03:15, informing him of Hitler's death, and that he was the new Head of State and President of Germany (Reichsprsident), in accordance with Hitler's last will and testament.[48]

Krebs talked to General Vasily Chuikov, commander of the Soviet 8th Guards Army, at about 04:00 on 1 May,[e] and Chuikov demanded unconditional surrender of the remaining German forces. Krebs did not have the authority to surrender, so he returned to the bunker.[49] In the late afternoon, Goebbels had his children poisoned, and he and his wife left the bunker at around 20:30.[50] There are several different accounts on what followed. According to one account, Goebbels shot his wife and then himself. Another account was that they each bit on a cyanide ampule and were given a coup de grce immediately afterwards.[51] Goebbels' SS adjutant Gnther Schwgermann testified in 1948 that the couple walked ahead of him up the stairs and out to the Chancellery garden. He waited in the stairwell and heard the shots, then walked up the remaining stairs and saw the lifeless bodies of the couple outside. He then followed Joseph Goebbels' order and had an SS soldier fire several shots into Goebbels' body, which did not move.[50] The bodies were then doused with petrol and set alight, but the remains were only partially burned and not buried.[51]

Weidling had given the order for the survivors to break out to the northwest, and the plan got underway at around 23:00. The first group from the Reich Chancellery was led by Mohnke; they tried unsuccessfully to break through the Soviet rings and were captured the next day. Mohnke was interrogated by SMERSH, like others who were captured from the Fhrerbunker. The third breakout attempt from the Reich Chancellery was made around 01:00 on 2 May, and Bormann managed to cross the Spree. Artur Axmann followed the same route and reported seeing Bormann's body a short distance from the Weidendammer bridge.[52][f]

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