Death of Adolf Hitler: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Stars & Stripes & Hitler Dead2.jpg|right|thumb|Cover of US armed forces newspaper ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|The Stars and Stripes]]'', [[2 May]] [[1945]].]] |
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The generally accepted cause of the '''death of Adolf Hitler''' on Monday, [[30 April]] [[1945]] is [[suicide]] by gunshot and [[cyanide]] poisoning. The dual method and other circumstances surrounding the event encouraged [[rumour]]s that [[Adolf Hitler]] may have survived the end of [[World War II]] along with speculation about what happened to his remains. The 1993 opening of records kept by the Russian [[KGB]] and [[Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation|FSB]] confirmed the widely accepted version of Hitler's death as described by [[Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton|Hugh Trevor-Roper]] in his book ''The Last Days of Hitler'' published in 1947. However, the Russian archives did show what happened to the [[cadaver]]. |
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==Suicide== |
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Hitler took up residence in the [[Führerbunker]] on [[16 January]] [[1945]] where he presided over a rapidly disintegrating [[Third Reich]] as the [[Allies]] advanced from both east and west. By late April [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] forces had entered [[Berlin]] and were battling their way to the centre of the city where the [[Reich Chancellery|Chancellery]] was located. |
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On [[22 April]] Hitler had what some historians later described as a [[nervous breakdown]] during one of his military situation conferences, admitting defeat was imminent and Germany would lose the war. He expressed his intent to kill himself and later asked physician [[Werner Haase]] to recommend a reliable method of suicide. Haase suggested combining a dose of [[cyanide]] with a gunshot to the head. |
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Hitler had a supply of cyanide capsules which he had obtained through the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]. Meanwhile, on [[28 April]] Hitler learned of [[Heinrich Himmler]]'s attempt to independently negotiate a peace treaty. Hitler considered this [[treason]] and began to show signs of [[paranoia]], expressing worries the cyanide capsules he had received through Himmler's SS were fake. He also learned of the execution of his ally [[Mussolini]] and vowed not to share a similar fate. To verify the capsules' potency he ordered Dr. Haase to try them on his dog [[Blondi]] and the animal died as a result. |
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After midnight on [[29 April]],<ref name=MI5-1>[http://www.mi5.gov.uk/print/Page242.html Hitler's last days: "Hitler's will and marriage"] "In the small hours of 28-29 April.."</ref> Hitler married [[Eva Braun]] in a small civil ceremony in a map room within the bunker complex. [[Antony Beevor]] states that after hosting a modest wedding breakfast with his new wife Hitler took secretary [[Traudl Junge]] to another room and dictated [[last will and testament of Adolf Hitler|his last will and testament]]. He signed these documents at 04:00 and then retired to bed (some sources say Hitler dictated the last will and testament immediately before the wedding, but all sources agree on the timing of the signing).<ref name=Beevor-343>Beevor [[#References|References]] p. 343. Records the marriage as taking place '''before''' Hitler had dictated the last will and testament</ref><ref name=MI5-2>[http://www.mi5.gov.uk/print/Page242.html Hitler's last days: "Hitler's will and marriage"] on the website of [[MI5]] using the sources available to Trevor Roper (a WWII MI5 agent) ''The Last Days of Hitler'' records the marriage as taking place '''after''' Hitler had dictated the last will and testament.</ref> |
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Hitler and Braun lived together as husband and wife in the bunker for less than 40 hours. Late in the morning of [[30 April]], with the Soviets less than 500 metres from the bunker, Hitler had a meeting with General [[Helmuth Weidling]], commander of the Berlin Defence Area, who informed Hitler the Berlin garrison would probably run out of ammunition that night. Weidling asked Hitler for permission to break out, a request he had made unsuccessfully before. Hitler did not answer at first and Weidling went back to his headquarters in the [[Bendlerblock]] where at about 13:00 he got Hitler's permission to try a breakout that night.<ref name=Beevor-358>Beevor, [[#Refernces|References]] p.358</ref> Hitler, two secretaries and his personal cook then had a light lunch consisting of spaghetti with light sauce, after which Hitler and Eva Braun said their personal farewells to members of the Führerbunker staff and fellow occupants, including the [[Joseph Goebbels|Goebbels]] family, Bormann, the secretaries and several military officers. At around 14:30 Adolf and Eva Hitler went into Hitler's personal study. |
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Some witnesses later reported hearing a loud gunshot at around 15:30 (the Goebbels' young son is said to have declared, "A bull's-eye!"<ref name=TJ-interview>Interview with [[Traudl Junge]] in ''The Two Deaths of Hitler''. [[The World at War]]. Special Presentation, Episode 6. Producer & Director: Martin Smith. Series Producer: [[Jeremy Isaacs]]. [[Thames Television]]. 1973.</ref>, or "A direct hit!" thinking it was a bomb overhead). After waiting a few minutes, Hitler's valet [[Heinz Linge]], with Bormann at his side, opened the door to the small study. Linge later stated he immediately noted a scent of burnt almonds, a common observation made in the presence of [[Hydrogen cyanide|prussic acid]], the gaseous form of [[cyanide]]. The Hitlers were both sitting on a small sofa, Eva on the left, Adolf to her right. Eva's body slumped away from Adolf's. Hitler appeared to have shot himself in the right temple (there was an exit wound towards the top, left side of his head) with a [[Walther PP|Walther PPK 7.65 mm pistol]] which lay at his feet. Blood dripping from Adolf's temple and chin had made a large stain on the right arm of the sofa and was pooling on the floor/carpet. Eva had no visible physical wounds and Linge assumed she had poisoned herself. |
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Several witnesses said the two bodies were carried up to ground level and through the bunker's emergency exit to a small, bombed-out garden behind the Chancellery where they were doused with [[petrol]] and set alight by Linge and members of Hitler's personal [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] bodyguard. The SS guards and Linge later noted the fire did not completely destroy the corpses but Soviet shelling of the bunker compound made further cremation attempts impossible and the remains were later covered up in a shallow bomb crater after 18:00. |
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==Ashes dumped in the Elbe river== |
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In 1969 Soviet journalist [[Lev Bezymensky]]'s book on the [[SMERSH]] [[autopsy]] report was published in the west but because of earlier [[disinformation]] attempts historians may have thought it untrustworthy.<ref>[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-5850(196904)45%3A2%3C294%3ATDOAHU%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5 JSTOR bibliographical note]</ref> However in 1993 the [[KGB]]/[[Federal Security Service (Russia)|FSB]] publicly released the autopsy records and other statements by former KGB members. Drawing from these, historians reached a consensus about what happened to the bodies of Hitler and Braun. |
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Red Army troops began storming the Chancellery at approximately 23:00, about 7 hours and 30 minutes after Hitler's death. On [[2 May]] the remains of Hitler, Braun and two dogs (thought to be [[Blondi]] and her offspring Wulf) were discovered in a shell crater by Ivan Churakov of the [[79th Rifle Corps]], to which a unit of [[SMERSH]] had been attached with orders to find Hitler's body.<ref>spiritus-temporis.com, ''[http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/hitler's-death/subsequent-events.html Hitler's death - subsequent events]'', retrieved 2 September 2008. This unit has sometimes been called ''79th SMERSH''</ref> |
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After the autopsy, which (contrary to public reports authorized by Stalin in 1945) recorded both gunshot damage to Hitler's skull and glass shards in his jaw, their remains were repeatedly buried and exhumed by SMERSH during the unit's relocation from Berlin to a new facility <!--at 30-32 Klausnerstrasse{{cn}} --> in [[Magdeburg]] where they (along with the charred remains of propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and those of his wife Magda and their six children) were permanently buried in an unmarked grave beneath a paved section of the front courtyard and the location was kept highly secret. |
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By 1970 the SMERSH facility (now controlled by the KGB) was scheduled to be handed over to the [[East Germany|East German]] government. Fearing the possibility any Hitler burial site might become a [[Neo-Nazi]] shrine, KGB director [[Yuri Andropov]] authorised a special operation to destroy the remains. On [[4 April]] [[1970]] a Soviet KGB team (which had been given detailed burial charts) secretly exhumed the bodies and thoroughly burned them before dumping the ashes in the [[Elbe]] river. |
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==See also== |
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* [[Hitler in popular culture#Fiction about Hitler's death|Fiction about the death of Hitler]] |
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* [[List of suicides]] |
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* [[Nazi mysticism]] |
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* [[Führer Headquarters]] |
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==Dramatizations== |
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*''[[Hitler: The Last Ten Days]]'' (1973) is a movie depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitler's death, starring Sir [[Alec Guinness]] but has been criticized for many inaccuracies. |
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*''[[The Bunker]]'' (1978) by James O'Donnell describes the last days in the [[Führerbunker]] from [[1945-01-17]] to [[1945-05-02]]. Made into the TV movie ''[[The Bunker (1981 film)|The Bunker (1981)]]'', starring Anthony Hopkins. |
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*''[[Der Untergang]]'' (engl. ''[[Downfall]]'') (2004) is a German movie about the last days of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. It also features interviews with [[Traudl Junge]]. |
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==References== |
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* [[Antony Beevor|Beevor, Antony]], ''Berlin - The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5 |
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* [[Hugh Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton|Trevor-Roper, Hugh]] (1947). ''The Last Days of Hitler'', University Of Chicago Press; Reprint 1992, ISBN 0-226-81224-3 |
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==Further reading== |
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{{main|List of Adolf Hitler books}} |
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;Books |
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* [[Cornelius Ryan|Ryan, Cornelius]], ''The Last Battle'', Simon and Schuster, New York, 1966 |
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* [[Joachim Fest|Fest, Joachim]]. ''Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich'', ISBN 0-374-13577-0 |
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* Joachimsthaler, Anton (1996). ''The Last Days of Hitler: Legend, Evidence and Truth'', Cassell, 2000, ISBN 0-304-35453-8 |
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* Gardner, Dave. ''The Last of the Hitlers'', BMM, Worcester, UK, 2001. ISBN 0-9541544-0-1 |
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* O'Donnell, James. ''[[The Bunker]].'' New York: Da Capo Press; Reprint(2001). ISBN 0-306-80958-3. |
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* Petrova, Ada. ''The Death of Hitler: The Full Story With New Evidence from Secret Russian Archives'', W W Norton & Co Inc ([[May 1]] [[1995]]), ISBN 0-393-03914-5 |
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* [[William Shirer|William L. Shirer]] (1959), ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', Simon & Schuster; ISBN 0-671-62420-2 |
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* Waite, Robert G.L. (1977). ''The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler'', New York: First DaCapo Press Edition, 1993, ISBN 0-306-80514-6. |
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;Articles |
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*Gavin, Philip. ''[http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/death.htm The Death of Hitler] '', [http://www.historyplace.com/awards/about.htm history historyplace.com]. An by Philip Gavin on his website. |
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*Mollo, Andrew ''[http://www.afterthebattle.com/ab-con1.html No.61 Special Edition: The Berlin Führerbunker: The thirteenth hole]'', website [http://www.afterthebattle.com/home.htm After the Battle], Battle of Britain International Ltd, 1988, London |
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*Petrova, Ada, and Watson, Peter. ''[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/deathofhitler.htm The Death of Hitler: The Full Story with New Evidence from Secret Russian Archives]'', [[Washington Post]], 1995 |
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*Staff, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/725537.stm Russia displays 'Hitler skull fragment'], [[BBC]], [[26 April]] [[2000]]. |
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==Footnotes== |
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<references/> |
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{{Adolf Hitler}} |
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[[Category:Adolf Hitler]] |
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[[Category:Politicians who committed suicide]] |
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[[Category:Deaths by person|Hitler, Adolf]] |
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[[Category:1945 in Germany]] |
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[[Category:Suicides in Germany]] |
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[[ar:موت أدولف هتلر]] |
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[[fa:مرگ هیتلر]] |
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[[fr:Mort d'Adolf Hitler]] |
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[[fi:Hitlerin kuolema]] |
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Revision as of 19:34, 14 October 2008
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