Is Hitler still alive? Did Argentina shelter the creator of the Third Reich after the war? (15 photos). Adolf Hitler died in Argentina after living a long life

Conclusion of the commission of experts of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office on criminal case No. 159 on the execution of Polish prisoners of war from the Kozelsky, Ostashkovsky and Starobelsky special camps of the NKVD in April-May 1940 Moscow August 2, 1993 In the period from March 17, 1992 to August 2, 1993 on

In April 1945, the Red Army fought fierce battles on the streets of Berlin, conquering the capital of the Reich meter by meter. It was obvious who would win the war in Europe.

Hundreds of thousands died in the battles for the capital, including civilian casualties that were not accurately accounted for by anyone. Countless people were left homeless. But the end of the Third Reich came on April 30, 1945 with the death of two people: Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun.

Shortly after the two-week siege ended, 33-year-old LIFE photographer William Vandivert arrived in Berlin. This collection contains his previously unpublished photos from Hitler’s bunker and destroyed Berlin.

1. Oberwalstrasse, center of Berlin. Here in the spring of 1945 the most brutal battles took place. (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

2. Vandivert was the first Western photographer to gain access to Hitler's Führerbunker. Some of the photographs he took were published by LIFE in July 1945, but most of the photographs in this collection have never been published. In the photo: one of the rooms in the command bunker, burned by the retreating Germans and cleared of surviving valuables by the advancing Red Army soldiers. (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

3. A 16th-century painting taken by the Germans from a museum in Milan. Vandivert wrote to the editor about this: “We had to take photographs in the dark, using only a candle for lighting - there was no light in the rooms. Our group was ahead of everyone else, who arrived only forty minutes later.” (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

4. The first of 20 pages of notes Vandivert made for the editors in New York. The photographer described not only the frames captured on each film, but also the mood and atmosphere in Hitler’s bunker and the Reich Chancellery (“a view of the Chancellery... it was bombed, burned and shot to hell”). (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

5. Illuminating the dark corridors with candles, correspondents examine the sofa covered with blood stains. Vandivert writes: "Photos of correspondents looking at the sofa on which Hitler and Eva Braun shot themselves. Eva sat at the far end, and Hitler in the middle. Then Hitler fell to the floor." This turned out to be only half true. Historians are confident that Eva Braun committed suicide with cyanide, not a gun, so the blood on the sofa was not Eva's blood. (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

6. Correspondent Percy Knauth examines the dirt and debris at the bottom of a trench in the garden of the Reich Chancellery, where the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun are believed to have been burned after suicide. Vandivert's notes: "a broken-down bird feeder on a tree... these were hung all over Berchtesgaden (Hitler's estate in the Bavarian Alps). Probably meant a lot to him." (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

7. The famous "death's head" - the SS emblem - is barely visible under a layer of mold. The cap lies on the floor of the bunker, filled with water. (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

8. The phrase “violence and looting” sounds medieval, but perfectly describes the actions of Soviet troops in conquered Berlin. It is foolish to deny this, because not a single army in wars was completely sinless in this sense. It is not surprising that the Soviet troops cleared the bunker of anything that the Germans did not take with them or burn during their retreat. (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

9. Vandiver writes: “Almost all the famous buildings of Berlin lie in ruins. In the city center, soldiers could walk for several blocks and not meet a single living soul, smelling only the smell of death.” In the photo: a view of the bombed Schöneberg district in Berlin. From August 1940 to March 1945, American, British and Soviet bombers carried out a total of more than 350 air raids on the city. Tens of thousands of civilians died. (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

10. The Allied forces (British, American, French and Soviet) gained control of Berlin, but this does not mean that they rested on their laurels. Hard work was carried out to restore order in the destroyed city. The troubles of an entire nation fell on the shoulders of the soldiers who wanted to return home. In the photo: Private First Class Douglas Page stands in the Berlin Sports Palace in the place where Hitler usually gave his speeches. The building was destroyed during the bombing on January 30, 1944. (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

11. Soviet soldiers and an unknown civilian are moving a huge eagle that used to hang above the entrance to the Reich Chancellery. Vandivert: "They were loading it onto a car to take it away as a trophy." (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

12. The columns at the entrance to the Reich Chancellery and the entire lower part of the building are covered with the names of the dead and survivors, who, like all warriors at all times, wanted to shame the enemy, honor fallen comrades, or simply testify: I was here. I survived. (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

13. A broken globe and a bust of Hitler among the rubble in front of the Reich Chancellery. This picture perfectly illustrates the state of Berlin in April 1945 on the eve of the Potsdam Conference. Just at this time, the song “Berlin Kommt Wieder” (Berlin will return) became increasingly popular in the city. And it was considered "dangerous" not so much because of the lyrics, but because of the way the Berliners sang it. (William Vandivert/TIME & LIFE Pictures)

14. William Vandivert photographed for LIFE from the late 1930s until 1948. In 1947, he, together with Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson and David Seymour, created the Magnum Photo agency (where he worked for only a year). Vandivert died in 1992.

Chapter 30

“WE SHOULD NOT GIVE UP FIVE MINUTES BEFORE MIDNIGHT” (January 17 – April 20, 1945)

By January 17, the Red Army had defeated or outflanked German forces on the Baltic coast and crossed the Vistula in a huge area from Warsaw to Lower Silesia. Soviet troops were so close to Auschwitz that prisoners could hear the roar of artillery cannonade. IN last weeks SS guards burned warehouses with shoes, clothes and hair, trying to hide the traces of mass destruction. The camp staff fled. The guards lined up 58,000 shivering, exhausted men and marched them west, leaving behind only 6,000 sick, unable-to-walk prisoners in the hope that they would die under Soviet bombs. When the Red Army broke into Auschwitz on January 27, almost 5,000 prisoners remained in the camp, so exhausted that they could not utter a word of greeting. Gas chambers and five crematoria were blown up. No matter how hard the Nazis tried to cover up the traces of their crimes, they left irrefutable evidence - mountains of toothbrushes, glasses, shoes, dentures and mass graves of hundreds of thousands of people... Despite the arson and explosions, the purpose of which was to hide the loose ends, representatives of the international Red Cross discovered 368,820 men's suits, 836,255 women's coats, 13,694 carpets and 7 tons of human hair.

In Berlin on this day, General Guderian and his adjutants entered the main entrance of the Reich Chancellery to attend a military meeting with the Fuhrer. They had to take a detour to reach Hitler's office due to damage caused by Allied bombing. There were guards with machine guns in the reception area. The SS officer asked to leave his personal weapon and carefully examined the briefcases. This rule, introduced after July 20, made no exceptions even for the chief of staff.

At 4:20 p.m., the hunched Führer entered with a shuffling gait, his left arm hanging lifelessly. The meeting began with a report from Guderian, who impartially described the disaster in the East. Hitler listened indifferently, but as soon as the conversation turned to Western Front, he perked up and began to remember the First World War: “In 1915 and 1916 we had such ammunition standards that your hair would stand on end...” The meeting ended at 18.50, and Guderian left for Zossen. He was outraged. We talked for two and a half hours, but no concrete decision was made on any issue related to the critical situation on the Eastern Front.

Himmler had just been appointed commander of an army group formed to repel the main attack of the advancing Soviet group under the command of Marshal Zhukov. Guderian thought this appointment was idiotic, but Hitler argued that the Reichsführer was the only person capable of forming a large formation overnight. His name alone, the Fuhrer believed, would inspire soldiers to fight to the end. Bormann supported the appointment, but people close to Himmler were secretly convinced that this was a conspiracy to destroy their boss. Sending Himmler to the East, in their opinion, would not only remove him from the Fuhrer’s headquarters and allow Bormann to strengthen his growing influence over Hitler, but would also inevitably prove the military incompetence of the Reichsfuehrer SS.

Himmler, a former military school cadet who secretly dreamed of one day leading troops into battle, took the bait, although after some hesitation. Although he was afraid of Bormann, it never occurred to him that he was preparing his overthrow. Himmler traveled to the East on a special train, carrying with him several staff officers, one outdated map and the name for his formation - Army Group Vistula. Determined to stop the Russians on the Vistula, Himmler began to create a line of defense from east to west - from the Vistula to the Oder. In other words, he barricaded the side door, protecting Pomerania, and at the same time opened the front door wide.

Zhukov simply bypassed this line of defense and continued to move west, encountering scattered resistance from isolated groups. On January 27, his troops were already 160 kilometers from Berlin. Ahead lay the Oder, the last major water obstacle...

Three days later, Hitler gave a speech to the country. He again spoke of the specter of international Jewry and Asian Bolshevism and called on all Germans to fulfill their duty to the end. “No matter how serious the crisis in this moment“,” the Fuhrer said in conclusion, “it will, no matter what, be overcome by our unbending will, our readiness to sacrifice and our skill.” In the end, Europe will win, not central Asia, and at its head will be the country that has represented Europe in the struggle against the East for 1,500 years and will represent it at all times - our great German Reich, the German nation."

After lunch, Borman found time to write a letter to his “beloved mother” with advice to stock up on dried fruit and fifty kilograms of honey. He wrote to her about the atrocities in the East, where the Bolsheviks were devastating every village. “You and your children must never fall into the hands of these wild animals,” the Deputy Fuhrer warned his loved ones.

Despite the bad news, Hitler was in good spirits. After the evening meeting, he spoke about the political situation of the Reich, explaining that he had launched Operation Autumn Fog with the aim of splitting the Allies. They want the battle to be lost, the Americans and the British have quarreled, and a split between the allies is close.

Guderian glanced at his watch impatiently, but the young officers seemed fascinated by the Führer when he predicted that the West would soon realize that Bolshevism was its true enemy and would unite with Germany in common crusade against the red danger. Churchill, like him, knows that if the Red Army captures Berlin, half of Europe will immediately become communist. Time is our ally, said Hitler. Therefore, we must defend to the last. Isn’t it clear, the Fuehrer asked pathetically, that every fortress we hold will ultimately become a springboard in the German-American-British crusade against Jewish Bolshevism? He reminded listeners that in 1918, Germany was stabbed in the back by a knife General base. If he had not capitulated prematurely, Germany would have achieved an honorable peace, and there would have been no post-war chaos, no communist attempts to take over the country, no inflation and no depression. “This time we must not give up five minutes before midnight!” Hitler concluded.

On the last day of January he was awakened in the middle of the night: enemy tanks had just crossed the Oder. Three days later, Berlin was subjected to the heaviest air raid of the war. Almost a thousand American bombers leveled the central part of the city. The chairman of the “people's court”, Roland Freisler, also died. The news of his death was greeted with jubilation by the surviving participants in the July 20 conspiracy. Their prison was bombed, and the prisoners were urgently transported to a Gestapo casemate, the underground part of which survived. Among the prisoners was Admiral Canaris.

Hitler's headquarters also received serious damage. Communications were disrupted and the supply of electricity and water was cut off. “There is a cistern in front of the Reich Chancellery, and this is the only source of water for cooking and washing!” Bormann wrote to his wife.

On February 4, when the advanced units of the Red Army were already at the gates of Berlin, the Fuhrer began to dictate his political testament to Bormann. Hitler still harbored faint hopes of some kind of miracle; he wanted to record for history how close he came to achieving his majestic dream, and explain the reasons for his failures. The British, Hitler argued, could end the war early in 1941. “But the Jews never wanted this, and their lackeys Churchill and Roosevelt prevented it.” Such a peace, the Fuehrer continued, would keep America from interfering in European affairs, and under German leadership Europe would quickly unite. After the elimination of the “Jewish infection,” unification would be a simple matter, and Germany, with a safe rear, would be able to achieve “the dream of my life and the goal of National Socialism - the destruction of Bolshevism.”

Two days later he resumed dictation. “Our enemies,” Hitler said, “are gathering all their forces for the final attack. We have against us a motley coalition, held together by the hatred, envy and fear that the National Socialist doctrine instills in this low, motley bunch. His desire to destroy the Third Reich leaves no alternative but to fight to the end. We can still win in the last push!”

On February 12, the Big Three announced that the meeting in Yalta had ended with the unanimous adoption of decisions on the defeat of the Axis and the post-war order of the world. The communique delighted Goebbels. The decision of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin to dismember Germany and pay unaffordable reparations, he argued, would force Germany to fight with renewed vigor or perish.

Hitler approved of this propaganda move and even became emboldened. But the next day there was another conflict with Guderian. The general openly stated that Himmler had neither the experience nor the staff specialists to organize a counteroffensive. “How dare you criticize the Reichsführer?” Hitler was indignant. But Guderian did not give in and insisted that his deputy Wenck lead the operation. Hitler became furious, and both began to argue so fiercely that the participants in the meeting left the room one after another. Only Himmler, Wenck and a few imperturbable adjutants remained. The dispute lasted about two hours. Hitler exclaimed again and again: “How dare you?” – and breathed heavily with indignation. Guderian continued to insist on Wenck's appointment. Finally, Hitler stopped pacing back and forth, walked up to Himmler and, with a resigned sigh, said: “Well, Reichsführer, General Wenck will go to Army Group Vistula today and head the headquarters.” “Let’s resume the meeting,” he muttered after a short silence and, smiling sourly, remarked, turning to Guderian: “Mr. Colonel General, today the army headquarters won the battle.”

On February 14, Hitler continued dictating his political testament. National Socialism, he told Bormann, cleansed the German world of the “Jewish infection” in deeds, not in words. “For us, this was an important disinfection process, without which we ourselves would have been strangled and destroyed.” The Fuhrer emphasized that the liquidation of the Jews had become the most important goal of the war.

On the evening of the next day, Dr. Giesing accidentally met Hitler in the bomb shelter of the Reich Chancellery. The Fuhrer was pale, he right hand trembled, he could not walk without support and was constantly grabbing at something. Hitler seemed distracted and asked the same question several times: “Where are you from, doctor? Oh, yes, from Krefeld...” He began to assure Giesing that the Americans would never break through the Western Wall. Then he declared that if Germany was destined to lose the war, he would die along with his soldiers, and finally boasted of a new weapon called atomic bomb and which he will apply "even if the white cliffs of England disappear into the water."

On February 13, the Allies bombed Dresden. Old city was almost completely destroyed, a terrible firestorm devastated 650 hectares - almost three times more than in London during the entire war. According to preliminary data, at least 100 thousand people died.

Dresden after the bombing of 1945. Burnt corpses of residents

In newspapers neutral countries in February, reports emerged of peace talks allegedly being conducted through unofficial channels. The basis for them was the contacts of Peter Kleist. In Stockholm, he met with the representative of the World Jewish Congress, Hillel Storch, who proposed discussing the issue of liberating 4,300 Jews from concentration camps. Kleist posed the question more broadly: to discuss not only the “salvation of the Jews,” but also the “salvation of Europe.” Storch was positive about the possibility of such a deal and spoke with American diplomat Ivor Olson.

After meeting with Olson, Storch excitedly told Kleist that President Roosevelt was willing to ransom the lives of one and a half million Jews in concentration camps in exchange for “political concessions.” This was what Kleist needed, and he decided to report the information received to Kaltenbrunner. Upon returning to Berlin, Kleist was placed under house arrest. A few days later, Kaltenbrunner informed him that Himmler was interested in "this possibility" and ordered Kleist to go to Stockholm with the promise of releasing 2,000 Jews.

Such a deal was not new for Himmler. He had previously tried to use the “Jewish question” as blackmail in order to achieve a profitable peace. The Reichsführer was encouraged in this by his massage therapist, a native of Estonia, Felix Kersten, and the head of the foreign intelligence service, Walter Schellenberg, convinced that Hitler was leading Germany to destruction. This was no easy task, given that the Führer had forbidden any foreign policy probes without his knowledge, especially since Kaltenbrunner remained loyal to Hitler and harbored a deep dislike for Schellenberg. But Kaltenbrunner believed Kleist, and Himmler decided to take a risk.

However, Kleist never left for Stockholm. Kaltenbrunner called him and said that he was no longer interested in this matter. He did not explain that his enemy Schellenberg convinced Himmler not to share glory with the diplomat, and he sent his masseur to Stockholm instead of Kleist. Kersten began negotiations with Swedish diplomats about the release of citizens of Scandinavian countries from the camps; as a result, the Swedes decided to send Count Bernadotte to Berlin to negotiate with Himmler.

Since Kleist was ordered to keep his mouth shut, his boss Ribbentrop knew nothing about this. However, the Swedish ambassador in Berlin, who did not understand the intricacies of power in the Nazi hierarchy, unwittingly betrayed Himmler: through Ribbentrop’s department, as expected, the ambassador sent a message to the Reichsführer with a request to organize a meeting between Bernadotte and Ribbentrop. He realized that his opponent was conducting separate negotiations behind his back. The Foreign Minister called Fritz Hesse, an expert on England, and asked him whether Bernadotte would be a suitable figure for a peace probe. Hesse, in turn, asked whether the Fuhrer agreed to such a probe. Ribbentrop answered in the negative, but expressed the hope that such consent would be obtained. Together they drew up a memorandum and presented it to Hitler with a proposal to enter into contact with the West to clarify the terms of a peace agreement. Hitler expressed doubt that anything good would come of this, but did not object to “building bridges.”

Himmler, to Ribbentrop's surprise, expressed his readiness to cooperate with him: he was afraid that the Fuhrer might find out that Bernadotte's mission concerned not only humanitarian issues. The Foreign Minister joyfully informed Hesse about this and ordered him to go to Stockholm on February 17.

Himmler, obviously, very soon began to doubt: what if the Fuhrer misunderstood his actions? Therefore, when Bernadotte arrived in Berlin, he insisted that he be received first by Kaltenbrunner and Ribbentrop. Conversations with them were limited to issues of access for representatives of the Swedish Red Cross to the concentration camps.

The next day the Count was taken to Himmler's residence. He received the guest very kindly. The Swede proposed to release Norwegians and Danes from concentration camps and transfer them to the custody of his country. This simple request caused a stream of reproaches from Himmler against the Swedes. But in the end he agreed to carry it out on the condition that Sweden and the allies gave assurances that acts of sabotage against the occupying forces would cease in Norway. Of course, Bernadotte could not give such assurances and asked for other, smaller concessions, to which he received consent. Encouraged, he asked if Swedish women who were married to Germans could return to their homeland. This time he received a categorical refusal. Himmler's mood changed dramatically. He began ranting about his loyalty to the Fuhrer, about the "Bolshevik threat", about the glory days of the Nazi movement...

Bernadotte seized the moment and asked about the fate of the Jews, exclaiming: “After all, there are many decent people among them!” “You are right,” Himmler replied, “but you do not have a Jewish problem in Sweden, and therefore you cannot understand the German point of view.” At the end of the conversation, he promised to give a definite answer to all Bernadotte’s requests before his return to Sweden. The Swede then visited Ribbentrop again. He was kind, but didn’t say anything specific.

Ribbentrop's representative in Stockholm, Hesse, heard from the Swedish banker Wallenberg that Roosevelt and Churchill were determined to destroy Germany, and proposed to probe the possibilities of peace in the East. “Stalin,” he noted, “is not bound by obligations to the West.” A few days later, Hesse saw in the Swedish newspapers a photograph of Wallenberg's brother with the Soviet ambassador Alexandra Kollontai at the entrance to the embassy. Perhaps this was a signal that the Kremlin was dissatisfied with the West and was ready for contacts with Hitler. Encouraged, Hesse returned to Berlin, but Ribbentrop listened to his story completely indifferently. He lay in bed, sick and depressed. It’s all in vain, he said in an indifferent tone, there is no chance of negotiations with the West.

In mid-February, Hitler complained to Fräulein Schröder: “Everyone is deceiving me...” He cannot rely on anyone, the Fuhrer lamented. Goering has lost the trust of the people, Himmler will be rejected by the party. He apologized for talking about politics at dinner, and then said: “Wrack your brains and tell me who should be my successor. I constantly think about this question and cannot find an answer.”

A week later, the Fuhrer's spirits lifted when Eva Braun returned to Berlin. In early February, Hitler ordered Eva to move to Munich, which was less exposed to air raids than other German cities. But two weeks later she declared that she must return to the Fuhrer, no matter what happened. She must share the fate of the man she loves. Hitler feigned anger and even scolded her, but throughout the evening he repeated how proud he was of Fräulein Braun’s devotion.

At the end of February, Hitler convened the last meeting of the Gauleiters. Those gathered were struck by his sickly appearance. The Fuhrer walked leaning on the adjutant's elbow, his left hand trembling violently. Everyone expected a sensational announcement, but he delivered a sermon that was both inspiring and depressing. The Fuhrer assured the Gauleiters that although no miracle weapon would save the Reich, the war could still be won if it was possible to instill “Teutonic rage” in the German people. If a country is not capable of this, then it has fallen morally and deserves destruction. Hitler thanked the Gauleiters for their work and loyalty, and then did something completely unexpected: he spoke frankly to them about his deteriorating health. The trembling in his left leg spread to his left arm, and the Fuhrer jokingly expressed the hope that this illness would not spread to his head...

Hitler stubbornly refused to acknowledge the inevitability of the impending catastrophe. He angrily attacked enemy pilots who killed half a million civilians and reviled those Germans who greeted the Americans as liberators. On March 7, his rage knew no bounds: the Americans captured the railway bridge across the Rhine at Remagen, despite orders to blow it up. For Hitler, this was another betrayal and gave him an excuse to get rid of Rundstedt, who had long irritated the Fuhrer with his constant readiness to retreat. He ordered his favorite Otto Skorzeny to destroy the bridge. A group of underwater saboteurs managed to get close to him with packages of explosives, but were discovered by the Americans and neutralized.

By this time, the entire German defense system was practically destroyed. Army Group B under the command of Model was defeated, its remnants were pushed back beyond the Rhine. To the south, Hausser's Army Group G was pinned to the west bank of the river and threatened with encirclement. The situation in the East was no better, and in these desperate days of mid-March Hitler decided to visit the front. The generals warned him: the situation was so unpredictable that he could be killed or captured, but the Fuhrer did not want to listen to anyone. He made only one concession: he drove an inconspicuous Volkswagen rather than his luxurious Mercedes. Hitler arrived at a castle near the Oder, where he called on the generals of the 9th Army to stop the Russian advance towards Berlin. Every day, every hour is important, he said, a new miracle weapon will be ready soon. On the way back, Hitler sat next to the driver Kempka, deep in thought...

Hitler knew that his recent comrades were looking for contacts with the enemy behind the Fuhrer’s back. He knew, for example, about Ribbentrop’s negotiations in Sweden and about Himmler’s attempts to “trade” Jews, but the Fuhrer did not take decisive measures against this, although he declared that all negotiations were in vain. If they fail, he will deny that he knew about them; if they lead to success, he will take credit for himself.

However, it is questionable whether Hitler knew that his loyal Minister of Armaments Speer was urging commanders such as Manteuffel not to carry out orders to destroy bridges, dams and factories. On March 18, Speer protested against the scorched earth policy to the Fuhrer himself. In his memorandum, he indicated that such a policy was disastrous for the country. This document infuriated Hitler. After reading the memorandum, he coldly told Speer, barely containing his anger: “If the war is lost, then the people will be lost. There is no need to worry about what the German people need to survive. On the contrary, all these things must be destroyed, because the nation turned out to be weak, and the future belongs to the stronger East. In any case, after this struggle only the weak will remain, because the strong have already been killed.”

In 900, Germany's borders ran along the Oder and Rhine. By the beginning of March 1945, Hitler's Greater Germany found itself sandwiched between these same rivers. And his “thousand-year” Reich was approaching its demise. Opponents attacked from both the west and the east. On the morning of March 3, the troops of Montgomery and Patton crossed the Rhine, and this caused confusion at the Fuhrer's headquarters. On the morning of March 28, Guderian arrived in Berlin for a decisive conversation with Hitler. He was worried about the fate of 200 thousand German soldiers, needlessly left in a trap behind the front line in Courland.

Entering the dilapidated Reich Chancellery, Guderian and his adjutant, accompanied by a guard, proceeded to Hitler's new residence - a huge bunker deep underground. They walked along a corridor in ankle-deep water, then went down one floor and found themselves in the central lobby, which also served as a dining room. Guderian and the adjutant passed through the vestibule, then a spiral staircase led them to the lower floor. Here, in the Fuhrer's bunker, there were eighteen tiny rooms, separated by a hall that served as both a reception and a meeting room. Further back, in a small vestibule, there was an emergency exit leading up the stairs to the garden. To the left of the hall there was a small room with maps, a guard room and six-room apartments for Hitler and Eva Braun. It was stuffy, despite the monotonous noise of the ventilation system penetrating all rooms of the bunker. The structure was protected by a three and a half meter thick ceiling, and a ten meter layer of concrete lay on top.

Hitler shuffled out of his apartment, and the afternoon meeting opened with a report from General Busse on the unsuccessful attempts to alleviate the situation on the eastern bank of the Oder. Hitler attacked the speaker, accusing him of defeatist sentiments, but he was interrupted by Guderian, who resolutely stood up for the general. The wounded Hitler jumped up from his seat so quickly that he surprised everyone present. But Guderian was difficult to intimidate. He boldly raised the question on which he and Hitler had been arguing for several weeks: was the Fuhrer going to evacuate the Courland army? “Never!” exclaimed Hitler, waving his hand. Large red spots appeared on his deathly pale face. Guderian moved towards Hitler with a determined look. Jodl and his deputy stopped the general, who had lost his composure, but he continued to protest loudly until the adjutant carried him away, asking him to go to the reception room to the telephone. When Guderian returned, he was already in control.

Hitler sat with a tense face, his hands trembling. He calmly invited everyone to leave, asking only Keitel and Guderian to stay. Left alone with them, the Fuehrer said: “General Guderian, the state of your health requires that you immediately go on six weeks’ leave.” As he moved towards the exit, Hitler ordered him to stay until the end of the meeting, which continued for several more hours. After the meeting they were left alone. “Have a good rest,” Hitler said carefully, turning to Guderian. “In six weeks the situation will become critical.” Then I will need you urgently.”

At Easter, the defenses of the Ruhr collapsed, and Hitler faced the reality of complete defeat. The Reich was torn to pieces by the victors, the population suffered from wild excesses involving Russians and Americans. However, the Fuhrer dictated to Bormann: “The laws of history and geography will lead these two powers to a fight - either military, or in the field of economics and ideology. These same laws will inevitably lead to both powers becoming enemies of Europe. And it is equally obvious that sooner or later they will find it desirable to enlist the support of the only surviving nation in Europe - the German people."

Despite the collapse of the fronts, Hitler still hoped for a miracle. He argued that the foundation of the new world laid by his opponents in Yalta was already beginning to show cracks. And this was not an empty phrase. The Big Three were on the verge of discord. The meeting of representatives of the Allied powers in Moscow on the formation of the Polish cabinet reached a dead end. Molotov stated that the Lublin government was a true representative of the people of Poland, and Harriman and the British ambassador believed that a more representative government should be created with the participation of Polish emigrants.

This conflict was followed by a more serious one. For several months, General Karl Wolff, Himmler's former personal adjutant and now chief of the SS in Italy, negotiated with the Americans through agent Allen Dulles, the representative of the US Office of Strategic Services in Switzerland. Wolf had the Fuhrer's agreement in principle to conduct a probe, but on his own initiative he proposed the surrender of all German troops in Italy, and then met secretly in Switzerland with two Allied generals to discuss how to do this without Hitler's knowledge.

From the very beginning, the Allies kept Stalin in the loop about Operation Sunrise, as the contacts were called, and from the very beginning he insisted that a Soviet representative take part in the negotiations. The allies reasonably explained that in this case Wolf would never show up for the meeting, but this only strengthened Stalin’s suspicions. Upon learning of the meeting in Ancona, he reacted violently, accusing the Allies of conspiring with Germany “behind their backs.” Soviet Union, bearing the main burden of the war with Germany,” and characterized the whole matter not as a “misunderstanding,” but as “something more.”

By the end of March, Stalin accused the Allies that because of the negotiations in Ancona, the Germans were able to transfer three divisions from Italy to the Eastern Front. He further complained that the Yalta agreement on a simultaneous attack on Hitler from the east, west and south by the Allies was not being respected. Roosevelt's explanation did not satisfy the Soviet leader, and he sent an angry telegram to the American president, openly accusing the allies of playing a double game. This outraged Roosevelt so much that on April 5 he sent Stalin the most aggressive and harsh message he had ever sent to an ally: “Frankly speaking, I cannot avoid feeling deep indignation towards your informants, whoever they may be, for such a malicious distortion of my actions and the actions of my subordinates.” Stalin quickly replied that he had never doubted Roosevelt's honesty and integrity. But it was an aggressive apology: he added that a Russian should have been invited to Ancona and that his point of view was “the only correct one.”

Hitler did not know the details of the discord in the enemy’s camp, but he knew that there was alienation and he predicted it. This fueled his faint hope for a miracle, which is why the Fuhrer listened with such attention to Goebbels, who read him an excerpt from the book of the English historian Carlyle about the difficult days of the Seven Years' War: Frederick the Great, being in despair due to the defeat of Prussia, declared that if the situation by 15 February will not change, he will take poison. And on February 12, the Russian Empress died, and there was a turn in the fate of the Prussian king.

This episode aroused Hitler's interest in his own horoscopes, and two of them were brought to him from Himmler's safe. Both predicted victories until 1941, then a series of failures and disaster in April 1945. But in the second half of this month there was supposed to be temporary success, then there would be calm until August, and in August there would be peace. Germany will go through difficult times until 1948, and then it will regain its greatness.

Being a skeptic by nature, Goebbels nevertheless grasped at straws. The historical parallel made such an impression on him that he repeated the story when visiting General Busse's headquarters on the Oder on April 12. One officer asked sarcastically: “Which empress died this time?” “I don’t know, but fate holds many possibilities,” Goebbels replied.

Around the same time on the opposite side Atlantic Ocean, in Warm Springs (Georgia), President Roosevelt said: “I have a terrible headache” - and lost consciousness. Two hours and twenty minutes later he died. Goebbels learned about this upon his arrival at the ministry. “This is a turning point!” he exclaimed and called Hitler. “My Fuhrer,” the chief propagandist of the Reich shouted into the phone, choking with excitement. - I congratulate you! Roosevelt died. And the stars predict that the second half of April will be a turning point for us. This is a miracle! Goebbels hung up the phone, his eyes shining, he gave an impassioned speech to his subordinates, as if the war had ended in victory...

Ribbentrop did not share his enthusiasm. On the morning of April 13, he returned from Hitler in a gloomy mood. “The Fuhrer is in seventh heaven,” he told his advisers. “That scoundrel Goebbels convinced him that Roosevelt’s death was the beginning of a turnaround.” What nonsense, this is simply criminal! How can Roosevelt's death change anything in our favor?

Goebbels instructed the press to write about Truman, avoid anything that might irritate the new president, and not to celebrate Roosevelt's death too openly.

But after lunch, the joyful excitement of the propaganda minister began to subside. When General Busse called and asked whether Roosevelt's death had changed the situation, as Goebbels had hinted at yesterday, he replied: “I don’t know. Let's see". Reports from the fronts indicated that the change of president had no effect on the enemy's military operations, and by the end of the day Goebbels admitted: “Perhaps fate has again treated us cruelly and fooled us. Perhaps we have started counting chickens until autumn.”

Hitler urgently convened another meeting and outlined a fantastic plan for saving Berlin. The German troops retreating to the capital form a solid core of defense. The Russians will concentrate their main forces here. This would ease the pressure on other German troops and give them the opportunity to attack the attackers from the rear. A decisive victory would be won in Berlin, the Fuhrer told the astonished audience: he himself would remain in the city and inspire the defenders. Some advised Hitler to go to Berchtesgaden, but he did not want to hear about it. As the supreme commander and leader of the people, he considers himself obliged to remain in the capital. Hitler drew up an eight-page proclamation and sent it to Goebbels. But the Minister of Propaganda did not like her too pompous style, and he took the liberty of changing several phrases. On April 15, Goebbels distributed a proclamation along the entire front - this was Hitler's last appeal to the troops. If every soldier on the Eastern Front, it said, did his duty, Asia's final attack would fail. For fate has eliminated the greatest criminal of all times, Roosevelt, and now a decisive turning point must come in the war.

Incredible but true: many soldiers were inspired by Hitler's words. Almost the majority of the German population still retained faith in their leader, despite the fierce bombing and rapidly shrinking borders of the Reich. For the average German, the Fuhrer was more than human. They believed in his invulnerability, many even believed that the house with his portrait would withstand any bombing...

However, Goebbels began to prepare for the end by burning personal papers. He hesitated for a long time before destroying the large photograph with the dedicatory inscription of his old love Lida Baarova. He looked at the portrait for a long time, then finally tore it up and threw it into the fire.

Meanwhile, two stunning events occurred: in the west, German troops capitulated, caught in the “cauldron” in the Ruhr, and in the east, Zhukov’s armies broke through the fortifications on the heights west of the Oder and rushed to Berlin. Only 70 kilometers separated them from Hitler's bunker. Although the Fuhrer was still talking about victory, he was preparing for the worst by giving two tasks to one party leader: to take Germany’s gold reserves to the salt mines of Thuringia and to hide the sealed envelope that Bormann would give him. It contained a testament to Germany and the world, which Hitler dictated to Bormann.

On the same day, the Fuhrer gave the order to appoint the legendary Hans Ulrich Rudel as commander of jet aircraft, who sank a Soviet battleship with his dive bomber and destroyed 500 Russian tanks. He had lost his leg in an accident a few months ago, but was now ready to fight. Goering's chief of staff objected to this appointment on the grounds that Rudel did not understand jet aircraft at all. But Hitler brushed aside all objections. Rudel himself was strongly against this appointment. He told Hitler that soon the Russians and Americans would unite their armies, Germany would be split in two, and the use of jet aircraft would be impossible. Why doesn't he, Hitler, make peace with the West in order to achieve victory in the East? “Easy for you to say,” Hitler replied, smiling sourly.

Rudel left Hitler's office after midnight, when the Fuhrer's birthday arrived - his 56th birthday.

Crossed the Oder and captured the famous Küstrinsky bridgehead. The front line in the east then began to pass only 62 kilometers from Berlin. In addition, Budapest fell on February 13, 1945 - last hope Hitler to pull significant forces of the Red Army away from the Berlin direction. In a hurry, the Germans tried to carry out the East Pomeranian operation, which also ended in defeat by April 4, 1945.

Hitler in the Fuhrerbunker

According to eyewitnesses, Hitler looked terrible (see Hitler's illnesses). Initially, he located his headquarters in the center of Berlin, in the Reich Chancellery building at Wilhelmstrasse 77.

Until mid-March 1945, Hitler periodically left his headquarters, going upstairs to the Reich Chancellery building. However last time Hitler visits her on March 15, 1945, then, due to the start of the Allied air raid, Hitler barely has time to go back to the bunker, and from that day, according to eyewitnesses, he decides not to leave the bunker anymore.

According to eyewitnesses, when on February 13, 1945, Hitler was informed in the Führerbunker about the fall of Budapest, he flew into a rage, accusing his military of treason. According to eyewitnesses, Hitler still does not lose hope for a “miraculous salvation,” but sometimes phrases about his imminent end slip into his speech. According to eyewitnesses, Hitler begins to compare himself with Frederick II, saying that he, like Frederick, will no doubt be able to defeat the enemy, first in the East and then in the West. On these same days, he orders a large portrait of Frederick, as well as the work of the 19th century British historian Thomas Carlyle, “The History of Frederick the Great,” to be delivered to his room in the bunker.

Last days and death

At 14:00, a major meeting began in the conference room in the Führerbunker with the participation of Hermann Goering, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Karl Dönitz, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Albert Speer, Wilhelm Keitel and Hans Krebs. At the meeting, after discussing the current situation, Hitler vehemently rejects all proposals to hide in Bavaria or northern Germany under the protection of the SS, saying that he will fight “until his last breath in Berlin”, and will go to northern Germany only after the defeat of the Red Army at its walls . After which, Hitler orders Dönitz to organize resistance in northern Germany, and he sends Goering to organize defense in Bavaria.

Kaltenbrunner, Goering and Ribbentrop, under various pretexts, leave the meeting room ahead of time. According to the latter: “By this time it became clear to us that Hitler had practically lost all understanding of reality and was already living only in his fantasies.”

The last order given at the meeting was the order to Krebs to oversee the preparation of the offensive of the 4th Tank Army with the support of the 3rd Tank Army on the positions of the Red Army, for its “complete and final rout and defeat.” Everyone present understood that the order was impossible to fulfill, since both armies were barely holding the line, but they did not object to Hitler.

At approximately 16:30, Hitler was informed that Army Group B, under the command of Walter Model, had ceased resistance to the Allies in its entirety (375,000 men) and had laid down its arms in the Ruhr area. Hitler, enraged, announces to all soldiers and officers "cowards and traitors to the motherland", and Walter Model is sentenced to death in absentia. The next day, having learned about this, Model shot himself.

At about 5:00 p.m., Hitler retired to his chambers, where he went to bed at about 6:00 p.m.

April 21, 1945

At 9:30 am, Soviet artillery again strikes Berlin with a powerful blow. Explosions of shells wake up Hitler, and he learns from General Karl Koller on the government telephone that Soviet artillery is hitting the city center with direct fire from a distance of 15 km from the Führerbunker. Hitler again becomes enraged, shouting that “he is surrounded by incompetent traitors who should have been hanged long ago!” At the afternoon meeting, he orders contact with SS General Felix Steiner, who, according to Hitler’s plan, must “immediately launch an energetic and unabated offensive on the positions of the Red Army, with the aim of breaking through its defenses and saving Berlin!” According to Hitler, if the order is not followed, “Steiner should be executed as a traitor!”

At the same meeting, Hitler sends Robert Ley to Bavaria to “help organize the defense there.”

Towards evening, Hitler gives the order to his personal physician, Theodor Morel, to transfer all powers to Werner Haase. Morel left Berlin on the morning of April 23, 1945.

April 22, 1945

Hitler got up around 9:00 am. Having heard the report on the situation, he, to the surprise of the meeting participants, remains absolutely calm, saying that “Steiner’s offensive will be able to stabilize the front!”. However, after a long pause, General Krebs hesitantly takes the floor, who informs him that “Steiner refuses to go on the offensive, citing the fact that his troops can barely hold the line!” After a few seconds' pause, Hitler literally explodes in a burst of anger. According to eyewitnesses, he screamed "Steiner's offensive was an order!", throws the pointer, which he usually used to move along the operational map, onto the table so hard that it breaks. After which Hitler falls into uncontrollable anger, shouting until his voice is hoarse that he “surrounded by a bunch of despicable liars and traitors!”, who, in addition, also “dare to violate his orders!” At the end of his speech, having calmed down a little, Hitler for the first time, according to eyewitnesses, said that the war was lost, since “It’s impossible to command in such an environment!”, after which he declares that from now on everyone can do “what they want,” and he “would rather stay in Berlin and shoot himself than run away!”

Almost immediately after the end of the meeting, around 15:00, Joseph and Magda Goebbels arrive at the bunker with their six children. Having learned about Hitler's outburst of anger, Goebbels once again sluggishly tries to persuade him to hide in his residence in Berchtesgaden. Having received a categorical refusal from the Fuhrer, he announces to everyone present that “for a while” he and his family will settle in the Fuhrerbunker at Hitler’s request.

Soon Hitler again, thanks to Dr. Morel, came to his senses and ordered Field Marshal Keitel to personally arrive at the headquarters of the 12th Army and hand over to its commander Walter Wenck a plan for a counter-offensive against Soviet troops, which was to be carried out with the support of Steiner's 9th Army . He also orders Colonel-General Jodl to move the headquarters of the Supreme High Command 20 kilometers northwest of Berlin to Potsdam, citing the proximity of the front line. In addition, he gives him the order to “gather all available forces in Potsdam and break through to Berlin.”

At about 17:00, Hitler retires to his chambers, accompanied by Eva Braun, his personal cook Constance Manziarly, Martin Bormann, and secretaries Traudel Junge and Gerda Christian, to whom, during a private conversation, he proposes to immediately (within an hour) leave Berlin on the remaining plane, citing for the rapid encirclement of the city by Soviet troops. However, everyone refuses, and Eva Braun declares in the presence of everyone that she will remain with Hitler to the end and, if necessary, will die with him, after which, to the surprise of everyone present, Hitler publicly hugs her for the first time and kisses her on the lips. After which he opens the table drawer and takes out several ampoules of potassium cyanide and, with their consent, distributes the poison to those present.

Around 18:00, Hitler gives his last order of the day, appointing Erich Bärenfanger as commander of the defense of Berlin.

April 23, 1945

Between 1.00 and 1:30 o'clock in the morning, Hitler received a telegram from Hermann Goering, located in Berchtesgaden, where he had previously sent it:

Then Hitler receives Joachim von Ribbentrop, whom he dismisses from office with absolute indifference with the wording "due to loss of trust"(this removal occurred only in words and in fact Ribbentrop remained in his position until Hitler’s death). After this, Ribbentrop leaves Berlin, going to Hamburg.

April 24, 1945

Around 10:00 am, Hitler sends a telegram to Colonel-General of the Air Force Robert von Greim with the order “arrive immediately at the Reich Chancellery building”.

At 12:00 at a planned meeting on the military situation, after a report on the successful attack of German troops on the flank of the 1st Belorussian Front in the area of ​​Görlitz, hope for a “miraculous rescue” awakens again in Hitler. Inspired, he orders an immediate counterattack on Soviet troops from the north to “by evening, liberate Berlin from the Bolshevik hordes”. He rejects any objections sharply.

Investigation

Hitler's charred remains were brought in boxes to Berlin district Bukh, where authoritative Soviet specialists studied them in the basement of a local clinic-hospital. The forensic medical examination was led by the chief forensic expert of the 1st Belorussian Front, Lieutenant Colonel Faust Shkaravsky. Lieutenant Elena Rzhevskaya, who participated in the identification, left witness memories of this.

In 2009, the head of the Department of Registration and Archive Funds of the FSB of Russia, Vasily Khristoforov, said that in 1946, a special commission created on the initiative of the GUPVI with the goal of “a thorough and tough double-check of the entire group of facts” carried out additional excavations at the site where the corpses of Hitler and Eva Braun were found. At the same time, “the left parietal part of the skull with an exit bullet hole” was found. In 1948, the “finds” from Hitler’s bunker (several burnt objects, as well as fragments of jaws and teeth, which were used to identify the corpses of Hitler, Eva Braun and the Goebbels) were sent to Moscow, to the investigative department of the 2nd Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of State Security. Since 1954, by order of the Chairman of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR Serov, all these items and materials were stored in a special order in a special room in the departmental archive. As of 2009, Hitler's jaws are stored in the archives of the FSB, and fragments of Hitler's skull are stored in the State Archives.

Sources give different information about the cause of death: some claim that Hitler died from poison, others claim that death occurred from a shot fired by Hitler while biting into an ampoule of cyanide. A number of modern historians reject this information as “Soviet propaganda”, or are trying to find a compromise for reconciliation various conclusions. One eyewitness testified that Hitler's corpse showed signs of suicide by shooting himself in the mouth, but it was later concluded that this was unlikely. There are also contradictions regarding the authenticity of the found fragments of the jaw and skull, allegedly belonging to Hitler.

Reburials

Then, in connection with the relocation of the SMERSH counterintelligence department, the corpses were seized and transported first to the mountain area. Finov, and then - mountains. Rathenov, where they were finally buried. “The corpses are in wooden boxes in a pit at a depth of 1.7 meters and are placed in the following order (from east to west) Hitler, Eva Braun, Goebbels, Magda Goebbels, Krebs, Goebbels’ children... The buried pit with corpses is leveled to the ground, on the surface the number of small trees planted is 111,”- as stated in the report.

Notes

1. Fischer (2008) p. 47. “...Günsche stated that he entered the office to examine the consequences, and noted that Hitler was dripping blood from his right temple. He shot himself with his pistol, PPK 7.65.”
2. Kershaw (2008) p. 955. “...Blood was dripping from a bullet hole in the right temple...”

Hitler's suicide on April 30, 1945 is considered an indisputable fact. However, from time to time publications appear that claim that the greatest villain of all time safely escaped death and hid in one of the South American countries, where he died surrounded by his loving wife and children. Let’s consider this version not from the perspective of “it was or wasn’t”, but from the perspective of “could this have happened?”

Operation Seraglio

According to the version circulating on the Internet, an operation codenamed “Seraglio” was developed and carried out in May 1945, the purpose of which was to organize the escape of Hitler and his wife from besieged Berlin. The fugitives were taken to Spain, where a submarine was already waiting for them (according to some versions, even three!), on which Hitler and Eva Braun safely reached Patagonia. After living in Argentina for several years, Hitler moved to Paraguay, where he died in 1964.

The version doesn't seem crazy. Having covered half of Europe with blood, calling on teenagers from the Hitler Youth and old men from the Volkssturm to die for the Fuhrer and the Reich, the bosses themselves were in no hurry to throw grenades under Russian tanks. Changing their appearance, with documents in someone else’s name, they made their way along “rat trails” to lands where the hand of justice could not reach them. If any of them decided to leave for another world ahead of schedule, it was only if the ghost of a rope noose took on very real shape (Goering, Himmler, Ley). Was it so or not?

Technical aspects

Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was prohibited from having a submarine fleet. Without openly violating the terms of surrender, Germany, however, managed to maintain the production base for the construction of submarines and train personnel. At the shipyards of the Weimar Republic, submarines were built for minor naval powers; Reichsmarine officers constantly traveled to their colleagues in neighboring countries, where they accumulated experience for future campaigns. Therefore, when in March 1935 Hitler openly refused to fulfill the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and gave the go-ahead for the construction of a submarine fleet, neither industrialists nor the German Navy were taken by surprise.

Karl Doenitz was a fanatic of the submarine fleet and made every effort to develop and strengthen it, even to the detriment of surface forces. Having entered II World War with 57 submarines, after 2 years Germany was launching up to 2 dozen submarines every month. In 1938, Germany began building ocean-going submarines. In 1938-1939, the Kriegsmarine began to receive submarines of the IX series with a displacement of 750 tons and a cruising range of 8,100 nautical miles. “Wolves of Doenitz” became accustomed to the North and South Atlantic, acquired the skills of long voyages (U196 - 225 days, U181 - 206 days, U198 - 200 days), sank ships (and died themselves) in the coastal waters of the North and South America. So the transition from Germany to Argentina was a difficult, but already mastered route for Doenitz submariners.

Organizational aspects

Was Doenitz himself ready to take part in Operation Seraglio? Without his knowledge and direct participation, it was impossible to prepare the boat for a long voyage and select an experienced crew. As commander of the German Navy (since 1943), he could well have, by pressing the levers in the department under his control, nullified all efforts to prepare such a significant operation.

This question can be answered quite clearly. Without being a member of the NSDAP (yes, that's true!) Doenitz was a convinced Nazi, loyal to Hitler to the end. Having received a gold party badge from the Fuhrer, he always wore it on his jacket. Having become Reich President on April 30, 1945, in his address to the people on May 1, 1945, he called Hitler a “heroic personality,” and life path the deceased Fuhrer - “an example of service to the German people.” In Nuremberg, when asked by a lawyer whether he was a party member, instead of the expected “no” by the defender (which is why the question was asked), he answered that having accepted a gold party badge from the Fuhrer, he became an honorary member of the NSDAP. He did not repent of his crimes and did not admit guilt. So whoever, but Doenitz would have made every effort to save Hitler and would not have bought the leader’s head for leniency from the Allies.

What about the submariners themselves? Did Doenitz have real power over his subordinates? Were they ready to risk their lives to save the Fuhrer? Until the end of the war, submariners remained models of loyalty to the oath and discipline. Doenitz's authority among them was indisputable. (And this despite the fact that every 3rd submarine died, the losses of submariners amounted to 75-80%.) Berlin had already fallen, the Wehrmacht had capitulated, and the “wolves of Doenitz” were still prowling the sea lanes, refusing to believe in the death of the thousand-year-old Reich . U-530 surrendered on July 10, 1945, U-977 on August 17.

What about Argentina?

By the beginning of World War I, the German colony in Argentina numbered more than 100 thousand people. On such a base, creating a widely ramified network of agents was a piece of cake. After the defeat of Germany, the ties of the Argentine Germans with their ancestral home weakened, but did not break. The Nazis, having come to power, began to actively strengthen their positions in the distant exotic region. Argentina fit very organically into their plans for world domination. Schellenberg's department had a separate South American sector, and there were even two of them in the Abwehr. The Argentine elite openly sympathized with the Nazis. In Buenos Aires, German agents felt at home.

During World War II, Argentina, having officially declared itself neutral, constantly provided Germany with overt and covert support. Under the pressure of objective reality, on May 27, 1945, Argentina declared war on the Third Reich, but this was just a political gesture. The sympathies of the Argentine elite for the Nazis have not disappeared anywhere, local agents have been preserved, so after 1945, many fugitives from the defeated Reich found both food and shelter on Argentine soil.
So, it seems, all the prerequisites for carrying out Operation Seraglio are clear. But!

A submariner's voyage is not for the weak

The passage by submarine from the German coast to the Argentine coast is slightly different from a sea voyage along the same route on an ocean liner. A submarine means terrible overcrowding, cramped conditions, lack of fresh air, normal food (all canned food), basic household amenities, and even plain water is in short supply. Look at the German chronicle - the fashion for unshaven appeared among submariners not because of a good life. There weren’t enough beds for everyone, they slept on them in turns, and even going to the latrine shouldn’t be put off until the last minute - it’s not a fact that it will be free at the right time.

A submariner's voyage involves constant mental stress, the readiness to attack or be attacked at any second. “Papa Karl” (as the submariners called Doenitz among themselves) knew all these nuances very well, so he issued an order according to which the submariner, who had served for 12 years, was necessarily written off to shore. A long journey on a submarine required a person to have a huge supply of mental and physical strength.

But Hitler did not have these forces!

Hitler's physical condition by 1945

In 1940, Hitler underwent a comprehensive medical examination. Doctors declared the Fuhrer's health satisfactory (with a discount for minor ailments inherent in age). Hitler did not drink, did not smoke, was a vegetarian, did not drink coffee or tea, preferring herbal decoctions to them. But military failures seriously undermined his health.

The first blow was delivered by a counter-offensive near Moscow in December 1941. Hitler began to complain of sweating, nausea and chills. Stalingrad disrupted the coordination of movements and brought the first nervous disorders. After Kursk, Hitler slouched and began to walk more and more often, leaning on a stick. On July 20, 1944, he remained alive, but suffered a shell shock. After the Red Army's offensive in Belarus, Hitler suffered a heart attack. The failure in the Ardennes and the breakthrough of the Eastern Front on the Vistula took away the last remnants of his vitality.

Hitler constantly lost his balance and could no longer walk more than 25-30 meters. Making his way from the bunker to the meeting room, he constantly sat down on one of the benches that were placed along the corridor. An officer who saw Hitler after a 5-year break wrote that the 56-year-old Fuhrer looked like a 70-year-old man. The decrepit Hitler was simply unable to make the transatlantic crossing in the harsh conditions of scuba diving. The submariners loyal to the Fuhrer could only deliver his corpse to the shores of Argentina!

Die in Berlin!

How did Hitler himself feel about the idea of ​​escaping from Berlin? The question is more than appropriate, because Operation Seraglio could only take place with his personal consent to carry it out. But Hitler himself had no intention of fleeing anywhere! In rare frank conversations, he often repeated that he was afraid not so much of death as of captivity. The fear of becoming an exhibit at the Moscow Zoo was his phobia. Fleeing from Berlin means putting your fate in the hands of unfamiliar and even complete strangers.

But who could Hitler trust? In July 1944 he was betrayed by the generals (Stauffenberg plot), and as he approached Berlin Soviet troops One after another, those loyal to the Parteigenosse began to break away. Having congratulated the beloved Fuhrer on his birthday on April 20, his faithful comrades left him in the evening of the same day. Goering, Himmler, Ribbentrop hurried through the remaining corridor to leave the doomed city. On April 23, Hitler learned of Goering's betrayal. The traitor was removed from all positions, stripped of all titles and awards, and expelled from the party. On April 28, Reuters reported that Himmler was trying to establish contacts with the Anglo-Americans. “Faithful Heinrich” also betrayed the beloved Fuhrer!

On April 29, Hitler learned of Mussolini's fate: while trying to escape, the Duce and his girlfriend Clara Petacci were captured by Italian partisans and shot. Their bodies were hung upside down in a square in Milan, while the Italians spat on them and beat them with sticks. The corpses then lay in the gutter for several days before being buried.

On April 30, the brave Hanna Reich, having broken through the fire of Soviet anti-aircraft guns in her Storch, landed opposite Brandenburg Gate. She begged the Fuhrer to trust her and fly from Berlin, but Hitler was adamant. The plane could be shot down, wounded or unconscious, he would be captured, Stalin would put him in an iron cage and take him around the cities to show off to the Russian barbarians - no!!! Hitler did not want to escape. Not trusting anyone, in captivity of his phobias, he last day preferred to stay in Berlin, hoping either for Wenck’s army, or for Busse’s army, or simply for a miracle.

Berlin is a trap with no way out

Was there real opportunity leave burning Berlin at the end of April - beginning of May? Hardly ever. There was no system of underground tunnels, no squadrons of small planes landing at night at the doors of the Reich Chancellery, no secret medical clinics reshaping the faces of fugitives from the bunker. Let's leave aside the exotic version of a submarine penetrating through waterways into the very heart of fighting Berlin.

« Eminence grise“In his salvation, Bormann relied not on “rat trails,” but on forged documents and a lucky break. But the documents were weak, and fortune turned out to be a lady with an obstinate character. As a result, the all-powerful Reichsleiter chose to chew on an ampoule of potassium cyanide - the last gift of his beloved leader. (Lovers of the secrets of the Third Reich, do not be fooled: the belonging of the found remains to Bormann was confirmed by DNA testing!) There was no reliable channel to leave Berlin.

Rare exceptions are not so much the result of deeply thought-out and prepared actions as a rare smile of luck, one in a million. Hannah Reich played Russian roulette twice, flying to Berlin and back, twice fortune was favorable to her, but she was the only one who was so incredibly lucky. The rest of the pilots who flew to Berlin did not return, and most often did not even reach the capital of the Reich. And Hannah herself was shot down and flew to the Fuhrer on her word of honor and on one wing.
Arthur Axman left the bunker on the night of May 1-2 and managed to leave the city. But this is a rare exception that only confirms the rule. The neck of the Berlin bag was tightened very tightly.

Silent witnesses

It is interesting to estimate how many people should have been involved in Operation Seraglio?
1. Hitler's evacuation group from Berlin
2. The band that hosted it in Spain
3. Submarine crew
4. Base personnel, officers of the Admiral Headquarters (the boat had to be prepared for the trip: refueling, supplying food, maps, carrying out maintenance, etc.)
5. The group that received Hitler in Argentina and was engaged in the arrangement of himself and the crew of the submarine in the country
6. Radio operators and cryptographers in Berlin, Spain and South America
7. Representatives political elite Argentina, with whose knowledge the high-ranking fugitive settled in the country
The count exceeds a hundred, but that’s not all!

The escape that didn't happen

Probably the most complete answer to the question “Was there Operation Seraglio?” I gave it myself a long time ago. Almost none of the leaders of the Third Reich could disappear without a trace. The fates of most of them are known: who committed suicide, who was hanged on the gallows, who was waiting for a prison cell. The fate of the “Gestapo dad” Müller is unknown. But why not assume the most probable: that the head of the IV department of the RSHA shared the fate of thousands of Germans who died in Berlin then? Yes, no one saw him dead, his remains were not found, but Bormann’s bones were discovered by pure chance, and until 1972 he was “seen” several times in Italy, Spain, Egypt, and Argentina.

With Hitler everything is much simpler, there are witnesses, there are bones. Why not admit the obvious: the head of the Reich committed suicide (poisoned himself or shot himself - what's the difference?) on April 30, 1945 in the underground bunker of the Reich Chancellery.

And put an end to this.