The last days of the Nazis. The last days of the Third Reich. How Berlin fell. Lines of resistance in Germany

In April 1945, the USSR and allied armies were preparing to storm Berlin. Then everyone already understood that the days fascist Germany numbered. Only Hitler did not think so... He believed until the very end that he would still have time to turn the course of the war in his direction and hoped for a Nazi victory. However, Germany greatly underestimated the power of its opponents.

Berlin was a strategically important city. The USSR and allied armies competed with each other for the opportunity to take it first. The issue was resolved at the state level. To begin with, it was decided to liquidate the Nazi group of troops that was guarding Berlin. Stalin insisted that the order be carried out by the Soviet army. Despite the fact that all the commanders-in-chief agreed with this decision, there was no complete certainty as to who would take Berlin first?

There was a lot of debate about which commander-in-chief would be entrusted with the most complex operation. The choice fell on Marshal Zhukov. The assault on Berlin was prepared for a very long time and carefully. Great hopes were placed on him. This operation was supposed to put an end to fascism.

The Soviet army had enough advantages and was well equipped technically. However, this did not make the upcoming operation any easier. The German army, which guarded Berlin, set up three defensive lines. The plan was not only to storm the German army, but also to break them psychologically.

Zhukov acted unexpectedly and with lightning speed. He decided to go into battle early in the morning, and before that, blind the German army with powerful searchlights. All actions were carried out in order to confuse the Germans. The Soviet army could no longer be stopped.

The military operation to capture Berlin began on April 16, 1945. Before the assault began, not the most pleasant news came. The Germans captured a Soviet soldier, who was forced to tell the entire planned plan of the operation. Zhukov was furious; this invalidated all his calculations. In the very first hours of the battle, the Soviet army lost a huge number of its tanks.

No less strange events were happening in Germany. Hitler gave instructions not to retreat to the last. On his orders, self-defense units were equipped. Often children could be found among the soldiers. According to the order, they were supposed to blow up tanks and fight the enemy army on equal terms. But all of Hitler’s efforts did not help achieve the desired result. The Soviet army captured Berlin.

On April 22, the Soviet army led by Marshal Zhukov entered Berlin. But that wasn't the end military operation. The capture of Berlin was accompanied by fierce battles. The German army really stood to the end.

Initially, the German generals wanted to propose a truce. However, they did not have time to do this, since Soviet soldiers had already surrounded all of Berlin. The Germans refused complete surrender. But they still had to follow all the instructions of the Soviet army after the news of the suicide of Adolf Hitler and other commanders in chief. One of Hitler's four personal secretaries, Traudl Junge, told how he was afraid that Germany would be bombarded with sleeping gas shells, and then he would be paraded in Moscow in a cage. The Third Reich fell on May 2, all battles ended.

IN last years Many historians have made it a rule to greatly exaggerate the role of the Allied armies. It is worth recognizing that this is a complete falsification of events.

On May 8, the German surrender was signed in Berlin; due to the time difference, May 9 became Victory Day in the USSR.

However, before these long-awaited and important events for our history, the Third Reich was living out its last days. In particular, historian E. Antonyuk wrote about this in his work “Nine Days Without Hitler. The Last Moments of the Third Reich.”

On April 30, 1945, German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler committed suicide in the Fuhrerbunker, which he did not leave in the last weeks of his life.
The Third Reich, which he proclaimed in 1933 and which was supposed to last a thousand years, outlived its creator by only a few days. The twilight of the Reich included the complete collapse of the state apparatus, the collapse of the army, crowds of refugees, the suicide of some Reich leaders and attempts to hide by others.

Twilight of the Reich

In mid-April, Soviet troops begin the Berlin operation, the purpose of which is to encircle the city and capture it. By this time, the Germans were already doomed; the Soviet troops had a threefold superiority in manpower and aircraft and a fivefold superiority in tanks. And this does not count the allies who were on the western front. In addition, a significant part of the German forces were Volkssturm and Hitler Youth units, consisting of older people who were completely unprepared for combat, previously considered unfit for service, and teenagers.

By the beginning of the 1920s, the threat of the final encirclement of Berlin arose. The last hope of the Reich capital was the 12th Army under the command of Walter Wenck. This army was formed in April literally from what was available. Militiamen, reservists, cadets - they were all brought into the army, which was supposed to save Berlin from encirclement.
By the time it started Berlin operation the army took up positions on the Elbe against the Americans, since the Germans did not yet know that they would not attack Berlin.

This army was given a large role in Hitler’s plans, due to which almost all the remaining supplies of food, ammunition and fuel were sent to this army, which caused damage to everyone else, and due to the confusion of the last days there was no one to correct the situation.
Cornelius Ryan wrote: "Everything was here: from airplane parts to butter. A few miles from Wenck on eastern front von Manteuffel's tanks stopped due to a shortage of fuel, and Wenck was almost flooded with fuel. He reported to Berlin, but no measures were taken to remove the surplus. No one even confirmed that they received his reports."

Attempts to stop the encirclement of Berlin failed. All that remained for the 12th Army was to help evacuate the civilian population. Berliners fled the city before the attack Soviet army. The location of Wenck's 12th Army became a huge refugee camp. With the help of Wenck's army, approximately 250 thousand civilians managed to move to the west. Along with the refugees, army soldiers were also transported into American captivity. On May 7, having completed the crossing, Wenck himself surrendered to the Americans.

Suicide of the Fuhrer

In the last month of his life, Hitler did not leave his bunker, where he was still relatively safe. But it was already obvious to everyone around him that the war was lost. Hitler himself probably understood this, whose belief that the situation could still be changed was rather an attempt to escape from reality into a world of illusions. The situation in April 1945 was very different from the situation four years ago, when German troops stood near Moscow.

Then there was still a huge territory behind Moscow, abundant resources to replenish the army, factories evacuated to the rear, and the war would not have ended with the capture of the Soviet capital and would have lasted for a long time.

Now the situation was hopeless, the Allies were advancing from the west, and the Soviet army from the east. All of them had an overwhelming advantage over the Wehrmacht, not only in quantity, but also in armament. They had more tanks, artillery pieces, airplanes, fuel, and ammunition. The Germans lost their industry, factories were either destroyed by air bombing or captured as a result of the offensive. There was no one to replenish the division - it was necessary to call up the elderly, the sick and teenagers, even those who had previously been released from service.

Hitler was waiting for a miracle, and it seemed to him that it happened. On April 12, American President Roosevelt died. Hitler perceived this as the “Miracle of the House of Brandenburg,” when during the Seven Years’ War the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna died, and the new Emperor Peter III stopped the successful war and saved the Prussian King Frederick from defeat. However, nothing happened with Roosevelt's death, and Hitler's joy was overshadowed by the fall of Vienna within a few hours.

On April 20, on his last birthday, Hitler left his bunker for the last time, going up to the courtyard of the Reich Chancellery, where he awarded teenagers from the Hitler Youth and encouraged them.
Hitler feverishly gives orders to attack, but they are not carried out; the armies, holding the defense with great difficulty, have no resources for the offensive, but Hitler is not told about this, so as not to completely throw him out of his mental balance.

Only on April 22 did he finally admit for the first time that the war was lost.
The entourage persuades the Fuhrer to move to Bavaria and turn it into a center of resistance, but he categorically refuses.
The strict discipline in the bunker is falling away.
Everyone smokes, not paying attention to Hitler, who hated tobacco smoke and always forbade smoking in his presence.

On the night of April 23, Hitler will receive a telegram from Goering from Bavaria, which he perceives as an attempt to remove himself from affairs and seize power.
Hitler strips Goering of all awards, titles and powers and orders his arrest.

April 28 Hitler removes Himmler from all posts after Western media report Himmler's secret attempts to establish contacts for negotiations with the Western allies.

On April 29, Hitler leaves a will in which he draws up a list of a new government that should save Germany after the death of the Fuhrer.
This government does not include Himmler and Goering.

Grand Admiral Doenitz is appointed Reich President, Goebbels is appointed Reich Chancellor, and Bormann is appointed Minister of Party Affairs.
On the same day, he performs an official wedding ceremony with Eva Braun.

The day after this, when Soviet troops were already several kilometers from the bunker, Hitler committed suicide.
After this, Hitler’s inner circle - secretaries, cooks, adjutants - left the Führerbunker and scattered in Berlin, which was almost completely captured by Soviet troops.

Goebbels's cabinet and attempts at truce

Goebbels's office, appointed by Hitler's will, lasted only one day. A few hours after Hitler's death, Goebbels attempted to negotiate with the advancing Soviet troops and requested a ceasefire.
A parliamentarian, Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces, General Hans Krebs, was sent to the location of the 8th Soviet Army.

Before the war, Krebs served as Germany's assistant military attache to the Soviet Union and learned Russian well.
In addition, he personally knew many Soviet generals.
For these two reasons, he was appointed parliamentarian and negotiator.
Krebs informed the army commander, Marshal Chuikov, that Hitler had committed suicide and there was now a new leadership in Germany that was ready to begin peace negotiations. The truce proposal was dictated by Goebbels himself.

Chuikov reported on German offer to Headquarters. A categorical answer came from Stalin: there will be no negotiations, only unconditional surrender. The German side was given several hours to think, after which, in case of refusal, the offensive was resumed.

Having learned about the Soviet ultimatum, Goebbels transferred his powers to Doenitz, after which, with the help of the Reich Chancellery doctor Kunz, he killed his six children and committed suicide along with his wife. At the same time, General Krebs committed suicide.

But not all high-ranking figures of the Reich found the courage to go to the bottom along with the sinking ship.
Heinrich Himmler, once former second a man in the state, but in the last days of Hitler’s life, who fell into disgrace, tried to get into the Doenitz government, hoping that this would soften his fate.

But Doenitz understood perfectly well that Himmler had long ago compromised himself so much that his inclusion in the government, albeit virtual, would only worsen the situation. Having received a refusal, Himmler lay low. He got hold of a non-commissioned officer's uniform and a passport in the name of Heinrich Hitzinger, blindfolded one eye and, in company with several people from his inner circle, tried to get into Denmark.

They wandered around Germany for three weeks, hiding from patrols, until they were arrested by Soviet soldiers on May 21.
They did not even suspect that they were arresting Himmler himself, they simply detained a group of German soldiers with suspicious documents and sent them to a collection camp with the British for verification. Already in the camp, Himmler unexpectedly revealed his real identity.
They began to search him, but he managed to bite through the ampoule of poison.

Martin Bormann, appointed by Hitler's will as Minister of Party Affairs, on the evening of May 1, together with Hitler's pilot Buar, the head of the Hitler Youth Axmann and the doctor Stumpfegger, left the bunker to break out of Berlin and go in the direction of the Allied troops.

Hiding behind a tank, they tried to cross the bridge over the Spree, but the tank was hit by artillery and Bormann was wounded. Eventually they managed to get across and headed along the railroad tracks towards the station. On the way, Axman lost sight of Bormann and Stumpfegger, but, stumbling upon a Soviet patrol, returned back and found that both of them were already dead.

However, Axman's testimony was not believed at the trial, and the Nuremberg Tribunal tried Bormann in absentia. The press continually reported sensational facts that Bormann had been seen in various Latin American countries. Every now and then various conspiracy theories appeared: either Borman was helped by the British intelligence services and he lives in Latin America, or Borman turned out to be a Soviet agent and lives in Moscow. A reward of 100 thousand marks was offered for information about the whereabouts of the Nazi functionary.

In the early 60s, one Berlin resident reported that in early May 1945, on orders Soviet soldiers participated in the burial of several bodies discovered on the bridge over the Spree, and one of the victims had documents in the name of Stumpfegger. He even indicated the burial place, but during excavations nothing was found there

Everyone considered him a hunter for five minutes of fame, but a few years later, during construction work, literally a few meters from the excavations, a burial was actually discovered. Based on several characteristic injuries, one of the skeletons was identified as that of Bormann, but many did not believe this and continued to build theories about his miraculous salvation.

The end to this story came only in the 90s, with the development of technology.
A DNA test clearly confirmed that Bormann was buried in this unmarked grave.

Goering remained under house arrest for several days after the break with Hitler, but amid the general collapse, the SS detachment simply stopped guarding him. Goering did not shoot or hide and calmly waited for the Americans to arrive, to whom he surrendered.

Flensburg government

The most fanatical of the Germans were still shooting at individual houses, but the city was already under control, and the garrison had capitulated.
By this time, under the control of Doenitz, who became the new head of the Reich, there were scattered and isolated pieces of territory that had no communication with each other. In the town of Flensburg, located not far from the Danish border, the last government in the history of the Third Reich, already virtually virtual, was located. It was named after the city in which it was based - Flensburg.
It was located in the building of the naval school.

Doenitz himself formed it, trying not to take active Nazi functionaries. Count Ludwig Schwerin von Krosig, the great-nephew of Karl Marx's wife, was appointed chief minister (analogous to the prime minister).

Since there was nothing left to govern and de facto government power extended only to Flensburg itself and its environs, all that remained was to try to conclude the most profitable peace possible, or at least to stall for time so that parts of the Wehrmacht would retreat to the western zone and surrender to the allies, and not Soviet army.

On the night of May 2, Doenitz made a radio address to the Germans, in which he said that the Fuhrer had died heroically and bequeathed to the Germans to fight with all their might to save Germany. Doenitz himself, meanwhile, sent Admiral Friedeburg to the Allies with a proposal for peace.
Doenitz believed that they would be more accommodating than the Soviet representatives.
As a result, Friedeburg signed the surrender of all German units in Holland, Denmark and North-West Germany.

Eisenhower, however, quickly figured out the cunning plan of the German negotiators, who, under various pretexts, were delaying the general surrender and surrendering piecemeal: to stall for time so that as many Wehrmacht units as possible would surrender to the Western allies. Not wanting to listen to reproaches from the top brass, Eisenhower announced to the German side that if they did not immediately sign an unconditional surrender, he would close western front and the Allied forces will no longer take Germans prisoners or accept refugees.

On May 7, the act of unconditional surrender was signed at the Allied headquarters. However, these actions caused indignation among Stalin, although they took place in the presence of a Soviet representative.

It turned out that the Germans capitulated not to the Soviet army that crushed them and captured Berlin, but to the Americans.
And the USSR seems to have nothing to do with it. Yes, I passed by. In addition, the surrender was accepted by the chiefs of staff, and not by the high command, which deprived it of solemnity. Therefore, Stalin demanded that the surrender be re-signed in Berlin.
The allies went to meet him halfway.

Western reporters were prohibited from reporting on the capitulation that took place on May 7, and news about this that had already leaked to news agencies was declared erroneous. The signing of the surrender itself was declared a “preliminary act”, which would be confirmed in Berlin the next day.

On May 8, now on Soviet territory in Berlin, the German surrender was again signed, which became official. P Since it happened late in the evening, Moscow time due to the difference in time zones was already May 9, which became the official Victory Day.

The Flensburg government still continued to exist by inertia for several days, although it actually did not govern anything. Neither the allies nor the Soviet side recognized any powers for the government after signing the unconditional surrender. On May 23, Eisenhower announced the dissolution of the government and the arrest of its members. The German state ceased to exist for several years.

THE LAST DAYS OF THE THIRD REICH

Hitler planned to leave Berlin for Obersalzberg on April 20, his 56th birthday, to lead from there, the legendary mountain stronghold of Friedrich Barbarossa. last battle third reich. Most ministries had already moved south, carrying government documents and panic-stricken officials desperate to escape doomed Berlin in overcrowded trucks. Ten days earlier, Hitler had sent most of his domestic staff to Berchtesgaden so that they could prepare the mountain villa Berghof for his arrival.

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

"In a week, ? noted in his diary for April 23, Count Schwerin von Krosig, the frivolous Minister of Finance, who rushed headlong from Berlin to the north at the first message about the approach of the Bolsheviks,? nothing happened, only Job's messengers arrived in an endless stream. Apparently, our people are destined for a terrible fate.”

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

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

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

Since the attempt on his life on July 20, he stopped trusting anyone, even his old party comrades. “I’m being lied to on all sides,” he indignantly told one of his secretaries in March.

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

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

Although physically Hitler was already a complete wreck and faced impending disaster, as the Russians advanced towards Berlin and the Allies laid waste to the Reich, he and his most fanatical henchmen, especially Goebbels, stubbornly believed that a miracle would save them at the last moment.

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

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

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

“An astonishing fact has been discovered? both horoscopes predicted the outbreak of war in 1939 and victories until 1941, as well as a subsequent series of defeats, with the heaviest blows to fall in the early months of 1945, especially in the first half of April. Temporary success awaits us in the second half of April. Then there will be calm until August and then peace will come. Over the next three years, Germany will go through difficult times, but from 1948 it will begin to revive again.”

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

“The Fuhrer said that this year there should be a change in fate... The true essence of a genius? this is foresight and firm confidence in the upcoming changes. The Fuhrer knows the exact hour of their attack. Fate sent us this man so that in a time of great internal and external upheaval we would witness a miracle...”

Hardly a week had passed when, on the night of April 12, Goebbels convinced himself that the hour for a miracle had come. On this day new bad news came. Americans appeared on the Dessau motorway? Berlin, and the high command hastily ordered the destruction of the last two gunpowder factories located in its vicinity. From now on, German soldiers will have to make do with the ammunition they had available. Goebbels spent the entire day at the headquarters of General Busse in Küstrin in the Oder direction. As Goebbels told Krosig, the general assured him that a Russian breakthrough was impossible, that he “will hold out here until he gets a kick in the ass from the British.”

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

“Which queen will die this time?” ? asked the general. Goebbels didn't know. “But fate, ? he replied, ? has many possibilities."

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

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

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

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

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

Her role in the last chapter of this story is quite interesting, but as a person she is not particularly interesting. She was neither the Marquise of Pompadour nor Lola Montes.

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

Hitler's last important decision

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 22 marked the final turn in Hitler's path to collapse. From early morning until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, like the previous day, he sat on the phone and tried to find out at various control points how Steyer's counterattack was developing. Nobody knew anything. Neither General Koller's planes nor the commanders of the ground units were able to detect it, although it was supposed to be launched two to three kilometers south of the capital. Even Steiner, although he existed, could not be discovered, not to mention his army.

The storm broke out at an afternoon meeting held at 3 o'clock in the bunker. Angry Hitler demanded a report on Steiner's actions. But neither Keitel, nor Jodl, nor anyone else had information on this matter. The generals had news of a completely different nature. The withdrawal of troops from positions north of Berlin to support Steiner weakened the front there so much that it led to a Russian breakthrough, whose tanks crossed the city line.

This turned out to be too much for the Supreme Commander. All survivors testify that he completely lost control of himself. He had never been so angry before. "This is the end, ? he squealed shrilly. ? Everyone left me. There is treason, lies, corruption, cowardice all around. Everything is over. Wonderful. I'm staying in Berlin. I will personally take charge of the defense of the capital of the Third Reich. The rest can go wherever they want. This is where I will meet my end."

Those present protested. They said that there was still hope if the Fuhrer retreated to the south. The army group of Field Marshal Ferdinand Scherner and significant forces of Kesselring are concentrated in Czechoslovakia. Doenitz, who had gone to the northwest to take command of the troops, and Himmler, who, as we will see, was still playing his own game, called the Fuhrer, urging him to leave Berlin. Even Ribbentrop contacted him by phone and said that he was ready to organize a “diplomatic coup” that would save everything. But Hitler no longer believed any of them, not even the “second Bismarck,” as he once, in a moment of favor, without thinking, called his foreign minister. He said he had finally made a decision. And to show that this decision was irrevocable, he called the secretary and, in their presence, dictated a statement that should have been immediately read out over the radio. It said that the Fuhrer would remain in Berlin and would defend it to the end.

Hitler then sent for Goebbels and invited him, his wife and six children, to move into the bunker from his heavily bombed home on Wilhelmstrasse. He was sure that at least this fanatical adherent would remain with him and his family to the end. Then Hitler took up his papers, selecting those that, in his opinion, should be destroyed, and handed them over to one of his adjutants? Julius Schaub, who took them out into the garden and burned them.

Finally, in the evening, he summoned Keitel and Jodl and ordered them to move south and take direct command of the remaining troops. Both generals, who were with Hitler throughout the war, left a rather colorful description of their final parting with the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Keitel, who never disobeyed the Fuhrer's orders, even when he ordered the most vile war crimes, remained silent. In contrast, Jodl, who serviled to a lesser extent, responded. In the eyes of this soldier, who, despite his fanatical devotion and faithful service to the Fuhrer, still remained faithful to military traditions, the Supreme Commander was abandoning his troops, shifting responsibility to them at the moment of disaster.

“You won’t be able to lead from here, ? Yodel said. ? If you don’t have a headquarters next to you, how can you manage anything at all?”

“Well, then Goering will take over leadership there,”? Hitler objected.

One of those present remarked that not a single soldier would fight for the Reichsmarschall, and Hitler interrupted him: “What do you mean by 'fight'? How long is there left to fight? Nothing at all." Even the mad conqueror finally had the scales lifted from his eyes.

Or the gods granted him momentary enlightenment in these last days of his life, similar to a waking nightmare.

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

That same evening Berger, not Himmler, went to Berlin, and his trip is interesting because of the description he left as an eyewitness to Hitler's most important decision. When Berger arrived in Berlin, Russian shells were already exploding near the chancellery. The sight of Hitler, who seemed like a “broken, finished man,” shocked him. Berger dared to express admiration for Hitler's decision to remain in Berlin. He said he told Hitler: “It is impossible to abandon a people after they have held on so long and so faithfully.” And again these words infuriated the Fuhrer.

"All this time, ? Berger later recalled, ? the Fuhrer did not say a word. Then he suddenly shouted: “Everyone has deceived me! Nobody told me the truth. The armed forces lied to me." And then in the same spirit, louder and louder. Then his face turned violet-crimson. I thought he might have a stroke at any moment.”

Berger was also Himmler's chief of staff on prisoner-of-war matters, and after the Führer had calmed down, they discussed the fate of eminent English, French and American prisoners, as well as such Germans as Halder and Schacht, and the former Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg, who were being transferred to the south-west. east to prevent their liberation by the Americans, who were moving deeper into Germany. That night Berger had to fly to Bavaria and deal with their fate. The interlocutors also discussed reports of separatist protests in Austria and Bavaria. The thought that in his native Austria and in his second homeland? A rebellion may break out in Bavaria, again causing Hitler to convulse.

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

Whether this order meant to shoot all the separatists or all eminent prisoners, or perhaps both, was unclear to Berger. And this narrow-minded man obviously decided to shoot everyone.

Attempts by Goering and Himmler to take power into their own hands

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

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

He found Jodl in Krampnitz, located between Berlin and Potsdam, where the high command, which had lost its Fuhrer, organized a temporary headquarters. He told his friend from the Air Force the whole sad story from beginning to end. He also told in confidence something that no one had yet told Koller and that was supposed to lead to a denouement in the coming terrible days.

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

In the afternoon he arrived in Obersalzberg and delivered the news to the Reichsmarshal. Goering, who, to put it mildly, had long been looking forward to the day when he would replace Hitler, nevertheless showed more caution than could have been expected. He didn't want to become a victim of his mortal enemy? Borman. The precaution, as it turned out, was entirely justified. He even began to sweat, solving the dilemma that confronted him. “If I start acting now,” he told his advisers, I may be branded a traitor. If I remain inactive, I will be accused of not doing anything in the hour of trial.”

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

Nevertheless, the Reichsmarshal very carefully composed the text of the telegram. He wanted to be sure that power was truly being transferred to him.

My Fuehrer!

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

Faithful to you

Hermann Goering.

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

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

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

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

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

Before the conversation ended, he, at Bormann's prompting, dictated a telegram accusing Goering of committing "high treason", the punishment for which could only be death, but, given his long service for the benefit of the Nazi Party and the state, his life could be spared if he will immediately resign from all positions. Was he asked to answer in monosyllables? Yes or no. However, this was not enough for the sycophant Bormann. At his own peril and risk, he sent a radiogram to the SS headquarters in Berchtesgaden, ordering the immediate arrest of Goering for high treason. The next day, before dawn, the second most powerful man in the Third Reich, the most arrogant and richest of the Nazi bosses, the only Reich Marshal in German history, the commander-in-chief of the Air Force, became a prisoner of the SS.

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

Latest visitors to the bunker

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

Hitler came to the operating room, where the doctor was bandaging the general’s wound.

Hitler: Do you know why I called you?

Greim: No, my Fuhrer.

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

"Here, ? recalls Hannah Reich, who was present at the conversation,? The Fuhrer’s face twitched, his breathing became heavy and intermittent.”

Hitler: ...Ultimatum! A harsh ultimatum! Now there's nothing left. Nothing escaped me. There is no betrayal, no such betrayal that I have not experienced. They are not faithful to the oath, they do not value honor. And now this! Nothing left. There is no harm that would not be done to me.

I ordered the immediate arrest of Goering as a traitor to the Reich. He was removed from all posts and expelled from all organizations. That's why I called you!

After this, he appointed the discouraged general, who was lying on his bunk, as the new commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe. Hitler could have announced this appointment on the radio. This would allow Graham to escape injury and remain at Air Force headquarters, the only place from which he could still direct what was left of the Air Force.

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

During these three days, Hannah Reich had ample opportunity to observe and, of course, participate in the life of madmen in the underground madhouse. Because she was as emotionally unstable as the high-ranking master who sheltered her, her writings are both ominous and melodramatic. And yet, in the main, they are obviously true and even quite complete, since they are confirmed by the testimony of other eyewitnesses, which makes them an important document of the final chapter of the history of the Reich.

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

My Fuhrer, why are you staying here? ? she asked. ? Why should Germany lose you?! The Fuhrer must live for Germany to live. The people demand this.

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

This was Hitler's mood at the beginning of the evening. He still hoped that General Wenck would liberate Berlin. But literally a few minutes later, when the Russian shelling of the chancellery intensified, he again fell into despair. He handed Rach the poison capsules: one? for herself, another? for Graham.

"Hannah, ? he said, ? you are one of those who will die with me... I don’t want at least one of us to fall alive into the hands of the Russians, I don’t want them to find our bodies. Eva's body and my body will be burned. And you choose your path."

Hannah took the poison capsule to Graham, and they decided that if the end really came, they would swallow the poison and then, for good measure, pull the pin from a heavy grenade and hold it tightly to themselves.

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

Reich describes how that day the Supreme Commander paced restlessly "around the shelter, waving a road map that was quickly unraveling in his sweaty hands, and discussing Wenck's campaign plan with anyone who would listen."

But Wenck’s “campaign,” like Steiner’s “strike” a week earlier, existed only in the Fuhrer’s imagination. Wenck's army was already destroyed, as was the 9th Army. North of Berlin, Henry's army quickly rolled back to the West in order to surrender to the Western allies, and not to the Russians.

All day on April 28, the desperate inhabitants of the bunker waited for the results of the counterattacks of the three armies, especially Wenck's army. The Russian wedges were already several blocks away from the chancellery and were slowly approaching it along several streets from the east and north, as well as through the Tiergarten. When there was no news from the troops coming to the rescue, Hitler, incited by Bormann, suspected further treachery. At 8 pm Bormann sent a radiogram to Doenitz:

“Instead of encouraging troops to move forward to save us, those in charge remain silent. Apparently, betrayal has replaced fidelity. We're staying here. The office lies in ruins."

Later that night, Bormann sent another telegram to Doenitz:

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

Now Bormann spoke on his own behalf. Hitler decided to die in a day or two, but Bormann wanted to live. He probably wouldn’t be Hitler’s successor, but he wanted to be able in the future to press the secret springs behind the back of anyone who comes to power.

That same night, Admiral Voss sent a telegram to Doenitz, informing him that communication with the army had been broken, and demanded that he urgently report via radio channels to the fleet about major events in the world. Soon some news arrived, not from the fleet, but from the Ministry of Propaganda, from its listening posts. For Adolf Hitler, the news was devastating.

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

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

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

A radio listening post in the Ministry of Propaganda picked up a message transmitted by BBC radio from London about events taking place outside Berlin. Reuters reported on the evening of April 28 from Stockholm such a sensational and incredible message that one of Goebbels' assistants, Heinz Lorenz, rushed headlong across the shell-pocked area into the bunker. He brought several copies of the recording of this message to his minister and the Fuhrer.

The news, according to Hannah Reich, “hit the community like a death blow. Men and women screamed in rage, fear and despair, their voices merging in one emotional spasm.” Hitler had it much stronger than the others. According to the pilot, “he was raging like crazy.”

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

For Hitler, who never doubted Himmler's absolute loyalty, this was a grave blow. “His face, ? Reich recalled, ? became crimson-red and literally unrecognizable... After a rather long attack of anger and indignation, Hitler fell into a kind of stupor, and for some time silence reigned in the bunker.” Goering at least asked the Fuhrer for permission to continue his work. And the “faithful” SS chief and Reichsführer treacherously came into contact with the enemy without notifying Hitler about it. And Hitler told his minions, when he came to his senses a little, what is this? the most despicable act of betrayal he had ever encountered.

This blow, coupled with the news received a few minutes later that the Russians were approaching Potsdamerplatz, located just a block from the bunker, and would likely begin an assault on the chancellery on the morning of April 30, 30 hours later, meant that the end was coming. This forced Hitler to make the last decisions in his life. Before dawn he married Eva Braun, then laid out his last will, drew up a will, sent Greim and Hanna Reich to gather the remains of the Luftwaffe for a massive bombing of Russian troops approaching the chancellery, and also ordered the two of them to arrest the traitor Himmler.

“After me, a traitor will never become the head of the state! ? Hitler said, according to Hannah. ? And you must ensure that this does not happen."

Hitler was burning with impatience to take revenge on Himmler. In his hands was the liaison officer of the SS chief, Fegelein. This former jockey and current SS general was immediately taken from his cell, thoroughly interrogated about Himmler's treason, accused of complicity and, on the orders of the Fuhrer, taken to the garden of the chancellery, where he was shot. Fegelein was not helped even by the fact that he was married to Eva Braun's sister. And Eva didn’t lift a finger to save the life of her son-in-law.

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

Hitler's last will and testament

As Hitler wished, both of these documents were preserved. Like his other documents, they are important to our narrative. They confirm that the man who ruled Germany and most of Europe with an iron fist for more than twelve years? four years, learned nothing. Even failure and crushing defeat taught him nothing.

True, in the last hours of his life he returned mentally to the days of his reckless youth, spent in Vienna, to noisy gatherings in Munich beer halls, where he cursed the Jews for all the troubles in the world, to far-fetched universal theories and complaints that fate had again deceived Germany , depriving her of victory and conquests. Adolf Hitler composed this farewell speech addressed to the German nation and the whole world, which was supposed to become a final address to history, from empty phrases designed for cheap effect, pulled from “ Mein Kampf", adding to them his own false fabrications. This speech was a natural epitaph to a tyrant, whom absolute power had completely corrupted and destroyed.

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

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

During these three decades, all my thoughts, actions and life were guided only by love and devotion to my people. They gave me the strength to make the most difficult decisions that have ever befallen a mortal...

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

This text is an introductory fragment.

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V. DYMARSKY: Hello. I welcome the audience of the Ekho Moskvy radio station and the RTVi television channel. This is another program from the “Price of Victory” series and I, its host, Vitaly Dymarsky. My partner, partner Dmitry Zakharov, was out for some time due to the start of summer vacation. Someday it will be our turn to rest, and then we will force others to work. Well, today we are making work... I wanted to say, our regular guest and author, although we have not seen you for a long time. This is what I say to Elena Syanova, historian and writer. Good evening.

E. SYANOVA: Good evening.

V. DYMARSKY: I’m saying, long time no see.

E. SYANOVA: Well, while we were fighting, in general, it was not very convenient for a woman.

V. DYMARSKY: Well, today we continue to fight, by the way. And the topic of our program today is the last days of the Third Reich. Naturally, I must also remind you of the number +7 985 970 4545, this is for your SMS messages. And to warn you that a web broadcast has already begun on the website of the Ekho Moskvy radio station. Or hasn't it started yet? No, it hasn't started yet. We are now turning it on right in front of everyone. And now it has definitely begun. And thus we can now begin our conversation with Elena Syanova. “The Last Days of the Third Reich” sounds very good. If someone expects us to talk about the individual destinies of the leaders of the Third Reich, about Nazi criminals, then I think that these are fairly well-known stories, although sooner or later they need to be repeated, and we’ll talk about them too. But today, in a conversation with you, Len, I would be more interested in the fate of the Third Reich as a state, if you like. It is a well-known fact that Hitler committed suicide, poisoned himself and poisoned the entire Himmler family...

E. SYANOVA: Goebbels. Himmler himself.

V. DYMARSKY: Goebbels. All other Nazi leaders one way or another left the game, let's put it that way. Someone either ran away, or didn’t run away, someone ended up in the hands... In general, it’s approximately clear. Did the Third Reich still exist after this? And if it existed, then for how long? Because Hitler committed suicide - it was still April.

V. DYMARSKY: Yes, by the way, on April 30 the flag was hoisted over the Reichstag.

E. SYANOVA: In principle, this would probably be the correct way to think. Hitler left...

V. DYMARSKY: Yes, and it was all over. But it turns out not?

E. SYANOVA: The spinal cord seemed to fall out, that’s all.

V. DYMARSKY: But it turns out, no?

E. SYANOVA: Again, as you and I want to count. That would probably be fair. Still, the Fuhrer leaves, and then all this agony begins. But one can, for example, consider one of the capitulations - well, probably our surrender on May 8 in Karlhorst - to be considered final.

V. DYMARSKY: Ours - in the sense of surrender to us.

E. SYANOVA: I mean the main one signed by the Soviet side.

V. DYMARSKY: Although, this is a known thing, there was another capitulation.

E. SYANOVA: Yes, well, we’ll talk about it. But in fact, officially the Third Reich existed. Existed and functioned. There was a question about how long all the political and government agencies Third Reich. Until May 23. May 23 - official death of the Third Reich. Therefore, I think that it makes sense, probably, to spend a little time in the Reich Chancellery, in the bunker, literally there are several fundamental moments there, and then move on to this period, which is somehow not very well known, probably. Because it is known that the Dönitz government sat in Flensburg. What happened there? If you believe the memoirs of Speer, for example, who describes all this very ironically... well, in general, of course, it’s difficult to believe Speer, but still there was some kind of activity there. But in fact, nothing ironic or funny happened there. It was a very stressful time for us. Well, I think that let's start from April 22nd. This is such a fundamental, very significant day when Hitler announces to his comrades that he remains in Berlin. And the most knowledgeable...

V. DYMARSKY: Were there any offers for him to leave Berlin?

E. SYANOVA: Yes, of course. They will continue to be given until the end.

V. DYMARSKY: What were the proposals?

E. SYANOVA: Well, first of all, evacuate, calmly go south, to the so-called. “Alpine fortress”, which was not really a fortress, but they equipped some kind of headquarters. The archives went there, a lot of documentation and officials were evacuated there. It was possible to settle there, it was quite possible to establish some kind of leadership there, they encouraged him to do this. In general, this would be a reasonable step from the point of view of continuing some kind of struggle. You know, this has been described several times, this scene when he sits over a map at an afternoon meeting on the 22nd, an operational map, and the understanding suddenly appears in his eyes that the Red Army has created the conditions for the encirclement of Berlin. That is, in fact, this has already been done. His famous hysteria. He shouts that I was not informed correctly, I was not informed. In fact, he was, of course, informed. And Keitel tried, and Wenck tried to tell him something, but it doesn’t matter. It suddenly dawned on him that this was a disaster. Map - everything is visible on it.

V. DYMARSKY: Were there still any illusions before that?

E. SYANOVA: Well, here he saw breakthroughs - from the north, from the west, from the east. These are the breakthroughs. Now you need to close it, that's all. Actually, what will be left? He makes a fairly sound decision at this meeting, they developed the only possible course of action, that is, it was necessary to deploy Wenck’s army, which was from the west, against the Americans, turn it back to the Americans and move towards Berlin. From the north - Steiner. And from the south there was Busse’s 9th Army, and Wenck was supposed to connect south of Berlin with Busse’s army. These, as Hitler imagined, were quite significant forces. In fact, of course, someone asked about Wenck’s army - both Wenck’s army and Busse’s army, these are, of course, some remnants already. There were no tanks... Then, they were burdened with a huge number of refugees. But still, it was the only sensible decision. We could have tried. And Hitler on the 22nd is still in control of the situation. He still has the will, they still listen to him. He so convinced everyone of the possibility of implementing this plan, of its implementation, that many in the bunker were sure that it had begun, that this movement towards Berlin had already begun with a large army. Well, of course, Goering, Bormann, Himmler were better informed. They, of course, realized that if Hitler remained in Berlin, it was the end. Well, both left on the 23rd and 24th. This famous story. Himmler was holed up in a sanatorium somewhere there until May 15th, Goering - we'll talk about him a little later, but he also tried to carry out some kind of independent game. And there was a question here about betrayal, who actually betrayed whom. Now, if we talk about personal betrayal, then yes, Goering and Himmler betrayed Hitler personally, but they did not betray the state, they tried to act, they tried to find some options. So they are by no means state traitors.

V. DYMARSKY: Lena, excuse me, I’ll interrupt you. Thus, you answer the question of the builder from Tver, he was just asking about the betrayal of Goering and Himmler.

E. SYANOVA: Yes. So, over the course of 5-6 days, many in the bunker were sure that this whole plan was being implemented gradually; after all, a real breakthrough was expected, a connection of the 12th and 9th armies and a breakthrough to Berlin. By the way, it was still the 28th when it became known about the negotiations between Himmler and Bernadotte. There was a question about Eva Braun's son-in-law, Fegelein - was he shot or did he flee. Well, he couldn’t run anywhere, it’s a known fact - he was shot. But they shot him, by the way, not even entirely because he ran away. The fact is that Fegelein, being Himmler’s representative at headquarters, made a report to his boss about the situation. We don’t know the report, but we can guess how this report was conveyed to Hitler. And Hitler had a big grudge against Fegelein, starting with this telephone conversation. Then, when he decided to run away, well, that was all. Because it’s not entirely clear what this Fegelein was like, what he was like... And then there was irritation with his boss. Well, you can’t get Himmler, even shoot a representative. So, on the 29th, another famous such sacramental scene, when Hitler shouts in hysterics where Wenck is. In fact, there is nothing so fantastic or hysterical here. Indeed, Wenk, in theory, should have already declared himself somehow. Well, in general, yes. By the way, he did it. Wenk is generally an amazing person. This is a talented man, he did the almost impossible. He succeeded in breaking through to Potsdam, an absolutely incredible operation. But she didn’t give anything anymore. And on the 28th, Hitler once again realizes that the attempt took place, but it did not yield anything. Here is the map again, here are all the breakthroughs again. And before that there was a meeting on the Elbe, and a connection of fronts. All. Basically, everything is finished. From the 28th, probably, Hitler had a real turning point, when he realized that this was a collapse - the collapse of the state, the collapse of the idea, this was his personal collapse. And he decided to commit suicide. And endlessly sending him somewhere to Argentina, to Shambhala, of course, is absolutely stupid. The man was simply consistent. Let's not deny him this.

V. DYMARSKY: Although it must be repeated once again that they nevertheless persuaded him to leave.

E. SYANOVA: Yes, they persuaded him to the last. They persuaded me, for example, to try to fly away; it was still possible.

V. DYMARSKY: Where?

E. SYANOVA: To the south. The main thing is to break through our air blockade. And he didn't believe in it. He was very afraid of captivity. He was afraid that he would be shot down like Graham, wounded, imprisoned somewhere, and then what? Therefore, in general, he had no option. And on the 29th we had a marriage with Eva Braun, on the 30th we committed suicide. How did he commit suicide? Let us admit, finally tell the truth, that we do not know and will never know thoroughly, for certain. All examinations do not provide...

V. DYMARSKY: Potassium cyanide...

E. SYANOVA: You know, there’s probably a 90% probability - after all, he put the capsule in his mouth and shot himself in the mouth. There must have been some kind of closure and she was simply crushed by the impact. He remembered how Robespierre tried to commit suicide, when he shot himself in the mouth, shot himself in the jaw, and then suffered terribly for several days. So he put the capsule in just in case. Well, this is the most likely way. That's probably how it was. Although they don’t tell you what.

V. DYMARSKY: Was it without witnesses?

E. SYANOVA: The witness was Eva Braun, everyone else was outside the door.

V. DYMARSKY: First... We also don’t know who is first and who is second, right?

E. SYANOVA: Again, logically, of course, first she, then he. But nonetheless. Then we have May 1st. This is the sad fate of the Goebbels family. By the way, why Goebbels committed suicide was the question. Briefly. Look here. Goering represented a real force, Goering had contacts with the West, he had trump cards, he had something to defend himself with. Borman. Bormann receives official successive power in the party from Hitler. He knew very well that the Fuhrer-principle was structured in such a way that he would actually become the head of state, the Fourth Reich, he was like the head of the party. Himmler. Well, Himmler actually had a lot of things at his disposal, that’s a completely separate conversation. And, again, some contacts have been established. And this is not a fantasy, and not the notorious “Odessa” group, an organization, this is a very real organization that existed since 1945, which did a lot of things to transport SS men - mainly, of course, to Latin America. Then, Himmler also had troops, in principle, SS troops. They were in excellent condition. That is, all these people had some kind of cards. What did Goebbels have? After all, he was the Minister of Propaganda, and all propaganda burst like a soap bubble with the offensive of the Red Army. And Goebbels also burst. He also understood this perfectly. Was he a fanatic? Yes, I was. But he left because he was just like Hitler, in fact... It was a collapse.

V. DYMARSKY: Yes. But, on the one hand, you still have to leave on your own, but also drag you along with you.

E. SYANOVA: Well, you know, I have my own version about this. I cannot prove it, since there is only indirect evidence, of course. I don't think Magda put the capsules in their mouths or gave them the injections herself. I think it was the family's doctor who did it.

V. DYMARSKY: Well, okay, but the doctor did it on their instructions, in any case.

E. SYANOVA: This does not diminish this nightmare. It’s just that during interrogations he later blamed it on Magda. You understand, the Goebbels were dead, but he still had to live. In principle, poisoning children is a crime, by all standards. He simply whitewashed himself, so to speak. There were no witnesses. But this is just my version. I do not impose it on anyone under any circumstances.

V. DYMARSKY: By the way, an interesting question here: “Did Hitler find out that a red flag was hung over the Reichstag?” That is, what happened before?

E. SYANOVA: Yes, this is interesting. Don't know. Most likely no.

V. DYMARSKY: When did he commit suicide? In the morning?

E. SYANOVA: Yes, somewhere at night. Oh no, it's daytime! Three PM.

V. DYMARSKY: Because the first flag was, judging by what we were told here, at 14:25. Coincidence.

E. SYANOVA: But I think that he didn’t know, of course. Yes, coincidence.

V. DYMARSKY: And then these are different areas of Berlin, the chancellery and the Reichstag.

E. SYANOVA: No, I probably didn’t know. Here we are. Well, we have Borman. Bormann was also sent wherever...

V. DYMARSKY: Well, yes, about Borman it must be said that there were the most persistent rumors that he was in Latin America.

E. SYANOVA: Yes. By the way, I recently read such an interesting document. After Hitler’s suicide, they found a photograph of a boy somewhere in his documents or in some of his papers. And there was a version that it was his son. It took us a long time to figure this out. Then they found out that this was Martin Bormann Jr., Hitler's godson. And that was it. Well, of course, there were rumors about Borman - the body was not found. There was a lot of testimony about Bormann. Some saw him lying in one place, others in another. And so, apparently, Axman gave the most accurate testimony, since he described Bormann lying down and Dr. Stumpfeger nearby. And when these two skeletons were found in the 80s, it turned out that they were identified - Bormann and this doctor. Somewhere very, very early in the morning, an hour or two something like the morning of May 2nd - Borman went to the next world.

V. DYMARSKY: Are you sure about this?

E. SYANOVA: I am sure of this. But I understand that this is such a topic that many, many things can still be written here.

V. DYMARSKY: We have a few minutes left. Let's pedal up.

E. SYANOVA: Yes, Bormann managed to inform Dönitz that he was receiving successive legal power from the hands of Hitler as Reich President. Moreover, he signed this telegram himself and did not give it to Goebbels. Well, naturally, he said that he, Bormann, as the head of the party, would soon arrive in Flensburg. And this is where, probably, this Flensburg story begins, that is, the functioning of the Dönitz government, which was absolutely officially engaged in carrying out official activities.

V. DYMARSKY: That is, it controlled what was left of the country.

E. SYANOVA: Well, yes, and not only.

V. DYMARSKY: Not from the country as a territory, but as from certain state structures.

E. SYANOVA: You know, it was impossible to govern the country, of course. But all the structures functioned simply because there was no all-clear, they were not turned off, they worked automatically. And Dönitz mainly tried to somehow preserve the largest groups that still existed, military groups. This is Scherner's Army Group Center. Or, in my opinion, it was called “A” in 1945. This is Narvik. By the way, Scherner had a million soldiers. This is Narvik, Austria, part of Army Group E, this is the Baltic states. There were still quite such weighty forces. And at the same time, the government tried to establish ties with its allies. Naturally, behind the back of the Soviet Union.

V. DYMARSKY: Two more minutes. So that Hitler and I can finish. Here is this story, around which there is also a lot of stuff twisted around - about the burning of his body.

E. SYANOVA: Well, you can imagine it. They took him out, doused him with gasoline, and set the whole thing on fire. But all around there is terrible shelling - explosions and shrapnel falling. It probably didn’t quite burn out, of course. I don't see any contradictions here. I think it's all described.

V. DYMARSKY: No, no, not contradictions. Because Stalin really wanted to get the remains, right?

E. SYANOVA: Well, what do we have? We actually have this jaw.

V. DYMARSKY: Does it really exist?

E. SYANOVA: Yes. By the way, no one denies this. And the Americans, by the way, never attempted to assassinate her. Another thing is that no one has ever claimed that we have Hitler’s skull. We have never stated this. But for some reason, one of the Americans came and did some scrapings. It turned out to be the skull of a woman. Well, we didn’t claim that this was Hitler’s skull. And the jaw is interesting. You know, I found a very funny remark on the Internet: if we really have his jaw, no one disputes this, but at the same time they say that he is in Argentina, but how did he live without a jaw? Not quite clear.

V. DYMARSKY: Yes, this is to refute this Argentine version. Well, okay, let’s talk about all the other questions related to this topic, and maybe we’ll really move away from personalities and talk about government structures in general in a few minutes, after a short break. In the meantime, we will think about the questions that have already been asked to us. “Why the Reich President and not the Reich Chancellor?” - Ilya from Tula asks. This is all after a short break.

NEWS

V. DYMARSKY: Once again I greet our television and radio audience, we continue the “Price of Victory” program. My name is Vitaly Dymarsky, and my guest today is Elena Syanova, writer, historian. And we are talking about the last days of the Third Reich. Still, we have not fully implemented our program. We wanted to finish before a short break with personalities, but you still wanted to say something about... Here, in fact, one question came to us - apparently, they are correcting you, that you said something wrong in the program, Ivan from Orenburg, you said that seven children were poisoned. Who's seventh?

E. SYANOVA: Well, yes, it was one of the small tragedies. It did not say that the child was poisoned. It was just the child of a woman who was doing laundry. Therefore, there were seven children there. That's all.

V. DYMARSKY: I see. That's it, we have clarified this matter. Of course, the jaw turned everyone on. The jaw is separate from the skull.

E. SYANOVA: This is dark story. There will be so much speculation here, they will look for it all, find it, prove it or not prove it. And no matter how many last points you put, there will still be one more last one. Well, it's an eternal story.

V. DYMARSKY: So, Hitler is gone, Goebbels is gone, the second man.

E. SYANOVA: In fact, there was no one left.

V. DYMARSKY: Well, not right away.

E. SYANOVA: A successive government has emerged. Head of Government - Dönitz, Flensburg.

V. DYMARSKY: Which, as we managed to say, began to collect the remains, or rather, not so much to collect as to at least understand where they are and what they are.

E. SYANOVA: Yes. Here's an interesting moment. He had a government list, he had Hitler's will, they left it to him. Actually, he had all the instructions on how to act in the near future. But Dönitz gradually got the hang of it and began to show some initiatives of his own, including members of the government. But his main task was, of course, to hold on and stall for time. Because the main calculation of the Dönitz government is the conflict between the Allies and the Soviet Union. Hitler was counting on this, and this, in fact, was all that Dönitz and company could count on. And, of course, there were trump cards. I will repeat these large groupings: northwestern Europe, Norway, Denmark, the Baltic states - all these are large forces that could be trumped. Well, maybe we can finish a little about Borman. Actually, they had been waiting for him for a very long time, but they didn’t come. And, by the way, Himmler visited the governments. Yes, Himmler visited on the 20th of some date.

V. DYMARSKY: From far away.

E. SYANOVA: Yes, he sat until the 15th in his sanatorium somewhere, and then he finally appeared there. But that will probably be a little later. So, it’s interesting that on the 4th the Allies were sent a representative of the Dönitz government with a request for a tactical truce, a purely military truce.

V. DYMARSKY: Some kind of respite.

E. SYANOVA: Yes, so that these large groups in the north are preserved, contained, and not disarmed. Eisenhower firmly said no, only three parties should be involved in any negotiations. And Montgomery, who did not claim a political role, agreed to this. And this truce came into force at 8-something hours on May 5th. Of course, there was great indignation about this. Well, the next two capitulations: May 7th - this is Reims, the capitulation was signed by Jodl. By the way, it was called preliminary, and it was considered that way - as a preliminary surrender. And May 8th is the main one.

V. DYMARSKY: But our officer who signed it, in my opinion, paid for it?

E. SYANOVA: No, you mean General Susloparov. Yes, I specifically studied this person. He was a witness, he had the status of a witness on the Soviet side. In fact, there was, of course, a dramatic story there. He sent a request to Moscow, but did not have time to receive precise instructions on how to act, and he acted at his own peril and risk by signing this document. This, of course, is a very strong man, very insightful, very sensitive to the moment, because he acted perfectly, as Stalin later considered. He acted the way he was supposed to act. No separate peace was signed. Let it be as a witness, but we were declared here. And then this surrender was called preliminary, and then the main one took place. It's not like he paid the price. He was transferred to teaching work, so to speak. The main surrender - Karlhorst, 8th, signed by Keitel. It’s interesting: where do you think Keitel went after signing the surrender in Karlhorst? And the second question: what was Walter Schellenberg doing at that time, what was he doing? If you answer these two questions, it immediately becomes clear how ambiguous the situation was.

V. DYMARSKY: Regarding Schellenberg, I will answer you with a note, an SMS sent to us by one of our listeners: “Schellenberg refused the post of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and left as Dönitz’s special envoy for negotiations in Sweden.”

E. SYANOVA: Why did you refuse, why? He wrote it himself, apparently. Hard to say. We don't know this. He was indeed appointed Deputy Foreign Minister. A somewhat strange appointment to such a post in the SS. Yes, he left for another meeting with Bernadotte, but this time he received a turnaround. Because Bernadotte understood perfectly well that now these contacts would lead to nothing. So where did Keitel go? When I was at school, I was sure that he was signing, let’s say they celebrated something symbolically, but he was probably already arrested, right? No. Both Keitel and Jodl returned to Flensburg. And starting from the 9th, they return to the head of their government, they hold a series of meetings with him, they decide how to act in this situation, make plans, perform some functions.

V. DYMARSKY: What are the allies doing at this time, excuse me? I mean both Soviet and American.

E. SYANOVA: The British somehow allowed the creation in this Flensburg of a provincial, quiet, calm, clean town, everything there was preserved, all hung with flags with swastikas, SS posts everywhere, since the SS, great Germany, carried out the restoration of order, all this there were SS men. Officers, soldiers - everyone walks around with perfectly polished weapons. That is, the British allowed the creation of such a German enclave in this Flensburg.

V. DYMARSKY: Nobody touched them?

E. SYANOVA: Well, everything for the time being. Here we are talking about some days. Here are the 9th, 10th. In general, before the 11th, the Doenitz government still had something to trump, something to operate on. But on the 11th...

V. DYMARSKY: And what, excuse me?

E. SYANOVA: These large groups.

V. DYMARSKY: Well, okay. The surrender has already been signed.

E. SYANOVA: It doesn’t matter that it’s signed.

V. DYMARSKY: The groups were ordered to stop resistance.

E. SYANOVA: It doesn’t matter. They didn't actually have any orders. Who gave them the order?

V. DYMARSKY: The same Dönitz.

E. SYANOVA: No. You forget that our tanks only entered Prague on the 9th. Here it is, Army Group “Center” or “A”. They still fought there for two more days.

V. DYMARSKY: Well, it has its own story.

E. SYANOVA: There is a story there, but no one listened to the order. This million-strong army capitulated only on the 11th. It was a very loud capitulation. But it was forced because everyone was being smashed. Well, Narvik capitulated. It is less numerous, but also on the 11th. So, in fact, from the 11th, Dönitz had nothing. There were some disparate groups. By the way, some SS groups, there is such a version and there is such information, it is not entirely direct, there is such indirect confirmation - they still wandered around Germany all summer. By the way, there was such a Soviet film. Either in May, or in June, after all the capitulations there, our people stumble upon such a group making its way to the west. They all made their way to the allies.

V. DYMARSKY: Already some kind of partisan status?

E. SYANOVA: Well, probably. Actually, they were not partisans, they were simply making their way to the west. So, the task of the Doenitz government was to transfer, deliver or preserve as large a German contingent as possible for the Western allies. Do you know how many aircraft were transferred to the Allies during the Dönitz government? 2.5 thousand. 250-odd warships. However, we later also made claims, and they were satisfied. But nonetheless. Here's what they were actually doing.

V. DYMARSKY: But ours also received ships, and not only military ones, by the way, passenger ones too. The same "Russia" sailed along the Black Sea.

E. SYANOVA: Yes, then, of course, we had to share. And on the 12th, after the defeat, after the surrender of the main forces, Dönitz addresses the German people on the radio and declares that he, as head of state, will exercise all the powers that were given to him by the Fuhrer until the moment when the German people elect a revered Fuhrer.

V. DYMARSKY: And specifically the Fuhrer?

E. SYANOVA: Yes, exactly the Fuhrer. This is from his statement. What arrogance!

V. DYMARSKY: Maybe the person didn’t have any other schemes in his head at all.

E. SYANOVA: No, he understood perfectly well that he had support in the West. After all, Churchill was still active during this period. Churchill, in my opinion, also sent a telegram to Truman around the 12th or 13th saying that the moment had come when it was necessary to stop taking the Russians into account. That is, now, he says, the Soviet threat dominates. The Nazi threat has been practically eliminated; now we have a Soviet threat. I’m not even talking about the “Unthinkable” plan, that’s a completely separate conversation. No fantasy. Everything has been declassified, the whole plan is on the Internet. The British themselves have already admitted that this happened. Well, it’s safe to admit now. This plan was put on Churchill's desk on May 22. Well, briefly. The military there opposed, of course. There was no way to implement it. Then Churchill resigned and the plan was archived. But still it is done, still it is done. And the Germans know about this. The Germans know that work is underway, that the allies are somehow trying to preserve the remnants of their statehood. At least for the transition period. That is, there still seems to be some opportunity for the Dönitz government to survive this transition period and leave with dignity, not to Nuremberg, there is still hope for this.

V. DYMARSKY: What happened on May 23? Why do you think this is the last day of the Third Reich?

E. SYANOVA: You know, before May 23 there were several more interesting moments. Firstly, the Allied control commission arrived in Flensburg, we must pay tribute after all, to figure out what was happening there. But until May 17, in my opinion, our representative appeared there, that is, did not join the control commission, all these flags, all these SS posts in Flensburg still existed. And, by the way, I think there was a question about greetings.

V. DYMARSKY: “Heil” - was it just Hitler who was greeted.

E. SYANOVA: Yes. So, in Flensburg, SS men from great Germany greeted each other “Heil, Dönitz.” This is recorded. So you see, in general, what impudence. I'm just talking about this out of outrage. And, by the way, Stalin was also indignant - he called Zhukov and ordered him to figure out what was happening there. And Zhukov proposed sending Major General Trusov as a representative so that he could join this control commission and finally dot all the i’s. Trusov came there and was very tough. He was given authority, he was given instructions to act no matter what. He even managed to get a meeting with Dönitz, although the allies, of course, prevented this with all their might. This conversation took place in the presence of the British and Americans, and Trusov was quite tough. By the way, Dönitz told him at that moment that Himmler was here with proposals, and he, Dönitz, sent him, roughly speaking, sent him, and he left in an unknown direction. Well, we know where he went - to Montgomery's headquarters. By the way, in my opinion, the 23rd is the last day of Himmler’s life. This is also a fairly well-known story, it is not worth repeating, how he was arrested, how at the last moment, fearing the shame of captivity, he saw through this capsule. At least Himmler’s corpse with this red spot in the middle of his forehead, with hemorrhage from the effects of potassium cyanide, made the rounds of the press. Therefore, death was recorded. Nobody ever sent Himmler along any rat trails to any Latin America. So, Stalin’s will, in general, worked here. And from the 21st to the 23rd, active work begins to prepare for the arrest of the Doenitz government. On the 23rd this arrest finally took place in the presence of our representatives. Therefore, no worthy...

V. DYMARSKY: Were the allies arrested?

E. SYANOVA: Yes, the British, Americans and our representatives arrested. That is, the outcome, at least...

V. DYMARSKY: And after that, power in the country passed to the occupation administrations in the corresponding zones - in the English, American and Soviet?

E. SYANOVA: On the 23rd, the shutdown of the previous government structures officially takes place.

V. DYMARSKY: The switch was turned off.

E. SYANOVA: The switch is turned off, yes. This does not mean at all that they all immediately stopped functioning at their own peril and risk.

V. DYMARSKY: No, but how? Even public utilities in cities...

E. SYANOVA: The administration there usually set things up.

V. DYMARSKY: Local administrations continued to operate?

E. SYANOVA: Of course, yes.

V. DYMARSKY: There was no central government and central apparatus.

E. SYANOVA: It wasn’t. This is where the entire occupation program comes into play, and the division into zones comes into force and begins to operate. By the way, it’s interesting that they always tried to somehow incite local population on the Red Army, on some of our representatives. And Dönitz was very raging about the fact that when he was informed that the metro was already operating in Berlin, cinemas were operating in Berlin, the Soviet administration was establishing peaceful life there, but he really counted on... in general, they counted, of course, on resistance, on greater resistance from the Germans, from the civilian population. Well, there was hope for a partisan movement, but they didn’t have time to properly organize it. But you know, I wouldn’t say that there was absolutely no resistance. There were pockets of resistance, there was sabotage, there were explosions at enterprises.

V. DYMARSKY: By the way, Evgeniy writes to us. Well, it is impossible to verify all this, these messages. “On the Baltic peninsula, three SS divisions were destroyed only by October 1945.”

E. SYANOVA: Yes, it’s quite possible. Surely it was so.

V. DYMARSKY: In Western Ukraine the story is somewhat different. There were no Germans there, of course, but there were also battles and skirmishes there.

E. SYANOVA: Yes, but it must be said that on the 23rd, not only the Dönitz government was put under arrest, but a systematic, roughly speaking, capture of this entire Nazi company had already begun. Goering was arrested, arrested...

V. DYMARSKY: So Peter asks: What kind of operation was “Sunrise” in Switzerland? Did you hear?

E. SYANOVA: If he clarifies what he means...

V. DYMARSKY: Peter, please clarify. And what kind of people in masks were allegedly taken away by German submariners? This means an expedition to Antarctica, or what?

E. SYANOVA: No. You know, you understand, there are not even versions, but plans such as, for example, the “Unthinkable” or the “Calypso” plan, announced by the British, which for some reason was also considered some kind of version for a long time. This was when it was necessary to create an intermediate German military organization under the command of the elderly Bush in order to somehow involve the Germans in this process. You see, these are not versions, these are facts. But when it starts about people in masks, about Shambhala and about Antarctica... As a writer, I am actively working with this material, it is very interesting. Do you know what's the matter? In fact, these projects actually existed. If you look at Ananerbe's documents, there were so many amazingly interesting projects, but this does not mean that they were implemented. Most of them simply, roughly speaking, were not given any funding; they remained in paperwork. But we love to imagine how they could be realized, how they could be launched.

V. DYMARSKY: Alas, we need to finish. The question here is why Schellenberg was not tried at Nuremberg. He was tried, by the way, in Nuremberg. He got 4 years, as far as I remember. And he was buried in Switzerland. Coco Chanel buried him.

E. SYANOVA: Yes. But Schellenberg left extremely false memoirs.

V. DYMARSKY: Well, you know, few people have truthful memoirs.

E. SYANOVA: He continued to confuse his tracks even after death.

V. DYMARSKY: It was Elena Syanova. We end this part of the program here. Also - a portrait from Tikhon Dzyadko. And we will meet in a week.

PORTRAIT

In the famous photograph of the five first marshals of the Soviet Union, Alexander Egorov is the first on the right, Tukhachevsky and Voroshilov are sitting with him, Budyonny and Blyukher are sitting next to him. Egorov did not live long after this photograph was taken. His fate is a clear indicator of how the Soviet machine swept away even the people it needed so much, real professionals. And Egorov, without a doubt, was exactly that. A career officer, he became a colonel even before the revolution. With coming new government immediately joined the Red Army. Hero Civil War. As you know, these indicators were not the main ones for Stalin. He valued personal loyalty and political reliability above military leadership talents, believing that the correct policy of the country's leadership would compensate for the lack of bright military leadership talents among the disciplined Red military leaders. Speaking in January 1938, he made this very clear, and later confirmation appeared in the form of specific destinies. A country trip and lunch in Sosny cost Marshal Alexander Egorov not only his career, but also his life. The denunciation against him was written by the chief personnel officer of the Red Army, Efim Shchadenko. A denunciation that Egorov is not satisfied with the way his achievements during the Civil War are covered. Retribution followed quite quickly, although not as instantly as in some other cases. Egorov was accused of being unreasonably dissatisfied with his position in the Red Army and knowing something about the conspiratorial groups existing in the army, and decided to organize his own anti-Party group. In March '38 he was arrested. Four months later, Yezhov submitted for approval to Stalin a list of people to be executed, which included 139 names. Stalin crossed out Egorov's name from the list, but he was shot anyway - on Red Army Day, February 23, 1939.

How did the Germans defend Germany in 1945? We decided to look at the defeat of the Third Reich, relying exclusively on German sources, as well as on the research of Western historians with access to fascist archives.

Preparation

Major General Alfred Weidemann, in his analytical article “Every Man at His Post,” cited the composition of the armed forces that were to defend the Third Reich. According to him, “in July 1944, the armed forces had the following strength: active army - 4.4 million people, reserve army - 2.5 million, navy - 0.8 million, air force - 2 million. , SS troops - about 0.5 million people. A total of 10.2 million people were under arms.”

Alfred Weidemann was sure that such a number of soldiers was quite enough to stop the Russians on the German border. Plus, on July 22, 1944, Hitler instructed Goebbels to carry out a “total mobilization of resources for the needs of the war,” which was done. This made it possible to compensate for the losses of the Wehrmacht in the second half of 1944.

At the same time, under the patronage of the Nazi Party, the creation of the Volkssturm took place - narrow-territorial formations consisting of men who were not drafted into the army due to age or illness, as well as teenagers and specialists with “reservations”. These units were equated to units of the ground army and subsequently defended East Prussia. We were talking about several million more men who, according to figuratively Alfred Weidemann, were supposed to “roll the cart over the mountain”, decisively strengthen the armed forces.”

Lines of resistance in Germany

The Nazis sought to cover the conquered territories, as well as their homeland, with an impregnable network of defensive structures. In the book “Fortification of the Second World War 1939-1945. III Reich. Fortresses, pillboxes, bunkers, dugouts, defense lines,” written by military historians J. E. Kaufman and G. W. Kaufman, it is said that “Hitler created the most fortified country in the history of Mankind.”

From the East, Germany was defended by the “Pomeranian Wall”, the key fortresses of which were the cities of Stolp, Rummelsburg, Neustettin, Schneidemuhl, Gdynia and Danzig. In the West, in 1936-1940, the Siegfried Line was built, 630 km long and 35-100 km deep. Of the defensive structures in the south, the most famous is the Alpine Redoubt in the Bavarian Alps. To protect their capital, the Germans erected three defensive rings, including one directly in the center of Berlin. Nine defense sectors were formed in the city, which included 400 reinforced concrete long-term structures and six-story bunkers dug into the ground.

Defense tactics of German cities

The tactics of defending German cities were based on the experience of previous battles with the Red Army. The German military theorist and staff officer Eike Middeldorf described the methods of capturing fortified German settlements by Soviet units:

“Most often this happened during the pursuit of retreating Wehrmacht units by a sudden attack by tank groups with an infantry landing. If it was not possible to capture the city on the move, the Russians “bypassed it from the flanks and rear, carried out systematic attacks, or tried to take it by night assault.” the main task of the defending units was to prevent the dismemberment of the all-round defense into separate foci. That is why plans for strong points were carefully thought out. As a rule, battles were fought from well-prepared structures with anti-tank protection. It was also prescribed to carry out surprise attacks from ambushes at short range with an immediate retreat to the main positions.

Panic and courts-martial

Meanwhile, such tactics, which showed effectiveness in Russia in other occupied countries, failed in Germany. Casualties among civilians German population, which were an inevitable companion to all wars, had a demoralizing effect on Wehrmacht soldiers. “Sergeant Kurt saw a group of Russian soldiers hiding around the corner,” recalls one of the defenders of Rummelsburg, “he ran into their back along the corridors of the long house and fired a burst from the room on the second floor. Two fell, and the third threw a grenade out the window. It is clear that the sergeant was not one of the newbies and immediately jumped out. But at the last moment he saw a beautiful woman and three cute children hiding in the corner. The explosion blew them to pieces. In Poland, Kurt would not have attached any importance to this, but in Rummelsburg he almost went crazy. The next morning he gave in." To suppress such panic sentiments, mobile military courts began to operate in Germany. “The first to be sentenced to death and two hours later shot was the general who was guilty of not blowing up the Remagen Bridge. At least some glimpse,” Goebbels wrote on March 5, 1945.

Nazi media - last gasp

The militant organ of the National Socialist movement of Greater Germany, the newspaper Völkischer Beobachter, also talked about this. Its penultimate issue, published on April 20, 1945, shows how relevant this was. The central article was entitled “The revolt of cowardly deserters in Munich is suppressed.” In general, the fascist media tried to rally the Germans around Hitler. In particular, the speeches of the same Goebbels on the role of the Fuhrer were regularly quoted. Parallels were even drawn between the leader of the Third Reich and the Almighty. “Whoever has the honor of participating in the leadership of our people can consider his service to him as a service to God.” To raise morale, articles were published daily about Frederick the Great as a symbol of German fortitude, and the exploits of Wehrmacht soldiers and officers were also told with pathos. Much has been said about the role of German women in the defense of Germany. “There is no doubt that through voluntary recruitment alone we would never have been able to create such a huge army of female soldiers, the number of which has not yet been precisely established,” analyzing publications German newspapers 1944-1945, reported the West German public women's organization. - Service obligations and National Socialist legislation on the use of female labor made it possible, if necessary, to call on women to military service forcibly." The third most popular topic in the German media in 1945 was the horrors of the Bolshevik occupation.