generals saw the gallows, where men were hanged for trying to escape, and the whipping tables, where beatings were administered at random.
At one point, Patton excused himself from the tour, then walked off to vomit at the side of a building. Ikeâs face âwhitened into a maskâ at the horror, Bradley wrote. âI was too revolted to speak.â
Now, the news of Rooseveltâs death and Harry Trumanâs ascendency to the office of president brings this day to a close.
A former prisoner stands near a gallows at Buchenwald. [United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Frank W. Towers]
A survivor of the Buchenwald concentration camp shows his arm tattooed with his identification number. [United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stanley Moroknek Wilton Gottlieb]
CHAPTER 22
BERLIN, GERMANY
APRIL 20, 1945 MIDNIGHT
T HE MAN WHO WILL BE dead in ten days is marking his fifty-sixth birthday.
Adolf Hitlerâs mistress, Eva Braun, is in the mood to dance, but the F ü hrer merely slumps on the blue-and-white couch in his underground bunkerâs sitting room. He stares into space, paying no attention to the playful Eva or to the sleek blue dress she is wearing. Even though she knows that Hitler doesnât like her to dress provocatively, on this occasion Eva does as she pleases.
The two of them, along with three of Hitlerâs female secretaries, sip champagne. It is the end of another long and depressing day for the F ü hrer.
Adolf Hitler once dreamed of establishing Berlin as the worldâs most cosmopolitan city, despite its citizens having long considered him to be an unsophisticated bore. Back in the days when Germany held free elections, only 23 percent of the people of Berlin supported Hitler and his National Socialist German Workersâ Party. Even now, thirteen years later, Berlin is considered the least Nazi of all cities in Germany. So Hitler planned to spite Berliners during the grand postwar rebuilding by renaming the city Germania, thus wiping Berlin off the map forever.
A banner tied to a bombed-out building in Berlin reads, âWe salute the first worker of Germany: Adolf Hitler.â It was put up to celebrate Hitlerâs birthday in 1944. [Mary Evans Picture Library]
The advancing Russians know nothing about Germania. And they are also not waiting until the end of the war to wipe Berlin off the map.
Moving quickly, the armies of Joseph Stalin, premier of the Soviet Union, have the city almost completely surrounded. It is just a matter of time before it falls.
Russian soldiers pose near the Reichstag in Berlin on May 1, 1945. Six days later, Germany will formally surrender. [Mary Evans Picture Library]
Only Hitlerâs most faithful followers remain in the bunker. Many of the elite officers are running for their lives, desperately hoping to get out of Berlin, hoping to adopt anonymous new identities. Martin Bormann, head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, continues to prove his loyalty by remaining in the bunker. Hitler is glad. It has been said that Bormann is so threatening he can âslit a throat with a whisper.â A testimony to his character comes from none other than Hitler, the most callous of men. The F ü hrer deems Bormann to be utterly âruthlessââand thinks him indispensable.
Bormann is now upstairs on the top floor of the bunker, hard at work despite the late hour and the approaching danger.
There is still time for Hitler to find a way out of Berlin. The Soviets are closing in, but some roads remain open. As recently as yesterday, the F ü hrer was planning to escape to his Eagleâs Nest retreat, high in southern Germanyâs mountains. Hitler even sent some members of the household staff ahead to prepare for his arrival. But he has since changed his mind, deciding to stay in the bunker, hoping against hope that the phantom divisions seen only by him will somehow repel the Russians.
Quietly,
At one point, Patton excused himself from the tour, then walked off to vomit at the side of a building. Ikeâs face âwhitened into a maskâ at the horror, Bradley wrote. âI was too revolted to speak.â
Now, the news of Rooseveltâs death and Harry Trumanâs ascendency to the office of president brings this day to a close.
A former prisoner stands near a gallows at Buchenwald. [United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Frank W. Towers]
A survivor of the Buchenwald concentration camp shows his arm tattooed with his identification number. [United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stanley Moroknek Wilton Gottlieb]
CHAPTER 22
BERLIN, GERMANY
APRIL 20, 1945 MIDNIGHT
T HE MAN WHO WILL BE dead in ten days is marking his fifty-sixth birthday.
Adolf Hitlerâs mistress, Eva Braun, is in the mood to dance, but the F ü hrer merely slumps on the blue-and-white couch in his underground bunkerâs sitting room. He stares into space, paying no attention to the playful Eva or to the sleek blue dress she is wearing. Even though she knows that Hitler doesnât like her to dress provocatively, on this occasion Eva does as she pleases.
The two of them, along with three of Hitlerâs female secretaries, sip champagne. It is the end of another long and depressing day for the F ü hrer.
Adolf Hitler once dreamed of establishing Berlin as the worldâs most cosmopolitan city, despite its citizens having long considered him to be an unsophisticated bore. Back in the days when Germany held free elections, only 23 percent of the people of Berlin supported Hitler and his National Socialist German Workersâ Party. Even now, thirteen years later, Berlin is considered the least Nazi of all cities in Germany. So Hitler planned to spite Berliners during the grand postwar rebuilding by renaming the city Germania, thus wiping Berlin off the map forever.
A banner tied to a bombed-out building in Berlin reads, âWe salute the first worker of Germany: Adolf Hitler.â It was put up to celebrate Hitlerâs birthday in 1944. [Mary Evans Picture Library]
The advancing Russians know nothing about Germania. And they are also not waiting until the end of the war to wipe Berlin off the map.
Moving quickly, the armies of Joseph Stalin, premier of the Soviet Union, have the city almost completely surrounded. It is just a matter of time before it falls.
Russian soldiers pose near the Reichstag in Berlin on May 1, 1945. Six days later, Germany will formally surrender. [Mary Evans Picture Library]
Only Hitlerâs most faithful followers remain in the bunker. Many of the elite officers are running for their lives, desperately hoping to get out of Berlin, hoping to adopt anonymous new identities. Martin Bormann, head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, continues to prove his loyalty by remaining in the bunker. Hitler is glad. It has been said that Bormann is so threatening he can âslit a throat with a whisper.â A testimony to his character comes from none other than Hitler, the most callous of men. The F ü hrer deems Bormann to be utterly âruthlessââand thinks him indispensable.
Bormann is now upstairs on the top floor of the bunker, hard at work despite the late hour and the approaching danger.
There is still time for Hitler to find a way out of Berlin. The Soviets are closing in, but some roads remain open. As recently as yesterday, the F ü hrer was planning to escape to his Eagleâs Nest retreat, high in southern Germanyâs mountains. Hitler even sent some members of the household staff ahead to prepare for his arrival. But he has since changed his mind, deciding to stay in the bunker, hoping against hope that the phantom divisions seen only by him will somehow repel the Russians.
Quietly,
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