Adolf Hitler is one of the most photographed people in history. And yet, there is plenty
of mystery and speculation surrounding his last photographs.
Shortly before taking his own life in his secret underground Führerbunker, Hitler stepped
outside with one of his closest officers to survey the nearby damage caused by the Allied
forces.
Only days later, as Hitler learned of Mussolini's passing and Berlin's takeover by the Soviets,
the dictator took his own life, preferring death over capture.
Berlin
By the spring of 1945, the neverending battles had resulted in massive loss of human life
and the complete obliteration of centuries-old cities. However, by April, it was increasingly
clear that the Nazis would be defeated once and for all.
During the Battle of Berlin, Russian and German troops fought savagely in the latter's capital,
both seizing and taking control of the city, street by street.
According to William Vandivert, a LIFE magazine photographer on the scene: [QUOTE] "Almost
every famous building [in Berlin] is a shambles. In the center of town GIs could walk for blocks
and see no living thing, hear nothing but the stillness of death, smell nothing but
the stench of death."
Then, on April 16, 1945, the Soviet forces launched the final offensive against the Germans.
Although the Western Allies had already stopped the airstrikes, Russia continued to attack
by air to support the upcoming ground offensive.
The Soviet's initial plan was to encircle Berlin in a pincer movement, a military tactic
in which forces simultaneously attack from both flanks of an enemy formation. However,
the attempted breakthrough into the city could not be completed.
Instead, it took the Soviets over four days and plenty of casualties before they were
able to reach the Seelow Heights, located 43 miles east of Berlin.
By April 21, Soviet units finally entered the capital one by one, facing desperate resistance
from the Germans.
Five days later, on April 26, over half a million Soviets launched a raging assault
against central Berlin, the site of the Third Reich's Chancellery.
Berlin's last-ditch defenders, including Waffen-­SS units and civilians of the Volkssturm, also
included a people's militia made up of underage boys and older men.
Hundreds of thousands of people perished in the Battle of Berlin, the final attack on
the decaying Third Reich.
Many civilians fought to the bitter end in subway tunnels and streets as the once glorious
city became a funeral pyre for the Reich.
However, the leader who drove entire countries to ruin was nowhere to be found.
In reality, Adolf Hitler was hiding near the Reich Chancellery in his Führerbunker. In
this part underground bunker, the leader, his new wife, and other top Nazi officials
and staff hid for the remaining days of their lives in complete denial of the consequences
of their actions.
Hiding Spot
The Vorbunker, or upper bunker in English, was an underground concrete complex initially
built as a temporary air-raid shelter for Adolf Hitler.
The complex contained the basics for underground survival, including a generator room with
ventilators, sleeping quarters, a washroom, and toilet facilities that branched off from
a linear route through a central dining and conference room corridor.
Located behind the large reception hall in the old Reich Chancellery in downtown Berlin,
the site, built in 1936, evolved as the Nazi regime weakened from a temporary hiding spot
to last-resort hiding quarters by 1943. The complex then expanded with the addition of
the Führerbunker one level below.
Although it was smaller than the Vorbunker, the new area contained briefing rooms, a telephone,
a machine room, and several sleeping quarters, furnished with items from the now-empty chancellery.
Both parts of the bunker were connected via a guarded stairway with a tight security system
made up of bulkheads and steel doors.
The End Is Near
Adolf Hitler and his senior staff took up residence in the Führerbunker on January
16, 1945. From inside, the Nazi leader oversaw the last remnants of the Reich forces.
Just before the Battle of Berlin began in April, Hitler's long-time partner Eva Braun,
Joseph Goebbels, and other top officials and staff also joined him.
By mid-April, as the Soviet Army began to mobilize their troops to encircle the capital,
Hitler appeared much less in the public eye.
On April 20, his 56th birthday, Hitler made his last public appearance on the surface,
as he awarded the Iron Cross to teenage boys from the Hitler Youth in the garden of the
Reich Chancellery.
But although we now know that the Führer took his own life on April 30, a few days
earlier he secretly stepped outside with a Schutzstaffelofficer to survey nearby bomb
damage from the Allied forces.
Unbeknownst to him, that moment was caught on camera.
Last Appearance
The photo taken during Hitler’s emergence on the surface is regarded as the last known
picture of the Führer, and it was taken approximately on April 28.
The moment captures the leader stepping outside his Berlin bunker entrance as he and chief
aide and adjutant Julius Schaub assess the devastating bomb damage in front of them.
Although the photograph is quite blurry, Hitler's body language clearly reflects worry and defeat,
as Schaub, a notable figure in Hitler's inner circle, is seemingly trying to reason or explain
something to the leader.
That night, Hitler married his long-time partner Eva Braun and wrote his last will. The defeated
leader declared: [QUOTE] "What I possess belongs – in so far as it has any value – to the
Party. Should this no longer exist, to the State; should the State also be destroyed,
no further decision of mine is necessary. [...]
I myself and my wife – in order to escape the disgrace of deposition or capitulation
– choose death. It is our wish to be burnt immediately on the spot where I have carried
out the greatest part of my daily work in the course of a twelve years' service to my
people."
The End of the Reich
On April 30, General Helmuth Weidling, commander of the Berlin forces protecting what was left
of the city, arrived at the Führerbunker.
A distressed Weidling then let Hitler know that the Soviet forces were now almost at
the gates of the Reich Chancellery.
This, along with the discovery of Italian dictator Mussolini's upside-down body on the
old Piazzale Loreto at the hands of Italian partisans the day before, forced Hitler to
finally accept that his third Reich had fallen.
Ashamed by the imminent defeat and leaving Germany in ruin, Hitler decided that the only
way to avoid capture and an even more violent end than his Italian ally was to take his
own life.
By then, Hitler's health was in increasingly bad shape. According to Ilse Braun, Hitler's
sister-in-law, who testified after the war was over: [QUOTE] "His face was grey as ashes,
his hands were in a constant state of agitation and his eyes were glassy. He was bent over
like an old man, it seemed to me he didn't have the energy to live much longer."
With no way out, Hitler, his two secretaries, and his personal cook shared their last lunch.
On the afternoon of April 30, 1945, Hitler and his partner entered the living room inside
the Führerbunker and ended their lives before the Soviets got the chance to capture them.
Later that day, the remaining members in the underground bunker found the leader slumped
over on his couch, with his partner lying at the other end.
Schaub, Hitler's chief aide and survivor of the Battle of Berlin, immediately burned all
of his deceased leader's personal belongings and papers in the garden of the Reich Chancellery.
He then flew to Munich and did the same to Hitler's private apartment.
Schaub’s final act as aide and adjutant was to destroy Hitler's personal train, the
iconic Führersonderzug.
Berlin surrendered to the Soviets only two days later, and by May 8, World War II was
finally over in Europe.
End
In the aftermath of the war, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered the leveling of the
Reich Chancellery buildings. Subsequent attempts by both Russian and East German governments
to blow up the Führerbunker and Vorbunker soon followed.
By the late 1980s, as the Cold War was near its end, the area was flattened so it could
be used for residential apartments, and excavations to construct the foundations revealed entire
surviving sections of the bunkers.
The Führerbunker had survived all those years, albeit with flood damage and its interior
walls destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Vorbunker was in much better conditions, with the ventilation pipes still
in their place and decaying metal safes standing upright.
Several sections of both bunkers were demolished during the construction, while the remainder
were filled with concrete or sealed off from the public eye forever.
Meanwhile, Julius Schaub assumed a fake identity but was arrested by American troops on May
8 and remained in custody until May of 1949.
To everyone’s surprise, Hitler's aide and confidante was ultimately classified by denazification
investigators as being only a traveler, and Schaub was not accused or associated with
any war crimes.
Julius lived the remainder of his life in his hometown of Munich, unfazed by the damage
and destruction he had contributed to for years.
According to Traudl Junge, Hitler's last private secretary, Julius Schaub was incredibly kind
and curious. However, she also noted that: [QUOTE]: "For historical purposes, it's not
worth saying much about him."
Thank you for watching this video! Please like and subscribe to all our Dark Documentaries
channels to find more exciting historical content, and hit the bell icon to be notified
of all our newest videos.