Art, obsession, and identity
On April 30, 1945, the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, took his own life. Hitler chose death over surrender, but his actions were not as inspiring as he might have hoped. Hitler's death was a game changer, but what happened on the day he died? What events led him to take his own life?
In this gallery, we'll take you through the context surrounding the death of Adolf Hitler, as well as the events on the day of his death. Click on.
The leader of the Nazi party and chief architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler, died on April 30, 1945.
One week after the Nazi leader took his own life, the Allies celebrated Victory in Europe Day.
The Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union was in full force. By April 30, 1945, they had entered Berlin.
Former German soldier Heinz Reinhart who was defending the city shared his experience. "We thought we had to fulfill our duty at the position where we had been stationed.”
Reinhart added that they knew “that the whole story simply had no prospects for success anymore. But we were, as I said, jaded and callous and accepted everything as it came."
The final stage of Hitler's life began when he retreated to his bunker on January 16. By April, things were looking pretty grim for Nazi Germany. Messages of defeat were reaching the Führerbunker, as Hitler continued losing control.
The news of the death of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini reached Adolf Hitler on April 29. On that day, the Nazi leader wrote his will, where he said “I do not wish to fall into the hands of an enemy who requires a new spectacle organized by the Jews for the amusement of their hysterical masses.”
The day the Nazi leader died was also the day he married his partner, Eva Braun.
Walter Wagner, a notary, was the person who legally married Hitler and Braun hours before they died.
Hitler’s private secretary, Traudl Junge, was the person who typed the Nazi leader’s personal will and political testament.
In her book ‘Until the Final Hour,' Junge wrote about Hilter's last day, how he made his final goodbyes, and offered her a cyanide capsule. Braun gave Junge her fur coat and told her to escape Berlin.
Before his death, Hitler encouraged valet Heinz Linge to escape, as mentioned in his memoir, ‘With Hitler to the End.’
The leader of the Nazi party wished to set an example when choosing death over surrender.
His testament reads: “May it, at some future time, become part of the code of honor of the German officer—as is already the case in our Navy—that the surrender of a district or of a town is impossible, and that above all the leaders here must march ahead as shining examples, faithfully fulfilling their duty unto death.”
Hitler left clear instructions to expel Nazi party figures, such as Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler, for their disloyalty and for causing “immeasurable harm to the country.”
Perhaps in hopes that Nazi Germany would continue, Hitler appointed new leaders before he took his life. Karl Dönitz was appointed as Hitler’s successor.
After Hitler died, other prominent Nazi party figures also took their lives and that of their families. This included Joseph Goebbels, his wife, and six children.
Hitler left instructions for his remains to be destroyed. Both Hitler and Braun’s remains were taken outside the bunker, thrown into a ditch, and set on fire.
The news of Hitler's death became open to speculation. Because there wasn’t a body, many theories started to arise, including the possibility that he had escaped. Even large media sources, such as Time magazine and the BBC, fed these speculations.
It was not until 2018 that a French study found that skull and jaw fragments held by Russia matched Hitler's dental records.
In July 1944, Soviet troops liberated the Majdanek concentration camp in Lublin, Poland. As Allied troops moved into Germany, more concentration camps were discovered and liberated.
Buchenwald was one of them. US soldier Andrew 'Tim' Kiniry recalled the experience: "I don't think they told us what we were getting into," he said. By April 29, Dachau had also been liberated by American troops.
By April 30, many German cities had been decimated by bombs. When Berlin was taken, a great part of the city was already in ruins.
Hitler did not live to witness the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but he heard the news of how Allied bombers killed thousands on March 9, 1945, in Tokyo, Japan.
The Cold War was already brewing before Hitler died. The tension was noticeable during the February 1945 Yalta Conference, where the leaders of the UK, US, and Soviet Union discussed a future without Nazi Germany.
Neither the Americans nor the Brits wanted to grant more power to the Soviets in Europe, but they managed to negotiate the postwar plans. The tension remained, however, and the Cold War went on to last for decades.
In 1943, a secret Allied unit known as the Alsos Mission (aka Lightning A), started to investigate the Nazi atomic program. In April 1945, they uncovered the Nazi nuclear lab, where they seized a lot of information.
Two days after the death of Hitler, a group of German scientists was arrested. Others who were hidden, surrendered. Many of them ended up working for the US under Operation Paperclip.
The United Nations Conference on International Organization took place in San Francisco between April 25 and June 26, 1945. The conference brought together delegates from 50 Allied nations.
Sources: (Grunge) (Foreign Policy Magazine) (Independent) (PBS)
See also: Unsolved mysteries of World War II
The day history's most notorious dictator died
The leader of the Third Reich met his fate on April 30, 1945
LIFESTYLE History
On April 30, 1945, the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, took his own life. Hitler chose death over surrender, but his actions were not as inspiring as he might have hoped. Hitler's death was a game changer, but what happened on the day he died? What events led him to take his own life?
In this gallery, we'll take you through the context surrounding the death of Adolf Hitler, as well as the events on the day of his death. Click on.