Mysteries of the last hours of the Reich Chancellery. Mysteries of the last hours of the Reich Chancellery Cutting the web woven by Hitler's spiders

“But Chuikov himself still had to go down in history once more, since it was in his position that the German commander-in-chief Krebs came out with a message about the death of Hitler and a proposal for a truce. Well what can I say, Krebs was not lucky. If he had come across any other army commander, you see, the negotiations for the Nazis would have gone a little more successfully (although hardly), but the figure of Chuikov crossed out all Krebs's hopes of diplomatically outplaying the Russian general. And all the Chinese past of Vasily Ivanovich. For more than a year he learned diplomatic subtleties in practice. And I must say, in this regard, the Chinese are a much more resourceful enemy than the Germans. So Krebs went to his place without salty slurping and put a bullet in his forehead.

I read Vladimir Polkovnikov's review of the third volume of General Chuikov's memoirs and felt a little offended. Not for Vladimir himself, and not for Chuikov, not for his (or his literary blacks) writing talent, not for historical facts. For Hans Krebs.

For whom? For whom-for whom?! For Hans? (However, “hans” is more for the Anglo-Saxons, the Russian ear is similarly familiar with “fritz”). Shame on Hans. Well, yes, for him. Not as a German - as a historical figure. They remember Caesar and Pompey, but there was also Crassus, they remember Octavian and Antony, but there was also Lepidus.

We heard about Ludwig Beck, the "irreconcilable" fighter against Nazism, we read the war diaries of Franz Halder. We know about the Fuhrer's Kursk idea-fix, which was carried out by the "ball lightning general" Kurt Zeitzler. We are aware that the disgraced narcissist Heinz Guderian picked up the disgraced position. But Schneller Heinz did not dare to carry the burden to the end, diplomatically fell ill and passed the damned title on.

But what do we know about Krebs?

ON THE EDGE OF THE CLIP (INSTEAD OF THE INTRODUCTION)

The last month remained (although then no one knew about it).

Scharnhorst, Moltke and Schlieffen. Their spirits had not yet fled, they were still looking after the German General Staff, the Abode of the Gods. Maybe they hoped that the third miracle of the House of Brandenburg - the death of Roosevelt, would still bear fruit ... But it was not destined. Those who were smarter retired due to illness, asked for indefinite leave, moved west, surrendered there, fled to the neutrals. Stupid, devoted, and those who understood everything, but who could not do otherwise, pulled the strap to the end.

In mid-March 1945, "Swift Heinz", at that time the Chief of the General Staff, turned to Heinrich Himmler with a request to start "establishing contacts" with the Western allies. Hitler, of course, was “knocked” about this and, naturally, he was not happy. On March 21, he hinted to Guderian that "it's time to think about health." He did not understand, and on March 28, at a meeting in the bunker of the Imperial Chancellery, he was told about his health again, loudly and effectively, in a manner characteristic of Hitler. (Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary about Guderian's resignation: "I had to send Guderian on vacation again, because he became a complete hysteric and shaking neurasthenic, and therefore brings more anxiety than order." Apparently Hitler, compared to the nervous and shaking Guderian, was a lump calmness and an example of the Aryan unshakable spirit.Remember the epic scene from the movie "Bunker"?).

On March 29, Guderian surrenders his cases, and on May 10 he successfully surrenders to a well-fed American captivity. His successor had a heavy burden and a much less happy fate.

The last Chief of the General Staff, "acting" de jure, and either the third or the fourth person in the de facto state, becomes the Brunswick "militarily well-trained officer" Hans Krebs.

General Hans Krebs in the film "Bunker" (frame from the film)

CINEMA AND GERMANS

What the Germans had in the military leadership during the Third Reich is neither a fairy tale to say nor a pen to describe. Discord and vacillation. Actually, as throughout the Greater German Reich. Party bodies duplicate state bodies, party “old fighters” are appointed to high positions regardless of ability, the main role is played by the personal loyalty of the leader of the German people ... A normal person does not understand why the OKH (OberkommandodesHeers) was needed in isolation from the OKW (which is Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) and how they differed. In short, the High Command of the Ground Forces (OKH) was engaged in the war in the East. And not only war. At the same time, the decision of the pressing (Jewish, Slavic and Commissar-Bolshevik) issues was dealt with by the OKW. That is why (“order on prisoners of war”, “order on commissars”, etc.) only the old executive Keitel and the no less efficient Jodl will be hanged, while Guderian, Goth, Manstein and others will brush themselves off. It is precisely because of the party-state / army dual power that Jodl will answer with a noose not only for himself, but also for Paulus, who did not shoot himself in time. (Both of them had a hand in the Barbarossa plan, but the second "cooperated" and the first did not.)

The one whom we call the Chief of the General Staff was in the German system the Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces (OKH). (And after Walther von Brauchitsch was kicked in the ass in December 1941 for the failure near Moscow, the Fuhrer personally became the commander-in-chief of the Ground Forces. And he remained in this position until, you know, April 30, 1945). At the same time, the OKH (and its headquarters) seemed to be included, along with the OKL (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe) and OKM (Oberkommando der Marine) with their headquarters, into the OKW - Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. At the same time, the headquarters of the OKW was headed by the same Keitel, and his operational department was headed by Jodl. (Another department, Abwehr, army intelligence and counterintelligence, was headed by Admiral Canaris). It turns out that the Fuhrer, as commander of the OKH, was subordinate, along with Goering (commander of the Luftwaffe) and Raeder / Dönitz (commanders of the Kriegsmarine), to Field Marshal Keitel? Yes, right now!

The "old wrestler" and brave cocaine addict Goering sent anyone who tried to interfere in his affairs, "everything that flies is mine!" He did not care about Keitel. The head of state and party, the Reich Chancellor and the Fuhrer, did not report to the head of the OKW, all the more, on the contrary, this OKW was subordinate to him, personally. In general, the Fuhrer comes up with an order, gives it to Keitel-OKW, they broadcast it further, to the OKH - back to the Fuhrer (well, or to the Chief of the OKH General Staff, already subordinate to the Fuhrer). The eternal German mess. How they with such a system lasted right up to the end of the spring of forty-five is a mystery.

In general, the post of Chief of the General Staff of the OKH cannot be said to be very decorative, but it is specific. The Chief of the General Staff reported directly to the Fuhrer (through the OKH) and indirectly to the Fuhrer (through the OKW). Here you go.

NO QUANTITY? THERE WILL BE QUALITY!

In German every word sounds like a command, every phrase sounds like an order. Even a declaration of love is like a command to attack. What is Goethe, what is Rammstein, what is Lily Marlene, what is Deutschlanduberalles. The Reichsministry of Munitions and Armaments, the General Staff of the Ground Forces, the Main Directorate of Imperial Security, the Imperial Chancellery, the Hofkriegsrat (sorry, this is from another opera) ... It sounds like music. Beautiful funeral music.

Uniforms from "Hugo Boss" and sonorously chopped German multi-story words calling for an attack - what could be better? Many Germans, thirsting for revenge, thought so.

After the defeat of Germany in the Great War, many things were forbidden to her, including the General Staff. Machine-gun and anti-aircraft teams, tanks and planes, submarines and battleships - "no, ata-ta"! And the Germans overcame all this. First quietly, then openly. They overcame it by creating the world's first single machine gun (which is still (!) Equal to North America and half of Europe). The gun that became the Western symbol of World War II ("akht-akht"). Multi-colored "tractors" that carried everything - personnel, artillery, and armor, turning into a Panzerwaffe and a motorized division. Forbidden "unterzeebots", which, it seems, did not exist - then - p-time! - and appeared, making a rustle in the Atlantic. Even the forbidden battleships and heavy cruisers, hiding for the time being under the pseudonym of "battleships", with all the failures of the German surface fleet, were of benefit.

Is there any doubt that in the role of the General Staff banned by the Treaty of Versailles, the leadership of the Ground Forces of the Reichswehr gathered simply the best of the best, just like the Reichswehr, reduced by the same humiliating treaty to one hundred thousand, accepted only the elite. Yesterday's schoolchildren, even if they were a hundred times front-line soldiers, all sorts of “lost” Erich Remarques there, there was no place in the contractual armed forces.

The approach to the officers was especially thorough, it was good to choose from whom. And the choice was made. Those who achieved general's epaulettes and field marshal's batons in the Second were officers in the First. Many privates and corporals of the First became officers in the Second. (One corporal even waved to the commanders-in-chief, but that's another story).

By the time the Nazis who came to power finally and officially spat on the Treaty of Versailles, the best personnel on the planet had been trained in the German army. Turning the modest Reichswehr into a full-fledged Wehrmacht, the Germans did not lose quality, but supplemented it with quantity. Only the long years of the war and heavy losses were able to negate the reserve of professionalism accumulated over the twenty years between the wars.

To some extent, the Treaty of Versailles benefited the German armed forces - by dodging and hiding from the control commissions, the Reichswehr was able to create the best officers in the world.

Germans in anticipation of change

ON THE WESTERN FRONT

The birthplace of Hans Krebs, Braunschweig is a small and unfamous duchy. Its “yellow-black”, sorry, “gelb-und-blau” flag is not glorified in anything special on the battlefields. During the Second Reich, all the troops of the duchy (which was ruled, with the suppression of the older branch of the Welf dynasty, the Prussian Hohenzollerns) consisted of one infantry and one cavalry regiment, two landwehr battalions and an artillery battery, assigned to the Xcorps of the German Imperial Army.

It was Erich von Manstein (before the adoption - von Lewinsky) among the ancestors, wherever you stick, there were solid generals. The father of our hero, Otto Krebs, was a teacher (however, like the father of Erwin Rommel). Who knows how the fate of the young man, who did not aspire from the cradle to the military personnel, would have turned, if the war had not begun.

Remember All Quiet on the Western Front? A patriotic upsurge, high school students are rushing to the front, lining up at the recruiting offices ... Krebs was then sixteen years old, not a draft age, but he volunteered. Moreover, they were given benefits in the service and, most importantly, in career advancement.

On September 3, 1914, Krebs was enrolled in the Reichsheer. (The Germans, in general, with each new government, the armed forces are called differently: during the Second Reich - DeutschesKaiserlichsHeer or, less magnificently, Reichsheer, then, under the Weimar Republic - Reichswehr, later, under the Nazis - Wehrmacht, now - Bundeswehr. Further, probably, there will be the Bundesheer or, if you're not lucky, the German Corps of the Janissaries).

On November 27, Krebs was transferred to the 78th (1st East Frisian) Infantry Regiment of the Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Brunswick with the rank of Fahnejunker. And the fanenjunker is, in fact, a cadet who, after receiving the appropriate training, has the right to be promoted to an officer rank. Paul Bäumer and his classmates were older and therefore immediately went to the trenches, and the Fanenunker Krebs studied at infantry courses in Döberitz until mid-February 1915, then he underwent an internship for a month in the training department of the headquarters of the X Army Corps and, finally, on March 22, 1915 he received the rank Fenrikh (candidate officer, almost an ensign of the tsarist army - if with our money) and began service in a regimental machine-gun company.

On June 18, Krebs finally receives his first officer rank - "lieutenant". And already on August 5 - he gets the first wound. (Later, in 1918, for this injury he will be given the “Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwartz” - “Wound Badge in Black”). On August 22, upon returning from the hospital to the front line, another "first" happens - the first award, the Iron Cross 2nd class. (The lag in receiving an award from one notorious corporal was six months, and from, say, Guderian, almost a year).

Krebs continues to pull the army strap, on February 9, 1916 he was appointed commander of the 47th separate machine gun team, which six months later was reorganized into a company of the 14th machine gun battalion. From November 1, 1916, he was a company commander. Krebs was definitely lucky - having taken a sip of the Verdun battle with his machine gunners, he survived. On February 6, 1917, Krebs was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class (this time, a year and a half ahead of the Fuhrer, the backlog was reduced to three months from Guderin). Lieutenant Krebs got to the headquarters position only in September 1917, before that he was still at the forefront, at the head of a machine-gun company. On October 1, 1917, he became a regimental adjutant and remained at the regimental headquarters until the very end of the war.

Yes, in addition to the Prussian-“common German” Iron Crosses, by the end of the war, Krebs acquired other awards: the Knight's Cross of the Order of the House of Hohenzollern with Swords, the Brunswick Cross of Military Merit 1st and 2nd classes, the Grand Ducal Cross of Oldenburg Friedrich August 1st and 2nd th class ... As they say, a trifle - but nice.

CHANGES

The Treaty of Versailles allowed Germany to leave only four and a half thousand officers among the one hundred thousandth Reichswehr. Not only the demobilized soldiers, but also the mass of officers who fell under the "optimization" joined the ranks of the unemployed, dissatisfied and broken. Some Otto Kester, who became useless to anyone, was forced to retrain from the pilots as atomic mechanics, but Krebs turned out to be useful for the new army, he remains in the service.

Dangling from regiment to regiment, on October 1, 1923, he finally ends up at the Military Academy, disguised as auxiliary command courses. (The Treaty of Versailles, let me remind you, forbade both the General Staff itself and the Military Academy under it). On the same day, Ludwig Beck, later the first head of the restored General Staff, was appointed head of the courses. (Following butts with Hitler will lead Beck first to an honorable resignation from his post in August 1938, and then to a bullet in the head on July 20, 1944, after the coup d'état failed. However, Beck was still lucky, he shot himself, he was not shot in a hurry in the yard without trial, and they did not hang with relish on a piano string according to the court).

From that moment on, the road went uphill for Krebs - courses, internships in different parts, command qualifications, again courses ... On July 31, 1925, ten years (!) After the first production, he received a second officer rank - chief lieutenant. Since the end of 1929, Krebs has already been a real officer of the General Staff (albeit formally non-existent). In October 1930, a small but significant turn takes place - military intelligence becomes Krebs' specialization. Moreover, the direction he chooses is very symbolic - the USSR and the Far East. It was then that Krebs learned Russian. Of course, he did not speak Russian fluently and without an accent, but he completely managed without an interpreter. On October 1, 1931, Krebs received the rank of captain and was officially enrolled in the staff of the "Troop Directorate".

Due to his specialization - intelligence against the USSR - on July 1, 1933, after the Nazis came to power, who had disheveled the screen of the General Staff - "Army Directorate", Krebs was appointed assistant military attache of the German embassy in Moscow. However, Krebs did not arrange any espionage-Jamesbond operations, all his “missions” were “feasible”, information was collected from open sources, legally. After collecting rumors and gossip in Moscow for a year and a half, making acquaintances and drinking more than one samovarmitvodka, Krebs returned to Germany, passed the next command qualification and received the rank of major.

By the way, about "qualifications". In the German army, it was impossible to become a high staff officer, receive regular ranks and move up the career ladder without going through command positions. A young lieutenant, in order to rise to the rank of general's lampas, had to not only wipe his pants at the headquarters, but also serve the allotted time at the head of a platoon, company, battalion, regiment ... Thanks to the combination of both command and staff positions, the Germans received very experienced and versatile officers.

However, this rule did not always work one hundred percent. For Krebs, the command of the regiment in 1934 was the last command post, then only the headquarters, which will affect later.

After another “optimization” carried out in October 1937, a new department appeared in the General Staff of the Ground Forces (already “official”, not hidden) (11th, training officers of the General Staff and charters), and Krebs is sent there as the head of the command and operational service. Exactly one year later he becomes the head of this department. Major in the colonel's position - this says a lot. However, on February 1, 1939, Krebs received the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The 11th department was part of the department of the 2nd chief quartermaster (for all their love for the ordnung, the Germans produced such an intricate bureaucracy that the devil would break his leg), headed by Franz Halder - who later became the next chief of the General Staff after Beck. But let's not talk about Halder, especially since the war begins.

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Biography

In 1930, as a captain, he was transferred to the War Office in Berlin. In the 1930s, Krebs was for some time an assistant to the German military attache in the USSR and lived in Moscow. Krebs spoke Russian well and personally knew many of the USSR's top military leaders, including Zhukov. In 1939 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and soon received the post of chief of staff of the VII Army Corps. In 1940 he received the rank of colonel, in March 1942 - major general, in April 1943 - lieutenant general, in August 1944 he received his last rank - infantry general. On March 29, 1945, Krebs succeeded Guderian as Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces.

Knowledge of the Russian language helped him conduct his last dialogue with the Red Army on May 1, 1945. After the suicide of A. Hitler, Krebs, on behalf of Goebbels, on May 1, 1945, took part in an attempt to conclude a truce with the Soviet troops who stormed Berlin. In conclusion of a truce he was denied at 10 hours 15 minutes. The Soviet command insisted on unconditional surrender.

On the same day at 21:30, after almost everyone left the Fuhrerbunker, Krebs, along with General Burgdorf, shot himself in his room in the bunker, shooting himself in the heart with a service pistol.

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Literature

Hans Krebs - Hitlers Treuester General // Braunschweiger Zeitung Spezial (04/2005)

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An excerpt characterizing Krebs, Hans (general)

“No, you cannot understand what I have learned from this illiterate fool.
“No, no, speak,” said Natasha. – Where is he?
“He was killed almost in front of me. - And Pierre began to tell the last time of their retreat, Karataev's illness (his voice trembled incessantly) and his death.
Pierre told his adventures as he had never told them to anyone before, as he himself had never yet remembered them. He now saw, as it were, a new meaning in all that he had experienced. Now, when he told all this to Natasha, he experienced that rare pleasure that women give when listening to a man - not smart women who, while listening, try or remember what they are told in order to enrich their mind and, on occasion, retell something or adapt what is being told to your own and communicate as soon as possible your clever speeches worked out in your small mental economy; but the pleasure that real women give, gifted with the ability to choose and absorb into themselves all the best that is only in the manifestations of a man. Natasha, not knowing it herself, was all attention: she did not miss a word, not a fluctuation of her voice, not a look, not a twitch of a facial muscle, not a gesture of Pierre. On the fly, she caught a word that had not yet been spoken and directly brought it into her open heart, guessing the secret meaning of all Pierre's spiritual work.
Princess Mary understood the story, sympathized with it, but now she saw something else that absorbed all her attention; she saw the possibility of love and happiness between Natasha and Pierre. And for the first time this thought came to her filled her soul with joy.
It was three in the morning. Waiters with sad and stern faces came to change the candles, but no one noticed them.
Pierre finished his story. Natasha, with sparkling, animated eyes, continued to look stubbornly and attentively at Pierre, as if wanting to understand something else that he had not expressed, perhaps. Pierre, in bashful and happy embarrassment, occasionally glanced at her and thought of what to say now in order to transfer the conversation to another subject. Princess Mary was silent. It never occurred to anyone that it was three o'clock in the morning and that it was time for bed.
“They say: misfortunes, suffering,” said Pierre. - Yes, if now, this minute they told me: do you want to remain what you were before captivity, or first survive all this? For God's sake, once again captured and horse meat. We think how we will be thrown out of the usual path, that everything is gone; And here only begins a new, good. As long as there is life, there is happiness. There are many, many ahead. I’m telling you this,” he said, turning to Natasha.
“Yes, yes,” she said, answering something completely different, “and I would not want anything but to go through everything all over again.
Pierre looked at her carefully.
“Yes, and nothing else,” Natasha confirmed.
“Not true, not true,” Pierre shouted. - It's not my fault that I'm alive and want to live; and you too.
Suddenly Natasha put her head in her hands and began to cry.
What are you, Natasha? - said Princess Mary.

Herr Obergruppenführer! All is ready. You can perform.

A stocky man in the uniform of an SS general with a dark leather coat thrown over his uniform, with a notebook in his hands, looking away from the window through which the ruins of the Kaiserhof Hotel on Wilhelmsplatz showed through in the morning haze, turned to the speaker.

His forehead was steep and deeply receding, crossed by a scar, and he frowned. The words of SS Brigadeführer Ziegler brought Bormann out of a state of deep thought... He had just looked through his diary notes, recalling the events of the last terrible days...

From the diary of Martin Bormann:

The second day begins with a hurricane fire. On the night of April 28-29, the foreign press reported Himmler's offer to capitulate. Wedding of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. The Fuhrer dictates his political and personal testament.

The traitors Jodl, Himmler and the generals leave us to the Bolsheviks!

Hurricane fire again!

According to the enemy, the Americans broke into Munich!

30.4.45 years

Eva G. λ".

Before Bormann's eyes were the six Goebbels children who had been given a lethal poison a few hours earlier. Magda herself (Dr. Kunz refused) unclenched the sleeping children's mouths, inserted ampoules and clenched their jaws. And then she invited her for a cup of coffee: "Let's sit for an hour, as in good times ..." In these early hours of May 2, her corpse, along with the corpse of her husband, burned, lay in the garden of the imperial chancery pitted with craters.

Goebbels... This limping upstart and braggart forced the Berliner front-blatt (Berlin front leaflet) to come out on April 27th. It is necessary to reach such insanity in order to address the inhabitants of the city with words of gratitude. Yes, what!

“Bravo to you, Berliners!

Berlin will remain German! The Führer declared this to the world, and you Berliners take care that his word remains true. Bravo Berliners! Your behavior is exemplary! Continue just as courageously, continue just as stubbornly, without mercy or condescension, and then the assault waves of the Bolsheviks will break against you ... You will stand, Berliners, help is moving!

Bormann knew that Goebbels, as always, was lying: there was no help and could not be. The roar of the guns was muffled up to the bunker of the Imperial Chancellery. Bormann did not know the Other: how far the Russians were from here.

Meanwhile, Berlin - the capital of the "thousand-year Reich" - has been surrounded for three days now. Entire neighborhoods were on fire.

Having lost all sense of reality, Hitler in these last days of April was waiting for a miracle. His sick Fantasy gave rise to hopes for the collapsed 12th Army, for a strike on the northern wing of the advancing Soviet troops of the army of General Steiner that had ceased to exist. The Fuhrer directs Keitel to gather together all the remaining troops of the Reich. The field marshal simply could not return back to the capital. Meanwhile, Hitler sends desperate and meaningless radio telegrams to Generals Wenck and Scherner, demanding that they start a campaign against the Russians ...

Borman did not know that the troops of the 3rd shock army, Colonel General V.I. Kuznetsov, the 5th shock army, Colonel General N.E. Berzarin and the 8th Guards Army, Colonel General V.I. moved towards the center: towards the Tiergarten, towards Unter den Linden, towards the government quarter. The Soviet commandant of Berlin, Berzarin, has already issued an order to dissolve the National Socialist Party and to ban its activities.

Now Bormann was in captivity of heavy thoughts. It seemed that everyone had left the last refuge of the Fuhrer. In addition to Himmler and Jodl, Goering, General of Aviation Koller, and other "comrades-in-arms" fled one after another. The corpse of General Krebs, who committed suicide, is lying in the courtyard of the office.

Krebs ... The highly experienced and prudent Bormann made the last stake on him in an attempt to delay the surrender in the east.

On the eve of Goebbels' suicide, Bormann agreed with him to send General Krebs, by that time chief of the general staff of the ground forces, to negotiate with the Soviet command, handing him a document certifying the latter's authority.

At 3:50 on May 1, Krebs arrived at the command post of the 8th Guards Army, declaring that he was authorized to establish direct contact with the High Command of the Red Army to negotiate a truce. Krebs delivers a letter from Goebbels, the newly-made (Hitler's last will) Chancellor.

From a letter from Goebbels to the Soviet command:

“According to the will of the Fuhrer who left us, we authorize General Krebs in the following. We inform the leader of the Soviet people that the Fuhrer voluntarily passed away at 15:50 today. On the basis of his legal right, the Führer transferred all power in the will he left to Dennitsa to me and Bormann. I authorized Bormann to establish contact with the leader of the Soviet people. This connection is necessary for peace negotiations between the powers that have the greatest losses.

Attached to Goebbels' letter was Hitler's political testament with a list of the new imperial government. (The will was signed by Hitler and sealed by witnesses. The will was signed as witnesses by Goebbels, Bormann, Burgdorf, Krebs. Date - April 29, 4 o'clock in the morning.)

Marshal G.K. Zhukov testifies:

“In view of the importance of the message, I immediately sent my deputy army general V.D. Sokolovsky to the command post of V.I. Chuikov for negotiations with the German general. VD Sokolovsky had to demand from Krebs the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany.

Immediately connecting with Moscow, I called JV Stalin. He was at the cottage. The general on duty answered the phone and said:

Stalin had just gone to bed.

Please wake him up. The matter is urgent and cannot wait until the morning.

Very soon JV Stalin answered the phone. I reported the message I received about Hitler's suicide and the appearance of Krebs and the decision to entrust negotiations with him to General V. D. Sokolovsky. Asked him for directions.

JV Stalin replied:

Got it, you bastard. Too bad we couldn't take him alive. Where is Hitler's body?

According to General Krebs, Hitler's corpse was burned at the stake.

Tell Sokolovsky, - said the Supreme, - no negotiations, except for unconditional surrender, should not be conducted either with Kreb or with other Nazis.

G.K. Zhukov instructs his deputy:

“Tell me that if Goebbels and Bormann are not given consent to unconditional surrender before 10 o’clock, we will strike such a force that will forever discourage them from resisting. Let the Nazis think about the senseless sacrifices of the German people and their personal responsibility for recklessness.

The fact that Krebs was given a command by Bormann to drag out the negotiations is also evidenced by the content of his conversation with V. I. Chuikov, the commander of the army. The writer and journalist V. Vishnevsky, who was present at the conversation, cites a recording of the dialogue that took place. To the direct question of the commander whether the surrender is accepted, Krebs refers to the need to obtain the authority of the “government” for this: “Maybe a new government will appear in the south. So far, the government is only in Berlin. We ask for a truce."

Chuikov: The issue of a truce can only be decided on the basis of a general surrender.

Krebs: Then you will take over the area where the German government is located and destroy all the Germans.

Chuikov: We did not come to destroy the German people.

Krebs(tries to argue): The Germans will not be able to work...

Chuikov: The Germans are already working with us.

Krebs(repeats): We ask you to recognize the German government before complete surrender, to contact it and give us the opportunity to enter into relations with your government ...

Ultimately, Krebs was categorically declared: the cessation of hostilities is possible only on condition of the complete and unconditional surrender of the fascist German troops to all the allies. At this point, the conversation was interrupted. And since the Nazis then did not accept the demand for unconditional surrender, our troops were ordered to immediately finish off the enemy!

Cut off from the world, Bormann did not know that on the same day, May 1, Soviet troops captured the state post office and started a battle for the house of the Ministry of Finance located opposite the imperial chancellery. And the 301st division, in cooperation with the 248th rifle division, stormed the Gestapo building and the Ministry of Aviation. In the evening, the 301st and 248th rifle divisions of the 5th shock army fought the last battle for the imperial office.

Returning back, Krebs reports to the impatiently waiting Bormann about the unambiguous position of the Russians. From that moment on, it is clear to the Reichsleiter that his political plan has failed and that it is an empty idea to bargain for any "benefits" for himself. It's time to save..

There were about 400 of them - the Fuhrer's servants, a dozen senior SS officers, officers from the Nordland division and the Bärenfenger battle group that defended the chancellery - gathered in the bunker of the imperial chancellery.

The bunker with fifty rooms was equipped with a powerful communication center, a food warehouse, and an underground garage. The last refuge of Hitler and his entourage, in addition to the Führer's apartments (including a room for his pet, Blondi the dog), consisted of a suite of small rooms for technical services, six premises of the headquarters of Berlin Goebbels' defense commissioner. Nearby are the residence of Bormann, the rooms of SS Gruppenführer Fegelein, General Burgdorf with a group of army intelligence officers, and the office of General Krebs. Once in the bunker, among the first Soviet military personnel, E. Rzhevskaya told in her book “Berlin, May 1945” that one could get into the dungeon from the courtyard of the Reich Chancellery and from the lobby, from where a rather wide and gentle staircase led down. Going down it, you immediately find yourself in a long corridor with many doors opening into it. To reach Hitler's hideout and his inner circle, a comparatively long and confusing journey had to be made. And from the inner garden, the entrance was directly to the "Fuhrerbunker", as the inhabitants of the dungeon called it.

The two-storey "fuhrerbunker" was located at a greater depth than the shelter under the imperial office, and the reinforced concrete floor was much thicker here. (The head of Hitler's personal guard, Hans Rattenhuber, in his manuscript, written by him in captivity, characterizes this shelter as follows: "Hitler's new bomb shelter was the most durable of all built in Germany - the thickness of the reinforced concrete ceilings of the bunker reached eight meters." He knows this - after all he was responsible for Hitler's safety.)

There was a concrete mixer near the entrance to the bunker: quite recently, work was carried out here to strengthen the concrete floor of Hitler's shelter, probably after a direct hit by artillery shells ...

In these pre-dawn hours, the inhabitants of the bunker, led by Bormann, were cut off from the world - the radio mast of the imperial office collapsed, telephone communications were disrupted. Only a thick layer of concrete saved them from a direct hit by Soviet artillery...

From the diary of Martin Bormann:

Our imperial office is turning into ruins.”

So, the remnants of the Nazi pack gathered together, who saw an alternative to suicide in an attempt to break out of the charred Reich. Waiting for Bormann's decision.

Your plan, Ziegler! - Bormann turned to the brigadeführer.

Of all the options, the northern route may be the only suitable one, - Ziegler began to unfold the map of Berlin. underground tunnel...

It is possible (most likely) that such a conversation did not actually take place. But numerous testimonies will subsequently confirm that the inhabitants of the bunker, primarily SS Brigadeführer Ziegler, saw the way out of the hopeless situation here. Realizing that it is difficult, if not impossible, to predict the events of the next few hours, we agreed to meet at the Friedrichstrasse metro station.

The last entry in Martin Bormann's diary:

An attempt to break out of the encirclement.

How did events develop further? After the war, Hitler's chauffeur Erich Kempka, a participant in the breakthrough, published a book in Germany under the curious title: "I burned Adolf Hitler." Kempke cannot be completely trusted (why - more on that later), but the description of those early morning hours looks, in my opinion, plausible. Here are a few short excerpts from his memoirs:

“Bypassing the empty Wilhelmsplatz, we went down to the subway and walked along the rails towards Friedrich Strasse. About two hours later we reached the station. The picture that we saw here was shocking. Mortally tired soldiers, wounded and neglected, refugees lay against the walls, on the stairs, on the station platforms. Most had already lost all hope of escaping and were indifferent to everything that was happening ... I left the station to explore the possibility of a breakthrough in a northerly direction.

A few meters from the Weidendammerbrücke bridge, the street was blocked by barriers. Every now and then the shells were exploding. Everything around seemed dead. The soldiers at the kad said that some German units managed to break through, while others, after heavy losses, were driven back ...

Having gathered the group, I proposed to appoint Admiralspalast (the theater was located here - V.I.) as a permanent assembly point. Everyone got the opportunity - regardless of the group - to join some other breaking group. At two o'clock several people approached me. Among them, I recognized Bormann - he was in the form of an SS Obergruppenführer. Among those who accompanied him were Dr. Naumann (former Secretary of State - V.I.), Adjutant Goebbels SS Hauptsturmführer Schwegerman and Dr. Stumpfegger. (They left the Imperial Chancellery after us...) Bormann, Dr. Naumann and I discussed the situation. Bormann decided to use tanks to break through. I objected: is it possible to find at least one tank here now.

But suddenly a miracle happened: we heard the approaching clang of caterpillars, which caused everyone to breathe a sigh of relief: we saw three T-IV tanks, accompanied by three armored personnel carriers.

I turned to the commander of the lead tank, who identified himself as SS Obersturmführer Hansen: these were the remnants of the SS Panzer Division Nordland, which, in accordance with the order received, went north.

After telling Hansen about our intention to try to break through, I ordered him to move slowly, so that our group on the way to Ziegelstrasse would be under the protection of tanks.

Like black shadows, we moved forward next to the tanks. Bormann and Dr. Naumann were almost level with the turret on the left side of the tank. Dr. Stumpfegger and I walked behind them...

Nerves were tense to the extreme. Everyone was aware that it was a matter of life or death. Suddenly, the enemy opened heavy fire. A moment later, a powerful flame suddenly burst from our tank. Bormann and Dr. Naumann, walking ahead of me, were thrown back by the blast.

I immediately fell to the ground. Dr. Stumpfegger fell right on top of me. I lost consciousness... Apparently, the blast wave threw me to the ruins of some House. I haven't seen anything yet. With difficulty, leaning on my hands, I crawled about forty meters until I stumbled upon something. I felt for the wall: it must have been an anti-tank barrier. I decided to rest, after a while my vision returned. Then I saw a staggering figure, she came closer, and I recognized Hitler's co-pilot Georg Betz, who also participated in the breakthrough ... He said that there had probably been a tank explosion that scattered the four of us Bormann, Naumann, Stumpfegger and me. Supporting each other by the arms, we slowly walked towards the Admiralspalast.

After all that had happened, I came to the conclusion that a group breakthrough from Berlin was unrealistic. Therefore, the entire group was disbanded. Each one separately had to try (if possible, dressed in civilian clothes) to break through the enemy’s ring ... "

After that, Bormann was seen. Some are alive, some are dead.

Notes:

german sign of death

Grand Admiral Dönitz was appointed Reich President in his will

Hans Krebs

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Life period