Just days before their suicide
on April 30th, 1945, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun completed
the destruction of all their archives. Hitler wanted to leave nothing behind. Historians thought they had consulted
all the existing accessible archives. Seventy years on,
thanks to Commandant Raymond Rose, a French officer, now deceased,
and a private collector, new political and personal archives of historic significance
have been revealed for the first time. These unique documents
now bring into much clearer focus certain crucial moments
in Hitler's last days. What was the atmosphere in the bunker? Did the Führer still hold out hope
of a military reversal? Is there any physical evidence of the affair
between Hitler and Eva Braun? When exactly did he and his companion
decide to commit suicide? Did Göring really intend to seize power
in the final days of the Reich? The Third Reich has just been destroyed. Berlin, the nerve center of Nazi Germany,
is but a heap of ruins. There is nothing left of this capital city that for a few years
made the world tremble. The Westerners would arrive
and take possession of their occupation zone
in Berlin in June. Then they had to visit the bunker. Thousands of people visited, eager for a glimpse
of what the Soviets called: the beast slayer. Everyone wanted to see where Hitler died. First, a procession of personalities. Then came the members
of the American, British, French, and Soviet occupation forces,
all coming to visit the bunker. Among the military personnel
who visited the bunker was a group of French officers. In the afternoon of November 25th, 1945, Commandant Raymond Rose
entered what remained of Hitler's Chancellery,
through the main entrance on Voss-Strasse. They had prepared for this expedition. Like their comrades before them,
they hoped to make a few discoveries. Commandant Rose described his foray into the basement
of Hitler's last headquarters. He sketched three maps of his itinerary and the place where he found
the Führer's documents. All that remains
of the Führer's Chancellery are the walls and empty rooms
cluttered with overturned furniture, still bearing the traces of looting. The house is open to all comers. In the main hole lit by electric torches, you look for a small hidden door,
which leads to an eight step staircase, leading to a second wider staircase, that leads to a vast room
with square columns. Though underground, this room is decorated
with as much care as any ceremonial hall. Then at the far end
of this already dark room, you must find an iron door
with wall flowers. Open it and go deeper underground,
down a narrow straight staircase with exactly 26 steps. There you can see a horrible mess
of upturned chairs and tables. Candle wax, traces of a fire
whose ambition was stifled. The floor is covered by an incredible mass
of papers of all kinds: administrative letters, ledgers,
notebooks leafed through by hands that for seven months
had been searching frantically for the secret that good fortune
had turned over to me. In the most remote room, I found the documents that establish
that Hitler wanted to remain, whatever happened, Master,
against all odds, even despite the events. The small French group made a major
historical discovery without realizing it. However, more than 70 years later, a French collector, an enthusiast
for this dark page of history, acquired Commandant
Raymond Rose's documents. At one point
he picked up the documents which were on a wardrobe
and brought them back. I'd say it was just after that
that we realized the historical significance
of these documents. So he asked for permission to keep them,
which was granted, and he kept these documents all his life. I don't think he had the benefit
of historical hindsight. To him, it was a much more emotional act because, in a way,
he was an actor in history. To understand the incalculable
significance of the historic documents, we must revisit the story
of the final days of Adolf Hitler. Mid April, with the Red Army
no more than 100 kilometers from Berlin. The remnants of the German division's,
around half a million men and 900 tanks were retreating
before the Russian steamroller. Across 200 kilometers,
the front was yielding. The Reich was on its knees, and the Allied bombers
were battering Berlin. Every ten days brought a daytime raid
by the Americans, but every night, harassment raids
by the British mosquitoes. This meant people were constantly
under staircases and in cellars, busy taking refuge in the shelters, Hitler, like the other
3 million Berliners. So everyone was exhausted. In fact, that's why the British
stepped up the raids. At one point,
the bombing became so great that he decided to move out. So he moved into the bunker for good. For the desperate Germans,
the wait for the final act of the tragedy seemed interminable. The radio aired the last live broadcast
of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the finale of Richard Wagner's
The Twilight of the Gods. Hitler locked himself away in his shelter, a few hundred meters
from the Brandenburg Gate under the gardens of the Chancellery in the central government district. From this bunker,
he directed the final military operations. For a better visualization
of the plans to the Chancellery, and Hitler's bunker,
they have been reconstructed in 3D. What's known as the Führer bunker
was built on two levels. The first in 1936 under part
of the Chancellery of the Reich. The second level was built in 1943 and 44,
when it became clear that the ceiling thickness of 1.6 meters
was not enough to resist the most powerful
American and British bombs. The bunker was a construction
of relatively small dimensions. Living space
had been sacrificed to robustness. It was an absolutely massive,
concrete formwork. Hitler wanted to be sure
that he could stay in Berlin and control events from there. He was always afraid
of being away from Berlin, probably ever since the attempt
of July 1944 to overthrow the Nazi government
as well as assassinate him, and Berlin was going
to be the central power. Hitler and Albert Speer,
his architect and minister of armaments, thought of everything for the bunker. The Führer had to be able to live there
for some time with his guards, safe from any air attack. [German spoken audio] In this part of the bunker, Hitler had planned or ordered a space,
separate from the rest. A private apartment of four small rooms. In the other part of the bunker
there were more rooms, but no privacy. Hitler had reserved three
absolutely tiny rooms for himself, and an adjoining room
for his mistress, Eva Braun, with both sharing a small bathroom. There was also a small meeting room, where twice a day
Hitler would attend meetings to review the military situation
with his senior advisers. The bunker was a cellar
buried seven meters underground. Special adjustments were made
for the comfort of Hitler and his entourage. There's obviously a gloomy atmosphere. The place itself is absolutely dismal. The concrete formwork bunker
was situated on the water table of the River Spree, which flowed nearby. So it's a place
that constantly oozes down. The ground is pumped continuously,
and it is cold. There is a mechanical ventilation system, and you can hear the fan all the time
and it gives you a headache. It is really a sordid place. In this setting,
Hitler was not at his best. He issued contradictory orders. Dr. Morell, his physician, gave him a daily injection
of glucose and vitamins, and he was taking a number of drugs. Any of the officers
who saw Hitler at that particular time, and I've interviewed a number of them, were shaken when he returned
to see what a state he was in. His hands were shaking,
he looked absolutely white. He looked as if he was at least
10 to 15 years older than he really was. They were appalled, and also worried
about his mental stability. You can see he was very rundown, and actually in the advanced stages
of Parkinson's disease. He was bent over, dragging his feet,
he couldn't control his left arm. So he has to hold it with his right hand
because of the spasmodic shaking. Hitler had a staff of around 30
to keep the bunker ticking over. He was served by his personal guards, the bunker technicians,
and the communications personnel. What you have here
is the final gathering of the Reich. In other words, Goebbels,
who moved his family into the bunker, Bormann,
the indispensable personal secretary, and the secretaries. Against Hitler's will, his secret companion
joined him in the bunker. In the private collection we found were two extremely important letters
from Eva Braun. Here are the originals. This is the first time they've been shown,
her last two letters. The first is dated April 19th, 1945, addressed to her best friend,
Herta Schneider, who stayed in Bavaria. The secretaries and Ishoot every day
with handguns, and we're already so proficient
that no man dare compete with us. I spent virtually my entire life
within that air raid shelter. You can imagine how hard it is to sleep. However, I'm very glad
to be close to him just now. Finally, she says, I shall stay with him. That's the tragedy of Eva Braun,
being an extremely romantic little girl who was much younger than him
and who throughout the affair with Hitler, was scared of one thing only, losing him. In fact, she attempted suicide
at the start of their relationship. Hitler got scared and kept her. So for her, this, in a way,
formalizes the relationship, the fact of showing that she will remain
by his side till the end. This letter also gives us key information
on Hitler's mood on the eve of his 56th birthday. This letter's interesting,
as it shows the atmosphere in the bunker. We can still see a glimmer of hope. Not a day goes by when I'm not begged
to take refuge at the Berghof in Bavaria, but up to now, I've always won. Today, all communication is impossible, but I'm deeply convinced
that everything will come right again, and he is more hopeful than ever. Yet at 3:00 on the morning of April 20th,
a mournful siren rang out, a siren that Berliners
had not heard before, a signal to all
that a new ordeal was about to begin. Red Army tanks
have been sighted in the suburbs. April 20th was indeed a key moment
symbolically as it was Hitler's birthday, and as the Soviets began to invade Berlin. So the problem for Hitler
was whether to remain in the city or flee. From the 20th,
it became a pressing problem as the threat
of being surrounded increased, and the last wall of troops collapsed. What to do? Run, or fight? At 3:00 in the afternoon that day,
Hitler made his last trip outdoors. Atop the bunker steps
in the Chancellery gardens, he received the birthday
wishes of an SS delegation. Hitler received in particular,
a delegation of the Hitler Youth, the youngest reserves in his Army. These were the children
who were being sent into the front line to die defending Berlin. He wanted to honor
and reward the bravest amongst them. Hitler's left arm
was seized by the shakes. He shook everyone's hand,
patting the cheek of the young people he was sending to their death
in the anti-tank units. The youngest was 11, the age that children changed schools
from junior to secondary. He's really small, around 1.4 meters,
and he's in a Hitler Youth uniform. At 4:00 PM,
just before the military briefing, the Führer received birthday wishes
from the senior officials of his party. Himmler, Ribbentrop,
Bormann, Dönitz, Keitel, Jodl, Speer, and Göring. All his faithful were there,
offering congratulations, but Hitler accepted it all
very grudgingly, as he was quite obviously
not in the mood to celebrate his birthday. I think that the 20th of April, in 1945 was probably one of the most grotesque
birthday parties one could ever imagine. Here you had Göring that morning who had blown up
his famous chateau of Carinhall to make sure that
the Russians could never have it, and then all of his looted treasures,
the pictures an all, were taken in a convoy
of Luftwaffe lorries down to the south. Then he turns up,
and he arrives along with Keitel, and all the other Nazi leaders. Most of them, of course, were desperate
to have permission to leave Berlin because they knew the city was doomed. Many of them tried to persuade Hitler
to leave, not so necessarily to save him, but purely so as to give them
the permission to leave themselves. That day, his mistress,
Eva Braun gave him a gift, a signed photograph. We found her present. It's an exceptional piece,
never revealed to the public, with a remarkable story attached. For years after the war, the photograph and its frame
remained with Eva's sister, Gretl. Only when the Braun family disposed of it, did a sharp-eyed amateur
make the discovery. This dedication
is the unique physical evidence of Eva Braun's love for Hitler. All other documents,
like their personal correspondence, were destroyed
in the final days of the war. She gives him a dedicated photograph
of herself in a silver frame that in fact, bears her monogram,
a club that was designed by Albert Speer. The photo bears the following inscription
"To my Führer, from your faithful, Eva." This is very revealing
of Eva Braun's mentality and of what she's looking for,
as she doesn't use his name, but rather to "my Führer,"
which implies a political importance, and more especially,
she uses the word faithful. It's a time when everyone
is beginning to go on their own way, and she wants to mark
her faithfulness to Adolf Hitler and the fact that she has returned. Hitler accepted the gift from she
who had joined him in his darkest hours. He had turned Eva Braun
into a state secret for the simple reason that he thought he,
the leader of the German people, could under no circumstances take a wife, as it would drive all the other women
who wanted to be with him to despair. At the same time,
he owed it to his country, to what he considered the notion
of his country not to take a wife, and that's why it had become
an absolute secret. He refused to seek refuge in the Alps,
where the elite troops were posted. Everyone urged him to go to Bavaria,
to the so called Alpine Fortress, where major fortifications
and bunkers had been built, in the Obersalzberg region. The German propaganda
tried to convince the Allies they were setting up an alpine hideaway, where fanatical elements of the SS
could hold out on the Allies for a long time yet. None of it existed, it was just a bluff. But it was propaganda
that Eisenhower evidently believed, and it had a major military impact
as a large part of the American forces were sent south towards Munich
and the Alps instead of heading east. Hitler knew there was no Alpine hideaway. He knew he was putting off the evil day and decided it was better to die
in a staged Wagnerian apocalyptic scene in Berlin
surrounded by his last few troops. Speer had given him the idea, a very cinematic idea
that the Götterdämmerung in Berlin, would be dramatic, while in Berchtesgaden, it wouldn't have any
of the same dramatic quality. Against the advice of all his staff
and those close to him, Hitler decided to stay in Berlin. Victory or death. His last battle
would take place in his capital. The birthday ended that night
with the final Allied air raid on Berlin. Early in the morning of April the 21st, for the first time
since the start of the war, Soviet artillery shells
rained down on the stunned city. This was the scenario
that nobody had planned, a battle for Berlin. It was obvious that Hitler wanted to make
a kind of sequel to Stalingrad. He remembered, as did Goebbels,
who he saw every night, and who constantly reminded him
of this precedent, that eventually, a major urban battle
may cause a turning point in the war. Stalin, in agreement with Hitler,
decided that symbolically, taking Berlin did make sense. He who took Berlin
for posterity and for eternity would be the real victor over the Reich. After the shelling,
the various Soviet army units began to surround Berlin. They were ten kilometers
from the city center. The first Soviet soldiers
entered the center of the German capital. Stalin named the Reichstag
as a symbolic target. At this stage of the Russian advance,
Hitler was not yet his priority. Moreover, Soviet intelligence services
did not know where Hitler was. He might have already fled. In fact, he was there,
a few meters underground in the bunker, trying to plan a counter-offensive. Everything was changing
from one moment to the other, and of course, the briefings themselves
dealing with the forces lacked no connection with reality. I mean, Hitler
once again was looking at the maps, was saying that's an army,
that's a division, or whatever, when, in fact, they just consisted,
often, of very few men. Holed up in his bunker. Hitler still had three army corps
around Berlin, General Busse's Ninth Army
in the Southeast, the Steiner unit to the north and the 12th Army
to the southwest of the city. They had no armored vehicles,
and no anti-tank guns. There were mainly young soldiers,
very enthusiastic, who were prepared to fight to the end,
but simply didn't have the weaponry. The idea that somehow
the 12th Army could join up with the Ninth Army coming from the East, and make a combined counterattack
against the Russians was, again, typical of Hitler's fantasy. Hitler continued giving orders, as if these three forces could engineer
some kind of concentric movement that allowed them to counter-surround
the Soviet armies. No counter-offensive worked. The Germans were retreating in all areas. Hitler didn't understand
why troops he was moving on a map weren't breaking through. That day, for the first time in ages, Hitler lost his composure
in front of everyone. He threw a tantrum shouting, "I give up,
everything is lost, this is the end!" That was when everyone around him
realized he had no solution, no plan, no hope,
and that everything really was lost. Eva Braun shared her despair with Hitler. She described it
in this exceptional document. Also revealed for the first time.
her last letter, written April the 22nd, was addressed
to her best friend, Herta Schneider. These will probably be my last lines,
and my last sign of life. I don't dare write to Gretl,
so break it to her gently. They both decided to commit suicide. That was already very important, as Hitler didn't announce it
to his entourage on April the 22nd. They'd announce it later. In any case, she fully explained in the letter
why both of them were set on suicide. "I shall send you my jewelry and ask you
to distribute it according to my will." "I can't describe to you what I feel" "and what I suffer
personally for the Führer." "I cannot understand how everything
can just end in this way," "but we cannot believe in any God." "I fear that the end is nigh,
I shall die as I have lived." "Keep this letter to yourself
until you hear of our fate." "I know I'm asking a lot of you,
but you are courageous." She says she will send her jewelry
at the same time and asks her to ensure that her will… She had made a very clear,
and very detailed will. She asked her to ensure that her will was executed down
to the very last detail. This letter, the Will,
and Eva Braun's jewels left for Bavaria that same day. Meanwhile, on the evening of the 22nd, Hitler made a declaration
to the members of his staff, which included Göring's Representative. I'm handing over the reins now, it's over. My successor can see to it. Göring can do it. In 1939 and 1941, Marshal Göring had been appointed
the potential successor by decree, but in order to be applied, the decrees required
the Führer's signature to make them official. Hitler's words were reported to Göring,
installed in Bavaria, where he had taken refuge
with part of his staff and one of his advisers, Hans Lammers. Cautious, Göring, the heir apparent,
was at first dubious. Is the Fuhrer's decree
naming me his successor in 1939, and again in 1941, is it still valid? Has he issued another since? Lammers said, "No,
if there had been one, I'd have known." "So, it's still valid." They examine it. He thinks about it and he says, "If the Führer did say that
and I'm the next in line," "what do we do?" Hermann Göring
took time to think about it. He was torn
between his delusions of grandeur and the prospect of committing
a huge political mistake. He decided to sleep on it. In Berlin, the bombing continued. At dawn on April the 23rd,
taking all kinds of risks, Albert Speer, architect
and Hitler's minister of armaments, returned to the capital
and was admitted to the bunker. Eva Braun was happy, thinking that now she'd managed
to persuade the Führer to leave. She was sadly mistaken. Hitler made his fortune as an architect, gave him access
to the highest offices of the state, but it took courage
to come and bid farewell. Hitler gave him a fairly cool reception,
but understood. Hitler wasn't stupid. He could see everyone around him
was bailing out. Albert Speer bade farewell
to the man he admired, but also had a confession to make,
of his own disobedience. Speer had not applied
Hitler's terrible order, requiring the total destruction
of the Reich infrastructures before the Red Army
and the Allies arrived. Speer was deeply hurt that Hitler didn't, at least, show him
a little bit more affection or interest and didn't even show any interest
when he confessed to virtually an order, an act of treason. Here we find, in this final moment, an echo of the special relationship
between the two men. Speer wanted to tell him. At the same time,
he wanted to see one last time, the man about whom he felt very strongly. Hitler saw perhaps, in Speer,
a kind of son he never had, which explains this lack of reaction,
his passivity to what Speer had said. Others had been executed for much less. Hitler let him go. In the afternoon of April the 23rd, 1945, Hermann Göring
finally reached his decision. He wrote to Hitler at 5:43 PM. "Fuhrer, do you agree,
following your decision" "to remain at your combat post
in the fortress of Berlin," "that I should assume the leadership
of the Reich with full powers," "both internally and externally?" Göring was thinking… In fact, he'd already made
quite a few contacts to try and kickstart peace talks. Göring wanted to be seen as the man
who brought peace to Germany, and he sent a telegram to Hitler
in the bunker, in which he said, that if Hitler hadn't shown any sign
of life before 10:00 PM on April 23rd, Göring would take that to mean
he was the new chancellor and Hitler was no longer in a position
to issue commands. This telegram
and all the following correspondence, were taken from documents
discovered in Hitler's bunker by Commandant Rose. In all, 13 original letters and telegrams
of historical significance that now allow us to precisely reconstruct
the final, extremely tense exchange between Hitler and Göring. Then he sent a second telegram, this time to Ribbentrop, and probably Keitel too, saying,
"If the Führer doesn't answer," "come and join me in Berchtesgaden," "which means, I'm taking over." He has absolutely no sense
of being disloyal to Hitler. He is reacting to a situation where Hitler is no longer
in a position to govern Germany. Were he to replace him,
it would to him be only temporary. Whatever Göring's intentions,
this second message would cost him dearly. When it was handed to Hitler, he was with Goebbels and Bormann,
Göring's sworn enemies. He had underestimated, of course, the way that this would play immediately
into the hands of his deadly enemy Bormann who immediately presented it
in such a way to Hitler, that Hitler could only see it
as outright treason. Hitler was, by that stage of the war,
absolutely convinced that the only reason why they were losing
was because he'd been betrayed all around. The same evening, Hitler sent a scathing reply
to Hermann Göring. "The decree only comes into force
when I ratify it." "There can be no question of my being
stripped of freedom of action." "I, therefore, forbid you
to take any action of any kind." Signed, Adolf Hitler. On the recommendation of Bormann,
his personal chief of staff, Hitler had Göring arrested. At 56 minutes past midnight,
on April the 24th, Göring replied in a long telegram
in which he denied any ulterior motives. "I've done nothing
while awaiting your reply," "and stand ready to serve you." "May God protect you.
Your faithful, Hermann Göring." "I beg you not to order Frank
to arrest me." "I give you my word of honor
that I strictly obeyed your orders." Late in the morning of the 24th, Hitler dictated
another telegram to Göring. "This personally signed telegram
was unequivocal." "Your actions constitute betrayal
of a national cause," "and such conduct, high treason,
deserves the death penalty." "Taking into consideration
your great services in the past," "I offer you a chance to resign,
citing a serious illness as a reason." "I command you to answer immediately,
yes, or no." In the minutes that followed, Göring
answered yes, to the Führer's demand. He resigned all his offices
for health reasons. This marked the succession to power, of a shadowy character
called Martin Bormann, his secretary since Rudolf Hess
had flown to Britain in 1941. Bormann gave free reign to the hatred
he felt for certain personalities, in effect, flexing his newfound muscles. Göring was devastated,
but that wasn't enough for Bormann. Bormann, who had his own
communications center in the bunker, took advantage of Göring's disgrace
to advance his pawns. Without informing Hitler, he gave a final order
to the officer charged with watching him. Bormann ordered him to execute them
all once Berlin had fallen. This scenario wasn't enacted because the SS major,
who had been handed the mission, when Berlin did fall, thought that the killing
would be pointless. So he didn't carry out the order. Why did he say after the fall of Berlin? He knew Hitler wouldn't be alive,
so he could settle his scores. Knowing that Goebbels
would follow Hitler, he thought, "If I can get rid of Göring too,
that'll just leave me." Hitler was unaware
of what was going on behind his back, and to humiliate Göring even more,
he stripped him of his last powers. On April the 25th, he dictated his last message
to Göring, to his assistant. "In light of your unfaithful attitude
to the German people, to myself," "and to the measures envisaged,
I cast you out of the party." Personally signed by Adolf Hitler. That day, he also ordered the destruction
of all his personal archives. These documents
should have been destroyed, but in the panic of the final days,
they were miraculously forgotten. Hitler had burned
all of his personal archives, which would include some very important
correspondence with heads of state. He also burned all the military memos, and he asked his adjutant, Julius Schaub,
to leave the bunker, go to Munich, and burn the archives
in his apartment and in Berchtesgaden, which Schaub duly did. There's a concern, rather like Goebbels,
a concern for his posterity. The fighting drew nearer. Hour by hour, the Soviet troops advanced. At this stage, shells were raining down
constantly on the chancellery gardens, just above the bunker. A series of typewritten notes transcribing discussions
between Hitler and Goebbels sheds light
on the Führer's last military hopes. These documents
were conserved by Heinz Lorenz, who headed the bunker's press corps
and only published them recently. "I can carry off
a victory here in Berlin." "If I obtain that,
even just a moral victory," "we'll at least have a chance
to save face and gain time." "In Berlin, our success
would have been a global reach." "Such success could only be obtained here,
where the eyes of the world are trained." "A reversal is only possible if I managed
to impede the Bolshevik Colossus." "Then others might conclude that" "the only one capable of stopping
the Colossus is me," "the party, and the German state." All these Soviet armies
were concentrically advancing towards the Reichstag,
and the Chancellery, not very far away. For civilians,
the ordeal was never ending. You can imagine the cellars,
totally packed, no water, no telephone. Food was becoming a dramatic problem. When a horse was killed in the street, people risked their lives
rushing over to cut off a piece of meat. In the midst of this deluge of fire,
a woman, a German Air Force ace, managed to land her aircraft
alongside Hitler's bunker. It was April the 27th,
and confirmed Nazi Hanna Reitsch, and her lover, General Ritter von Greim
wanted to see Hitler urgently. They came down into the bunker,
Ritter von Greim lying on a stretcher. He had been shot in the foot
as they landed. Why did she come? To try to persuade Hitler
to leave the bunker, and go perhaps, to Berchtesgaden. But nothing was to be done, of course. Naturally, he refused. [German spoken audio] In recent days, Hitler had distributed
cyanide pills to his entourage, he also gave a capsule to Hanna Reitsch,
so that they could end their lives. This was also symbolic,
a sign of honor to her. He was rewarding her for her exploit. Cyanide capsule for Hanna Reitsch,
and a promotion for Ritter von Greim, who was appointed commander
of the Luftwaffe in place of Göring. They then left as they arrived,
taking off under a hail of Soviet fire. They escaped unharmed. Meanwhile, another Nazi dignitary
was busy behind the scenes, Heinrich Himmler. He had left Berlin
just after Hitler's birthday. The minister of the interior
and head of the SS offered the Allies the unconditional surrender
of Nazi Germany. Sure of himself,
Himmler attempted a take over. On April the 28th,
the Allies mocked him in the press. Eisenhower refused, totally. His communique was published
in the Western press. Hitler was hysterical. The man who had orchestrated
the final solution for him, was stripped of all offices. This latest betrayal
by one of his closest acolytes threw him into a furious rage. Still in Berlin, but outside the bunker, SS General Hermann Fegelein
was Himmler's liaison officer with Hitler. Hitler was in a mood for vengeance, and the whole idea
that Fegelein was ready to leave Berlin, that he was somehow
associated with Himmler in what Hitler saw as treachery, meant that he was determined
to have him shot. General Fegelein
was also Eva Braun's brother in law. He was married to her sister Gretl, and Hitler had personally
attended their wedding. Eva Braun was not even prepared
to beg for the life of Fegelein. She was actually horrified
that he was attempting to desert, to abandon the Führer, and she wasn't going
to abandon the Führer. She felt it was an act of cowardice of him
to attempt to escape with his mistress. A fact also that
he was betraying her sister by being unfaithful
meant that she had no pity for him. Psychologically,
Hitler reeled under the blow. In a final conversation, typed and conserved
by press officer Heinz Lorenz, Hitler and Goebbels half-heartedly
discussed the military situation. If only Wenck would come. I shall try to lie down for a while. I only want to be awoken
if a Russian tank pulls up to the bunker. Then I might have time
to make my arrangements. Now it is my turn
to obey the orders of fate. Even if I could save myself, I wouldn't,
a captain does not leave a sinking ship. Hitler and Goebbels thought
that General Wenck's 12th Army was about to break through
the Russian troops surrounding Berlin. The opposite happened. Barely had it arrived,
than the 12th army retreated in chaos. Rumor and false report
were the people's exhaust valves. For instance, on April 28th,
leaflets rained down on Berlin, announcing the arrival of the Wenck army
from the Southwest. A German army coming
to break the Soviets vice-like grip? That was obviously a lie. The Wenck army
was already being kicked out of Potsdam. It would never make it to Berlin itself,
but people believed in anything. After a time came apathy, fear, the desire
to live one, two, three hours more. April the 29th, 1945,
at 1:00 in the morning, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun,
his mistress for 13 years. The only witnesses to this union
were Goebbels, Bormann, and a registrar. A marriage certificate was signed
by the married couple and their witnesses. Hitler pointed out that the ceremony
took place at Eva Braun's behest. Surreal, given the circumstances. I think Hitler decided to marry Eva Braun
because of all of the treason which he saw taking place around him, that her decision to come
and die by his side, he felt needed to be repaid, and he knew that she wanted,
above all, to be Frau Hitler. We can also see another meaning, confirmation that Hitler
had understood that the game was up. Why? Because in happier times, his view was,
I have only one wife, Germany. In the name of this great principle,
he refused to marry. After a glass of sparkling wine
with Eva Braun, and the last handful
of faithful followers, Hitler withdrew to the meeting room,
and called his secretary Traudl Junge. He quickly dictated
his political will and testament without hesitation or correction. He'd learned nothing
and forgotten nothing. There's still exactly the same obsessions
with the Jews, exactly the same obsessions
that he'd never done anything wrong. He never made any mistakes. It had purely been
the question of betrayal. We know that he was a thoroughgoing
pathological anti-Semite. I fell victim to the two faces
of international Jewry. His Judeo-Bolshevik face to the East and the face of the international
Jewish financiers in the West. While the final act
of the Hitlerian tragedy was being played out in the bunker, the Red Army
launched its last great offensive. The Soviets stopped
500 meters from Hitler's bunker, unaware of its existence. They didn't even know
whether the Führer was still in Berlin. They thought that
all the high-ranking Nazis were in the parliament building,
the Reichstag. Their target was the Reichstag. In other words, he could've stayed
in his bunker for another couple of days, and nobody would've been the wiser. Once the Soviets had seized the Reichstag, they expected to find
the whole government there. They didn't find it,
but that was their aim. On April the 30th, in his personal will,
dictated at 3:00 in the morning, Hitler announced, "My wife and I choose death to escape
the shame of deposition or surrender." "It is our wish to be
cremated immediately where we lie." Hitler did not want to have his corpse shown as a symbol or as a trophy
captured by the Russians. That's why he wanted to have his body
and Eva Braun's body burnt together. I have found in the Russian archives,
the paper, and one could see it was typed
with the special Führer type for Hitler, describing the death of Mussolini. Hitler was determined not to have his body
strung up like Mussolini's in Italy, and wanted to have his body
destroyed completely. Early in the afternoon
of April 30th, 1945, after poisoning his dog, Blondi, Hitler said farewell to all his staff. He advised his assistants to head West, and urged his officers
to continue the fight. Hitler and Eva Braun
withdrew to their rooms at 3:00 PM. The bodies of Eva Braun and Hitler
were immediately burned in the Chancellery gardens
close to one of the bunkers exits. The next day, May the 1st, Magda and Joseph Goebbels
committed suicide by gunshot after poisoning their six children. The Second World War ended
as it had begun, at the behest of Adolf Hitler. For his posthumous posterity, he chose the grandiose
mass finale of the Battle of Berlin. He only resigned himself to his own death
at the last moment, 48 hours before Soviet soldiers entered
the bunker on May 2nd, 1945, at 3:00 PM. Military operations continued, until the signature
of the German surrender on May the 7th and 8th,
in Reims and Berlin. The Nazi regime
lasted until May the 23rd. With the Führer departed,
the pressure was off, and everything quickly ground to a halt. Still, what became of Hitler's body? Who found it first? Smash agents found the spot
covered in soil, and underneath
the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun. They took them out of the ground,
put them in wooden boxes because the bodies were burned,
but not completely destroyed, and sent them for autopsies,
and to check their teeth. Hitler had a very distinctive bridge. He hated going to the dentist. He had a totally unique bridge,
especially made for him in gold. Once the remains
have been formally identified by the Soviet secret services,
the mythmaking could begin. Stalin did not inform Marshal Zhukov,
victor of the Battle of Berlin, of the discovery of Hitler's body. He knew that Hitler was dead,
but didn't tell Zhukov, which meant that when Zhukov,
who took the Reichstag and was designated, even though Kornilov had played a part,
as the victor of Berlin. When Zhukov gave
the famous press conference before the world's assembled journalists, he told them, "We did not identify the body of Hitler." "He could have flown away from Berlin
at the very last moment." It didn't make sense because Stalin
knew very well he hadn't flown away. However, the whole world
retained that incredible phrase. What if Hitler wasn't dead? What if he got away? That was the starting point
for all the fantasies about Hitler's fate. For at least 30 years, Stalin's omission fueled
a delusional pseudo-historical literature. Hundreds of books,
articles and testimonies, recorded sightings all over the world,
particularly in Latin America. Why did Stalin fail to mention
the information about Adolf Hitler's body? It was Stalin being duplicitous. He possessed a piece of information
that he wouldn't divulge because he'd use it periodically
in his propaganda to leave a doubt
hanging over Hitler's flight to the West. It supported his Cold War line which went, there is only one antifascist power
in the world, and that is the Soviet Union. The proof is that perhaps,
Hitler survived, and is being hidden
by the Americans or their cronies. It was a propaganda weapon
and nothing more. What became of the bunker? Was it destroyed? The spot where Hitler ended his days did not become a memorial
for those nostalgic for the Reich. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989,
the West found out that the former gardens of the Chancellery
under which the bunker was built had become a parking lot for the residents
of these apartment blocks. It wasn't until 70 years later,
that a Berlin association installed these signs
that provide a precise account of Hitler's last days in the bunker. To date, Soviet authorities
have still given no explanation of what was done with the remains. As for the historical documents, discovered by Commandant Rose
and Bruno Ledoux, they have now been made public. They enable us to round out
some fundamental aspects of the political and personal story
of the 20th century's greatest criminal.
