Okla-homey
1/16/2007, 08:10 AM
Jan 16, 1945: Hitler descends into his bunker
Precisely sixty-two years ago, on this day in 1945, Adolf Hitler takes to his underground bunker, where he remains for 105 days until he commits suicide. With the war all but lost, and his "Thousand Year Reich" tottering close to the brink of extinction, Hitler copes by taking up permanent residence in his underground lair, safe from Allied bombs.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/8120/2002122259961501753_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002122259961501753)
From 1961 to 1989 this was the view over no mans land to the site of Hitlers Chancellery Building on Voss Strasse in East Berlin
Hitler's conduct would give rise to the expression "bunker mentality" -- which is used to describe the thought process of a person who refuses to acknowledge things aren't going well and chooses to ignore setbacks, while going into "survival mode" in order to hang to a position of authority until the last possible moment. These thoughts are often accompanied by fantastic dreams of mounting a triumphant comeback.
Hitler retired to his bunker after deciding to remain in Berlin for the last great siege of the war. Fifty-five feet under the chancellery (Hitler's headquarters as chancellor), the shelter contained 18 small rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. As an aside, the Germans brought bunker-building to a new level in WWII and are generally acknowledged even today, as the world's best bunker builders.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/11000/2002177365688103804_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002177365688103804)
Hitler meeting and passing out "Iron Crosses" to Hitler Youth defenders of Berlin during his final excursion above ground.
Hitler left his bunker only rarely, once to decorate a several young teen members of the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) who were fighting to defend Berlin from attacking Soviet forces, and spent most of his time micromanaging what was left of German defenses. IOW, he was "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic" (another great descriptive expression BTW.)
Hitler also entertained high-level Nazi colleagues like Hermann Goering(Nazi Air Force C-in-C), Joachim von Ribbentrop Chief of the German Army general staff) ,Josef Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler(myopic chief of the SS.)
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/9994/2002133228953300798_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002133228953300798)
As an aside, Nazi propaganda chief Goebbels' entire family, which included thse children, sheltered in the bunker. At the end, Goebbels and his wife killed their children and committed suicide to avoid capture.
Constantly at Hitler's side during this time were his companion, Eva Braun, and his Alsatian (a/k/a German Shepherd), Blondi.
On April 29, Hitler married Eva in the Fuhrerbunker hideaway. Eva Braun had originally met Hitler while working as an assistant to Hitler's official photographer.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/10810/2002168963801399051_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002168963801399051)
Hitler and Eva Braun
Braun spent her time with Hitler out of public view, entertaining herself by skiing and swimming. She had no discernible influence on Hitler's political career but provided a certain domesticity to the life of the dictator. Loyal to the end, she refused to leave the bunker even as the Russians closed in.
Only hours after they were united in marriage, both Hitler and Eva committed suicide. Warned by officers that the Russians were only about a day from overtaking the chancellery and urged to escape to Berchtesgarden, (a small town in the Bavarian Alps where Hitler owned a home,) the dictator instead chose to take his life.
Both he and his wife swallowed cyanide capsules (which had been tested for their efficacy on his "beloved" dog and her pups). For good measure, he shot himself with his pistol.
Afterwards, Hitler's SS minions honored one of his final requests and hauled his body to the surface where it was doused with gasoline and burned -- Hitler feared his remains would become a grisly trophy for the victorious Soviets and wished to deny them that prize. Opinions vary on whether the Soviets actually recovered his bones as they claimed.
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/7831/2002122394128175457_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002122394128175457)
Admiral (later Fuhrer) Karl Donitz
After Hitler's death and per his bequest, Kriegsmarine C-in-C Admiral Karl Donitz was made Fuhrer. It didn't matter much though, because the Reich was kaput. It was Deonitz who surrendered on behalf of the Nazis. Donitz was subsequently tried by the Allies for his trouble, and the fact that although he was a submariner and uniformed member of the German navy, he was also a Hitlerian stooge and sycophant.
Donitz served ten years in Germany's Spandau prison (no word on whether he joined Spandau's ballet company;) .) He died of a heart attack in 1980, the last surviving German of field-marshal rank.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2498/insane7zouj9.jpg
Precisely sixty-two years ago, on this day in 1945, Adolf Hitler takes to his underground bunker, where he remains for 105 days until he commits suicide. With the war all but lost, and his "Thousand Year Reich" tottering close to the brink of extinction, Hitler copes by taking up permanent residence in his underground lair, safe from Allied bombs.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/8120/2002122259961501753_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002122259961501753)
From 1961 to 1989 this was the view over no mans land to the site of Hitlers Chancellery Building on Voss Strasse in East Berlin
Hitler's conduct would give rise to the expression "bunker mentality" -- which is used to describe the thought process of a person who refuses to acknowledge things aren't going well and chooses to ignore setbacks, while going into "survival mode" in order to hang to a position of authority until the last possible moment. These thoughts are often accompanied by fantastic dreams of mounting a triumphant comeback.
Hitler retired to his bunker after deciding to remain in Berlin for the last great siege of the war. Fifty-five feet under the chancellery (Hitler's headquarters as chancellor), the shelter contained 18 small rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. As an aside, the Germans brought bunker-building to a new level in WWII and are generally acknowledged even today, as the world's best bunker builders.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/11000/2002177365688103804_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002177365688103804)
Hitler meeting and passing out "Iron Crosses" to Hitler Youth defenders of Berlin during his final excursion above ground.
Hitler left his bunker only rarely, once to decorate a several young teen members of the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) who were fighting to defend Berlin from attacking Soviet forces, and spent most of his time micromanaging what was left of German defenses. IOW, he was "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic" (another great descriptive expression BTW.)
Hitler also entertained high-level Nazi colleagues like Hermann Goering(Nazi Air Force C-in-C), Joachim von Ribbentrop Chief of the German Army general staff) ,Josef Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler(myopic chief of the SS.)
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/9994/2002133228953300798_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002133228953300798)
As an aside, Nazi propaganda chief Goebbels' entire family, which included thse children, sheltered in the bunker. At the end, Goebbels and his wife killed their children and committed suicide to avoid capture.
Constantly at Hitler's side during this time were his companion, Eva Braun, and his Alsatian (a/k/a German Shepherd), Blondi.
On April 29, Hitler married Eva in the Fuhrerbunker hideaway. Eva Braun had originally met Hitler while working as an assistant to Hitler's official photographer.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/10810/2002168963801399051_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002168963801399051)
Hitler and Eva Braun
Braun spent her time with Hitler out of public view, entertaining herself by skiing and swimming. She had no discernible influence on Hitler's political career but provided a certain domesticity to the life of the dictator. Loyal to the end, she refused to leave the bunker even as the Russians closed in.
Only hours after they were united in marriage, both Hitler and Eva committed suicide. Warned by officers that the Russians were only about a day from overtaking the chancellery and urged to escape to Berchtesgarden, (a small town in the Bavarian Alps where Hitler owned a home,) the dictator instead chose to take his life.
Both he and his wife swallowed cyanide capsules (which had been tested for their efficacy on his "beloved" dog and her pups). For good measure, he shot himself with his pistol.
Afterwards, Hitler's SS minions honored one of his final requests and hauled his body to the surface where it was doused with gasoline and burned -- Hitler feared his remains would become a grisly trophy for the victorious Soviets and wished to deny them that prize. Opinions vary on whether the Soviets actually recovered his bones as they claimed.
http://aycu32.webshots.com/image/7831/2002122394128175457_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002122394128175457)
Admiral (later Fuhrer) Karl Donitz
After Hitler's death and per his bequest, Kriegsmarine C-in-C Admiral Karl Donitz was made Fuhrer. It didn't matter much though, because the Reich was kaput. It was Deonitz who surrendered on behalf of the Nazis. Donitz was subsequently tried by the Allies for his trouble, and the fact that although he was a submariner and uniformed member of the German navy, he was also a Hitlerian stooge and sycophant.
Donitz served ten years in Germany's Spandau prison (no word on whether he joined Spandau's ballet company;) .) He died of a heart attack in 1980, the last surviving German of field-marshal rank.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2498/insane7zouj9.jpg