April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicide
63 years ago on this day in 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler's dreams of a "1,000-year" Reich.
Last photo of Hitler shot while exhorting the boy defenders of Berlin to fight on.
In January 1945, facing a siege of Berlin by the Soviets, Hitler withdrew to his bunker to live out his final days. Located 55 feet under the chancellery, the shelter contained 18 rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply.
Stairway to Hitler's haven
Area above the bunker site in modern Berlin
Though he was growing increasingly mad, Hitler continued to give orders and meet with such close subordinates as Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Josef Goebbels. He also married his long-time mistress Eva Braun just two days before his suicide.
The bride and goon at their wedding supper in the bunker on April 28, 1945
In his last will and testament, Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Donitz as head of state and Goebbels as chancellor. He then retired to his private quarters with Braun, where he and Braun poisoned themselves and their dogs, before Hitler then also shot himself with his service pistol.
Doenitz inherited the Fuhrer-ship per Hitler's will. He was convicted of war crimes at Nuremberg and sentenced to ten years. Dönitz died of a heart attack on 24 December 1980, in Aumühle. As the last German officer with the rank of Grand Admiral, he was honored by many former servicemen and foreign naval officers who came to pay their respects at his funeral on 6 January 1981.
Hitler and Braun's bodies were hastily cremated in the chancellery garden, as Soviet forces closed in on the building. When the Soviets reached the chancellery, they removed Hitler's ashes, continually changing their location so as to prevent Hitler devotees from creating a memorial at his final resting place.
These remains above are kept in a cardboard box in the State Archives of the Russian Federation, Moscow, where they were removed to after the Russians occupied Berlin. They are believed to be Hitler's -- charred, age 50's, and dead from a gunshot wound suicide.
Only eight days later, on May 8, 1945, the German forces issued an unconditional surrender, leaving Germany to be carved up by the four Allied powers.
Postscript
If we ever again face a holed up evile tyrant, and we know the location of his hole, we got a little sumpin-sumpin to take care of him.
Originally Posted by TUSooner
