The Death of Adolf Hitler :: Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler Essays

On 1 May, at 9.30 in the evening, Hamburg radio warned the German people that a grave and important announcement was about to be made. This was immediately followed by several excerpts from a number of Wagners operas and the slow movement of Bruckners Seventh Symphony. because at 10.20 pm, came the voice of Grand-Admiral Karl Donitz, Commander-in-chief for the north of Ger galore(postnominal). In sombre tones, he inform the death of Hitler and his own succession as Fuhrer of the Reich. Hitler had fallen this afternoon, he said, chip at the head of his force. This statement was believed by many. The Times of capital of the United Kingdom printed Hitlers obituary next day. President Valera of Ireland sent his condolences to the German ambassador in Dublin. But it was untrue. Hitler, as the world was later told, had died the previous day and had non fallen in action, as a heroic martyr, just now had affiliated suicide without leaving the Bunker under the Reichschancellery where he had been since 16 January 1945. Donitz by chance had more than one reason for releasing the story he did. He may not have been aware of all the facts, but in any case he must have wondered how the German troops would have reacted if they had been told that their leader had not died a glorious death but had taken his own life. Whatever Donitzs reasons, this erroneous story, combined with the complete closeness on the part of the Russians regarding what they had or had not found in the Reichschancellery and the absence seizure of a body - either Hitlers or Eva Brauns - did not convince many people. On the contrary, throughout the summer of 1945 the rumours that Hitler was still alive gathered pace. in that respect were many sightings. Among the first, it was encompassed that Hitler had been seen living as a hermit in a cave near Lake Garda in northern Italy. Another report had it that he was now a shepherd in the Swiss Alps, a third that he was a croupier at a casino in Evian. He was seen at Grenoble, St Gallen and even off the Irish coast. Viewed from this distance, each of these accounts appears grotesque and incredible. But that was not how they were seen at the time. Not all of the accounts were so fantastic. In July 1945, the us Office of Censorship intercepted a letter written from soul in Washington.