Nicolaus von Below was Hitler’s Luftwaffe Adjutant from 1937 until the last days in Berlin. His memoirs, now published in English for the first time as At Hitler’s Side, reveal Hitler’s thoughts and plans before and throughout World War II. Here von Below recounts events in the Führerbunker as the Allies were grasping victory in Europe: “On 27th April Hitler spoke to me of my future ‘plans’. I told him I had none but would wait and see how things developed before deciding. I knew that my wife and children were safe. Hitler gave me a cyanide capsule in case I encountered a difficult situation with no way out. I put the poison away safely. Hitler then surprised me by saying, ‘I have decided to order the commander of Berlin to break out. For myself I will remain here and die in the place where I worked so many years of my life. But my Staff must also attempt to go. Most of all it is important to me that Goebbels and Bormann should get out safely.’ Thus after originally insisting on being surrounded by people he could trust to the last, he had now reversed his intention. I asked Hitler whether, in view of the circumstances in Berlin, he believed that this break-out stood any chance of success. He replied, ‘I believe that the situation has now changed. The western allies will no longer insist on the unconditional surrender demanded at Casablanca. It appears quite clear from the foreign Press reports of recent weeks that the Yalta Conference was a disappointment for the United States and Britain. Stalin must have made demands which the western Powers conceded only reluctantly for fear that Stalin would otherwise go his own way. I have the impression that the three big men at Yalta did not leave as friends. Now Roosevelt is dead and Churchill has never loved the Russians. He will be interested in not allowing the Russians to advance too far through Germany.’ Hitler decided that I should go too, and attempt to fight my way through to Dönitz and Keitel. I reported this conversation with Hitler to Krebs and Burgdorf at once. Krebs told Weidling of Hitler’s change of view and ordered him to prepare an outline plan for the orderly break-out. We attended this conference on tenterhooks. Reports were all bad. After initial successes Army Wenck had been driven back by the Russians. Hitler relapsed into apathy as he often did in these final days. Weidling’s plan for a break-out depended on Wenck’s thrust succeeding. As this now seemed unlikely, Hitler said that the idea of a break-out was hopeless. The same evening Hitler spoke at length with Goebbels who for some time had been planning to die in Berlin with his wife and five children. Hitler attempted in vain to dissuade him but eventually agreed that the family could move into the bunker. That same day, 28th April, the BBC announced that Himmler had offered capitulation to the Allies. According to this report, he had met the Swedish Count Bernadotte in Lübeck on the 24th and set out his ideas. At about this time Fegelein rang me. He told me of the goings-on and in response to my enquiry about his own whereabouts he said that he was ‘in the city’. I did not take this amiss at the time and only thought it strange after hearing the BBC bulletin about Himmler’s dealings. The latter Hitler had dismissed with contempt and it had obviously annoyed him. Probably he had expected it of Himmler and during the day his bitterness at Himmler’s activities increased. He ordered Fegelein to report to him, but he could not be found: an SS squad discovered him at a flat on the Kurfürstendamm dressed in civilian clothes. He was brought back to the Reich Chancellery where a drumhead court martial was held. After a short hearing Fegelein was found guilty of desertion and sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out immediately.” For the full story of all the dramatic turns of the War, bringing Germany to defeat and Hitler to suicide in the Bunker, At Hitler’s Side is an indispensable source. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 109 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com