Was Hitler escaped from Berlin?
Hitler 30 April 1945 suicide is considered an indisputable fact. However, from time to time there are publications in which it is asserted that the greatest villain of all times and peoples safely escaped death and hid in one of the South American countries, where he died surrounded by his loving wife and children. Consider this version not from the “was-was-not” position, but from the perspective of “could it be like that?”
Operation "Serial"
According to the walking version of the Internet, the 1945 of the year was developed and operated under the code name “Serral” in May, the purpose of which was to organize the escape of Hitler and his wife from besieged Berlin. The fugitives were taken to Spain, where they were already waiting for a submarine (in some versions even three!), On which Hitler and Eva Braun safely reached Patagonia. After living in Argentina for several years, Hitler moved to Paraguay, where he died in the 1964 year.
The version does not seem extravagant. Blood-stained half of Europe, urging teenagers from the Hitler Youth and old folkssturm to die for the Fuhrer and the Reich, the bonzes themselves were not in a hurry to rush with grenades to the Russians Tanks. Changing their appearance, with documents in a strange name, “rat paths” they made their way to the lands where the hand of justice could not reach them. If one of them made the decision to leave the other world ahead of schedule, then only if the ghost of the rope loop took on quite real outlines (Goering, Himmler, Lei). Was it or wasn’t it?
Technical aspects
Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forbidden to have a submarine fleet. Without violating the open conditions of surrender, Germany, however, managed to maintain the production base for the construction of submarines, to train personnel. Submarines for minor naval powers were built at the shipyards of the Weimar Republic, Reichsmarine officers constantly went to colleagues in neighboring countries, where they gained experience for future trips. Therefore, when in March 1935, Hitler openly refused to comply with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and gave the go-ahead for the construction of an underwater fleetNeither the industrialists nor the German Navy took it by surprise.
Karl Doenitz was a fanatic of the submarine fleet and made every effort to develop and strengthen it, even to the detriment of surface forces. Having entered World War II with 57 submarines, through 2 of the year Germany launched dozens of submarines up to 2 every month. At 1938, Germany began building ocean-type submarines. In the 1938-1939, the Kriegsmarine began to receive submarines of the IX series with a displacement of 750 t. With a power reserve of 8100 nautical miles. Wolves Doenitz accustomed to the North and South Atlantic, acquired the skills of long hikes (U196 - 225 days, U181 - 206 days, U198 - 200 days), drowned ships (and themselves died) in the coastal waters of North and South America. So the transition Germany - Argentina was for the submariners Doenitz difficult, but already mastered the route.
Organizational aspects
Was Donitz himself ready to take part in Operation Serial? Without his knowledge and direct participation to prepare a boat for a long march, it was impossible to pick up an experienced crew. As commander of the German Navy (from 1943), he could, by pressing on the levers in the department under his authority, negate all efforts to prepare such a significant operation.
This question can be answered quite clearly. Not being a member of the NSDAP (yes, it is so!) Doenitz was a staunch Nazi, loyal to Hitler to the end. Having received from the Fuhrer a gold party badge, he always wore it on his jacket. By becoming 30 on April 1945, the Reich President, in his address to the people from 01.05.1945, he called Hitler a "heroic person", and the life path of the deceased Fuhrer was "a model of service to the German people." In Nuremberg, when asked by a lawyer whether he was a member of the party, instead of the defender “no” expected (for which the question was asked), he said that by accepting a gold party badge from the Fuhrer, he became an honorary member of the NSDAP. He did not repent of the crimes committed, did not plead guilty. So someone who, but Doenitz would have made every effort to save Hitler and would not buy the leader’s indulgence from the allies.
And the divers themselves? Did Doenitz have real power over his subordinates? Were they ready, risking their lives, to save the Fuhrer? Until the end of the war, submariners remained a model of loyalty to oath and discipline. The authority of Doenitz was indisputable among them. (And this is despite the fact that every 3 submarine died, the losses of submariners were 75-80%.) Berlin had already fallen, the Wehrmacht was capitulated, and the "wolves Doenitz" were still scouring the maritime communications, refusing to believe in the death of the thousand-year Reich . U-530 surrendered on July 10 1945 of the year, U-977 - on August 17.
And what about Argentina?
By the beginning of World War I, the German colony in Argentina numbered more than 100 thousand people. On such a base to create a wide branch network of agents was a trifle. After the defeat of Germany, the ties of the Argentine Germans with their ancestral homeland weakened, but did not break. The Nazis came to power, began to actively strengthen their position in the distant exotic region. Argentina very organically fit into their plans for world domination. There was a separate South American sector in the Schellenberg office, and there were even two in the Abwehr. The Argentine elite openly sympathized with the Nazis. In Buenos Aires, the German agents felt at home.
During World War II, Argentina, having officially declared itself neutral, constantly provided Germany with overt and covert support. Under pressure from the objective reality of 27.05.1945, Argentina declared war on Reich III, but it was just a political gesture. The sympathies of the Argentine elite to the Nazis did not disappear anywhere, the local agents survived, so after 45, many fugitives from the defeated Reich found food and shelter on the Argentinean land.
So, like, all the prerequisites for the implementation of the operation "Seral" on the face. But!
Submariner's hike - not for wimps
Going on a submarine from the German to the Argentine coast is slightly different from the sea voyage along the same route on an ocean liner. A submarine is a terrible crowding, tightness, lack of fresh air, normal food (solid canned food), basic household amenities, and even simple water is in short supply. Look at the German chronicle - the fashion for unshaven appeared among submariners not from the good life. There were not enough beds for everyone, they took turns sleeping on them, and even going to the latrine should not be put off until the last minute - it’s not a fact that at the right moment he will be free.
A submariner's hike is a constant mental burden, a willingness to attack or be attacked at any second. “Papa Karl” (the so-called submariners called Doenitz among themselves) perfectly knew all these nuances, therefore he issued an order according to which a submariner who had served 12 years was written off on a bank without fail. A long transition on a submarine demanded from the person a huge stock of mental and physical strength.
But Hitler had no such strength!
Hitler's physical condition to 1945 year
In 1940, Hitler underwent a comprehensive medical examination. Doctors recognized the health of the Fuhrer satisfactory (with a discount for minor ailments inherent in age). Hitler did not drink, did not smoke, was a vegetarian, did not use coffee and tea, preferring herbal teas. But the military setbacks seriously undermined his health.
The first blow was struck by a counteroffensive near Moscow in December 1941 of the year. Hitler began to complain of sweating, nausea and chills. Stalingrad violated the coordination of movements and brought the first nervous disorders. After Kursk, Hitler slouched over and began to walk more and more often, leaning on a stick. 20 July 1944 he survived, but received a concussion. After the offensive of the Red Army in Belarus, Hitler came down with a heart attack. The failure of the Ardennes and the breakthrough of the Eastern Front on the Vistula deprived him of the last vestiges of vital forces.
Hitler was constantly losing his balance and could no longer walk more than 25-30 meters. Making his way from the bunker to the meeting room, he constantly sat down on one of the benches that were placed along the corridor. The officer who saw Hitler after the 5-year break, wrote that the 56-year-old führer looked like an 70-year-old. To the decrepit Hitler, the transatlantic transition was simply beyond the strength of scuba diving. To the shores of Argentina, submariners loyal to the Fuhrer could only deliver his corpse!
Die in Berlin!
And how did Hitler himself relate to the idea of escaping from Berlin? The question is more than relevant, because the operation "Serial" could take place only with his personal consent to its conduct. And Hitler himself was not going to run anywhere! In rare frank conversations, he often repeated that he was afraid not so much of death as of captivity. The fear of becoming an exhibit at the Moscow zoo was his phobia. To flee from Berlin is to place your destiny in the hands of unfamiliar and even strangers.
But who could Hitler trust? In July, 1944, the generals betrayed him (Stauffenberg plot), and as the Soviet troops approached Berlin, the faithful partigenosse began breaking loose one after the other. Congratulating 20 on April to the beloved Führer on his birthday, on the evening of the same day his faithful companions left him. Goering, Himmler, Ribbentrop hurried through the remaining corridor to leave the doomed city. 23 April, Hitler found out about Goering's treason. The traitor was removed from all posts, deprived of all titles and awards, and expelled from the party. 28 April Reuters reported that Himmler was trying to establish contact with the Anglo-Americans. "Faithful Heinrich" also betrayed the adored Fuhrer!
29 April, Hitler learned about the fate of Mussolini: while trying to escape, the Duce and his girlfriend Clara Petacci were captured by Italian partisans and shot. Their bodies were hung upside down on a square in Milan, the Italians spat on them and pounded with sticks. Then the corpses lay in a gutter for several days before they were buried.
30 April, the brave Hannah Reich, breaking through on her Storkha through the fire of Soviet anti-aircraft guns landed in front of the Brandenburg Gate. She begged the Fuhrer to trust her and fly from Berlin, but Hitler was adamant. The plane can be shot down, wounded or unconscious, it will be captured, Stalin will put him in an iron cage and will carry around the cities to the Russian barbarians show - no !!! Hitler did not want to run. Not trusting anyone in captivity of his phobias, until the last day he preferred to remain in Berlin, hoping now for the Wenk army, now for the Busse army, then just for the miracle.
Berlin - a trap without exit
Was there a real opportunity to leave flaming Berlin in late April - early May? Hardly ever. There was neither a system of underground tunnels, nor squadrons of small airplanes that landed at night at the doors of the Reich Chancellery, nor secret medical clinics that redraw the faces of the fugitives from the bunker. Let us leave aside the exotic version of the submarine, the water arteries penetrating into the very heart of the fighting Berlin.
"Gray Cardinal" Borman in his rescue relied not on "rat paths", but on forged documents and for a happy occasion. But the documents were weak, and fortune was a lady with an obstinate character. As a result, the omnipotent Reichsleiter chose to gnaw a vial of cyanide potassium - the last gift of a beloved leader. (Fans of secrets of the Third Reich, do not flatter yourself: Borman’s affiliation of the remains found was confirmed by DNA examination!) There was no reliable channel to leave Berlin.
Rare exceptions are not so much the result of deeply thought-out and prepared actions, as a rare smile of good luck, one in a million. Twice she played Russian roulette Hannah Reich, flew to Berlin and back, twice fortune was favorable to her, but she was the only one who was so incredibly lucky. The rest of the pilots who flew to Berlin did not return back, and most often did not reach the capital of the Reich. And Hannah herself was shot down and flew to the Führer on a word of honor and on one wing.
Arthur Axman left the bunker on the night of 1 on May 2 and managed to get out of town. But this is the rarest exception, which only confirms the rule. The neck of the Berlin bag was tightened very tightly.
Silent witnesses
It is interesting to estimate how many people should have been involved in Operation Seral?
1. Hitler evacuation group from Berlin
2. Group that hosted him in spain
3. The crew of the submarine
4. The personnel of the bases, officers of the Admiral Staff (the boat had to be prepared for the march: fill up, supply with food, maps, carry out maintenance etc.)
5. The group that hosted Hitler in Argentina and engaged in the arrangement in the country of himself and the crew of the submarine
6. Radio operators and coders in Berlin, Spain and South America
7. Representatives of the political elite of Argentina, with the knowledge of whom the high-ranking fugitive donkey in the country
The account passes far over a hundred, and this is not all!
Go to any bookstore, and you will see the shelves filled with memoirs on World War II. Not only field marshals, generals and heads of special services, but also figures of lower rank, even junior officers left their memories. Business on the secrets of Nazi Germany turned out to be so profitable that a huge number of imitations and stylization to the memoirs of participants of the events of those years appeared. Only here from the saviors of Hitler no one is in a hurry to share their memories. Absolutely strangers act as witnesses of Hitler's life after 1945: the maid saw something, the gardener heard something, the neighbors suspected something ... The immediate participants in Operation Séral keep deadly silence.
The escape that failed
Probably, the most complete answer to the question "Was operation" Seral? " story. Almost none of the leaders of the Third Reich could disappear without a trace. The fates of most of them are known: who committed suicide, who was pulled up on the gallows, whom the prison cell was waiting for. The fate of the "Gestapo" Muller is unknown. But why not assume the most probable: that the head of the IV division of the RSHA shared the fate of the thousands of Germans who died then in Berlin? Yes, no one saw him dead, the remains were not found, since Bormann’s bones were discovered by pure chance, and before 1972 he was “seen” several times in Italy, in Spain, in Egypt, and in Argentina.
With Hitler, everything is much simpler, there are witnesses, there are bones. Why not admit the obvious: the head of the Reich committed suicide (poisoned or shot himself - what's the difference?) April 30 1945 in the underground bunker of the Reich Chancellery.
And put an end to this.
Operation "Serial"
According to the walking version of the Internet, the 1945 of the year was developed and operated under the code name “Serral” in May, the purpose of which was to organize the escape of Hitler and his wife from besieged Berlin. The fugitives were taken to Spain, where they were already waiting for a submarine (in some versions even three!), On which Hitler and Eva Braun safely reached Patagonia. After living in Argentina for several years, Hitler moved to Paraguay, where he died in the 1964 year.
The version does not seem extravagant. Blood-stained half of Europe, urging teenagers from the Hitler Youth and old folkssturm to die for the Fuhrer and the Reich, the bonzes themselves were not in a hurry to rush with grenades to the Russians Tanks. Changing their appearance, with documents in a strange name, “rat paths” they made their way to the lands where the hand of justice could not reach them. If one of them made the decision to leave the other world ahead of schedule, then only if the ghost of the rope loop took on quite real outlines (Goering, Himmler, Lei). Was it or wasn’t it?
Technical aspects
Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forbidden to have a submarine fleet. Without violating the open conditions of surrender, Germany, however, managed to maintain the production base for the construction of submarines, to train personnel. Submarines for minor naval powers were built at the shipyards of the Weimar Republic, Reichsmarine officers constantly went to colleagues in neighboring countries, where they gained experience for future trips. Therefore, when in March 1935, Hitler openly refused to comply with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and gave the go-ahead for the construction of an underwater fleetNeither the industrialists nor the German Navy took it by surprise.
Karl Doenitz was a fanatic of the submarine fleet and made every effort to develop and strengthen it, even to the detriment of surface forces. Having entered World War II with 57 submarines, through 2 of the year Germany launched dozens of submarines up to 2 every month. At 1938, Germany began building ocean-type submarines. In the 1938-1939, the Kriegsmarine began to receive submarines of the IX series with a displacement of 750 t. With a power reserve of 8100 nautical miles. Wolves Doenitz accustomed to the North and South Atlantic, acquired the skills of long hikes (U196 - 225 days, U181 - 206 days, U198 - 200 days), drowned ships (and themselves died) in the coastal waters of North and South America. So the transition Germany - Argentina was for the submariners Doenitz difficult, but already mastered the route.
Organizational aspects Was Donitz himself ready to take part in Operation Serial? Without his knowledge and direct participation to prepare a boat for a long march, it was impossible to pick up an experienced crew. As commander of the German Navy (from 1943), he could, by pressing on the levers in the department under his authority, negate all efforts to prepare such a significant operation.
This question can be answered quite clearly. Not being a member of the NSDAP (yes, it is so!) Doenitz was a staunch Nazi, loyal to Hitler to the end. Having received from the Fuhrer a gold party badge, he always wore it on his jacket. By becoming 30 on April 1945, the Reich President, in his address to the people from 01.05.1945, he called Hitler a "heroic person", and the life path of the deceased Fuhrer was "a model of service to the German people." In Nuremberg, when asked by a lawyer whether he was a member of the party, instead of the defender “no” expected (for which the question was asked), he said that by accepting a gold party badge from the Fuhrer, he became an honorary member of the NSDAP. He did not repent of the crimes committed, did not plead guilty. So someone who, but Doenitz would have made every effort to save Hitler and would not buy the leader’s indulgence from the allies.
And the divers themselves? Did Doenitz have real power over his subordinates? Were they ready, risking their lives, to save the Fuhrer? Until the end of the war, submariners remained a model of loyalty to oath and discipline. The authority of Doenitz was indisputable among them. (And this is despite the fact that every 3 submarine died, the losses of submariners were 75-80%.) Berlin had already fallen, the Wehrmacht was capitulated, and the "wolves Doenitz" were still scouring the maritime communications, refusing to believe in the death of the thousand-year Reich . U-530 surrendered on July 10 1945 of the year, U-977 - on August 17.
And what about Argentina?
By the beginning of World War I, the German colony in Argentina numbered more than 100 thousand people. On such a base to create a wide branch network of agents was a trifle. After the defeat of Germany, the ties of the Argentine Germans with their ancestral homeland weakened, but did not break. The Nazis came to power, began to actively strengthen their position in the distant exotic region. Argentina very organically fit into their plans for world domination. There was a separate South American sector in the Schellenberg office, and there were even two in the Abwehr. The Argentine elite openly sympathized with the Nazis. In Buenos Aires, the German agents felt at home.
During World War II, Argentina, having officially declared itself neutral, constantly provided Germany with overt and covert support. Under pressure from the objective reality of 27.05.1945, Argentina declared war on Reich III, but it was just a political gesture. The sympathies of the Argentine elite to the Nazis did not disappear anywhere, the local agents survived, so after 45, many fugitives from the defeated Reich found food and shelter on the Argentinean land.
So, like, all the prerequisites for the implementation of the operation "Seral" on the face. But!
Submariner's hike - not for wimps
Going on a submarine from the German to the Argentine coast is slightly different from the sea voyage along the same route on an ocean liner. A submarine is a terrible crowding, tightness, lack of fresh air, normal food (solid canned food), basic household amenities, and even simple water is in short supply. Look at the German chronicle - the fashion for unshaven appeared among submariners not from the good life. There were not enough beds for everyone, they took turns sleeping on them, and even going to the latrine should not be put off until the last minute - it’s not a fact that at the right moment he will be free.
A submariner's hike is a constant mental burden, a willingness to attack or be attacked at any second. “Papa Karl” (the so-called submariners called Doenitz among themselves) perfectly knew all these nuances, therefore he issued an order according to which a submariner who had served 12 years was written off on a bank without fail. A long transition on a submarine demanded from the person a huge stock of mental and physical strength.
But Hitler had no such strength!
Hitler's physical condition to 1945 year
In 1940, Hitler underwent a comprehensive medical examination. Doctors recognized the health of the Fuhrer satisfactory (with a discount for minor ailments inherent in age). Hitler did not drink, did not smoke, was a vegetarian, did not use coffee and tea, preferring herbal teas. But the military setbacks seriously undermined his health.
The first blow was struck by a counteroffensive near Moscow in December 1941 of the year. Hitler began to complain of sweating, nausea and chills. Stalingrad violated the coordination of movements and brought the first nervous disorders. After Kursk, Hitler slouched over and began to walk more and more often, leaning on a stick. 20 July 1944 he survived, but received a concussion. After the offensive of the Red Army in Belarus, Hitler came down with a heart attack. The failure of the Ardennes and the breakthrough of the Eastern Front on the Vistula deprived him of the last vestiges of vital forces.
Hitler was constantly losing his balance and could no longer walk more than 25-30 meters. Making his way from the bunker to the meeting room, he constantly sat down on one of the benches that were placed along the corridor. The officer who saw Hitler after the 5-year break, wrote that the 56-year-old führer looked like an 70-year-old. To the decrepit Hitler, the transatlantic transition was simply beyond the strength of scuba diving. To the shores of Argentina, submariners loyal to the Fuhrer could only deliver his corpse!
Die in Berlin!And how did Hitler himself relate to the idea of escaping from Berlin? The question is more than relevant, because the operation "Serial" could take place only with his personal consent to its conduct. And Hitler himself was not going to run anywhere! In rare frank conversations, he often repeated that he was afraid not so much of death as of captivity. The fear of becoming an exhibit at the Moscow zoo was his phobia. To flee from Berlin is to place your destiny in the hands of unfamiliar and even strangers.
But who could Hitler trust? In July, 1944, the generals betrayed him (Stauffenberg plot), and as the Soviet troops approached Berlin, the faithful partigenosse began breaking loose one after the other. Congratulating 20 on April to the beloved Führer on his birthday, on the evening of the same day his faithful companions left him. Goering, Himmler, Ribbentrop hurried through the remaining corridor to leave the doomed city. 23 April, Hitler found out about Goering's treason. The traitor was removed from all posts, deprived of all titles and awards, and expelled from the party. 28 April Reuters reported that Himmler was trying to establish contact with the Anglo-Americans. "Faithful Heinrich" also betrayed the adored Fuhrer!
29 April, Hitler learned about the fate of Mussolini: while trying to escape, the Duce and his girlfriend Clara Petacci were captured by Italian partisans and shot. Their bodies were hung upside down on a square in Milan, the Italians spat on them and pounded with sticks. Then the corpses lay in a gutter for several days before they were buried.
30 April, the brave Hannah Reich, breaking through on her Storkha through the fire of Soviet anti-aircraft guns landed in front of the Brandenburg Gate. She begged the Fuhrer to trust her and fly from Berlin, but Hitler was adamant. The plane can be shot down, wounded or unconscious, it will be captured, Stalin will put him in an iron cage and will carry around the cities to the Russian barbarians show - no !!! Hitler did not want to run. Not trusting anyone in captivity of his phobias, until the last day he preferred to remain in Berlin, hoping now for the Wenk army, now for the Busse army, then just for the miracle.Berlin - a trap without exit
Was there a real opportunity to leave flaming Berlin in late April - early May? Hardly ever. There was neither a system of underground tunnels, nor squadrons of small airplanes that landed at night at the doors of the Reich Chancellery, nor secret medical clinics that redraw the faces of the fugitives from the bunker. Let us leave aside the exotic version of the submarine, the water arteries penetrating into the very heart of the fighting Berlin.
"Gray Cardinal" Borman in his rescue relied not on "rat paths", but on forged documents and for a happy occasion. But the documents were weak, and fortune was a lady with an obstinate character. As a result, the omnipotent Reichsleiter chose to gnaw a vial of cyanide potassium - the last gift of a beloved leader. (Fans of secrets of the Third Reich, do not flatter yourself: Borman’s affiliation of the remains found was confirmed by DNA examination!) There was no reliable channel to leave Berlin.
Rare exceptions are not so much the result of deeply thought-out and prepared actions, as a rare smile of good luck, one in a million. Twice she played Russian roulette Hannah Reich, flew to Berlin and back, twice fortune was favorable to her, but she was the only one who was so incredibly lucky. The rest of the pilots who flew to Berlin did not return back, and most often did not reach the capital of the Reich. And Hannah herself was shot down and flew to the Führer on a word of honor and on one wing.
Arthur Axman left the bunker on the night of 1 on May 2 and managed to get out of town. But this is the rarest exception, which only confirms the rule. The neck of the Berlin bag was tightened very tightly.
Silent witnesses
It is interesting to estimate how many people should have been involved in Operation Seral?1. Hitler evacuation group from Berlin
2. Group that hosted him in spain
3. The crew of the submarine
4. The personnel of the bases, officers of the Admiral Staff (the boat had to be prepared for the march: fill up, supply with food, maps, carry out maintenance etc.)
5. The group that hosted Hitler in Argentina and engaged in the arrangement in the country of himself and the crew of the submarine
6. Radio operators and coders in Berlin, Spain and South America
7. Representatives of the political elite of Argentina, with the knowledge of whom the high-ranking fugitive donkey in the country
The account passes far over a hundred, and this is not all!
Go to any bookstore, and you will see the shelves filled with memoirs on World War II. Not only field marshals, generals and heads of special services, but also figures of lower rank, even junior officers left their memories. Business on the secrets of Nazi Germany turned out to be so profitable that a huge number of imitations and stylization to the memoirs of participants of the events of those years appeared. Only here from the saviors of Hitler no one is in a hurry to share their memories. Absolutely strangers act as witnesses of Hitler's life after 1945: the maid saw something, the gardener heard something, the neighbors suspected something ... The immediate participants in Operation Séral keep deadly silence.
The escape that failed
Probably, the most complete answer to the question "Was operation" Seral? " story. Almost none of the leaders of the Third Reich could disappear without a trace. The fates of most of them are known: who committed suicide, who was pulled up on the gallows, whom the prison cell was waiting for. The fate of the "Gestapo" Muller is unknown. But why not assume the most probable: that the head of the IV division of the RSHA shared the fate of the thousands of Germans who died then in Berlin? Yes, no one saw him dead, the remains were not found, since Bormann’s bones were discovered by pure chance, and before 1972 he was “seen” several times in Italy, in Spain, in Egypt, and in Argentina.
With Hitler, everything is much simpler, there are witnesses, there are bones. Why not admit the obvious: the head of the Reich committed suicide (poisoned or shot himself - what's the difference?) April 30 1945 in the underground bunker of the Reich Chancellery.
And put an end to this.
Information