Hitler’s Suicide THE NEXT DAY, 30 April 1945,I went

to Hitler in the early morning. He was opening the

door as I arrived. He had lain on the bed fully
dressed and awake as he had done the night before.
WhileBormann, Krebs and Burgdorf kept loaded pistols
withinreach, safety catches off, and dozed on
sofas near his door, and the female secretaries madethemselves
as comfortable as possible while awaiting the
events that must soon come (at any moment the
Russians could reachthe bunker entrance), he signalled to
me to accompanyhim, fingerto his lips, indicating I
should be careful not to disturb the sleeping
figures. We went to the telephone exchange, where
Hitler rang the commandant, who told him that the
defence of Berlinhad already collapsed. The ring whichthe
Russians had laid around the city could no longer be
penetrated,and there was now no hope of relief. Arthur
Axmann did offer to ‘bring the Führer out of
Berlin’ using about 200 Hitler Youth volunteers and a
panzer, but Hitler declined, murmuring quietly,: ‘That is
no longer an option, I am remaining here!’ The
‘hour of truth’ had come. Firstly, however, there was
a last midday meal to be taken together. Hitler
delivered a monologue aboutthe future. The immediate
postwar world would not have a good word to say
for him, he said: the enemy would savour its
triumph, and the German people would face very
difficult times. Even we, his intimate circle, would
soon experience things that we could not imagine. But
he trusted to ‘the later histories’ to ‘treat him
justly’. They would recognise that he had only
wanted the very best for Germany. Not until after my
release from captivity did I understand what he
meant when he said: ‘You will soon experience things’
that ‘you cannot imagine’. After the meal Eva Hitler came
to me to take her leave. Pale, having remained
awake all night but careful to maintain her
 composure, she thanked me for ‘everything you have
done for the Führer’. With a sad look she begged
me at the finish: ‘Should you meet my sister Gretl, do
not tell her how her husband, Hermann Fegelein, met
his death.’ I neversaw Gretl Fegelein again. Next
she went to Frau Goebbels while Hitler retired to his
study. Magda Goebbels wanted another ‘personal
conversation with the Führer’, as Günsche told me.
I approached Hitler and he allowed her to come.
They were alone for a while. When I entered, Hitler
was thanking her for her commitment and services.
He asked me to remove the gold Party badge from
one of his uniforms and pinned it on her in
‘especial recognition’. Immediately after this Hitler and
I went into the common room where Goebbels
appeared and begged Hitler briefly to allow the
Hitler Youth to take him out of Berlin. Hitler responded
brusquely: ‘Doctor, you know my decision. There is
no change! You can of course leave Berlinwith your
family.’ Goebbels, standing proudly, replied that he
would not do so. Like the Führer he intended to
stay in Berlin- and die there.At that Hitler gave
Goebbels his hand and, leaning on me, returned to
his room. Immediately afterwards followed the last
personal goodbyes. Flugkapitän Baur and SS-Sturmbannführer
Otto Günsche came, two men who had dedicated their
lives to Hitler. My mouth was dry. Soon I
would have to carry out my last duty. Anxiously I
gazed at the man whom I had served
devotedly for more than ten years. He stood stooped,
the hank of hair, as always, across the pale
forehead. He had become grey. He looked at me with
tired eyes and said he would now retire.It was 1515
hours. I asked for his orders for the last
time. Outwardly calm and in a quiet voice, as if
he were sending me into the garden to fetch
 something, he said: ‘Linge, I am going to shoot
myself now. You know what you have to do. I have
given the order for the break-out. Attach yourself to
one of the groups and try to get through to the
west.’To my question what we should fight for now, he
answered: ‘For the Coming Man’. I saluted. Hitler took
two or three tired steps towards me and offered his hand.
Then for the last time in his life he raised his
right arm in the Hitler salute. A ghostly scene.
I turned on my heel, closed the door and went
to the bunker exit where the SS bodyguard was
sitting around. As I assumed that Hitler would put
an end to his life at any moment I did not
stay there long, but returned to the ante-room. I smelt the
gas from a discharged firearm. Thus it had come to
pass. Although I was beyond surprises, everything in
me resisted opening the door and entering alone.
I went to the map room where a number of
people were gathered around Martin Bormann. What
they were discussing I have no idea. They had no
knowledge of what had happened. I gave Bormann a
signal and asked him to come with me to
Hitler’s room,which he did. I opened the door and went
in, Bormann following me. He turned white as chalk
and stared at me helplessly. Adolf Hitler and Eva
Braun were seated on the sofa. Both were dead.Hitler
had shot himself in the right temple with his 7.65-
mm pistol. This weapon, and his 6.35-mm pistol whichhe
had kept in reserve in the event that the largergun
misfired, lay near his feet on the floor. His head was
inclined a little towards the wall. Bloodhad spattered on
the carpet near the sofa. To his right beside him
sat his wife. She had drawn up her legs on the
sofa. Her contorted face betrayed how she had died.
Cyanide poisoning. Its ‘bite’ was