Paul M. Krueger

Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide in the Führerbunker while the invading Red Army raise the Soviet flag over the Reichstag.

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ㅤBy early 1945, Nazi Germany faced total military collapse as Allied forces advanced from the west and the Soviet Red Army closed in on Berlin from the east. Retreating to the Führerbunker, Adolf Hitler realized the war was lost and suffered a nervous breakdown upon learning that his orders for a counterattack had been ignored. As Soviet artillery began bombarding the capital, Hitler grew increasingly desperate and enraged by the perceived betrayals of his top officials, ordering the arrest of both Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler after discovering they had attempted to usurp leadership or negotiate a surrender with the Allies.

ㅤWith the Red Army just blocks away from the Reich Chancellery, Hitler finalized his affairs by marrying his long-time companion Eva Braun and dictating his last will and testament. Determined to avoid the humiliating public spectacle that befell his ally Benito Mussolini, the couple retreated to Hitler’s private study on the afternoon of April 30, where Braun ingested cyanide and Hitler fatally shot himself. In accordance with his strict prior instructions, loyal aides immediately carried their bodies to the Chancellery garden, where they were doused in petrol and burned as Soviet shelling continued to lay waste to the surrounding area.