Footnotes
[1] Testimony of Mr. Erich Kempka on the last days of Hitler, Berchtesgaden, 20 June 1945, File: 3735-PS, United States Evidence Files, 1945-46 [NAID 305264] Record Group 238; Testimony of Erich Kempka, 3 July 1946, Official Transcripts International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, Germany, 3 July 1946, p. 12,897, ibid.; Historical Branch, War Department General Staff, G-2, Historical Interrogation Commission, Obersturbannführer Erich Kempka, Chief Driver & Head of the Führer’s Motor Pool, 26 September 1945, Third Army Intelligence Center, Lt. Col. O. J. Hale, Interrogator, File: Historical Interrogation Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 (NAID 2790598) Record Group 165; Special Interrogation of Erich Kempka, at US Third Army Internment Camp No. 6, Moosburg, 7 October 1945, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau [CIB], GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 [CI], Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, 22 November 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, ibid.; Trevor-Roper, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Linge, "With Hitler to the End"; Kempka, "I Was Hitler’s Chauffeur"; Eberle and Uhl, eds., "The Hitler Book"; Manuscript Statement by Hitler’s Aide-de-Camp, Otto Günsche, 17 May 1945 in Vinogrado, Pogonyi, and Teptzov, "Hitler’s Death"; Evidence of the Head of Hitler’s Bodyguard Hans Rattenhuber, Moscow, 20 May 1945 in Vinogrado, Pogonyi, and Teptzov, "Hitler’s Death"; Interrogation of Arthur Axmann, Palace of Justice, Nuremberg, 1630-1930 hours, 7 January 1948, pp. 33, 35, 41; Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; [Interrogation of] Erwin Jakubeck, Munich, 6 February 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; [Interrogation of] Christa Schröder, Ludwigsburg, 25 January 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University.
SS Obersturmführer Erwin Jakubeck was a waiter on the staff of the Führerbegleitkommandos.
[2] Testimony of Mr. Erich Kempka on the last days of Hitler, Berchtesgaden, 20 June 1945, File: 3735-PS, United States Evidence Files, 1945-46 [NAID 305264] Record Group 238; Testimony of Erich Kempka, 3 July 1946, Official Transcripts International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, Germany, 3 July 1946; Historical Branch, War Department General Staff, G-2, Historical Interrogation Commission, Obersturmbanführer Erich Kempka, Chief Driver & Head of the Führer’s Motor Pool, 26 September 1945, Third Army Intelligence Center, Lt. Col. O. J. Hale, Interrogator, File: Historical Interrogation Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 [NAID 2790598] Record Group 165; Special Interrogation of Erich Kempka, at US Third Army Internment Camp No. 6, Moosburg, 7 October 1945, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau [CIB], GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 (CI), Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, 22 November 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, ibid.; Trevor-Roper, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Kempka, "I Was Hitler’s Chauffeur"; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Linge, "With Hitler to the End"; Eberle and Uhl, eds., "The Hitler Book"; Manuscript Statement by Hitler’s Aide-de-Camp, Otto Günsche, 17 May 1945 in Vinogrado, Pogonyi, and Teptzov, "Hitler’s Death"; Evidence of the Head of Hitler’s Bodyguard Hans Rattenhuber, Moscow, 20 May 1945 in Vinogrado, Pogonyi, and Teptzov, "Hitler’s Death"; O’Donnell, "The Berlin Bunker"; [Interrogation of] Erich Kempka, Munich, 8 February 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; Interrogation of Arthur Axmann, Palace of Justice, Nuremberg, 7 January 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; [Interrogation of] Erwin Jakubeck, Munich, 6 February, 1948, p. 32, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; [Interrogation of] Christa Schröder, Ludwigsburg, 25 January 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University.
[3] Maj. Robert W. Minor, Acting Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Bremen Interrogation Center, Bremen Enclave Military District, Intermediate Interrogation Report [IRR], Erich Mansfield, Alias Erich Skrzipczk, 30 July 1945, File: Mansfeld, Erich M-7, Reports, Interrogations, and Other Records Received from Various Allied Military Agencies, 1945-1947 [NAID 647749] Record Group 238 [National Archives Microfilm Publication M-1270, Roll 25]; Capt. James A. Love, Executive Officer, Bremen Interrogation Center, Enclave Military District, Final Interrogation Report [FIR] No. 43, Erich Mansfeld, 3 August 1945, File: 100-578, Persons and Places Case File [Dossier File], 1946-1949 [NAID 1688112] Record Group 153; Special Interrogation of Erich Kempka, at US Third Army Internment Camp No. 6, Moosburg, 7 October 1945, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau (CIB), GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 [CI], Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, 22 November 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 [NAID 2790598] Record Group 165; Historical Branch, War Department General Staff, G-2, Historical Interrogation Commission, Obersturmbannführer Erich Kempka, Chief Driver & Head of the Führer’s Motor Pool, 26 September 1945, Third Army Intelligence Center, Lt. Col. O. J. Hale, Interrogator, File: Historical Interrogation Report, ibid.; Trevor-Roper, "The Last Days of Hitler".
[4] Testimony of Mr. Erich Kempka on the last days of Hitler, Berchtesgaden, 20 June1945, File: 3735-PS, United States Evidence Files, 1945-46 (NAID 305264) Record Group 238; Special Interrogation of Erich Kempka, at US Third Army Internment Camp No. 6, Moosburg, 7 October 1945, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau (CIB), GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 [CI], Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, 22 November 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 [NAID 2790598] Record Group 165; Points emerging from special interrogation of Else Krüger, 25 September 1945, ibid.; Historical Branch, War Department General Staff, G-2, Historical Interrogation Commission, Obersturbannführer Erich Kempka, Chief Driver & Head of the Führer’s Motor Pool, 26 September 1945, Third Army Intelligence Center, Lt. Col. O. J. Hale, Interrogator, File: Historical Interrogation Report, ibid.; Trevor-Roper, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Kempka, "I Was Hitler’s Chauffeur"; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Linge, "With Hitler to the End"; Eberle and Uhl, eds., "The Hitler Book"; Evidence of the Head of Hitler’s Bodyguard Hans Rattenhuber, Moscow, 20 May 1945 in Vinogrado, Pogonyi, and Teptzov, 'Hitler’s Death".
Kempka said that when the bodies were laid down nobody lifted the blanket. He may have been correct, but it is also possible that he was still in the exit entrance or in the process of retrieving the first canister of fuel and did not witness what was happening to the bodies.
[Interrogation of] Erich Kempka, Munich, 8 February 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University.
[5] Testimony of Mr. Erich Kempka on the last days of Hitler, Berchtesgaden, 20 June 1945, File: 3735-PS, United States Evidence Files, 1945-46 [NAID 305264] Record Group 238; Special Interrogation of Erich Kempka, at US Third Army Internment Camp No. 6, Moosburg, 7 October 1945, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau [CIB], GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 (CI), Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, November 22, 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 [NAID 2790598] Record Group 165; Points emerging from special interrogation of Else Krüger, 25 September 1945; Historical Branch, War Department General Staff, G-2, Historical Interrogation Commission, Obersturmbannführer Erich Kempka, Chief Driver & Head of the Führer’s Motor Pool, 26 September 1945, Third Army Intelligence Center, Lt. Col. O. J. Hale, Interrogator, File: Historical Interrogation Report, ibid.; Trevor-Roper, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Linge, "With Hitler to the End"; Kempka, "I Was Hitler’s Chauffeur"; Evidence of the Head of Hitler’s Bodyguard Hans Rattenhuber, Moscow, 20 May 1945 in Vinogrado, Pogonyi, and Teptzov, "Hitler’s Death"; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Eberle and Uhl, eds., "The Hitler Book"; Interrogation of] Christa Schröder, Ludwigsburg, 25 January 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; [Interrogation of] Erich Kempka, Munich, 8 February 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University.
[6] Testimony of Mr. Erich Kempka on the last days of Hitler, Berchtesgaden, 29 June 1945, File: 3735-PS, United States Evidence Files, 1945-46 [NAID 305264] Record Group 238; Special Interrogation of Erich Kempka, at US Third Army Internment Camp No. 6, Moosburg, 7 October 1945, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau [CIB], GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 [CI], Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, 22 November 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 (NAID 2790598) Record Group 165; Points emerging from special interrogation of Else Krüger, 25 September 1945; Historical Branch, War Department General Staff, G-2, Historical Interrogation Commission, Obersturbannführer Erich Kempka, Chief Driver & Head of the Führer’s Motor Pool, 26 September 1945, Third Army Intelligence Center, Lt. Col. O. J. Hale, Interrogator, File: Historical Interrogation Report, ibid.; Trevor-Roper, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Kempka, "I Was Hitler’s Chauffeur"; Linge, "With Hitler to the End"; Manuscript Statement by Hitler’s Aide-de-Camp, Otto Günsche, 17 May 1945 in Vinogrado, Pogonyi, and Teptzov, "Hitler’s Death"; Evidence of the Head of Hitler’s Bodyguard Hans Rattenhuber, Moscow, 20 May 1945 in Vinogrado, Pogonyi, and Teptzov, "Hitler’s Death"; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Eberle and Uhl, eds., "The Hitler Book"; [Interrogation of] Erich Kempka, Munich, 8 February 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University.
The cremation Axmann believed took place about 4:30pm.
Interrogation of Arthur Axmann, Palace of Justice, Nuremberg, 7 January 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University.
[7] Interrogation of Hermann Karnau on 26 September 1945, on the subject of burning Hitler’s body, in continuation of previous interrogation reports on the same subject, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau [CIB], GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 [CI], Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, 22 November 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 [NAID 2790598] Record Group 165; Trevor-Roper, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler"; O’Donnell, "The Berlin Bunker".
[8] Interrogation of Hermann Karnau on 26 September 1945, on the subject of burning Hitler’s body, in continuation of previous interrogation reports on the same subject, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau [CIB], GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 [CI], Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, 22 November 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 [NAID 2790598] Record Group 165; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler".
[9] Maj. Robert W. Minor, Acting Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Bremen Interrogation Center, Bremen Enclave Military District, Intermediate Interrogation Report [IRR], Erich Mansfield, Alias Erich Skrzipczk, 30 July 1945, File: Mansfeld, Erich M-7, Reports, Interrogations, and Other Records Received from Various Allied Military Agencies, 1945-1947 (NAID 647749) Record Group 238 [National Archives Microfilm Publication M-1270, Roll 25]; Capt. James A. Love, Executive Officer, Bremen Interrogation Center, Enclave Military District, Final Interrogation Report (FIR) No. 43, Erich Mansfeld, 3 August 1945, File: 100-578, Persons and Places Case File [Dossier File], 1946-1949 [NAID 1688112] Record Group 153.
[10] Memorandum, Karl Sussman, CIC Special Agent, Region IV, Garmish Sub-Region, Headquarters Counter Intelligence Corps, United States Forces European Theater to Commanding Officer, Garmish Sub-Region, Subject: Interrogation of Junge, Gertrude, 30 August 1946, File: XA085512, Junge, Gertrude, Intelligence and Investigative Dossiers Personal Files, 1977-2004 [NAID 645054] Record Group 319; [Interrogation of] Gertraud [Gertrude] Junge, Munich, 7 February 7, 1948, pp. 48, 50, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University.
[11] Special Interrogation of Erich Kempka, at US Third Army Internment Camp No. 6, Moosburg, 7 October 1945, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau [CIB], GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 [CI], Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, 22 November 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 [NAID 2790598] Record Group 165; Historical Branch, War Department General Staff, G-2, Historical Interrogation Commission, Obersturmbannführer Erich Kempka, Chief Driver & Head of the Führer’s Motor Pool, 26 September 1945, Third Army Intelligence Center, Lt. Col. O. J. Hale, Interrogator, File: Historical Interrogation Report, ibid.; Kempka, "I Was Hitler’s Chauffeur"; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Eberle and Uhl, eds., "The Hitler Book".
[12] Maj. Robert W. Minor, Acting Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Bremen Interrogation Center, Bremen Enclave Military District, Intermediate Interrogation Report [IRR], Erich Mansfield, Alias Erich Skrzipczk, 30 July 1945, File: Mansfeld, Erich M-7, Reports, Interrogations, and Other Records Received from Various Allied Military Agencies, 1945-1947 [NAID 647749] Record Group 238 [National Archives Microfilm Publication M-1270, Roll 25]; Interrogation of Hermann Karnau on 26 September 1945, on the subject of burning Hitler’s body, in continuation of previous interrogation reports on the same subject, enclosure to Memorandum, Brigadier [no name given], Counter Intelligence Bureau [CIB], GSI (b), Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 [CI], Headquarters, US Forces European Theater, Subject: Investigation into the Death of Hitler, 22 November 1945, Document No. CIB/B3/PF.582, File: Major Trevor-Roper Interrogations, Reports Relating to Prisoner of War Interrogations, 1943-1945 [NAID 2790598] Record Group 165; Capt. James A. Love, Executive Officer, Bremen Interrogation Center, Enclave Military District, Final Interrogation Report [FIR] No. 43, Erich Mansfeld, 3 August 1945, File: 100-578, Persons and Places Case File [Dossier File], 1946-1949 [NAID 1688112] Record Group 153; Trevor-Roper, "The Last Days of Hitler:; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler".
[13] Capt. James A. Love, Executive Officer, Bremen Interrogation Center, Enclave Military District, Final Interrogation Report [FIR] No. 43, Erich Mansfeld, 3 August 1945, File: 100-578, Persons and Places Case File [Dossier File], 1946-1949 (NAID 1688112) Record Group 153; Maj. Robert W. Minor, Acting Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Bremen Interrogation Center, Bremen Enclave Military District, Intermediate Interrogation Report (IRR), Erich Mansfield, Alias Erich Skrzipczk, 30 July 1945, File: Mansfeld, Erich M-7, Reports, Interrogations, and Other Records Received from Various Allied Military Agencies, 1945-1947 [NAID 647749] Record Group 238 [National Archives Microfilm Publication M-1270, Roll 25]; [Interrogation of] Erich Kempka, Munich, 8 February 1948, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; Joachimsthaler, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Musmanno, "Ten Days to Die"; O’Donnell, "The Berlin Bunker"; Trevor-Roper, "The Last Days of Hitler"; Fest, "Inside Hitler’s Bunker".
The Search Begins [ May 1945 }
With Adolf Hitler’s death just before 4pm on 30 April 1945, Hitler’s right-hand man Martin Bormann realized he had no position at all, unless Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz should confirm his appointment as Party Minister in the new government that Hitler had provided for in his Political Testament. He also knew it was improbable that any copy of Hitler’s Political Testament had yet reached Dönitz, who was therefore unaware of Hitler’s death, but also of his own right of succession. Sometime between 6:15pm and 7:50pm, Bormann, Göbbels, and Admiral Voss drafted and sent to Dönitz an ambiguous radio signal in the secure naval cipher, not bothering to mention Hitler was dead. It seemed as if Bormann wished to prolong yet a little longer the authority which he loved but could no longer legally exercise. [1] The message stated “In place of the former Reich-Marshal Göring the Führer appoints you, Herr Grand Admiral, as his successor. Written authorization is on its way. You will immediately take all such measures as the situation requires. Bormann.” [2]