1 00:00:02,644 --> 00:00:05,490 Powell: Adolf Hitler caused the deaths of 50 million people. 2 00:00:05,582 --> 00:00:10,000 An entire nation followed him to ruin. 3 00:00:10,091 --> 00:00:12,402 He was hated by those he persecuted, 4 00:00:12,494 --> 00:00:14,942 and even by some of his own commanders. 5 00:00:15,032 --> 00:00:21,385 Yet in 25 years, no one managed to kill him. 6 00:00:21,476 --> 00:00:25,120 Winston Churchill had very few bodyguards, 7 00:00:25,216 --> 00:00:26,662 whilst Hitler had thousands. 8 00:00:26,752 --> 00:00:29,826 He needed them. 9 00:00:29,924 --> 00:00:32,133 During his travels across Europe, 10 00:00:32,228 --> 00:00:34,835 there were over 40 attempts on his life. 11 00:00:34,933 --> 00:00:38,280 Now with access to captured original SS records, 12 00:00:38,371 --> 00:00:41,217 the producers of "Churchill's Bodyguard" 13 00:00:41,310 --> 00:00:44,623 can reveal for the first time in this new series 14 00:00:44,715 --> 00:00:48,359 how fate and a small number of hand-picked bodyguards 15 00:00:48,455 --> 00:00:50,299 helped this evil genius to cheat death 16 00:00:50,391 --> 00:00:52,600 on so many occasions. 17 00:01:09,824 --> 00:01:12,967 Why did no one manage to kill Adolf Hitler? 18 00:01:13,063 --> 00:01:14,805 Enough people wanted to -- 19 00:01:14,900 --> 00:01:16,346 but as this series shows, 20 00:01:16,435 --> 00:01:18,507 it was not as simple as it sounds -- 21 00:01:18,605 --> 00:01:21,417 even when Hitler's regime was in its death throes, 22 00:01:21,510 --> 00:01:27,021 and his most fanatical supporters knew the game was up. 23 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:31,071 January 1945 -- 24 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:32,640 Hitler's last gasp offensive, 25 00:01:32,729 --> 00:01:36,441 the Battle of the Bulge, was over. 26 00:01:36,536 --> 00:01:38,881 As the freezing fog lifted, Allied fighters and bombers 27 00:01:38,973 --> 00:01:42,047 won back their dominance over the skies of Germany. 28 00:01:42,146 --> 00:01:47,998 And US and British ground forces pushed the Germans back. 29 00:01:48,089 --> 00:01:51,937 Hitler left his western headquarters. 30 00:01:52,028 --> 00:01:55,034 He used his armored train for the last time -- 31 00:01:55,133 --> 00:01:57,479 he couldn't risk flying to Berlin. 32 00:01:57,571 --> 00:01:59,108 On January 16th, 33 00:01:59,207 --> 00:02:03,522 Hitler arrived back in his bomb-blasted capital. 34 00:02:03,615 --> 00:02:05,824 American and British bombers had been 35 00:02:05,919 --> 00:02:09,391 pounding it relentlessly for more than a year. 36 00:02:09,491 --> 00:02:12,133 Like so many of his subjects, 37 00:02:12,229 --> 00:02:16,237 the Fuhrer had to take cover underground. 38 00:02:16,336 --> 00:02:18,944 The palatial Reich Chancellery in Voss Strasse 39 00:02:19,041 --> 00:02:21,420 was now a shattered ruin -- his last home 40 00:02:21,511 --> 00:02:23,151 and military headquarters 41 00:02:23,248 --> 00:02:26,197 was a bunker in its garden. 42 00:02:28,286 --> 00:02:30,392 For the rest of the war, 43 00:02:30,490 --> 00:02:32,701 Hitler lived a twilight existence, 44 00:02:32,796 --> 00:02:35,109 rarely emerging above ground. 45 00:02:37,073 --> 00:02:40,034 On January 11, 1945, 46 00:02:40,122 --> 00:02:42,088 just as the Western Allies 47 00:02:42,176 --> 00:02:45,227 were counterattacking in the Ardennes, 48 00:02:45,326 --> 00:02:48,115 the Red Army launched a massive winter offensive. 49 00:02:48,209 --> 00:02:50,469 In less than three weeks, 50 00:02:50,561 --> 00:02:54,539 it had smashed through the German defenses, 51 00:02:54,637 --> 00:02:56,400 advanced more than 300 miles, 52 00:02:56,492 --> 00:02:58,119 and reached the river Oder, 53 00:02:58,215 --> 00:03:00,768 less than 50 miles from Berlin. 54 00:03:00,867 --> 00:03:05,082 Hitler's bunker became his final sanctuary -- 55 00:03:05,174 --> 00:03:07,728 surrounded by his trusted bodyguards 56 00:03:07,826 --> 00:03:09,656 and those most loyal to him. 57 00:03:09,747 --> 00:03:12,867 But if he thought he was safe from all assassination attempts, 58 00:03:12,962 --> 00:03:15,086 he was wrong. 59 00:03:15,182 --> 00:03:18,470 Even here, buried beneath the ground, 60 00:03:18,561 --> 00:03:21,048 encased in concrete and steel, 61 00:03:21,147 --> 00:03:24,006 he was still a target for those who blamed him 62 00:03:24,096 --> 00:03:25,961 for the destruction of Germany. 63 00:03:27,709 --> 00:03:30,500 Planning Hitler's Fuhrerbunker 64 00:03:30,592 --> 00:03:32,422 began back in 1943, 65 00:03:32,514 --> 00:03:35,169 as Allied air raids started to batter Germany. 66 00:03:35,264 --> 00:03:40,903 At first, attacks on Berlin were sporadic. 67 00:03:40,997 --> 00:03:44,714 But from November 1943 to March 1944, 68 00:03:44,808 --> 00:03:49,689 RAF Bomber Command mounted 16 major night attacks on the city. 69 00:03:49,779 --> 00:03:54,422 And on March 6th, protected by its new long-range fighter, 70 00:03:54,517 --> 00:03:55,986 the P-51 Mustang, 71 00:03:56,075 --> 00:04:00,720 the U.S. Eighth Army Air Force joined in by day. 72 00:04:00,814 --> 00:04:06,022 They took a particular delight in bombing Hitler's capital 73 00:04:06,116 --> 00:04:07,517 on his birthday -- the 20th of April. 74 00:04:07,606 --> 00:04:13,980 The Fuhrer was now in the direct line of Allied fire. 75 00:04:14,162 --> 00:04:19,052 The Reich Chancellery already had an air raid shelter. 76 00:04:19,146 --> 00:04:21,405 In early 1936, a new banqueting hall 77 00:04:21,494 --> 00:04:23,335 had been completed in the garden 78 00:04:23,423 --> 00:04:25,781 of the old Reich Chancellery building. 79 00:04:25,867 --> 00:04:29,475 Beneath this was a reinforced cellar. 80 00:04:29,566 --> 00:04:32,910 The construction manager was Albert Speer, 81 00:04:33,006 --> 00:04:36,230 a young Berlin architect who soon became 82 00:04:36,318 --> 00:04:40,474 one of Hitler's favorites and a close confidante. 83 00:04:40,564 --> 00:04:43,207 By early 1944, 84 00:04:43,297 --> 00:04:46,137 Speer was Reichsminister of Armaments. 85 00:04:46,224 --> 00:04:48,187 He now received instructions 86 00:04:48,282 --> 00:04:51,506 to extend the existing bunker with a new "Fuhrerbunker" 87 00:04:51,593 --> 00:04:54,072 in the garden behind the banqueting hall. 88 00:04:54,469 --> 00:04:58,215 Digging started in April 1944 89 00:04:58,309 --> 00:05:01,588 and a pit 30-feet deep was excavated. 90 00:05:01,681 --> 00:05:04,027 The main entrance to the new bunker 91 00:05:04,119 --> 00:05:08,001 would be through what now became known as the front bunker. 92 00:05:08,091 --> 00:05:11,974 There was an emergency exit into the garden, 93 00:05:12,065 --> 00:05:16,073 and a ventilation tower with a conical roof. 94 00:05:16,172 --> 00:05:20,123 Hitler was very specific about his requirements -- 95 00:05:20,212 --> 00:05:22,318 the concrete ceiling of the bunker 96 00:05:22,416 --> 00:05:23,828 was to be 10-foot thick, 97 00:05:23,918 --> 00:05:26,867 and the walls over 12-foot thick. 98 00:05:26,957 --> 00:05:30,430 To stop bombs from penetrating the concrete 99 00:05:30,530 --> 00:05:32,978 and exploding inside the bunker, 100 00:05:33,068 --> 00:05:35,675 Hitler ordered the use of a steel mesh. 101 00:05:35,771 --> 00:05:38,549 This would lie on top of the concrete roof, 102 00:05:38,643 --> 00:05:41,125 with granite slabs and earth above it. 103 00:05:41,214 --> 00:05:46,258 Bombs should be detonated before they got to the bunker. 104 00:05:46,357 --> 00:05:49,067 Because of the high water table in the area, 105 00:05:49,161 --> 00:05:52,906 the bunker had to be built with a concrete drainage pan beneath, 106 00:05:53,001 --> 00:05:54,811 and pumps to extract any water. 107 00:05:54,904 --> 00:05:58,513 Hitler feared that a bomb might crack the concrete walls, 108 00:05:58,610 --> 00:06:03,585 and water would gush into the bunker to drown him. 109 00:06:03,686 --> 00:06:07,602 A staircase linked the front bunker to the new Fuhrerbunker. 110 00:06:07,692 --> 00:06:11,074 The steel doors were sealed against gas attack. 111 00:06:11,165 --> 00:06:13,043 A small room like an airlock 112 00:06:13,135 --> 00:06:14,547 then led into a passage 113 00:06:14,637 --> 00:06:17,176 running through the middle of the bunker, 114 00:06:17,275 --> 00:06:22,557 divided to form two waiting and sitting areas. 115 00:06:22,651 --> 00:06:24,154 On one side of the passage 116 00:06:24,254 --> 00:06:26,758 were the private rooms used by Goebbels -- 117 00:06:26,857 --> 00:06:28,462 Hitler's chief of propaganda 118 00:06:28,561 --> 00:06:30,872 and one of his most ardent supporters, 119 00:06:30,964 --> 00:06:33,412 various guard rooms, 120 00:06:33,502 --> 00:06:36,348 the switchboard room, 121 00:06:36,441 --> 00:06:37,944 and the generator room, 122 00:06:38,043 --> 00:06:40,889 with a diesel engine to provide electricity 123 00:06:40,981 --> 00:06:43,896 to power lighting, heating, and water pumps, 124 00:06:43,986 --> 00:06:48,028 and an air-conditioning unit. 125 00:06:48,127 --> 00:06:51,372 On the other side of the central passage were washrooms, 126 00:06:51,466 --> 00:06:56,419 which included a place for Blondi, Hitler's dog. 127 00:06:56,508 --> 00:06:58,648 And then a bedroom and bathroom 128 00:06:58,744 --> 00:07:01,784 for Hitler's mistress, Eva Braun. 129 00:07:01,883 --> 00:07:05,197 Next came a little refreshment room, 130 00:07:05,289 --> 00:07:06,860 and then a conference room, 131 00:07:06,959 --> 00:07:09,407 where Hitler constantly pored over maps 132 00:07:09,497 --> 00:07:13,846 and searched for units he could throw into the front line. 133 00:07:13,937 --> 00:07:16,509 Beyond these were Hitler's study and bedroom. 134 00:07:16,608 --> 00:07:19,386 Over his desk hung a portrait of his hero, 135 00:07:19,479 --> 00:07:21,427 the Prussian King Frederick II. 136 00:07:21,517 --> 00:07:24,295 He hoped that his spirit would imbue him with 137 00:07:24,388 --> 00:07:29,933 the good fortune to turn the war around, even at the last moment. 138 00:07:30,031 --> 00:07:33,378 At the end of the passage was another airlock 139 00:07:33,470 --> 00:07:37,444 with steps up to the emergency exit. 140 00:07:37,544 --> 00:07:40,925 Work was still being carried out on the new bunker 141 00:07:41,016 --> 00:07:44,592 when Hitler moved in, in early 1945. 142 00:07:44,689 --> 00:07:46,567 It was not really intended 143 00:07:46,659 --> 00:07:49,835 as a place to live for any length of time. 144 00:07:49,931 --> 00:07:52,106 Damp was a persistent problem. 145 00:07:52,202 --> 00:07:54,980 Black mold covered the interior walls, 146 00:07:55,073 --> 00:07:59,218 and water leaked into several rooms. 147 00:07:59,314 --> 00:08:01,886 When filled with staff and bodyguards, 148 00:08:01,985 --> 00:08:04,830 the atmosphere inside the bunker was fetid. 149 00:08:04,923 --> 00:08:06,528 The sewers failed 150 00:08:06,626 --> 00:08:09,336 and toilets were often blocked. 151 00:08:09,431 --> 00:08:10,569 It smelled terrible, 152 00:08:10,665 --> 00:08:13,307 and most people took to smoking in the bunker, 153 00:08:13,403 --> 00:08:17,650 despite Hitler's dislike of cigarettes. 154 00:08:17,744 --> 00:08:19,088 This was how Hitler, 155 00:08:19,180 --> 00:08:22,653 the brutal warlord who wielded the power of life and death 156 00:08:22,753 --> 00:08:25,463 in a way not seen since the Roman Emperors, 157 00:08:25,558 --> 00:08:26,867 was now living. 158 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,966 It would please his enemies to know that. 159 00:08:30,065 --> 00:08:32,775 But even though the war was nearly at its end, 160 00:08:32,870 --> 00:08:37,049 there were some who were so furious 161 00:08:37,144 --> 00:08:38,715 at the ruin Hitler had brought to their country 162 00:08:38,813 --> 00:08:40,350 that they could never forgive him. 163 00:08:40,449 --> 00:08:43,159 They wanted to see him punished. 164 00:08:43,254 --> 00:08:45,462 Even in his bunker, 165 00:08:45,557 --> 00:08:48,472 Hitler was to be a target, 166 00:08:48,562 --> 00:08:53,345 and the threat would come from one of his oldest friends. 167 00:08:58,346 --> 00:09:00,760 In 1941, at the height of his power, 168 00:09:00,850 --> 00:09:03,560 Hitler had said, "If one day, 169 00:09:03,655 --> 00:09:07,070 "the German nation is no longer sufficiently strong 170 00:09:07,161 --> 00:09:08,641 "or sufficiently ready for sacrifice 171 00:09:08,730 --> 00:09:11,611 "to stake its blood on its existence, 172 00:09:11,702 --> 00:09:14,708 then let it perish and be annihilated." 173 00:09:14,807 --> 00:09:19,920 By early 1945, as his enemies pressed in from all sides, 174 00:09:20,016 --> 00:09:25,059 Hitler finally recognized that that day had come. 175 00:09:25,157 --> 00:09:28,072 And on March 19th, 1945, 176 00:09:28,162 --> 00:09:34,379 he issued what became known as his "Nero Order" -- 177 00:09:34,474 --> 00:09:36,477 nothing of value in Germany 178 00:09:36,577 --> 00:09:40,494 should fall into the hands of the conquering Allies. 179 00:09:40,584 --> 00:09:42,565 It was an order for Scorched Earth, 180 00:09:42,653 --> 00:09:45,693 and it provoked one of his closest colleagues 181 00:09:45,793 --> 00:09:47,273 to act against him. 182 00:09:47,362 --> 00:09:52,576 The 40-year-old Albert Speer had trained as an architect. 183 00:09:52,670 --> 00:09:56,246 He joined the Nazi party in 1931. 184 00:09:56,344 --> 00:09:58,154 He displayed his creativity 185 00:09:58,247 --> 00:10:00,889 by designing dazzling special effects 186 00:10:00,985 --> 00:10:04,093 for Hitler's massive Nuremberg party rallies. 187 00:10:04,190 --> 00:10:09,040 Cathedrals of light were created by hundreds of searchlights. 188 00:10:09,132 --> 00:10:10,544 Hitler was impressed. 189 00:10:10,635 --> 00:10:12,479 He was a frustrated architect 190 00:10:12,571 --> 00:10:16,350 and found in Speer a friend who could share his ambition 191 00:10:16,445 --> 00:10:18,756 for constructing colossal buildings 192 00:10:18,848 --> 00:10:20,624 throughout the Third Reich -- 193 00:10:20,717 --> 00:10:24,759 transforming Berlin into a new imperial capital 194 00:10:24,858 --> 00:10:27,272 to surpass ancient Rome. 195 00:10:27,362 --> 00:10:30,538 Speer was one of the few close colleagues 196 00:10:30,634 --> 00:10:34,244 Hitler took with him on his daring early morning tour 197 00:10:34,341 --> 00:10:38,724 around Nazi-occupied Paris in 1940. 198 00:10:38,815 --> 00:10:42,264 In 1942, following the mysterious death 199 00:10:42,354 --> 00:10:47,103 of Armaments Minister Fritz Todt in a mid-air explosion, 200 00:10:47,196 --> 00:10:48,541 Speer took over his job. 201 00:10:50,434 --> 00:10:54,647 He proved an administrative genius, 202 00:10:54,741 --> 00:10:56,016 and played a crucial role 203 00:10:56,110 --> 00:10:58,182 in adapting Germany's weapon production 204 00:10:58,280 --> 00:10:59,692 to the demands of total war. 205 00:11:03,456 --> 00:11:06,871 Despite the rising tide of the British and U.S. bombardment 206 00:11:06,961 --> 00:11:08,441 of German factories, 207 00:11:08,531 --> 00:11:13,108 Speer almost trebled weapon production by 1944. 208 00:11:13,205 --> 00:11:15,915 But despite his skill 209 00:11:16,010 --> 00:11:19,517 in keeping the German war effort going, 210 00:11:19,616 --> 00:11:21,528 by mid-1944 Speer was under no illusions 211 00:11:21,619 --> 00:11:25,160 that the war was lost. 212 00:11:25,259 --> 00:11:28,731 The horrific reality of Hitler's decision 213 00:11:28,832 --> 00:11:33,807 to fight a war on two fronts was coming home to roost. 214 00:11:33,907 --> 00:11:37,413 As they fell back, 215 00:11:37,513 --> 00:11:39,653 the Germans adopted a scorched earth policy -- 216 00:11:39,751 --> 00:11:41,959 the industrial and transport infrastructure 217 00:11:42,054 --> 00:11:44,229 of occupied Europe were to be annihilated. 218 00:11:45,493 --> 00:11:49,137 Many leading Nazis supported the idea of 219 00:11:49,233 --> 00:11:52,648 a Wagnerian Crescendo of destruction, 220 00:11:52,738 --> 00:11:54,241 but Speer increasingly argued against it, 221 00:11:54,342 --> 00:11:56,118 and attempted to get round it -- 222 00:11:56,211 --> 00:11:57,919 not least because he was looking forward 223 00:11:58,014 --> 00:12:02,898 to the time when Germany must be rebuilt after defeat. 224 00:12:02,989 --> 00:12:05,335 Even before Hitler's Nero order 225 00:12:05,427 --> 00:12:08,376 that Germany too must be devastated, 226 00:12:08,465 --> 00:12:13,578 Speer had profound doubts about the sanity of the Fuhrer. 227 00:12:13,674 --> 00:12:15,211 In February 1945, 228 00:12:15,310 --> 00:12:18,885 while sheltering from an Allied air raid, 229 00:12:18,982 --> 00:12:22,125 he made a startling revelation to one of his subordinates -- 230 00:12:22,222 --> 00:12:25,228 Dietrich Stahl, head of the Main Committee 231 00:12:25,327 --> 00:12:27,274 for Munitions. 232 00:12:27,363 --> 00:12:32,578 Stahl recalled the conversation while under Allied interrogation 233 00:12:32,673 --> 00:12:37,056 in Nuremberg before Speer was put on trial. 234 00:12:37,147 --> 00:12:40,926 He reported that Speer said that he could not stand it 235 00:12:41,019 --> 00:12:42,465 any longer. 236 00:12:42,556 --> 00:12:44,935 That he could not go on living with a government of lunatics. 237 00:12:45,026 --> 00:12:48,340 Germany would be totally annihilated 238 00:12:48,433 --> 00:12:50,107 if nothing decisive were done 239 00:12:50,202 --> 00:12:52,706 to stop the insane plans for destruction, 240 00:12:52,807 --> 00:12:57,452 and that he had decided to act, "if necessary, by force." 241 00:12:57,548 --> 00:13:03,161 Stahl claimed that Speer was planning to introduce Tabun gas 242 00:13:03,258 --> 00:13:05,637 into a ventilation shaft of the Fuhrerbunker 243 00:13:05,728 --> 00:13:08,074 which came up in the garden at ground level, 244 00:13:08,165 --> 00:13:11,273 and was only covered by a wire grating. 245 00:13:11,371 --> 00:13:14,479 Tabun was a nerve gas 246 00:13:14,576 --> 00:13:17,218 which, as this film of an experiment shows, 247 00:13:17,314 --> 00:13:19,887 swiftly destroys the entire nervous system 248 00:13:19,985 --> 00:13:21,294 when inhaled. 249 00:13:21,388 --> 00:13:26,170 The German Army had put it into mass production in 1942, 250 00:13:26,262 --> 00:13:29,735 and by 1945 had many thousands of shells and bombs 251 00:13:29,835 --> 00:13:31,338 loaded with the gas. 252 00:13:31,438 --> 00:13:35,548 Speer asked Stahl to investigate how Tabun worked, 253 00:13:35,645 --> 00:13:37,626 and how it could best be 254 00:13:37,715 --> 00:13:41,825 introduced into the ventilation system. 255 00:13:41,922 --> 00:13:44,700 A few days later, Stahl reported that 256 00:13:44,794 --> 00:13:47,572 Tabun did not form a vapor naturally, 257 00:13:47,665 --> 00:13:50,511 it only dispersed into fine particles 258 00:13:50,604 --> 00:13:53,553 when it was exploded in a shell or bomb. 259 00:13:53,642 --> 00:13:57,650 He offered to look for another more suitable gas, 260 00:13:57,749 --> 00:14:02,360 but in the meantime Speer ran into another snag -- 261 00:14:02,457 --> 00:14:05,406 when he inspected the ventilation shaft 262 00:14:05,495 --> 00:14:07,374 in the Chancellery garden, 263 00:14:07,466 --> 00:14:11,416 he discovered that it had been raised from ground level 264 00:14:11,505 --> 00:14:12,985 to two stories high. 265 00:14:13,075 --> 00:14:16,889 He could no longer deliver the poison gas by hand. 266 00:14:16,981 --> 00:14:20,294 In his memoirs Speer admitted that this flaw to his plan 267 00:14:20,388 --> 00:14:21,834 had got him off the hook 268 00:14:21,923 --> 00:14:24,564 of actually carrying out the assassination. 269 00:14:24,661 --> 00:14:29,135 Man: "That was an end of it. It was a great relief to me. 270 00:14:29,236 --> 00:14:32,378 "It was an impulse of despair, 271 00:14:32,474 --> 00:14:35,116 "but I never really wanted to do it. 272 00:14:35,212 --> 00:14:37,922 I couldn't have." 273 00:14:38,017 --> 00:14:42,092 Powell: If Speer really had planned to kill Hitler, 274 00:14:42,190 --> 00:14:44,570 then once again, it had been chance 275 00:14:44,661 --> 00:14:46,939 which had saved the Führer. 276 00:14:47,032 --> 00:14:48,774 But according to Stahl, 277 00:14:48,868 --> 00:14:51,612 the failure of the poison gas plot 278 00:14:51,707 --> 00:14:54,155 was not the end of Speer's attempts 279 00:14:54,244 --> 00:14:56,247 to attack his former colleagues. 280 00:14:56,347 --> 00:14:59,626 A few weeks later, he came up with a plan 281 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,364 to ambush and shoot SS chief Heinrich Himmler, 282 00:15:03,460 --> 00:15:05,874 propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, 283 00:15:05,964 --> 00:15:08,810 and Martin Bormann, Hitler's private secretary -- 284 00:15:08,902 --> 00:15:11,510 while they were being driven out of Berlin 285 00:15:11,607 --> 00:15:13,349 to avoid Allied air raids. 286 00:15:13,443 --> 00:15:16,187 Stahl claimed that Speer had recruited 287 00:15:16,281 --> 00:15:19,560 several Luftwaffe officers to help him shoot up 288 00:15:19,653 --> 00:15:22,499 the Nazi convoy using machine guns, 289 00:15:22,592 --> 00:15:24,231 flares, and grenades, 290 00:15:24,328 --> 00:15:27,140 so that it looked as if they had died in an air raid. 291 00:15:27,233 --> 00:15:30,581 It would be a suitably gangster end 292 00:15:30,672 --> 00:15:32,675 to a gangster regime. 293 00:15:32,776 --> 00:15:36,727 But events were now moving too quickly for Speer to put 294 00:15:36,816 --> 00:15:38,854 any such plan into action -- 295 00:15:38,952 --> 00:15:41,491 although he did continue to see Hitler 296 00:15:41,590 --> 00:15:43,868 until just a week before the end, 297 00:15:43,961 --> 00:15:46,807 making a special trip to say goodbye. 298 00:15:46,900 --> 00:15:50,179 An interview after his release in 1966 299 00:15:50,272 --> 00:15:53,187 showed that he remained concerned 300 00:15:53,277 --> 00:15:55,418 about his relationship with the man 301 00:15:55,514 --> 00:15:57,654 who had raised him to such power -- 302 00:15:57,751 --> 00:16:02,203 Speer: It was more an act of pity than anything else, 303 00:16:02,292 --> 00:16:06,710 I was first going away without saying goodbye to him, 304 00:16:06,799 --> 00:16:11,251 but then I thought that this was not only cowardice but it was, 305 00:16:11,340 --> 00:16:14,415 it was, um... 306 00:16:14,513 --> 00:16:16,255 it was mean. 307 00:16:16,349 --> 00:16:20,198 Powell: This lack of conviction has led many people to doubt 308 00:16:20,289 --> 00:16:24,000 whether either of Speer's plots were genuine. 309 00:16:24,095 --> 00:16:28,410 Speer's plans were revealed during the Nuremberg trials 310 00:16:28,502 --> 00:16:31,576 while he was fighting for his life -- 311 00:16:31,674 --> 00:16:33,383 and trying to establish his credentials 312 00:16:33,478 --> 00:16:37,930 as the only top Nazi who showed any sign of remorse. 313 00:16:38,019 --> 00:16:41,161 Stahl was ready to corroborate his boss' claims, 314 00:16:41,258 --> 00:16:45,573 but for many people they seemed just too convenient. 315 00:16:45,665 --> 00:16:48,511 But at least they managed to save from hanging 316 00:16:48,603 --> 00:16:49,981 the man who once said, 317 00:16:50,072 --> 00:16:52,987 "If Hitler had been capable of having a friend, 318 00:16:53,077 --> 00:16:56,492 I would have been that friend." 319 00:16:59,664 --> 00:17:02,872 On March 11, 1945, Hitler made his last visit 320 00:17:02,966 --> 00:17:05,776 to the front -- inspecting troops 321 00:17:05,869 --> 00:17:07,541 on the bank of the river Oder, 322 00:17:07,637 --> 00:17:10,413 who must resist the inevitable Soviet onslaught. 323 00:17:10,506 --> 00:17:12,713 Never again would his Bodyguard be called on 324 00:17:12,809 --> 00:17:15,415 to escort their Fuhrer into a danger zone. 325 00:17:17,511 --> 00:17:20,081 On the other bank, the Red Army, 326 00:17:20,180 --> 00:17:22,219 which now outnumbered the German defenders ten to one, 327 00:17:22,317 --> 00:17:24,923 was moving into position. 328 00:17:25,020 --> 00:17:30,197 And just over a week later, on the 20th, 329 00:17:30,292 --> 00:17:32,863 the tired and ill-looking Fuhrer emerged from his bunker 330 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:34,371 to view a small delegation 331 00:17:34,461 --> 00:17:38,636 of Hitler Youth soldiers. 332 00:17:38,732 --> 00:17:40,711 Despite the desperate situation, 333 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,246 their confidence was undiminished -- 334 00:17:43,336 --> 00:17:48,046 as one of them, Wilhelm Huebner, later explained. 335 00:17:48,141 --> 00:17:52,486 Interpreter: No, not at all, 336 00:17:52,578 --> 00:17:54,057 we boys still fought, 337 00:17:54,146 --> 00:17:56,820 and we'd heard rumors that the Fuhrer 338 00:17:56,915 --> 00:18:01,795 somehow had a secret weapon in reserve. 339 00:18:01,886 --> 00:18:05,561 Powell: This was the last occasion Hitler was ever filmed, 340 00:18:05,656 --> 00:18:09,365 and even as the pathetic little ceremony was taking place, 341 00:18:09,460 --> 00:18:11,939 some of the pick of his Bodyguard, 342 00:18:12,028 --> 00:18:14,440 the six-foot-tall Nordic supermen 343 00:18:14,531 --> 00:18:16,169 of the SS-Leibstandarte, 344 00:18:16,265 --> 00:18:20,213 were fighting and dying for him on another forlorn mission. 345 00:18:20,302 --> 00:18:25,650 Sepp Dietrich and his Sixth SS Panzer Army, 346 00:18:25,741 --> 00:18:27,220 which included the remnants 347 00:18:27,309 --> 00:18:29,379 of the Leibstandarte combat division 348 00:18:29,477 --> 00:18:31,458 which he had founded and led early in the war, 349 00:18:31,546 --> 00:18:33,617 had spearheaded Hitler's desperate final gamble 350 00:18:33,715 --> 00:18:37,720 in the west -- the offensive in the Ardennes. 351 00:18:37,819 --> 00:18:40,231 After that campaign failed, 352 00:18:40,321 --> 00:18:44,234 Dietrich and his Sixth Army were transferred to Hungary. 353 00:18:44,323 --> 00:18:48,100 The Red Army was poised to capture the vital oil fields 354 00:18:48,194 --> 00:18:49,639 south of Lake Balaton, 355 00:18:49,729 --> 00:18:52,266 and Dietrich was told to push it back. 356 00:18:52,365 --> 00:18:54,038 It was an impossible task. 357 00:18:54,133 --> 00:18:57,910 Operation Spring Awakening began 358 00:18:58,004 --> 00:19:01,644 in hideously muddy conditions on March 6th. 359 00:19:01,740 --> 00:19:05,381 Totally outnumbered and short of fuel, 360 00:19:05,477 --> 00:19:06,854 the SS troops ground to a halt, 361 00:19:06,945 --> 00:19:09,255 and the Soviets were soon counterattacking. 362 00:19:09,347 --> 00:19:14,523 By the 22nd, the 6th SS Panzer Army was falling back. 363 00:19:14,618 --> 00:19:16,290 Hitler was furious. 364 00:19:16,386 --> 00:19:19,367 He ordered that all their SS armbands bearing his name 365 00:19:19,456 --> 00:19:20,935 be torn from their sleeves. 366 00:19:21,025 --> 00:19:25,336 The Leibstandarte reacted 367 00:19:25,428 --> 00:19:27,634 by sending their medals back in a chamber pot. 368 00:19:27,729 --> 00:19:32,371 They included a severed arm wearing an SS armband. 369 00:19:32,467 --> 00:19:35,971 Dietrich ordered his men not to remove their armbands. 370 00:19:36,071 --> 00:19:38,243 He wrote an angry letter to Hitler, 371 00:19:38,339 --> 00:19:40,013 and offered to shoot himself. 372 00:19:40,108 --> 00:19:43,714 But no reply came back from Berlin. 373 00:19:43,811 --> 00:19:49,260 Now the blows were coming thick and fast. 374 00:19:49,349 --> 00:19:50,657 The Soviet assault on the Nazi capital began on April 14th, 375 00:19:50,750 --> 00:19:53,526 heralded by a massive barrage 376 00:19:53,620 --> 00:19:57,966 delivered by artillery, rockets, and aircraft. 377 00:19:58,058 --> 00:20:00,094 Ironically, it was only now, 378 00:20:00,192 --> 00:20:03,799 with his mortal enemy's capital within his grasp 379 00:20:03,896 --> 00:20:06,502 that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin 380 00:20:06,598 --> 00:20:09,806 could be absolutely sure where Hitler was. 381 00:20:09,901 --> 00:20:14,407 He had twice considered killing Hitler, 382 00:20:14,505 --> 00:20:16,815 but both times backed off. 383 00:20:16,908 --> 00:20:18,978 The first was in 1938, 384 00:20:19,076 --> 00:20:22,489 when the Nazi annexation of Austria 385 00:20:22,579 --> 00:20:24,889 had shown that the Fuhrer was on the warpath, 386 00:20:24,981 --> 00:20:30,090 and that the Soviet Union must eventually become his target. 387 00:20:31,186 --> 00:20:33,460 Alexander Foote, 388 00:20:33,554 --> 00:20:36,468 a British-born agent of Soviet military intelligence, 389 00:20:36,558 --> 00:20:39,505 the GRU, was instructed to investigate 390 00:20:39,594 --> 00:20:42,767 the possibility of killing Hitler. 391 00:20:42,863 --> 00:20:44,365 He traveled to Munich 392 00:20:44,465 --> 00:20:46,604 and homed in on Hitler's favorite restaurant, 393 00:20:46,700 --> 00:20:48,043 the Osteria Bavaria. 394 00:20:48,135 --> 00:20:50,047 Foote's investigation revealed 395 00:20:50,138 --> 00:20:54,880 startling lapses by Hitler's bodyguard -- 396 00:20:54,973 --> 00:20:57,011 The RSD, who were responsible for 397 00:20:57,110 --> 00:21:00,522 screening anyone who had access to it, 398 00:21:00,612 --> 00:21:02,718 did not seem to be doing anything. 399 00:21:02,815 --> 00:21:04,920 When Hitler was actually eating there, 400 00:21:05,018 --> 00:21:07,760 none of the Begleitkommando appeared to be present. 401 00:21:07,854 --> 00:21:09,890 Foote reported back to Moscow 402 00:21:09,988 --> 00:21:12,798 that it would be easy to plant a bomb 403 00:21:12,891 --> 00:21:15,337 and eliminate the German dictator. 404 00:21:15,427 --> 00:21:19,102 But surprisingly he was told to take no further action. 405 00:21:19,197 --> 00:21:22,041 Partly, this was because the Great Purge, 406 00:21:22,134 --> 00:21:24,579 which Stalin had unleashed in 1936 407 00:21:24,668 --> 00:21:28,615 against his political rivals, 408 00:21:28,705 --> 00:21:33,051 was now convulsing his armed forces. 409 00:21:33,143 --> 00:21:37,091 The Soviet Union was in chaos and militarily exposed. 410 00:21:37,180 --> 00:21:40,092 To provoke a war with Germany by killing Hitler 411 00:21:40,182 --> 00:21:42,685 seemed inadvisable. 412 00:21:42,785 --> 00:21:45,629 The following year, Hitler and Stalin made a pact -- 413 00:21:45,721 --> 00:21:48,861 the Soviet Union received half of Poland 414 00:21:48,957 --> 00:21:50,560 in return for not intervening 415 00:21:50,658 --> 00:21:54,606 while Hitler's forces occupied much of western Europe. 416 00:21:54,695 --> 00:21:59,268 After Hitler tore up the pact and invaded the Soviet Union, 417 00:21:59,366 --> 00:22:03,212 the Soviet secret services faced the same problem as the British. 418 00:22:03,303 --> 00:22:05,680 If Hitler were to be assassinated, 419 00:22:05,771 --> 00:22:08,513 it was essential to know where he was -- 420 00:22:08,607 --> 00:22:10,485 and the erratic movements of the Fuhrer, 421 00:22:10,577 --> 00:22:12,487 and the increasing size of his bodyguard, 422 00:22:12,578 --> 00:22:15,888 made it difficult to plan an attack. 423 00:22:15,980 --> 00:22:18,927 KGB sleepers living in Berlin 424 00:22:19,018 --> 00:22:21,463 did investigate the possibility of infiltrating 425 00:22:21,553 --> 00:22:24,557 an assassin into the Fuhrer's private circle -- 426 00:22:24,655 --> 00:22:29,001 but it proved difficult to find a suitable person. 427 00:22:29,093 --> 00:22:33,200 Then, in 1943, after the twin disasters 428 00:22:33,297 --> 00:22:35,106 of Stalingrad and Kursk, 429 00:22:35,199 --> 00:22:37,610 Stalin came to the same conclusion 430 00:22:37,700 --> 00:22:39,304 as the Western Allies -- 431 00:22:39,403 --> 00:22:41,882 that Hitler's strategic blundering 432 00:22:41,971 --> 00:22:44,542 made him worth more alive than dead. 433 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:49,179 The agents in Berlin were told to abandon their project, 434 00:22:49,277 --> 00:22:50,756 and the Fuhrer was safe 435 00:22:50,846 --> 00:22:54,589 from direct attack by his greatest enemy. 436 00:22:54,683 --> 00:22:59,597 Hitler's birthday was on April 20th -- he was 56. 437 00:22:59,687 --> 00:23:01,166 To celebrate, 438 00:23:01,255 --> 00:23:02,996 the top Nazi Chieftains braved the Soviet bombardment 439 00:23:03,090 --> 00:23:04,831 to get to the bunker -- 440 00:23:04,925 --> 00:23:11,706 Goebbels, Himmler, Göring and Bormann were there. 441 00:23:11,798 --> 00:23:16,042 So was Speer -- despite his recent plans to kill them. 442 00:23:16,136 --> 00:23:19,548 Several of Hitler's loyal generals were also there -- 443 00:23:19,638 --> 00:23:23,609 Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl, and Hans Krebs. 444 00:23:23,709 --> 00:23:27,315 They were a dwindling bunch. 445 00:23:27,411 --> 00:23:29,187 Hitler was urged to leave Berlin 446 00:23:29,281 --> 00:23:32,818 and start a fight back elsewhere in Germany. 447 00:23:32,917 --> 00:23:35,761 In the mountains around the Berghof in Bavaria, 448 00:23:35,853 --> 00:23:39,232 a Nazi stronghold could keep the Allies at bay for months 449 00:23:39,323 --> 00:23:43,862 until a peace was negotiated -- on the Fuhrer's terms. 450 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,839 It was a far-fetched idea, 451 00:23:46,930 --> 00:23:51,309 but at least escape would be possible. 452 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,574 Hans Baur, Hitler's pilot, was ready to use 453 00:23:54,670 --> 00:23:57,276 a Fieseler Storch liaison aircraft 454 00:23:57,373 --> 00:24:00,410 to fly out the Fuhrer and his top aides. 455 00:24:00,508 --> 00:24:03,250 But Hitler said no. 456 00:24:03,344 --> 00:24:07,793 He would stay in Berlin until the bitter end. 457 00:24:07,881 --> 00:24:10,953 As his birthday guests left their Fuhrer behind 458 00:24:11,051 --> 00:24:13,622 in the fetid atmosphere of the bunker, 459 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:17,463 they began to think of their own survival. 460 00:24:17,558 --> 00:24:23,838 Even Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, was not all he seemed. 461 00:24:23,930 --> 00:24:27,138 On the face of it, he had been fanatically loyal to Hitler 462 00:24:27,232 --> 00:24:28,643 throughout his rise to power. 463 00:24:28,733 --> 00:24:31,111 He had turned the SS into a ruthless machine 464 00:24:31,203 --> 00:24:35,777 dedicated to the Fuhrer's personal protection. 465 00:24:35,873 --> 00:24:40,447 But defeat at Stalingrad had shaken even Himmler's faith. 466 00:24:40,544 --> 00:24:42,285 He could see the war was no longer winnable, 467 00:24:42,379 --> 00:24:46,053 and as the second most brutal man in the Third Reich 468 00:24:46,149 --> 00:24:49,289 he knew his fate would not be good. 469 00:24:49,386 --> 00:24:51,387 He had schemed ruthlessly 470 00:24:51,487 --> 00:24:54,297 against men such as Bruno Gesche, 471 00:24:54,390 --> 00:24:57,768 commander of Hitler's closest bodyguards, 472 00:24:57,859 --> 00:25:01,602 the SS-Begleitkommando, to assert his control. 473 00:25:01,697 --> 00:25:05,736 But now, as Soviet shells pounded Berlin, 474 00:25:05,834 --> 00:25:07,813 Himmler had a secret... 475 00:25:08,111 --> 00:25:11,684 for months, "Loyal Heinrich," as Hitler called him, 476 00:25:11,784 --> 00:25:14,391 had been plotting to betray his Führer. 477 00:25:19,011 --> 00:25:20,663 The Reichsfuhrer SS, 478 00:25:20,757 --> 00:25:24,654 supreme head of Hitler's Bodyguard, was no fool. 479 00:25:24,743 --> 00:25:26,889 He knew that if Germany lost the war, 480 00:25:26,983 --> 00:25:29,488 his key role in the whole dreadful machinery 481 00:25:29,586 --> 00:25:31,012 of the Final Solution, 482 00:25:31,101 --> 00:25:33,448 the extermination of Europe's Jews, 483 00:25:33,539 --> 00:25:35,515 would make him a marked man. 484 00:25:35,615 --> 00:25:39,277 As early as August 1943, 485 00:25:39,370 --> 00:25:41,751 Himmler had started putting out feelers 486 00:25:41,841 --> 00:25:43,458 to the opposition to Hitler. 487 00:25:43,553 --> 00:25:46,599 His contact was Johannes Popitz, 488 00:25:46,695 --> 00:25:49,403 the former Prussian minister of finance, 489 00:25:49,496 --> 00:25:51,181 who suggested that perhaps 490 00:25:51,274 --> 00:25:53,746 Himmler could save Germany from ruin 491 00:25:53,844 --> 00:25:55,730 by taking over the government 492 00:25:55,820 --> 00:25:58,494 and doing a deal with the Allies. 493 00:25:58,587 --> 00:26:00,856 Himmler agreed that an intermediary in Switzerland 494 00:26:00,948 --> 00:26:02,767 should be contacted by radio 495 00:26:02,859 --> 00:26:07,442 to see if discussions could be opened with the Western Allies. 496 00:26:07,537 --> 00:26:09,087 But unfortunately, 497 00:26:09,183 --> 00:26:13,239 Himmler's own Gestapo intercepted these messages, 498 00:26:13,334 --> 00:26:15,311 and Popitz was arrested. 499 00:26:15,410 --> 00:26:18,780 The Reichsfuhrer SS backed off. 500 00:26:18,869 --> 00:26:21,936 In the wake of the July 1944 bomb plot, 501 00:26:22,031 --> 00:26:24,110 Himmler was in the forefront 502 00:26:24,206 --> 00:26:28,722 of eliminating the remnants of the military opposition. 503 00:26:28,819 --> 00:26:30,672 But even while doing this, 504 00:26:30,761 --> 00:26:32,378 Himmler sent a telegram 505 00:26:32,474 --> 00:26:36,339 to British war leader Winston Churchill. 506 00:26:36,428 --> 00:26:38,742 Churchill destroyed the telegram 507 00:26:38,833 --> 00:26:41,147 and never revealed what it said, 508 00:26:41,238 --> 00:26:44,641 but it seems clear that Himmler prized saving himself 509 00:26:44,730 --> 00:26:46,651 above loyalty to Hitler. 510 00:26:48,739 --> 00:26:50,851 But, by the end of 1944, 511 00:26:50,947 --> 00:26:54,104 Soviet forces were overrunning the death camps. 512 00:26:54,197 --> 00:26:57,073 The full horror of the slaughter carried out by the SS 513 00:26:57,161 --> 00:26:58,386 was becoming apparent, 514 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:02,063 and Himmler knew that he would soon be held responsible. 515 00:27:03,157 --> 00:27:05,257 As the days counted down 516 00:27:05,352 --> 00:27:08,274 towards his judgment for these appalling crimes, 517 00:27:08,363 --> 00:27:11,284 one of his elite servants offered him a way out. 518 00:27:11,372 --> 00:27:13,281 Possibly the head of the SS 519 00:27:13,369 --> 00:27:17,548 could become the man who made peace with the Allies. 520 00:27:20,308 --> 00:27:23,136 During January 1945, Walter Schellenberg, 521 00:27:23,225 --> 00:27:26,411 head of Himmler's counter-intelligence section, 522 00:27:26,501 --> 00:27:29,854 arranged several meetings between Heinrich Himmler 523 00:27:29,943 --> 00:27:34,894 and Jean-Marie Musy, a former President of Switzerland. 524 00:27:34,991 --> 00:27:38,892 A deal was thrashed out that Himmler would stop killing Jews 525 00:27:38,989 --> 00:27:42,632 and allow some to be evacuated to Switzerland. 526 00:27:42,726 --> 00:27:45,742 In return, a propaganda campaign would start 527 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,315 to improve Himmler's image to the rest of the world. 528 00:27:49,413 --> 00:27:52,274 Word of this got to Hitler, and he canceled. 529 00:27:52,361 --> 00:27:55,290 He was furious that the man 530 00:27:55,376 --> 00:27:56,696 tasked with protecting the Third Reich 531 00:27:56,787 --> 00:27:58,329 was now protecting himself. 532 00:27:58,426 --> 00:28:02,136 But Schellenberg kept talking to Musy, 533 00:28:02,228 --> 00:28:04,464 and Himmler ordered an end to the evacuation 534 00:28:04,555 --> 00:28:06,891 of all concentration camps ahead of the Allies. 535 00:28:06,980 --> 00:28:09,875 Schellenberg later claimed that this information 536 00:28:09,963 --> 00:28:13,249 was passed on to the Western Allies' supreme commander, 537 00:28:13,339 --> 00:28:14,881 General Dwight Eisenhower. 538 00:28:15,534 --> 00:28:18,233 In the meantime, in February 1945, 539 00:28:18,326 --> 00:28:21,485 another avenue opened with the arrival of 540 00:28:21,578 --> 00:28:23,292 Count Folke Bernadotte, 541 00:28:23,384 --> 00:28:27,696 the vice-president of the Swedish Red Cross. 542 00:28:27,786 --> 00:28:30,094 Initially, he wanted just the release 543 00:28:30,184 --> 00:28:32,257 of Scandinavian prisoners of war. 544 00:28:32,353 --> 00:28:35,153 But Schellenberg saw him as a perfect mediator 545 00:28:35,245 --> 00:28:40,375 for starting peace negotiations with the Allies. 546 00:28:42,467 --> 00:28:44,507 With the news in March 1945 547 00:28:44,603 --> 00:28:46,944 that Hitler intended to destroy 548 00:28:47,033 --> 00:28:49,532 everything in Germany rather than surrender -- 549 00:28:49,629 --> 00:28:51,971 and that that included the annihilation of 550 00:28:52,060 --> 00:28:54,645 any Jews remaining in concentration camps -- 551 00:28:54,739 --> 00:28:57,237 negotiations became more urgent. 552 00:28:58,334 --> 00:29:01,459 And on the day of Hitler's birthday, April 20th, 553 00:29:01,555 --> 00:29:04,354 the man whom Himmler had sworn to protect, 554 00:29:04,446 --> 00:29:07,963 and the man for whom he carried out the Final Solution, 555 00:29:08,059 --> 00:29:10,401 "loyal Heinrich" made arrangements 556 00:29:10,490 --> 00:29:13,344 to meet Norbert Masur, head of the Swedish section 557 00:29:13,432 --> 00:29:15,605 of the World Jewish Congress. 558 00:29:16,641 --> 00:29:20,241 Inside the bunker, Himmler shook Hitler's hand 559 00:29:20,338 --> 00:29:23,709 and wished him a happy birthday. 560 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:28,568 The next day, at the house of his masseur, 561 00:29:28,660 --> 00:29:30,932 Himmler sat down to talk with Masur -- 562 00:29:31,025 --> 00:29:33,659 the first Jew he had spoken to on equal terms 563 00:29:33,756 --> 00:29:35,595 since the Nazis came to power. 564 00:29:35,687 --> 00:29:39,218 Schellenberg was there and witnessed their conversation. 565 00:29:39,316 --> 00:29:43,483 Man: "Himmler said he had tried to solve the Jewish problem 566 00:29:43,578 --> 00:29:46,075 "by expelling them from Germany. 567 00:29:46,174 --> 00:29:49,547 "But the rest of the world had refused to accept them. 568 00:29:49,638 --> 00:29:53,077 Then he faced opposition within the Nazi party." 569 00:29:53,167 --> 00:29:55,903 Powell: This was complete nonsense -- 570 00:29:55,997 --> 00:29:59,267 coming from the man who had dedicated his life 571 00:29:59,359 --> 00:30:02,630 to tightening his control over the Nazi party. 572 00:30:02,724 --> 00:30:06,959 Man: "Masur listened to Himmler's points, 573 00:30:07,052 --> 00:30:09,356 "but did not discuss them. 574 00:30:09,449 --> 00:30:13,083 "His main purpose was to get the following reassurances -- 575 00:30:13,179 --> 00:30:16,550 "that no more Jews would be killed, 576 00:30:16,641 --> 00:30:21,875 that surviving Jews should not be evacuated from the camps." 577 00:30:21,968 --> 00:30:26,703 Powell: Himmler said he had already given such orders. 578 00:30:26,797 --> 00:30:30,032 Himmler next had a meeting at the Swedish consulate 579 00:30:30,125 --> 00:30:32,397 in Lubeck, with Count Bernadotte. 580 00:30:32,490 --> 00:30:35,124 He told the Swede that all the women and children 581 00:30:35,220 --> 00:30:37,127 in Ravensbruck concentration camp 582 00:30:37,217 --> 00:30:40,919 would be released and sent to Sweden. 583 00:30:41,014 --> 00:30:44,113 When Bernadotte left his meeting with Himmler, 584 00:30:44,210 --> 00:30:47,412 Schellenberg traveled with him part of the way. 585 00:30:47,507 --> 00:30:49,312 He said Himmler hoped he could 586 00:30:49,405 --> 00:30:53,742 fix a meeting with Eisenhower to discuss some kind of peace deal. 587 00:30:53,833 --> 00:30:57,601 But Bernadotte told the Nazi it was too late for that. 588 00:30:57,695 --> 00:31:01,363 The head of the SS should look to his own survival. 589 00:31:01,457 --> 00:31:04,058 Himmler became increasingly desperate, 590 00:31:04,155 --> 00:31:07,130 and begged Bernadotte to pass a letter on to 591 00:31:07,218 --> 00:31:10,216 General Eisenhower with an offer to surrender 592 00:31:10,315 --> 00:31:12,722 to the Western Allies. 593 00:31:12,812 --> 00:31:16,842 Bernadotte agreed to forward it to the Allies. 594 00:31:16,941 --> 00:31:19,973 On April 26th, Schellenberg received news 595 00:31:20,070 --> 00:31:23,272 that the Allies would not deal with Himmler. 596 00:31:23,367 --> 00:31:25,433 He delayed telling him. 597 00:31:25,531 --> 00:31:28,300 The next day, Allied newspapers published 598 00:31:28,394 --> 00:31:31,597 accounts of Himmler's failed peace negotiations. 599 00:31:31,691 --> 00:31:35,630 Inside the Fuhrerbunker, on April 28th, 600 00:31:35,721 --> 00:31:39,160 a BBC radio report was picked up. 601 00:31:39,249 --> 00:31:42,087 Man: "It has been reported by Reuters 602 00:31:42,180 --> 00:31:44,246 "that unconditional surrender 603 00:31:44,343 --> 00:31:46,048 "was offered by Himmler 604 00:31:46,141 --> 00:31:48,616 "to Britain and the United States only, 605 00:31:48,705 --> 00:31:51,374 "further that Britain and the United States 606 00:31:51,469 --> 00:31:54,307 "have replied saying that they will not accept 607 00:31:54,398 --> 00:31:58,032 "unconditional surrender, except on behalf of all the Allies, 608 00:31:58,128 --> 00:32:00,035 including Russia." 609 00:32:00,125 --> 00:32:04,428 Powell: Hitler raged at Himmler. 610 00:32:04,521 --> 00:32:07,019 The man he had trusted completely with his life, 611 00:32:07,118 --> 00:32:10,785 the man who headed all his SS bodyguard organizations, 612 00:32:10,881 --> 00:32:12,754 had stabbed him in the back. 613 00:32:12,845 --> 00:32:15,615 It was unforgivable. 614 00:32:15,709 --> 00:32:18,048 Hitler ordered him to be stripped of his power 615 00:32:18,140 --> 00:32:19,376 and office. 616 00:32:19,471 --> 00:32:22,741 He was to be arrested immediately. 617 00:32:22,834 --> 00:32:24,071 But in his bunker, 618 00:32:24,166 --> 00:32:27,662 Hitler was virtually cut off from the outside world, 619 00:32:27,762 --> 00:32:31,725 and Himmler did not get news of this order. 620 00:32:31,824 --> 00:32:35,195 But one man who did pay the ultimate price 621 00:32:35,287 --> 00:32:37,422 for the SS chiefs treachery 622 00:32:37,518 --> 00:32:39,459 was Hitler's SS adjutant, 623 00:32:39,549 --> 00:32:40,719 Hermann Fegelein, 624 00:32:40,813 --> 00:32:43,516 the husband of Eva Braun's sister Gretl. 625 00:32:43,611 --> 00:32:48,050 It was discovered that Fegelein had slipped out of the bunker. 626 00:32:48,139 --> 00:32:50,081 But he was soon tracked down, 627 00:32:50,170 --> 00:32:55,131 hiding in a nearby apartment and dressed civilian clothes. 628 00:32:55,231 --> 00:32:57,900 When Hitler heard of Himmler's treachery, 629 00:32:57,995 --> 00:33:00,902 Fegelein was presumed to be part of the plot, 630 00:33:00,992 --> 00:33:04,262 and stripped of his rank and honors. 631 00:33:04,355 --> 00:33:06,228 He was then interrogated by 632 00:33:06,319 --> 00:33:10,281 the fearsome commander of the Gestapo, Heinrich Muller -- 633 00:33:10,381 --> 00:33:12,617 one of the few henchmen left in the bunker 634 00:33:12,712 --> 00:33:15,210 that Hitler could rely on. 635 00:33:15,309 --> 00:33:17,046 After questioning by Muller, 636 00:33:17,140 --> 00:33:19,479 Fegelein admitted to knowing about 637 00:33:19,571 --> 00:33:23,204 Himmler's secret negotiations with Bernadotte. 638 00:33:23,299 --> 00:33:25,298 He was given a summary court-martial, 639 00:33:25,398 --> 00:33:27,566 and then executed by an SS firing squad 640 00:33:27,661 --> 00:33:31,329 in the Reich Chancellery garden. 641 00:33:31,425 --> 00:33:32,730 His boss had joined the ranks 642 00:33:32,823 --> 00:33:34,526 of the Nazi damned. 643 00:33:34,621 --> 00:33:38,221 Just like Hermann Göring -- once head of Hitler's Bodyguard 644 00:33:38,317 --> 00:33:41,224 back in the early days of the party. 645 00:33:41,314 --> 00:33:42,813 The Luftwaffe chief was now accused of 646 00:33:42,912 --> 00:33:46,442 betraying Hitler by suggesting he take over control 647 00:33:46,540 --> 00:33:49,515 of the Third Reich. 648 00:33:49,604 --> 00:33:52,272 All the big beasts in the Nazi party 649 00:33:52,367 --> 00:33:54,899 had now let their Fuhrer down. 650 00:33:54,998 --> 00:33:58,302 As Soviet soldiers ran through the streets of Berlin, 651 00:33:58,394 --> 00:34:01,994 only the most die-hard of Hitler's Bodyguard 652 00:34:02,090 --> 00:34:04,362 stayed with him in the bunker. 653 00:34:09,049 --> 00:34:10,650 On April 25, 1945, 654 00:34:10,748 --> 00:34:12,723 the Red Army completed 655 00:34:12,812 --> 00:34:16,049 the encirclement of central Berlin. 656 00:34:16,142 --> 00:34:19,173 Over two million civilians were now trapped. 657 00:34:19,272 --> 00:34:22,576 Much of the defense of Hitler's capital 658 00:34:22,667 --> 00:34:26,630 was now in the hands of hastily-trained old men, 659 00:34:26,730 --> 00:34:30,102 young boys, and even housewives. 660 00:34:30,192 --> 00:34:33,224 But immediately around the Reich Chancellery, 661 00:34:33,322 --> 00:34:35,229 the remnants of the Bodyguard 662 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,988 were still defending their Führer. 663 00:34:38,084 --> 00:34:41,150 Hitler's personal adjutant, Otto Gunsche, 664 00:34:41,247 --> 00:34:44,245 a former member of the SS-Leibstandarte, 665 00:34:44,344 --> 00:34:47,150 had command of the ceremonial and training battalions 666 00:34:47,242 --> 00:34:48,911 of his former regiment, 667 00:34:49,105 --> 00:34:52,569 and a few members of the army's Fuhrer-Begleit-Regiment 668 00:34:52,668 --> 00:34:55,506 who had been on leave in the city. 669 00:34:55,599 --> 00:34:57,631 Inside the Fuhrerbunker, 670 00:34:57,729 --> 00:35:02,361 only the most dedicated of Hitler's followers remained. 671 00:35:02,457 --> 00:35:07,124 But even amongst them, the atmosphere was fatalistic. 672 00:35:07,220 --> 00:35:09,524 Suicide was openly discussed 673 00:35:09,616 --> 00:35:12,715 as Army major Freytag von Loringhoven 674 00:35:12,813 --> 00:35:14,254 later confirmed. 675 00:35:14,345 --> 00:35:19,782 Von Loringhoven: The atmosphere was very gloomy in the bunker, 676 00:35:19,871 --> 00:35:21,848 and the other people, 677 00:35:21,936 --> 00:35:23,606 they talked about 678 00:35:23,700 --> 00:35:25,539 how to commit suicide, 679 00:35:25,631 --> 00:35:29,299 that was the main topic about their talks -- 680 00:35:29,395 --> 00:35:34,492 and whether they should take poison, 681 00:35:34,588 --> 00:35:36,791 poison themselves, 682 00:35:36,886 --> 00:35:43,187 or whether they should shoot with a pistol. 683 00:35:45,258 --> 00:35:47,412 Powell: Only one remained 684 00:35:47,504 --> 00:35:49,690 of the original eight men 685 00:35:49,783 --> 00:35:50,925 of the SS-Begleitkommando 686 00:35:51,019 --> 00:35:53,007 who had been personally selected by Hitler 687 00:35:53,102 --> 00:35:56,165 in 1931 as his close escort -- 688 00:35:56,260 --> 00:35:59,711 Erich Kempka, who had served for more than ten years 689 00:35:59,808 --> 00:36:02,094 as his chauffeur. 690 00:36:02,182 --> 00:36:07,267 With him were another veteran member of the Begleitkommando, 691 00:36:07,359 --> 00:36:11,987 Heinz Linge, Hitler's chief personal valet, 692 00:36:12,078 --> 00:36:14,299 Hans Rattenhuber, 693 00:36:14,389 --> 00:36:18,529 head of the Reich Security Service, the RSD, 694 00:36:18,621 --> 00:36:24,259 and Hans Baur, the Fuhrer's chief pilot. 695 00:36:24,349 --> 00:36:29,666 But some of Hitler's oldest comrades were gone -- 696 00:36:29,752 --> 00:36:32,260 Emil Maurice, 697 00:36:32,356 --> 00:36:34,154 who had fought alongside Hitler 698 00:36:34,244 --> 00:36:35,555 in the earliest street-fighting days 699 00:36:35,643 --> 00:36:38,518 and had been rash enough to fancy Geli Raubal, 700 00:36:38,606 --> 00:36:41,281 the niece with whom Hitler was infatuated, 701 00:36:41,372 --> 00:36:43,203 had been eased out of the Bodyguard 702 00:36:43,292 --> 00:36:45,645 in the mid-1930s. 703 00:36:45,734 --> 00:36:51,017 He served as a Luftwaffe officer and survived the savage air war. 704 00:36:51,104 --> 00:36:54,622 Arrested by the Allies at the end of the war, 705 00:36:54,717 --> 00:36:56,738 he was sentenced to four years hard labor. 706 00:36:58,833 --> 00:37:01,185 Also missing was Bruno Gesche, 707 00:37:01,273 --> 00:37:03,504 the former head of the Begleitkommando 708 00:37:03,594 --> 00:37:05,436 and one of its first members. 709 00:37:06,524 --> 00:37:08,232 His 12-year feud 710 00:37:08,323 --> 00:37:10,375 with his nominal boss Heinrich Himmler 711 00:37:10,471 --> 00:37:12,857 had finally caught up with him. 712 00:37:12,979 --> 00:37:15,976 In December 1944, Gesche drank too much again, 713 00:37:16,076 --> 00:37:17,416 took out his pistol, 714 00:37:17,507 --> 00:37:20,108 and fired several shots at a colleague. 715 00:37:20,204 --> 00:37:22,544 This time Himmler personally wrote 716 00:37:22,636 --> 00:37:27,698 the letter of condemnation. 717 00:37:27,796 --> 00:37:31,498 Man: "You are known to me as a notorious drunk 718 00:37:31,592 --> 00:37:33,226 "from the year 1938, 719 00:37:33,324 --> 00:37:37,230 "as well as from reports in recent years and months. 720 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:41,690 "Since I cannot tolerate drunks in the Fuhrerkorps, 721 00:37:41,781 --> 00:37:43,654 "I demote you. 722 00:37:43,745 --> 00:37:46,878 "Only based on your long association 723 00:37:46,974 --> 00:37:52,312 "will I allow you to remain in the SS. 724 00:37:52,402 --> 00:37:54,502 "I will give you the opportunity 725 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:57,369 "to serve in the Dirlewanger brigade -- 726 00:37:57,463 --> 00:38:00,495 "and by proving yourself before the enemy, 727 00:38:00,593 --> 00:38:04,397 "it might be possible that you will be able to wipe out 728 00:38:04,488 --> 00:38:08,622 "the shame you have brought onto yourself and the entire SS. 729 00:38:08,717 --> 00:38:11,919 "I expect you to abstain from alcohol 730 00:38:12,014 --> 00:38:16,249 "for the rest of your life, without any exceptions. 731 00:38:16,341 --> 00:38:20,077 "Should your willpower be already damaged by alcohol 732 00:38:20,171 --> 00:38:23,633 "to the extent that you cannot keep this pledge, 733 00:38:23,735 --> 00:38:30,036 then I expect you to hand in your resignation." 734 00:38:32,127 --> 00:38:34,761 Powell: It was a cruel punishment. 735 00:38:34,857 --> 00:38:37,593 The Dirlewanger brigade was a penal unit 736 00:38:37,687 --> 00:38:40,320 expected to die fighting in the front line. 737 00:38:40,416 --> 00:38:43,619 It was Himmler's final blow against the bodyguard 738 00:38:43,714 --> 00:38:45,986 who had most defied him. 739 00:38:46,079 --> 00:38:48,019 With just weeks left of his power, 740 00:38:48,108 --> 00:38:51,548 this may have given him some grim satisfaction. 741 00:38:51,638 --> 00:38:55,169 Gesche didn't receive the letter until January 1945, 742 00:38:55,268 --> 00:38:58,333 and by then the Third Reich was approaching its death throes. 743 00:38:58,430 --> 00:39:01,801 He probably toasted its arrival with a stiff drink. 744 00:39:03,892 --> 00:39:06,694 He could not be sent to the Dirlewanger brigade 745 00:39:06,786 --> 00:39:09,885 because it was fighting on the Eastern Front. 746 00:39:09,982 --> 00:39:11,651 The risk that he might fall into Soviet hands 747 00:39:11,747 --> 00:39:13,154 and betray vital details of Hitler's 748 00:39:13,246 --> 00:39:17,583 personal security arrangements was too great. 749 00:39:19,675 --> 00:39:23,274 Instead, Gesche fought in the 16th SS Division 750 00:39:23,369 --> 00:39:27,571 in its long and bitter retreat through Italy, Slovenia, 751 00:39:27,665 --> 00:39:29,469 and Hungary. 752 00:39:30,562 --> 00:39:34,092 When the SS formations withdrew into Austria, 753 00:39:34,190 --> 00:39:37,665 Gesche is believed to have surrendered to the Americans 754 00:39:37,754 --> 00:39:40,026 and not the Soviets. 755 00:39:40,118 --> 00:39:42,718 If he had been taken by the Red Army, 756 00:39:42,814 --> 00:39:44,221 his SS insignia would have ensured 757 00:39:44,312 --> 00:39:46,548 instant execution. 758 00:39:46,642 --> 00:39:48,709 It was an irony for Gesche 759 00:39:48,805 --> 00:39:52,506 that his drinking had probably saved his life. 760 00:39:52,602 --> 00:39:56,064 If he had abstained from alcohol as Himmler had instructed him, 761 00:39:56,165 --> 00:39:59,969 he would have ended up in the bunker beside the Führer. 762 00:40:00,060 --> 00:40:02,762 As it was, Hitler's closest bodyguard 763 00:40:02,857 --> 00:40:04,855 now disappears from history -- 764 00:40:04,954 --> 00:40:07,589 as did many others with the guilt of 765 00:40:07,685 --> 00:40:12,351 long association with one of the most hated men in history. 766 00:40:15,439 --> 00:40:19,807 After three days of savage fighting in central Berlin, 767 00:40:19,898 --> 00:40:22,802 German resistance was collapsing. 768 00:40:22,892 --> 00:40:26,093 On April 29th, Hitler married 769 00:40:26,187 --> 00:40:29,089 his long-time mistress Eva Braun. 770 00:40:29,179 --> 00:40:31,845 Goebbels and Bormann acted as witnesses. 771 00:40:31,941 --> 00:40:33,279 When Eva came to sign the register, 772 00:40:33,370 --> 00:40:35,868 she began to sign Braun, 773 00:40:35,968 --> 00:40:40,995 then crossed out the "B" to sign as Hitler. 774 00:40:41,094 --> 00:40:44,793 Her new husband was now determined to kill himself 775 00:40:44,887 --> 00:40:47,156 to avoid capture by the Soviets. 776 00:40:47,249 --> 00:40:50,847 That same day, his German shepherd dog Blondi 777 00:40:50,944 --> 00:40:53,076 was used to test the poison 778 00:40:53,172 --> 00:40:58,109 which the Fuhrer and his new wife would take. 779 00:40:58,197 --> 00:40:59,831 Rochus Misch, 780 00:40:59,927 --> 00:41:01,697 one of the bunker's radio operators, 781 00:41:01,791 --> 00:41:04,390 witnessed it. 782 00:41:04,486 --> 00:41:08,252 Interpreter: The dog handler Herr Tornow 783 00:41:08,346 --> 00:41:12,578 brought Blondi to the toilet opposite my room, 784 00:41:12,672 --> 00:41:19,433 and Dr. Stumpfegger came to put her down. 785 00:41:19,526 --> 00:41:27,253 I went over and watched out of morbid curiosity. 786 00:41:27,346 --> 00:41:29,977 Dr. Stumpfegger opened the dog's mouth, 787 00:41:30,074 --> 00:41:31,446 put something inside, 788 00:41:31,538 --> 00:41:33,943 and then pressed the jaws closed -- 789 00:41:34,034 --> 00:41:37,234 and then Blondi keeled over. 790 00:41:37,328 --> 00:41:41,288 Powell: The following morning, 791 00:41:41,387 --> 00:41:43,521 Hitler received the news that his fellow dictator 792 00:41:43,617 --> 00:41:46,986 Mussolini had been shot and strung up publicly 793 00:41:47,077 --> 00:41:48,983 in a Milan square alongside 794 00:41:49,075 --> 00:41:51,310 his mistress Clara Petacci. 795 00:41:51,403 --> 00:41:53,876 This humiliation only strengthened 796 00:41:53,966 --> 00:41:55,498 Hitler's determination, 797 00:41:55,596 --> 00:41:58,398 as his secretary Traudl Junge witnessed. 798 00:41:58,490 --> 00:42:01,225 Junge: I asked Hitler 799 00:42:01,319 --> 00:42:04,292 why he didn't fight in the battle 800 00:42:04,380 --> 00:42:07,319 as a commander should in the war, 801 00:42:07,408 --> 00:42:10,347 and he said, "No, it's impossible, 802 00:42:10,436 --> 00:42:12,672 "I'm much too weak to fight, 803 00:42:12,766 --> 00:42:16,532 and I would never risk to get captured alive." 804 00:42:16,625 --> 00:42:20,154 Because he knew what happened to Mussolini, 805 00:42:20,252 --> 00:42:21,955 he saw the pictures, 806 00:42:22,049 --> 00:42:24,682 and he was very, very frightened 807 00:42:24,778 --> 00:42:28,772 to have the same fate if he would be captured. 808 00:42:28,870 --> 00:42:32,398 Powell: At 3:30 p.m., Hitler and Eva Braun 809 00:42:32,497 --> 00:42:36,095 entered his study in the bunker. 810 00:42:36,192 --> 00:42:39,719 Inside the room, Eva Braun took poison. 811 00:42:39,818 --> 00:42:44,050 Hitler pulled out his Walther 7.65mm pistol 812 00:42:44,143 --> 00:42:46,912 and shot himself in the head. 813 00:42:47,006 --> 00:42:48,843 Hitler had finally achieved 814 00:42:48,935 --> 00:42:53,429 what no assassin had been able to do over the past two decades. 815 00:42:53,527 --> 00:42:58,293 Heinz Linge witnessed the final moments. 816 00:42:58,385 --> 00:43:00,053 Linge: I was the last 817 00:43:00,149 --> 00:43:02,679 who said goodbye to him, 818 00:43:02,777 --> 00:43:05,841 and the first to see the bodies. 819 00:43:05,939 --> 00:43:09,105 He and Eva Braun died alone. 820 00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:11,730 Powell: Gunsche and Hitler's doctor, 821 00:43:11,828 --> 00:43:15,698 Ludwig Stumpfegger, then wrapped Hitler's body in a blanket 822 00:43:15,788 --> 00:43:19,124 and carried it up to the Reich Chancellery garden. 823 00:43:19,215 --> 00:43:22,880 Martin Bormann carried Braun. 824 00:43:22,975 --> 00:43:25,279 Hitler's body was tipped into a shallow grave 825 00:43:25,372 --> 00:43:27,675 with Braun's next to him. 826 00:43:27,766 --> 00:43:31,205 Gunsche and Kempka then poured petrol over them. 827 00:43:31,294 --> 00:43:33,767 A lighted rag was then thrown in, 828 00:43:33,856 --> 00:43:35,592 and as the bodies burned, 829 00:43:35,686 --> 00:43:37,661 the last remaining bodyguards 830 00:43:37,749 --> 00:43:40,881 raised their arms in a final Nazi salute. 831 00:43:40,977 --> 00:43:45,243 After attempting last-minute negotiations with the Soviets, 832 00:43:45,336 --> 00:43:47,809 Goebbels gave up and shot himself. 833 00:43:47,898 --> 00:43:50,531 His wife poisoned their six children 834 00:43:50,626 --> 00:43:52,362 and then killed herself. 835 00:43:52,456 --> 00:43:55,452 "Gestapo" Muller had already disappeared 836 00:43:55,551 --> 00:43:57,185 before Hitler's death. 837 00:43:57,282 --> 00:43:59,913 His fate is unknown. 838 00:44:00,009 --> 00:44:05,036 Bormann took his chances in an escape bid with Hans Baur. 839 00:44:05,135 --> 00:44:08,698 He disappeared -- his body was never found. 840 00:44:08,795 --> 00:44:12,561 Baur was wounded and captured by the Russians. 841 00:44:12,655 --> 00:44:15,786 As the Soviet tanks rolled in, 842 00:44:15,882 --> 00:44:19,547 Gunsche, Kempka and Linge also attempted to get away. 843 00:44:19,643 --> 00:44:22,377 Kempka managed to get through enemy lines 844 00:44:22,471 --> 00:44:25,001 and made his way to Berchtesgaden 845 00:44:25,100 --> 00:44:27,403 before giving himself up to the Americans. 846 00:44:27,494 --> 00:44:30,591 Gunsche and Linge were captured by the Russians, 847 00:44:30,690 --> 00:44:33,186 but all survived to live into old age. 848 00:44:33,285 --> 00:44:35,520 Hermann Göring, full of bluster, 849 00:44:35,614 --> 00:44:37,520 strode into American captivity 850 00:44:37,611 --> 00:44:40,550 expecting to be treated with all the respect 851 00:44:40,638 --> 00:44:43,474 due to a senior leader of his country. 852 00:44:43,566 --> 00:44:45,064 He was put on trial 853 00:44:45,164 --> 00:44:46,935 and condemned to death. 854 00:44:47,028 --> 00:44:48,469 He poisoned himself 855 00:44:48,558 --> 00:44:51,292 to avoid the hangman's noose. 856 00:44:51,387 --> 00:44:54,621 Heinrich Himmler fled for his life. 857 00:44:54,714 --> 00:44:57,482 He shaved off his moustache, wore an eye patch, 858 00:44:57,576 --> 00:45:01,139 and tried to pretend he was just an ordinary soldier. 859 00:45:01,237 --> 00:45:04,866 He was arrested by the British at Bremervorde, 860 00:45:04,962 --> 00:45:07,402 just north of Bremen. 861 00:45:07,492 --> 00:45:11,554 While being examined by a doctor at Luneburg, 862 00:45:11,651 --> 00:45:16,610 he bit on a capsule of cyanide hidden inside his mouth. 863 00:45:16,709 --> 00:45:20,442 Thus ended the life of the second most evil man 864 00:45:20,536 --> 00:45:22,941 in the Third Reich -- chief of the SS -- 865 00:45:23,032 --> 00:45:24,733 the machine that had contrived 866 00:45:24,828 --> 00:45:28,391 to keep Hitler alive for so long. 867 00:45:28,487 --> 00:45:32,618 Ironically, Hitler's Bodyguard and the organizations 868 00:45:32,713 --> 00:45:37,172 it spawned had succeeded in their duty to keep him alive. 869 00:45:37,272 --> 00:45:42,401 At the end, their master was left to make the choice -- 870 00:45:42,497 --> 00:45:43,870 should he kill himself, 871 00:45:43,961 --> 00:45:46,594 since no one else had succeeded in doing it, 872 00:45:46,689 --> 00:45:49,821 or should he face the wrath of the world he had devastated. 873 00:45:49,917 --> 00:45:52,048 Hitler chose suicide. 874 00:45:52,469 --> 00:45:54,875 Cyanide and a bullet succeeded 875 00:45:54,966 --> 00:45:57,839 where more than forty attempts on his life had failed. 876 00:46:24,028 --> 00:46:25,940 Subtitling made possible by Acorn Media