Today in History: Hitler descends into his bunker
Hitler committed suicide only three months after descending into the bunker.
On this day in 1945, Adolf Hitler took to his underground bunker, where he remained for 105 days, until he committed suicide.
Hitler retired to his bunker after deciding to remain in Berlin for the last great siege of the war. Sixteen metres under the Chancellery (Hitler’s headquarters as Chancellor), the shelter contained 18 small rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply.
He left only rarely (once to decorate a squadron of Hitler Youth) and spent most of his time micro-managing what was left of the German defences and entertaining Nazi colleagues such as Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler, and Joachim von Ribbentrop. Constantly at his side during this time was his companion, Eva Braun, and his Alsatian, Blondi.
On 29 April, Hitler married Eva in their bunker hideaway. Eva met Hitler while working as an assistant to his official photographer. She spent her time with Hitler out of public sight, entertaining herself by skiing and swimming. She had no discernible influence on Hitler’s political career, but provided a certain domesticity to the life of the dictator. Loyal to the end, she refused to leave the bunker even as the Russians closed in.
Only hours after they were united in marriage, both Hitler and Eva committed suicide. Warned by officers that the Russians were only about a day from overtaking the Chancellery and urged to escape to Berchtesgarden, a small town in the Bavarian Alps where Hitler owned a home, the dictator instead chose to take his life. Both he and his wife swallowed cyanide capsules (which had been tested for their efficacy on his ‘beloved’ dog and her pups). For good measure, he also shot himself with his pistol.
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