Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Archivist at the National Archives in College Park, MD. This is the first in a multi-part series.
Introduction
On November 10, 2015, the History Channel will begin an eight-part series on the possibility that Adolf Hitler did not die in his Berlin bunker on April 30, but escaped to South America, called Hunting Hitler. When I learned about the forthcoming television series I remembered that in 2003 the National Archives released the FBI file 65-53615 from the series Headquarters Files from Classification 65 (Espionage) Released Under the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Acts, 1935-1985 (NAID 565806), regarding the multitude of unsubstantiated sightings of Hitler after April 30, 1945. My curiosity prompted me to take a look at the file and found, as I remembered from a decade earlier, that it consisted primarily of rumors regarding Hitler being in South America. I then proceeded to a 1945-1949 State Department Central Decimal File (NAID 302021),862.002 (Hitler, Adolf) – and found that it contained similar information, as did the files Hitler, Adolf – XE003655 in the Intelligence and Investigative Dossiers Personal Files, 1977-2004 (NAID 645054).
Having written a two-part blog on Hitler’s stenographers and their escape from Berlin in April 1945 as well as an article in Prologue regarding Hitler’s personal will, political testament, and marriage license, I thought I would write something about the death of Hitler in the bunker on April 30 and the subsequent search during 1945 for proof of his death. Thus, this series of blogs.
On the evening of April 28, Adolf Hitler, Germany’s Reich chancellor and President, had a lot on his mind. News had arrived during the day that there had been an uprising in northern Italy; Benito Mussolini had been arrested by the partisans; armistice negotiations were being initiated by some of Hitler’s military commanders in Italy; and there had been an attempted coup in Munich. Russian forces were only some 1,000 yards from the bunker, and the German Ninth Army, which had been ordered to break through the Russian-encircled capital of the Reich to rescue Hitler would most likely not to be able to accomplish its mission. Still, Hitler held a slim hope that Gen. Walther Wenck’s 12th Army, heading toward Potsdam and Berlin, would succeed.[1]
As the evening progressed, more bad news was received in Hitler’s bunker. During the night Hitler received confirmation that Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, was negotiating with the Western Allies. In response, Hitler ordered Eva Braun’s brother-in-law, SS-Gruppenfuehrer Hermann Fegelein, Himmler’s liaison to Hitler, executed for desertion and treason.[2]
Because of the decreasing hope of rescue by his military, the actual and perceived disloyalty of his subordinates (including Hermann Goering), and the desire not to be captured alive, Hitler knew that he soon would have to commit suicide. Before doing so, he wished to marry Eva Braun, and write his final political testament and private will (NAID 6883511).
Hitler’s secretary, 25-year-old Gertrude Junge, tried that evening to sleep for an hour. Sometime after 11 p.m., she woke up. She washed, changed her clothes, and thought it must be time for the evening tea with Hitler, secretary Frau Gerda Christian, and Hitler’s vegetarian cook Fraulein Constanze Manzialy, as had become a nightly occurrence. When she opened the door to Hitler’s study, Hitler came toward her, shook her hand, and asked, “‘Have you had a nice little rest, child?’” Junge replied, “Yes, I have slept a little.” He said, “Come along, I want to dictate something.” This was between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. They went into the little conference room near Hitler’s quarters. She was about to remove the cover from the typewriter, as Hitler normally dictated directly to the typewriter, when he said, “Take it down on the shorthand pad.” She sat down alone at the big table and waited. Hitler stood in his usual place by the broad side of the table, leaned both hands on it, and stared at the empty table top, no longer covered that day with maps. For several seconds Hitler did not say anything. Then, suddenly he began to speak the first words: “My political testament.” After finishing his political testament, according to Junge, Hitler paused a brief moment and then began dictating his private will.[3]
Hitler’s private will was shorter. It explained his marriage, disposed of his property, and announced his impending death:
Although during the years of struggle I believed that I could not undertake the responsibility of marriage, now, before the end of my life, I have decided to take as my wife the woman who, after many years of true friendship, came to this city, already almost besieged, of own free will, in order to share my fate. She will go to her death with me at her own wish, as my wife. This will compensate us for what we both lost through my work in the service of my people.
Then after describing his possessions and their disposition, he named Martin Bormann as Executor, with “full legal authority to make all decisions.” He concluded: “My wife and I choose to die in order to escape the shame of overthrow or capitulation. It is our wish for our bodies to be burnt immediately on the place where I have performed the greater part of my daily work during the course of my 12 years’ service to my people.”[4]
The dictation was completed. He moved away from the table on which he had been leaning all this time and said, “Type that out for me at once in triplicate and then bring it in to me.” Junge felt that there was something urgent in his voice, and thought about the most important, most crucial document written by Hitler going out into the world without any corrections or thorough revision. She knew that “Every letter of birthday wishes to some Gauleiter, artist, etc., was polished up, improved, revised—but now Hitler had no time for any of that.” Junge took her notepad and typewriter across the hall to type up the political and private wills, knowing that Hitler wanted her to finish as fast as possible. The room she used was next to Reichs Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels’s private room. [5]
The next item of business was the Hitler-Braun marriage. Once Junge departed the conference room, guests began entering to attend the wedding ceremony. The ceremony took place probably at some point between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. The ceremony lasted no longer than 10 minutes. They then withdrew into their private apartments for a wedding breakfast. Shortly afterward, Bormann, Goebbels, Magda Goebbels, and the secretaries Christian and Junge, were invited into the private suite.
Junge would not come right away as she was typing across the hall. At some point during the party, Junge walked across the corridor to express her congratulations to the newlyweds and wish them luck. She stayed for less than 15 minutes and then returned to her typing.
For part of the time, General of Infantry Hans Krebs, Lt. Gen. Wilhelm Burgdorf, and Lt. Col. Nicholaus von Below (Hitler’s Luftwaffe adjutant) joined the party, as did Werner Naumann (state secretary in the Ministry of Propaganda), Arthur Axmann (Reich youth leader), Ambassador Walter Hewel (permanent representative of Foreign Ministry to Hitler at Fuehrer headquarters), Hitler’s valet Linge, SS-Maj. Otto Guensche (personal adjutant to Hitler), and Manzialy, the cook. They sat for hours, drinking champagne and tea, eating sandwiches, and talking. Hitler spoke again of his plans of suicide and expressed his belief that National Socialism was finished and would never revive (or would not be resurrected soon), and that death would be a relief to him now that he had been deceived and betrayed by his best friends. [6]
Hitler left the party three times to ask how Junge had gotten in her typing. According to Junge, Hitler would look in and say “Are you ready?” and she said, “No my Fuehrer, I am not ready yet.” Bormann and Goebbels also kept coming to see if she was finished. These comings and goings made Junge nervous and delayed the process, increasing her distress about the whole situation, and she made several typographical errors. Those were later crossed out in ink. Also complicating her task was the need to add to the political testament the names of some appointments of the new government under Adm. Karl Doenitz. During the course of the wedding party, Hitler discussed and negotiated the matter with Bormann and Goebbels. While Junge was typing the clean copies of the political testament from her shorthand notes, Goebbels or Bormann came in alternately to give her the names of the ministers of the future government, a process that lasted until she had finished typing. Toward 5 a.m., Junge typed the last of the three copies each of the political testament and personal will. They were timed at 4 a.m., as that was when she had begun typing the first copy of the political testament.
Just as she finished, Goebbels came to her for the documents, almost tearing the last piece of paper from the typewriter. She gave them to him without having a chance to review the final product. She asked Goebbels whether they still wanted her, and he said, “no, lie down and have a rest.” The wedding party was ending, and Goebbels took the copies of the documents to Hitler. The documents were ready to be signed. First Hitler signed the personal will, followed by the witnesses Bormann, Goebbels, and von Below. Hitler and witnesses Goebbels, Bormann, Burgdorf, and Krebs then signed the political testament. [7]
At around 6am on April 29 the regular intense Russian artillery bombardment began with the whole area around the Reich Chancellery and the government district coming under fire. Then in the early morning hours the Soviets launched their all-out offensive against the center of Berlin. Soon the front line was now only some 450 yards from the Chancellery. [8]
Hitler now, in the early morning hours, wanted the three copies of his political testament and private will to be taken out of Berlin and delivered, to Grand Admiral Doenitz and Field Marshal Ferdinand Schoerner (then commander of Army Group Center in Bohemia – who would become the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army by Hitler’s political testament). The first person summoned to serve as a courier was thirty-year old Major Willi Johannmeier, Hitler’s adjutant to the Army. At this point he resided in the air-raid shelter under the new Reichs Chancellery, near Hitler’s bunker.
At about 8am Burgdorf sent for Johannmeier and told him that an important mission had been entrusted to him. Like Johannmeier, Burgdorf’s room was in the shelter of the new Reichs Chancellery. He was to carry a copy of Hitler’s political testament and private will out of Berlin, through the Russian lines, and deliver them to Field Marshal Schoerner. With him would go two other messengers, bearing similar documents. These were SS-Colonel Wilhelm Zander (an aide to Bormann, representing Bormann) and Heinz Lorenz (an official of the Propaganda Ministry, as representative of Goebbels). These two men would receive separate instructions. Johannmeier was charged to escort the party on their journey through enemy lines. Burgdorf then gave him the documents he was to carry, along with a covering letter from himself to Schoerner:
Führer’s HQ April 29, 1945
Dear Schoerner
Attached I send you by safe hands the Testament of our Fuehrer, who wrote it today after the shattering news of the treachery of the RF SS [Himmler]. It is his unalterable decision. The Testament is to be published as soon as the Fuehrer orders it, or as soon as his death is confirmed.
All good wishes, and Heil Hitler!
Yours,
Wilhelm Burgdorf
Maj. Johannmeier will deliver the Testament.
About the time Burgdorf was meeting with Johannmeier, or perhaps later, Bormann summoned Zander, who, like Johannmeier, resided in the nearby shelter under the new Reichs Chancellery. Bormann gave him his instructions, including that he was to take copies of Hitler’s private will and political testament to Doenitz. When Zander expressed his desire to stay, Bormann went to Hitler and explained Zander’s wish. Hitler said he must go and Bormann conveyed this to Zander. Thereupon he handed Zander copies of Hitler’s political and private testaments, and the certificate of marriage of Hitler and Eva Braun. To cover these documents Bormann scribbled a short note to Doenitz: “Dear Grand Admiral,-Since all divisions have failed to arrive, and our position seems hopeless, the Fuehrer dictated last night the attached political Testament. Heil Hitler.-Yours, Bormann.” After receiving the documents from Bormann, Zander sewed them in his clothing later that morning.
Meanwhile Johannmeier had found Lorenz and told him that a special mission awaited him. Lorenz went to breakfast where he met Zander, who gave him a similar message, and advised him to go to Goebbels or Bormann at once. Lorenz reported to Goebbels sometime before 10am, and was told to go to Bormann and then return. From Bormann, Lorenz received copies of Hitler’s personal and political testaments. Bormann told Lorenz that he had been given this mission because as a young man with plenty of initiative, it was considered that he had a good chance of getting through. On his return, Goebbels gave his Appendix [to Hitler’s Political Testament] to him. Where Goebbels told him to take it is not totally clear. It seems that he was to take them to Doenitz if possible, or failing him, the nearest German High Command, and if all else failed, he was to publish the wills for historical purposes, and ultimately, it appears that the documents were to end up at the Party Archives in Munich.
When Johannmeier went to see Hitler around 9am he had the will in his (Johannmeier) possession. Hitler told him that this testament must be brought out of Berlin at any price, that Schoerner must receive it. Hitler expressed his opinion that Johannmeier would succeed in the task and once again stressed the importance of the will reaching the destination which he ordered. Johannmeier said they both realized that they would not see each other again and that this influenced the tone in which they said goodbye. Hitler spoke very cordially. Hitler shook his hand. Johannmeier realized that Hitler was going to die. [9]
While Johannmeier, Zander, and Lorenz were getting their instructions, the Russian attack drew ever relentlessly near the bunker. At about 9am the Russian artillery fire suddenly stopped, and shortly afterwards runners reported to the Bunker that the Russians were advancing with tanks and infantry towards the Wilhelmplatz. It grew quite silent in the bunker and there was a great tension among its occupants. [10]
About 10am, SS Brigadefuehrer Wilhelm Mohnke, the commandant of the Chancellery, rang Guensche and informed him that Russian tanks were advancing into Wilhelmstrasse and towards Anhalt station. Guensche reported this to Hitler, who ordered Mohnke to come to him. When Mohnke arrived, Hitler, in the presence of Krebs, Goebbels and Bormann, asked him immediately how long his forces could hold out against the Russians capturing the bunker. Mohnke replied that unless he received heavy weapons, principally anti-tank weapons and sufficient ammunition, he could only hold out for another 2-3 days at most. At this point, according to Mohnke, the mood of all the leaders was gloomy and “all looked to Adolf Hitler and felt doomed.” [11]
Later in the morning Junge went back to Hitler’s bunker, in order to see whether any changes had taken place. She saw messengers from the fronts coming and going, Hitler was uneasy and walked from one room to another. Hitler told her he would wait until the couriers had arrived to their destinations with the testaments and then would commit suicide.[12]
During the morning General Krebs described to Major Freytag von Loringhoven, his adjutant, the profound disillusionment of Hitler. After the failure of all his effort, Hitler had positively decided to end his life.[13]
At noon, with the Russians closing in on the bunker, Hitler held his situation conference. Joining Hitler were Bormann, Krebs, Burgdorf, Goebbels, and a few others. During the briefing Hitler was informed that the Soviet forces had begun an encircling attack on the remnants of the Citadel from three sides and resistance could not be maintained much longer. Krebs added that there was no news of the relief Army.[14]
At about noon, Lorenz, in civilian clothes, Zander in his SS uniform, and Johannmeier in military uniform, accompanied by a corporal Heinz Hummerich (a clerk in the Adjutancy of the Fuehrer Headquarters), left the Bunker. Penetrating three Russian rings thrown around the center of the city, they reached Pichelsdorf (at the north end of Havel Lake) by around 4pm or 5pm, , where a battalion of Hitler Youth was holding the bridge against the expected arrival of the relief army. There they slept till night. [15]
Footnotes
[1] Anton Joachimsthaler, The Last Days of Hitler: Legend, Evidence and Truth (London: Cassell, 2000), p. 125; Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, In the Bunker with Hitler: 23 July 1944-29 April 1945 (New York: Pegasus Books, 2006), p. 168; Gerhard Boldt, Hitler’s Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account, trans, by Sandra Bance, (Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2005), p. 169.
[2] Erich Kern, “In the Bunker for the Last Battle,” Appendix 1 to Erich Kempka, I Was Hitler’s Chauffeur: The Memoirs of Erich Kempka, trans. By Geoffrey Brooks (London: Frontline Books, 2010), p. 141; Joachimsthaler, The Last Days of Hitler, p. 125; Joachim Fest, Inside Hitler’s Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich, trans. By Margot Bettauer Dembo (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Girousx, 2004), p. 94.
[3] 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, August 30, 1946, p. 3, File: XA085512, Junge, Gertrude, Intelligence and Investigative Dossiers Personal Files, 1977-2004 (NAID 645054), Record Group 319, (the Junge file, while part of the Army CIC Personal Files is described with another National Archives Identifying Number: 12191624); [Interrogation of] Gertraud [Gertrude] Junge, Munich, February 7, 1948, pp. 4, 31-32, 35, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; Traudl Junge, Until the Final Hour: Hitler’s last secretary, ed. By Melissa Mueller and trans. By Anthea Bell (London: Phoenix, 2004), pp. 182-183..
[4] Col. C. R. Tuff, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Allied Force Headquarters, Combined Weekly Intelligence Summary No. 60, For week ending February 27, 1946, Part II-General Intelligence, “The Discovery of Hitler’s Wills,” File: Combined Weekly Intelligence Summary, Allied Force Headquarters (NAID 2152314), Publications (“P”) Files, 1946-1951, RG 319; [Interrogation of] Gertraud [Gertrude] Junge, Munich, February 7, 1948, p. 32, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University.
[5] [Interrogation of] Gertraud [Gertrude] Junge, Munich, February 7, 1948, p. 34, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; Junge, Until the Final Hour, p. 184.
[6] Points emerging from special interrogation of Else Krueger, September 25, 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 POW Interrogations, 1943-1945 (NAID 2790598) RG 165; [Interrogation of] Erwin Jakubeck, Munich, February 6, 1948, p. 22, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; Junge, Until the Final Hour, p. 184; H. R. Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947), pp. 174-175, 174, n. 13; Heinz Linge, With Hitler to the End: The Memoirs of Adolf Hitler’s Valet, trans. By Geoffrey Brooks (London: Frontline Books and New York: Skyhorse Publsihing, 2009), p. 194; James P. O’Donnell, The Berlin Bunker (London: Arrow Books, 1979), p. 188; Henrik Eberle and Matthias Uhl, eds., The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin from the Interrogations of Hitler’s Personal Aides, trans. By Giles MacDonogh (New York: Public Affairs, 2005), p. 263; Anthony Read and David Fisher, The Fall of Berlin (New York: Da Capo Press, 1995), pp. 443, 444.
[7] 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, August 30, 1946, p. 4, File: XA085512, Junge, Gertrude, Intelligence and Investigative Dossiers Personal Files, 1977-2004 (NAID 645054) Record Group 319, (the Junge file, while part of the Army CIC Personal Files is described with another National Archives Identifying Number: 12191624); Col. C. R. Tuff, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Allied Force Headquarters, Combined Weekly Intelligence Summary No. 60, For week ending February 27, 1946, Part II-General Intelligence, “The Discovery of Hitler’s Wills,” File: Combined Weekly Intelligence Summary (NAID 2152314); [Interrogation of] Gertraud [Gertrude] Junge, Munich, February 7, 1948, pp. 34-35, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; Junge, Until the Final Hour, p. 184; Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler, p. 182.
[8] Boldt, Hitler’s Last Days, pp. 172-173; Eberle and Uhl, eds., The Hitler Book, p. 264; Joachimsthaler, The Last Days of Hitler, p. 131.
[9] Text of letter from Gen. Burgdorf to Field Marshal Schoerner accompanying Hitler’s Political Testament (Johannmeier’s copy), Appendix to Third Interrogation of Willi Johannmeier, January 1, 1946, at CIB, BAOR [British Army of the Rhine], File: Johannmeier, Willi – XE013274 (NAID 7359546); 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, August 30, 1946, p. 4, File: XA085512, Junge, Gertrude, Intelligence and Investigative Dossiers Personal Files, 1977-2004 (NAID 645054), Record Group 319 (the Junge file, while part of the Army CIC Personal Files is described with another National Archives Identifying Number: 12191624); Col. C. R. Tuff, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Allied Force Headquarters, Combined Weekly Intelligence Summary No. 60, For week ending February 27, 1946, Part II-General Intelligence, “The Discovery of Hitler’s Wills,” [based on information supplied by Control Commission (BE) Intelligence Bureau] File: Combined Weekly Intelligence Summary (NAID 2152314); Third Interrogation of Willi Johannmeier, January 1, 1946, at CIB, BAOR [British Army of the Rhine], File: Johannmeier, Willi – XE013274 (NAID 7359546); Interrogation of General Eckhard Christian and Major Willy Johannmeyer [Johannmeier], Americana Club, Nuremberg, 1330-1830 hours, March 10, 1948, pp. 36, 37, Interrogations of Hitler Associates, Musmanno Collection, Gumberg Library Digital Collections, Duquesne University; Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler, pp. 187-189; Manuscript Statement by Hitler’s Aide-de-Camp, Otto Guensche, May 17, 1945 in V. K. Vinogrado, J. F. Pogonyi, and N. V. Teptzov, Hitler’s Death: Russia’s Last Great Secret from the Files of the KGB (London: Chaucer Press, 2005), p. 163; Herman Rothman, ed. by Helen Fry, Hitler’s Will, The History Press (Glocestershire, United Kingdom, 2009), p. 101.
[10] Boldt, Hitler’s Last Days, p. 172; Eberle and Uhl, eds., The Hitler Book, p. 265.
[11] Handwritten Statement by the Commander of the “Adolf Hitler” Division, Chief of the Central Berlin Defense Region, Wilhelm Mohnke, Moscow, May 18, 1945 in Vinogrado, Pogonyi, and Teptzov, Hitler’s Death, pp. 177, 178. According to another source, Mohnke said a day at most. Eberle and Uhl, eds., The Hitler Book, p. 265.
[12] 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, August 30, 1946, p. 4, File: XA085512, Junge, Gertrude, Intelligence and Investigative Dossiers Personal Files, 1977-2004 (NAID 645054), Record Group 319 (the Junge file, while part of the Army CIC Personal Files is described with another National Archives Identifying Number: 12191624).
[13] Freytag von Loringhoven, In the Bunker with Hitler, p. 170.
[14] Points emerging from special interrogation of Else Krueger, September 25, 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 POW Interrogations, 1943-1945 (NAID 2790598); Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler, p. 191; Joachimsthaler, The Last Days of Hitler, p. 131.
[15] Points emerging from special interrogation of Else Krueger, September 25, 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 POW Interrogations, 1943-1945 (NAID 2790598); Col. C. R. Tuff, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Allied Force Headquarters, Combined Weekly Intelligence Summary No. 60, For week ending February 27, 1946, Part II-General Intelligence, “The Discovery of Hitler’s Wills,” [based on information supplied by Control Commission (BE) Intelligence Bureau] File: Combined Weekly Intelligence Summary (NAID 2152314); Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler, pp. 189-190.