Doctor Goebbels: His Life & Death

restlessly up and down smoking,like a party host discreetly waiting for his last guests to leave. Hitler’s remaining staffsaid their farewells. He pulled a wry grin at Traudl Junge and wished her well. ‘Youmight just make it,’ he appraised. He told Hans Baur, the pilot, ‘If you should reachDönitz, tell him of our life down here these last few days.’ At eight-fifteen he calledin Schwägermann, as the last squads of men and women, bristling with machinepistols, carbines, and grenades, made their way past to the breakout assembly pointin the coal bunker, and told him, ‘We’ve got to hurry now, there’s very little time.’He added, ‘Schwägermann, this was the worst treachery of all. The generals havebetrayed our Führer. It’s the end of everything.’ Again he implored his adjutant, ‘Youwill burn our bodies—are you capable of that?’ He gave him the silver-framed Hitlerportrait that had stood on his desk for nearly twenty years. Magda took the S.S.Hauptsturmführer’s hand and said, ‘If you ever see Harald again, greet him from usand say that we went honourably to our deaths.’29Schwägermann directed Rach to fetch the gasoline. The stocky, dark-complexioneddriver returned with an orderly, probably S.S. Scharführer Ochs, carryingseveral canisters and a small swastika flag.Magda turned to her husband. ‘Don’t let’s die down here in the bunker,’ she said.‘No, of course not. We’ll go up into the garden.’With a greater sense of history than of the realities of the situation outside, Magdasaid: ‘Not the garden. Wilhelm Platz—that’s where you have spent your workinglife.’934 GOEBBELS. MASTERMIND OF THE THIRD REICHHe went to the coat-rack, took his trench coat, adjusted the dark blue spotted scarfround his neck, carefully pulled on his yellow-leather gloves, and donned his lightgrey snap brimmed fedora. He put the pistol into his pocket, offered Magda his arm.The couple emerged wordlessly from their room and passed Schwägermann andOchs as though already ghosts.THE rest can only be pieced together from the uncertain evidence of the Soviet autopsies.30 These afford no real clue as to who died first or even how. The Russiansfound the splinters of a poison phial in the right side of Dr Goebbels’ jaw. Magda toohad swallowed poison. Like Hitler, he had probably also shot himself. Schwägermanncertainly heard one shot—others heard two; on Schwägermann’s orders Ochs firedtwo coups de grace into the motionless bodies.31 The S.S. officers made only cursoryattempts to burn the remains. A Walther pistol was found near them a few days laterwhen the Russians tipped the two corpses onto a red and gold door ripped out of thechancellery building. The corpses were loaded onto a truck and driven away.There was one feature about the little doctor, even in death, that caught the Sovietpathologist’s attention. His fists were raised, as though spoiling for a fight.32 Perhaps,somewhere, for Dr Joseph Goebbels the dialectical battle was already beginning anew.1 Author’s interview of Günsche, and letter, Oct 16, 1968; and Statement by Erich Kempka,chauffeur, on Hitler’s last days, Berchtesgaden, Jun 20, 1945 (Pennsylvania Univ. Libr.,No.46M–15).2 USFET MISC special interrogation of SS Hauptsturmführer Günther Schwägermann,Jun 20, 1946 (NA file RG.332, Mis-Y; and Trevor Roper papers, IfZ, Irving collection).3 Interrogation of Axmann, Apr 27, 1948 (Hoover Libr., K Frank Korf papers).4 USFET special interrogation of Gerda Christian, Apr 25, 1946 (Trevor Roper papers,IfZ, Irving collection; and NA file RG.319, IRR, XE.009487).5 The Krebs/Chuikov/JG negotiations are well researched in Erich Kuby, Die Russen inBerlin, 1945 (Munich, 1965); Der Spiegel, No.24, 1965; there is further detail on them inBezymenski, op. cit.—On Krebs, formally Chef der Führungsgruppe des Generalstabs desGOEBBELS. MASTERMIND OF THE THIRD REICH 935Heeres, see CSDIC(UK) report SIR.1593, Apr 1, 1945. On May 12, 1945 ‘Franz’ stated that‘Pfiffi’ Krebs spoke fluent Russian and ‘has been received by Stalin personally umpteen times.’CSDIC(UK) report, GRGG.292.6 British interrogations of Else Krüger Sep 19, 1945 and Mar 27, 1945 (Trevor Roperpapers, IfZ, Irving collection).7 Statement by Erich Kempka, chauffeur, on Hitler’s last days, Bechtesgaden, Jun 20, 1945(Pennsylvania Univ. Libr., No.46M–15); SS Brigadeführer Johann Rattenhuber, chief of Hitler’ssecurity, told Hugh Trevor-Roper on Oct 30, 1955 that SS Stubaf Franz Schädle hadburied the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun (IfZ, ZS.637). Schädle, injured in one foot, killedhimself soon after.8 Axmann.9 Kempka.10 USFET CIC interrogation of Gertrud Junge, Aug 30, 1946 (Trevor Roper papers, IfZ,Irving collection).11 Originals and code-strips of these telegrams are in BA file R.62/8, and see NA film T77,roll 867.—Cf. Walther Lüdde-Neurath, Regierung Dönitz. Die letzten Tage des Dritten Reiches(Göttingen, 1964), 130.12 The clothing was listed in the Soviet autopsy report on JG, May 9, 1945; Bezymenski,op.cit., 111ff.13 Else Krüger, cited by Associated Press, Jun 1, 1946, and British interrogations of Sep 19,1945 and Mar 27, 1946 (Trevor Roper papers, IfZ, Irving collection); USFET special interrogationof Gerda Christian, Apr 25, 1946 (Ibid.; and NA file RG.319, IRR, XE.009487);14 Interview of Axmann, May 7, 1991.15 JG to Dönitz, May 1, 1945, rec’d 3:18 P.M. Dönitz’ file copy is in BA file R.62/8, and seePRO file FO.371/46914.16 British interrogations of Else Krüger Sep 19, 1945 and Mar 27, 1945 (Trevor Roperpapers, IfZ, Irving collection); and statement of General Antonov, commanding 301st Guardsdivisions, publ. in Der Spiegel, No.24, 1965.17 Soviet interrogation of SS Sturmbannführer Helmut Kunz, May 7, 1945. Hans Bauer, inIch flog Mächtige der Erde (Kempten, 1956), 273, wrote that Magda had told him she hadselected a dentist to give her children the fatal injections.18 At the time that Gerda Christian left, 5 P.M., the children were dead but JG still alive.19 Soviet interrogation of SS Sturmbannführer Helmut Kunz.20 Besymenski published the autopsy reports (with details of the nightdresses, etc.)21 In his first interrogation Kunz was less specific than in his second (on May 19) aboutStumpfegger’s role as the actual killer, not wanting to incriminate him; Stumpfegger hadhowever killed himself on May 2, 1945 (the next day). An indirect version of Kunz’s testimonywas given by Soviet colonel Ivan Klimenko, who interrogated him, in Der Spiegel,No.19, May 5, 1965.22 Autopsy report on Hellmut.23 Heinz Linge, interrogated at Hamburg magistrate’s court, May 31, 1956 (IfZ, F82,Heiber papers).24 SS HStuf Alfred Rach, interview publ. in Pinguin