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Death in the Bunker: The True Story of Hitler's Downfall

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You could see this as a dry documentary. There's barely an intro, the presentation is plain, and the first few minutes are boring. Instead of subtitles for the eyewitness accounts, there are English voiceovers overlapping with the German. But as it continues, it becomes compelling. There's footage I'd never seen before and interviews of people physically close to Hitler to the end -- his female secretary (Traudl Junge, who took down his last will and testament), his adjutant, and his bodyguard.

It focuses on Hitler's last days in his bunker under the Chancellery. He had just turned 56 and was clearly a physical and psychological wreck after five and a half years of war. They said that in the past he had never proposed marriage to Eva Braun because he was devoted solely to Germany, but after he belatedly accepted that Germany was lost, he married her. This was April 29; they committed suicide on April 30.

They give so many details of the goings-on in the Führerbunker -- how well-stocked they were with food and luxuries while outside the Germans were desperately eating anything as the Russians had already occupied most of Berlin; how Hitler inquired closely about the plans of his staff to escape Berlin through the Red Army's lines; how a nurse explained to him the best way to kill oneself by both taking a potassium cyanide pill and shooting one's head with a pistol...

Among the footage that left a deep impression:

- Eva Braun, in color

- the corpses of the six Goebbels children that their parents had poisoned rather than have live in a world without Nazism, all of them laid out side by side

- in color, Molotov touring Berlin

- the artifacts that the KGB had kept hidden for decades after collection from the cremated remains at the Chancellery (Hitler's and Braun's dental samples; Frau Goebbels's dentures; the brace used by Dr. Goebbels for his club foot...)

Who does not know about Hitler? There have been so many biographies and even fictional work written about the man (think of Mailer's latest work). But not many have explored in great detail his last days before he committed suicide in the Berlin bunker with his wife Eva Braun and family of his minister of propaganda. This is documentary with the first hand account from Hitler's closest associates (errand boy, secretary, body guard) during his last days. We learn that he was in terrible physical condition, looking pale and his hand shaking as if he has Parkinson's desease. We also learn about Eva Braun's determination to make her own mark in her life by accepting to die along Adolf. It is also eeerie to see that Russian government still has carefully preserved artifacts from that day that includes Hitler's uniforms, personal possessions and dental records for everyone who died that day. Pictures of six dead Goehring children are cold reminder of how far indoctrination and unfortunately misplaced ideals can go. This is one of the rare documentaries with film showing Hitler's closest military associates such as: Speer, Himler and Goebbels. We even see Eva Braun's sister in her civil wedding ceremony to Hitler's high ranking officer who was executed by SS only a few days before Hitler's suicide. Absolutely amazing documentary about the last days of Nazi Party before final surrender that will mark the end of WWII.

Death in the Bunker is a fine documentary that offers extensive rare footage of Hitler's last days in power when he was trying desperately and futilely to keep Russian forces from taking Berlin. We see rare footage of Hitler in the bunker; and there is footage of the Russians taking the outskirts of Berlin and then Berlin itself house by house. Some of the footage is quite graphic. In addition, there are insightful interviews with a former "errand boy" (Armin D. Lehmann), one of Hitler's former secretaries (Traudl Junge) and Rochus Misch, a man who was primarily a bodyguard for Hitler. All in all, it's quite informative.

The World War Two footage is in black and white although some of it is in color; this adds to the narration that tells the story of power plays within The Third Reich; how Hitler planned his own suicide without any consideration for the welfare of the German people (he blamed them as well as everyone else for Germany's losing the war at the very end); and we learn about the atmosphere in the bunker during those last days of World War Two when Germany was still under Hitler's rule. Of course, there's much more discussed in this film including Hitler's relationship with his lover Eva Braun.

I recommend this documentary for anyone studying World War Two; and this is especially good for people interesting in or studying Hitler's fall at the end of the war.

2006 Documentary DVD. Includes interviews with eyewitnesses: Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, Armin D. Lehmann, Traudl Junge (the youngest of Hitler's personal secretaries), Rochus Misch (telephone operator and member of the LSSAH bodyguard detachment) and SS Prof. Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck (who was able from a medical standpoint to give opinions as to Hitler's ravaged physical condition and traits of Parkinson's disease. All were eyewitnesses to Hitler's last days in the Berlin bunker and life in and around the bunker complex during that chaotic time. The interviews are presented with English voiceover's overlapping with the spoken German.

The dvd has standard black and white footage of area, people and events, but also some color film shot by Eva Braun of Hitler and others of the inner circle, which gives the viewer a more modern feel to what they are seeing. There is also post combat footage in Berlin, showing the corpses of the Goebbels with their six children and the victorious Russians. Artifacts of Goebbels and Hitler from the Soviet archives (from the early SMERSH investigation of Hitler's death and the subsequent investigation, "Operation Myth" by the Soviet NKVD) are shown. Therefore, it does cover the lesser known post-war history of the Berlin bunker for the general viewer. Otherwise, besides giving a visual overview of events, for the serious student of Hitler or World War II, the dvd doesn't really provide new substantial information one cannot find in books such as:

"The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth" by Anton Joachimsthaler";
"The Bunker" by James O'Donnell;
"Inside Hitler's Bunker" by Joachim Fest;
"Until the Final Hour" (memoirs of Hitler's secretary) by Traudl Junge;
and Heinz Linge's memoir, "With Hitler to the End".

ADOLF HITLER (1889-1945) spent his ten days in a bunker underneat the chancellery of the Reich . Unwilling to face the consequences of defeat , the dictator ended his own life on April 30 , 1945 in this fortifield undergroun complex . Featuring exclusive interview with the last survivors of Hitler's inner Cirkle under extensive archoval footage , DEATH IN THE BUNKER is an illuminating look at the Führer's final decisions in preparation for his suicide . Includes Exclusive interviews with : BERND FREYTAG VON LORINGHOVEN (1914-2007) Tank Commander and adjutant to two of Hitlers generals and author of IN HITLER'S BUNKER . ARMIN D. LEHMAN ( 1928 - 2008 ) Hitler's Courier responsible for carrying orders from the Führerbunker , Author of HITLER'S LAST COURIER . TRAUDL JUNGE (1920-2002) Hitler's secretary to whom he dictaded his will prior to his suicide . ROCHUS MISH (1917 - ) Bodyguard and courier to Hitler . A high Quality transfer from Spiegel TV .

Quite a bit of relatively rare footage here, such as the Russians of today showing us Hitler's remains and those of Goebbels and Eva Braun, which were taken at the end of WW2 and kept in Moscow by the KGB. We don't see much of the bunker itself, which was almost destroyed, but we do see a lot of footage of fighting in Berlin, as well as rare footage of Eva Braun with Hitler, and her sister's wedding. Great interviews with Hitler's adjutant, bodyguard and secretary, too. I would have appreciated more comparisons with these same sites today. What do they look like? Apparently, the bunker is covered by a parking lot. The Germans don't want to make much of a museum of their worst era, I'm sure.

Good info,he was a nut and it is still hard to believe so many still follow him.