Russia's FSB Releases Testimony Of Private Pilot Adolf Hitler About Nazi Leaders' Last Hours In Bunker In Berlin

Adolf Hitler and Hans Baur (center) (Source: Russian Federal Security Service via TASS)

JAKARTA - The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has released several classified documents from the investigation files of the private pilot of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler who is also the Commander of the Fuhrer Squadron, Hans Baur.

The document contains Baur's testimony about the last days and last hours of the Nazi top brass, who hid in a concrete bunker under the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany.

The FSB public relations center said in a note accompanying the disclosed documents, officers of the Soviet military counter-intelligence service Smersh (Russian abbreviation for Death to Spies), of the troops of the 1st Belarusian Front which entered Berlin in the spring of 1945 had been given the special task of tracking down and capturing Hitler and other leaders of Nazi Germany.

The Smersh officer personally participated in the attack on the Reichstag and the nearby Fuhrerbunker, the fortified underground sanctuary, where Hitler and the Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels spent the final months of the war.

"After the Fuhrerbunker was occupied on May 2, 1945, and the Smersh operation arrested all SS personnel who tried to escape from Berlin, a thorough campaign began to gather information about the possible hiding places of figures of the Third Reich", the FSB said, releasing TASS on April 29.

"Among those who witnessed Hitler's last days were the head of defense of the Fortress sector (Reich Chancellor and bunker) Wilhelm Mohnke, head of Hitler's bodyguard Hans Rattenhuber, Hitler's servant Heinz Linge, personal aide Otto Gunsche and private pilot and squadron commander 'Fuhrer' Hans Mix", continued the FSB.

All were repeatedly asked about the circumstances of Hitler's death. Their testimonies are kept in the FSB Central Archives, the Russian State Archives as well as several other cases, where they were presented in the capacity of war criminals.

The translation of Baur's testimony, published for the first time on the FSB website, was taken from his investigative files kept at the FSB office in the Novgorod Region.

Adolf Hitler and Hans Baur (center) (Source: Russian Federal Security Service via TASS)

Baur's testimony

In his testimony, Baur said that on January 8-10, 1945, he was summoned from Munich to Hitler, who had returned to Berlin from East Prussia in early January.

"In Berlin, Hitler became more moody and withdrawn. He retired to his sanctuary most of the time", said Baur.

"I am summoned to him only when I am given the assignment to fly or asked for information, about the duration of the flight to one destination or another."

Also, Baur said Hitler "tried to create an impression of optimism and certainty about Germany's victory." Its supporters think that "it seems that Hitler still has some resources to bring the war to a successful conclusion." Some suspect new secret weapons, such as atomic bombs or "death rays".

When the Red Army reached the Oder, "the headquarters of the highest command began to feel doubts about whether a further presence in Berlin was worth it", and by mid-March, the adjutants had completed preparations to move the base to the coast of the Baltic Sea.

"By early April (1945), everything was ready to move the headquarters of the highest command to the north or the Berghof to the south", Baur said.

He kept several planes on alert, should Hitler decide to leave Berlin. In early April, aircraft from the "Führer squadron" were deployed to six airfields in Berlin. When the Red Army crossed the Oder, a road near the Brandenburg Gate was turned into a runway.

"Every night, 4-5 planes carrying papers, baggage, and passengers leave Berlin for Berchtesgaden. Keeping in touch with the planes and returning them is the biggest problem", admits pilot Hitler.

Baur said the last time he saw the Nazi leader was on the day of the Fuhrer's suicide, April 30. Hitler invited him to his room and gave him the portrait of Emperor Frederick the Great by Rembrandt that hung on the wall.

It is known that Baur tried to escape from Berlin, but he was later injured on May 2 and taken prisoner by the Red Army.