Twilight of Gutenberg

by Hitoshi Goto

  In Berlin, Bormann received the telegram and, furious, declared Göring a traitor and should be sentenced to death. He contacted the commander of the local SS division and ordered his arrest.

  Himmler too lost the confidence of Hitler, and maybe to protect himself offered peace to the Allies via the Swedish Red Cross.

  †

  From Speer’s point of view, Hitler was like a shell emptied of its soul. His eyes were hollow, and his back was even more hunched over than it had been three days ago.

  Hitler and Speer spent a final hour together as former friends. Hitler asked Speer whether he thought he should stay in Berlin or flee south and, contrary to Bormann’s wishes, Speer told him he should stay in Berlin.

  “I know,” Hitler responded. “I have already decided to stay. I just wanted to hear your opinion.”

  After his meeting with the Führer, Speer met Göbbels, and was then summoned to Eva Braun’s room.

  She must be thirty-three by now. To Speer, however, she hadn’t lost any of her freshness. They spoke about various things for over two hours. If this woman from Bavaria hadn’t met Hitler, she should have been able to live her life as an ordinary German woman. As it was, though, she was spending her last moments in this underground bunker in Berlin.

  She said clearly, “No, he told me to go back to Munich. But I refused. We will stay here together, and will end our lives. That’s what I came here for. Even so, I’m happy. My only regret is…”

  “Romulus?”

  “Yes. But I’m glad that he’s not here any longer. Look at Magda. Her six children have been brought here and will die here with their parents, you know…” she said, then buried her head in Speer’s shoulder and burst into tears.

  On 24 April, Speer returned to the Brandenburg Gate just before four in the morning, and boarded the waiting single-engine aircraft. The road had been converted into a runway complete with lines of red lamps. The plane’s engines fired up, it rushed by the red lights towards the Victory Column, and lifted off into the air.

  Memorandum

  After saying goodbye to Speer, I went to meet the Swedish art dealer in the park. Judging by the pressing state of the war, it was highly likely this would be our last meeting.

  I informed him about the communication from Admiral Voss. His eyes glittered.

  “So they are about to move. Thanks for getting hold of that information. Early May from Norway, a U977. That’s all we need,” he said, shaking my hand.

  “I bet it’s Hitler himself they’re getting out, though.”

  “I think Hitler will decide his fate lies in Berlin. He won’t go to Japan, or anywhere else for that matter.”

  “The Nazis are finished. Most of the top brass fled south after Hitler’s birthday. The only ones left in Berlin are Bormann and Göbbels.”

  “You know a lot!”

  “I bumped into Speer just now. He came especially to say goodbye to Hitler. He’s probably still at the Reich Chancellery now.”

  He appeared to be surprised that I was acquainted with Speer, so I briefly explained how we’d met.

  Apparently satisfied with my explanation, he said, “More importantly, what are you going to do now?”

  “I’ve been appointed a diplomat, which means I’ll be staying there until the end of the war,” I said, pointing in the direction of the embassy, although it wasn’t visible from where we were. “That will be the safest thing to do.”

  “Really? I’m grateful to you for that. I was feeling really responsible for having detained you here this long.”

  “Don’t worry about it. There’s still some more work I have to do here.”

  “Other than this mission?” he asked dubiously, but when I nodded wordlessly, he didn’t try to pursue it any further.

  “What about you?”

  He looked uncomfortable. “My office on Nollendorfplatz was bombed out in an air raid, and I’ve been living the other side of the River Spree. I’ve got a wireless hidden in the basement, and have been sending messages from there.

  “Isn’t that dangerous?”

  “Yes, it is. Actually, I’ve only started using a wireless quite recently. The Gestapos are too good at intercepting messages. I never know when they’ll trace something back to me, so I always used to use a courier from the Swedish Embassy. They would take a letter to Stockholm, and send a wireless message to London from there.”

  “I see.”

  “In any case, spying isn’t possible in the current situation. I’ll be sticking it out in a bunker two floors underground too, you know. The British Army knows where I am, so once Berlin falls I’m sure they’ll quickly come to my rescue. You’re welcome to come with me, but it’s true the embassy is probably safer.”

  He took a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was a map.

  “I’ll give you this just in case you end up not being able to rely on the embassy to save you. Do you know where the River Spree is?”

  “Yes, it’s just to the north of here, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, due north.”

  “Given the way the war’s going, if you decide to escape on your own, the Moltke Bridge on the north side of the Tiergarten is too dangerous. Look further east than that.”

  I peered at the hand-drawn map.

  “Weidendammer Bridge?”

  “That’s right. Just to the right of it there’s an old building.” He marked it with a cross. “It’s been damaged in an air raid, but on the side facing away from the river there’s an entrance into the basement. It’s locked,” he said, taking a key out of his pocket. “This is the key. Once you open the door you’ll see a staircase going down to the basement. But it’s no ordinary basement—there’s diving gear and a Sleeping Beauty hidden there to enable you to escape.”

  “A Sleeping Beauty?”

  “A submergible kayak. The original kayaks were made by Eskimos with a wooden frame covered with sealskin, but the one we have prepared for you is more durable. It was modified from one that was made for operations against Japan in Australia. You can use it to escape from Berlin. Follow the river towards Potsdam. The river isn’t very deep, though, so be careful. And from there,” he said, handing me another map that covered a bigger area, “It comes out into the River Havel on this map. This river eventually meets the River Elbe, but someone will be waiting for you just before that, around here.”

  He marked the spot with a cross.

  “They’ll be waiting there until you arrive.”

  “Really?”

  I must have looked sceptical, because he said, “You don’t believe me?”

  “This is all for me?”

  “Of course. This is the promise we made to you in London. We have to honour our word. If we don’t, nobody will ever agree to risk their lives going into enemy territory.”

  “How long do I have to get there?”

  “Any time as long as the fighting doesn’t reach there. This escape route will be guaranteed until your safety has been confirmed in one way or another. You will know you’re in the right place when you see two big linden trees. There are thick grasses on the riverbank there so you’ll be able to hide. All you have to do is search the trunk of one of those trees for instructions as to what to do next.”

  For some reason I was moved to tears. I didn’t believe I would actually use this escape route, but wondered what the Japanese army would do in this situation. I was pretty sure I’d be left to my own fate in enemy territory.

  We hugged and wished each other a safe journey, then walked off in different directions.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said, turning back to me. “I found out about those words you asked me about last time.”

  “You did?” I stopped and turned to him.

  “They’re Yiddish, the language of the Jews.”

  “And what do they mean?”

/>   “Can’t breathe, and Help!” he said, his face dark.

  †

  In the morning of 25 April, I could intermittently hear the boom of guns even from my hotel room, but the Soviet forces hadn’t yet entered Berlin. When I went for a walk in the Tiergarten in the morning, I saw a number of German tanks waiting. I checked out of the hotel, and headed for the Japanese Embassy, where I intended to stay holed up until the end of the war.

  26-30 April 1945

  Berlin

  26 April. The Soviet forces were gradually drawing closer to the centre of Berlin, destroying buildings with their shelling as they went. The German forces took pot shots at them from between gaps in the rubble of the ruined buildings, slowing the pace of their advance. Nevertheless, the Soviets managed to capture the Tempelhof Airport south east of the city centre today.

  27 April, part of the German 12th Army was approaching Potsdam to the southwest of the city and a rumour was flying around that they were coming to the rescue, but in fact the 12th Army didn’t have the strength to advance any further, nor the will. The plan for the rescue of Berlin devised in Hitler’s bunker was nothing more than a concept. The defeated soldiers, who had even lost their equipment, were already talking about having lost the war. It was at this stage impossible to tell them to risk their lives to save the city.

  Meanwhile, the Soviet forces were already approaching Berlin’s last line of defence at the River Spree and Landwehr Canal to the north.

  That afternoon, it was discovered that Eva’s brother-in-law Hermann Fegelein, liaison officer and representative of the SS, had disappeared from Hitler’s underground bunker. He was arrested at home preparing to escape, and was shot the next day on Bormann’s orders.

  28 April. Completely surrounded, Berlin was steadily being squeezed from the north and south. German forces still held the area about 15 km east and west, and 2 or 3 km north and south of the Reich Chancellery. But they were already losing their capacity to resist even as the shelling continued.

  Midnight on 28 April. The news reached Hitler’s bunker that the Soviet forces were assembling in Potsdamer Platz.

  And before dawn on the twenty-ninth, Hitler married Eva Braun in a small conference room in the bunker. Göbbels and Bormann were the only ones in attendance.

  04:00. Hitler signed his official and private last will and testaments.

  At the same time, a Focke-Wulf FW200 Condor took off from an airstrip in Bavaria headed for Oslo escorted by ten fighter planes.

  On board was Romulus.

  †

  The Soviet Army started its final offensive on the twenty-ninth. It was planned for midday, after two hours of advance shelling. Units would be sent into the city centre from all directions.

  The 12th Army launched a counterattack from the west side of the encirclement at 08:00, but this was stopped by the Soviet forces with a continuous artillery bombardment beneath a blue sky.

  Before long the Soviet troops appeared on Wilhelmstrasse, to intense resistance by Germans forces. Ever since the Reichstag had been set on fire, its ruins had been protected by SS troops under the command of General Mohnke and was known as the fortified district. The garrison defending the bridge over the River Spree robustly resisted.

  In fact many of the soldiers defending the last German stronghold were foreign volunteers from various northern European countries including France, Belgium, and Holland. Were they to be caught alive by the enemy, they would probably meet a worse fate than dying fighting there, so ironically they fought more bravely than the German soldiers.

  30 April. At 06:00 Soviet soldiers advanced towards the metro on Friedrichstrasse east of the Reich Chancellery. Potsdamer Platz was completely surrounded, and the west side of the Tiergarten was occupied.

  From 08:30 the Soviet forces again began fierce shelling.

  At 10:00, they started the attack on the Reichstag.

  The enemy was already only 800 m south of the Reich Chancellery.

  By 11:00, Soviet troops were marching along Leipzigerstrasse south of the Reich Chancellery.

  And just before noon, Bormann came into Hitler’s living room, his face tense.

  “Mein Führer, I have some bad news. The plane carrying Romulus from Bavaria to Oslo has… disappeared. We sent an escort of ten fighter planes too, but they ran into a large squadron of Allied fighters, and after a fierce battle are thought to have crashed in the Harz mountains.”

  Hitler pressed his fingers to his temples. “Enough,” he said. “My son doesn’t have a future in any case. I had hoped…” His voice trailed off, then he announced solemnly, “My wife and I will commit suicide at 3 o’clock this afternoon.”

  Lunch started at one o’clock. Three secretaries attended the meal of soup, spaghetti with a light sauce, salad, and dessert, and it was over by two.

  Afterwards, Hitler’s secretary Gertraud “Traudl” Junge visited Eva in her bedroom. Eva gave her a silver-fox boa as a memento. Mrs. Junge, whose husband had just died the year before on the frontline in France, took it tenderly in both hands.

  15:00. All the personal staff in the bunker lined up in the corridor, the officers under Göbbels and Bormann on one side, and the secretaries on the other. In silence, Hitler and Eva shook hands with all of them in turn.

  Then they entered Hitler’s office, and locked the door.

  15:30. There was only a little time left to the couple after they retired into the green-and-white tiled office.

  The double doors had been closed. Now and then came the sound of exploding shells, like the beating of a drum. The only other audible noise was the low metallic hum of the ventilation fan.

  Eva, now Mrs. Hitler, sat down on a lounge chair, removed her shoes, and stretched her legs out on the cushion. Hitler sat down next to her.

  “My poor son… Romulus… departing this life before me,” she said tearfully.

  Hitler was looking at the portrait of Frederick the Great in silence.

  Eva pulled herself together. “But I still have hope. I still…”

  Hitler held her chin and put a capsule containing an amber liquid in her mouth. Eva bit into it, and then buried her head in Hitler’s shoulder, thrashing her legs in agony.

  With shaking hands, Adolf Hitler, the man who had once sought to rule the world, held the heavy Walther with 6.75 mm Luger to his right temple.

  Biting down on a cyanide capsule, he pulled the trigger.

  Memorandum

  I hadn’t taken even a step outside the embassy since taking refuge there, but Secretary Niiseki was as busy as ever gathering information. For my part, I had already passed on the necessary information to the British side, which gave me both a feeling of having accomplished my mission and a kind of sense of loss, but I was as curious as ever to learn where Romulus ended up being taken. I also had another big motive for not wanting to leave just yet.

  29 April, the Emperor’s birthday. The shelling had continued since morning, although I didn’t know to what extent there was fighting in the street.

  At around 11:00 the shelling stopped Secretary Niiseki and I came out of the bunker and were just about to go back into the embassy when a big hole opened up in one wall, probably from a shell.

  We were shocked to see a huge unexploded bomb lying just outside the entrance. It could explode at any time. It was extremely dangerous.

  Together, we gingerly picked it up and chanting “Essa, hossa” like palanquin bearers in feudal times we carried it over the road and left it in the Tiergarten.

  We were on our way back to the embassy when a big black limousine drove past right before my eyes. It was polished to a shine and was completely incongruous in the current situation.

  My eyes met those of the driver and the car abruptly came to a halt.

  He got out of the car and came over to me with arms spread wide, apparently delighted to see me.<
br />
  It was Sonnenberger.

  “There’s something I have to talk to you about.” I almost shouted at him. “Let me come with you!”

  “Are you really sure you want to come with me?” he said hesitatingly, but then indicated for me to get in the car.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said to Secretary Niiseki who was standing there open-mouthed, and got into Sonnenberger’s car.

  There was something I just had to confirm with Sonnenberger. This was why I’d stayed in Berlin. I couldn’t believe it was just a coincidence I’d run into him here today.

  He immediately set off.

  “We never know when the Soviets will start shelling us again. I have to get back.”

  “Where to?”

  “I’m currently living like a mole in the bunker by Voss Strasse, attached to the Führerbunker. It’s very close by the way the crow flies,” he told me.

  The streets were hard to pass due to the debris from buildings hit by shells, but Sonnenberger skilfully guided the car past them.

  “Still, I’m surprised to see you here,” he said. “It’s a year and nine months since we met, but I’ve been hearing a lot about your activities since then.”

  “I’m honoured. Does that mean I’ve been kept under watch?”

  “That’s putting it rather strongly. I’ve been in the shadows keeping an eye on you to make sure nobody gets in your way while you’ve been on your travels.”

  “I have to thank you for that, then, don’t I?” I retorted sharply.