Unit 9 - The Death of Hitler
In the last days of World War 11, Adolf Hitler and his closest associates had sought shelter in a command bunker before the fall of Berlin. He knew that defeat was close at hand and that he must prepare for his own death. Here is a detailed description of how he ended his life.
The Death of Hitler
William L. Shirer
During the afternoon of April 29, news arrived at the bunker where Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun were separated from the outside world. Mussolini, Hitler's fellow fascist dictator and partner in aggression, had met his end, and it had been shared by his mistress, Clara Petacci.
They had been caught by Italian guerrillas on April 27 while trying to escape to Switzerland and executed after a brief trial. On the Saturday night of April 28 the bodies were brought to Milan in a truck and dumped on the town square. The next day they were strung up by the heels from lampposts and later cut down so that throughout the rest of Sunday, they lay in the gutter. On May Day Benito Mussolini was buried beside his mistress in the paupers' plot of a Milan cemetery. In such a horrible climax of degradation Mussolini and Fascism passed into history.
It is not known how many of the details of Mussolini's shabby end were communicated to the Fuehrer. One can only guess that if he heard many of them he was only strengthened in his resolve not to allow himself or his bride to be made a spectacle —— not their live selves or their bodies.
Shortly after receiving the news of Mussolini's death, Hitler began to make the final preparations for his. He had his favorite Alsatian dog poisoned and two other dogs in the household shot. Then he called in his two remaining women secretaries and handed them capsules of poison to use if they wished to when the advancing Russians broke in. He was sorry, he said, not to be able to give them a better farewell gift, and he expressed his appreciation for their long and loyal service.
Evening had now come, the last of Adolf Hitler's life. He instructed Mrs. Junge, one of his secretaries, to destroy the remaining papers in his files, and he sent out word that no one in the bunker was to go to bed until further orders. This was interpreted by all as meaning that he judged the time had come to make his farewells. But it was not until long after midnight, at about 2:30 AM of April 30, as several witnesses recall, that the Fuehrer emerged from his private quarters and appeared in the general dining passage where some 20 persons, mostly the women members of his group of associates, were assembled. He walked down the line shaking hand with each and mumbling a few words that were inaudible. There was a heavy film of moisture on his eyes and, as Mrs. Junge remembered, "They seemed to be looking far away, beyond the walls of the bunker."
After he retired, a curious thing happened. The tension which had been building up to an almost unendurable point in the bunker broke, and several persons went to the canteen —— to dance. The weird party soon became so noisy that word was sent from the Fuehrer's quarters requesting more quiet. The Russians might come in a few hours and kill them all —— though most of them were already thinking of how they could escaped —— but in the meantime, for a brief spell, now that the Fuehrer's strict control of their lives was over, they would seek pleasure where and how they could find it. The sense of relief among these people seems to have been enormous, and they danced on through the night.
Berlin was no longer defensible. The Russians already had occupied almost all of the city. It was now merely a question of the defense of the Chancellery. It too was doomed, as Hitler and Bormann learned at the situation conference at noon on April 30, the last that was ever to take place. The Russians were just a block away. The hour for Adolf Hitler to carry out his resolve had come.
His bride apparently had no appetite for lunch that day, and Hitler took his meal with his two secretaries and with his vegetarian cook, who perhaps did not realize that she had prepared his last meal. While they were finishing their lunch at about 2:30 PM, Erich Kempka, the Fuehrer's chauffeur, who was in charge of the Chancellery garage, received an order to deliver immediately 200 liters of gasoline in cans to the Chancellery garden. Kempka had some difficulty in rounding up so much fuel, but he managed to collect some 180 liters and with the help of three men carried it to the emergency exit of the bunker.
While the oil to provide the first for the Viking funeral was being collected, Hitler, having done with his last meal, fetched Eva Braun for another and final farewell to his most intimate collaborators: Dr. Goebbels, Generals Krebs and Burgdorf, the secretaries, and Miss Manzialy, the cook.
They finished their farewells and retired to their rooms. Outside in the passageway, Dr. Goebbels, Bormann and a few others waited. In a few moments a revolver shot was heard. They waited for a second one, but there was only silence. After a decent interval they quietly entered the Fuehrer's quarters. They found the body of Adolf Hitler sprawled on the sofa dripping blood. He had shot himself in the mouth. At this side lay Eva Braun. Two revolvers had fallen to the floor, but the bride had not used hers. She had swallowed poison.
It was 3:30 PM on Monday, April 30, 1945, ten days after Adolf Hitler's fifty-sixth birthday, and twelve years and three months to the day since he had become Chancellor of Germany and had instituted the Third Reich. It would survive him but a week.
参考译文——希特勒之死
希特勒之死
威廉·L·夏勒
4月29日下午，消息传到了阿道夫·希特勒和爱娃·勃劳恩居住的与外界隔绝的地堡里。希特勒的同类，法西斯独裁者和侵略伙伴墨索里尼已经见到了末日，他的情妇克拉拉·贝塔西也落得个同样下场。
４月27日，当墨索里尼与其情妇试图逃往瑞士时，被意大利游击队抓获，经简短审讯之后，即被处决。4月28日的那个星期六夜里，两具尸体被卡车运到米兰，扔在市广场上。次日他们被用绳子倒挂在灯柱上，后来有人将绳子割断，于是在那个星期天剩下的时间里，他们就躺在阴沟里。五一节那天，本尼托·墨索里尼和他的情妇被一起埋在米兰公墓的乞丐坟场里。就在这样的奇耻大辱中，墨索里尼和法西斯主义被扫进了历史的垃圾堆。
至今无人知晓，墨索里尼的可耻下场有多少具体细节传到了元首的耳里。人们只能猜测，如果他确实听到了不少有关情况的话，这只能加强他的决心：不让他自己或他的新娘被示众，丢人眼前——不论是生前，还是死后。
希特勒得到墨索里尼之死的消息后不久，便开始为他自己的末日作最后的准备。他命令将他心爱的阿尔萨斯狼犬毒死，将家中的另两条狗击毙。然后，他把他仅剩的两名女秘书传来，递给她们毒药胶囊，以备节节逼近的俄国人打进来的时候服用，如果她们想用的话。他说，他很抱歉，不能送给她们更好的告别礼物。他还对她们长期忠诚的服务表示感谢。
夜晚已经来临，这是阿道夫·希特勒生命中最后的一个夜晚。他指示他的秘书荣格夫人将他档案里的剩余文件销毁，并传出命令，地堡里任何人不得就寝，等待下一步命令。所有的人都认为，这意味着希特勒的诀别的时刻到了。但据几个见证回忆，直到午夜后很久，在4月30日凌晨2时30分左右，元首才步出私室，出现在用餐的大过道上。这里聚集着大约20个人。大部份是他那群同僚中的女性。他走过列队，与人们一一握手，嘴里咕哝着几句什么话，谁也听不清。他的眼睛像是蒙着一层厚厚的泪水。据荣格夫人记忆，“他的眼睛像是透过地堡的墙壁，望着远方。”
希特勒一走，不可思议的事便发生了。地堡里一直不断加剧的几乎令人无法忍受的紧张气氛突然间被打破了，好几个人走进食堂—跳起舞来，怪诞的舞会不久变得吵吵嚷嚷，以至于元首的住处传出话来，要大家安静一些。俄国人说不定几小时之内就要打进来，将他们统统杀死——尽管他们中间大部分人已在考虑如何逃命——但此时此刻，既然元首对他们生活的严格控制已告结束，虽是短暂的片刻，他们也要及时行乐。
柏林的防守已经崩溃。俄国人已经占领了几乎整个城市。现在的问题仅是如何保卫总理府。然而，正如希特勒和鲍曼在4月30日中午最后一次形势分析上所获悉的那样，总理府也注定要被攻破。俄国人离总理府仅有一个街区了。阿道夫· 希特勒实现其决心的时刻已到。
那天，他的新娘显然没有胃口用午餐，希勒特与他的两名秘书以及那位烹调素食的厨师一起进餐。厨师或许还不知道，她准备的是希特勒的最后一餐。大约下午2点30分，当他们快用完午餐的时候，元首的司机，负责总理府车库的埃里希·肯普卡接到命令，要立即将200公升汽油装在油罐内送到总理府花园。肯普卡要搞这么多汽油颇有困难，但他还是设法收集到大约180公升，在3名士兵帮助下，扛到地堡的紧急出口处。
当他的司机在收集火葬用的汽油的时候，希特勒吃罢最后一餐，带着爱娃·勃劳恩，与他最密切的合作者再一次作最后告别。他们是：戈培尔博士、克莱勃斯将军和布格道夫将军，他的秘书，以及厨师曼齐阿里小姐。
告别后，希特勒和新娘回到自己的房间。戈培尔博士、鲍曼和其他几个人在外面过道中等候着，不一会功夫，听到一声左轮枪响。他们等待第二声枪响，但只有一片寂静。略等片刻之后，他们轻轻走进元首的房间。他们发现阿道夫· 希特勒的尸体伸开四肢躺在沙发上，流着鲜血。他的子弹穿过口腔。在他旁边躺着爱娃· 勃劳恩。两支左轮手枪掉在地板上，但新娘没有开枪。她吞服了毒药。
当时是1945年４月30日星期一下午3点30分，是他56岁生日后的第10天，离他当上德国总理和成立第三帝国正好12年零3个月。他死了仅一个星期，第三帝国就覆灭了。
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