The Final Archives of the Führerbunker

Berlin in 1945, the Chancellery and the Last Days of Hitler

by Paul Villatoux and Xavier Aiolfi

Imprint: Casemate

160 Pages, 8 x 10 in, 150 photographs

Hardcover
9781612009049
December 2020
Out of print. Available in digital formats at the links below.

$37.95

Digital download
9781612009056
October 2020

$22.95

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

A unique snapshot not only into the last days of the Third Reich but also into Berlin following the end of World War II.

In November 1945, two French officers secretly entered the Führerbunker, the air raid shelter near the Chancellery in Berlin. The bunker was the last home of Adolf Hitler; the background of the last months of his life and the war; where he married Eva Braun on April 29, 1945; and where he killed himself less than two days later.

In the middle of a heap of furniture and broken objects, the two officers found hundreds of documents littering the ground. Among the documents that they retrieved were a dozen telegrams of historic importance that allow us to understand the spirit of the last leaders of the Third Reich as well as the events that took place between April 23 and 26, 1945. These and other documents are presented for the first time in this book, shown in their proper context with an expert commentary.

Introduction
The Reich Chancellery
The subterranean complex
The last landmark
Running the War from the Bunker
The last days of the Bunker
The Bunker of Apocalypse
A visit to the Chancellery
Reconnecting the Thread of History
The documents

Paul Villatoux has a PhD in History and is the author/editor of several books and numerous journal articles, book chapters and conference papers. Among his recently published books are La Guerre Psychologique des Origines à Nos Jours (2008), Le 2e Régiment de Parachutiste d'Infanterie de Marine (RPIMa), Histoire et Traditions (2012), Entrepreneurial Tales. Zodiac Aerospace, 120 Years in Aerospace (2017), and Renault FT, le Char de la Victoire (2018).

Xavier Aiolfi is Franco-Italian, born in 1970. He works in military and historical souvenir auctions, having created his own company in 2011, organizing auctions and private sales throughout Europe. As an historian specializing in occupied France, he has written more than 10 books. These include La Garde Personnelle du Chef de l’Etat (1999), Napoléon Intime (2008) and L’Enlèvement du Maréchal Pétain (2018).

"...the short profiles of various Nazi luminaries are interesting, but the accompanying photos complement the text marvelously." ~Historical Miniatures Gaming Society

"...makes for a superb book on a truly historic subject...Most highly recommended." ~ModelingMadness.Com

"But although the building may have gone, troves of historic documents survived. Now, many have been published for the first time in this new visual history, an excellent guide to the horrendous final days, hours, and minutes of the Third Reich." ~Military History Matters