User Reviews

I'm a little let down by the fact that this program doesn't have any reviews on here at all, and has only a measly 28 ratings. It's surprising to me because it was brought to us by the same people responsible for making the best and most comprehensive series on world war 2 ever produced: World at War. On the discs of it that I own, this documentary is featured as an extra, but it is not actually counted as one of the show's episodes. As you might deduce from the title, it focuses on a long running debate when it comes to the second world war, even to this day. Did Hitler really kill himself? Using a collection of interviews from people in very prestigious positions, dental records, and eyewitness accounts, this film attempts to answer this question once and for all. Many people are interviewed, including a Soviet doctor who performed an autopsy on what he thought was Hitler's body. The information he gives conflicts with what other interviewees say, because people who were in Berlin at the time of his death say Hitler's corpse was burned in order to ensure it couldn't be mutilated by the russians. Others say that Hitler shot himself, whereas the russians say the skull they examined didn't have a bullet hole in it. Not all of the things shown here are made specifically for it though. It recycles some clips from other World at War episodes, such as parts of an interview featuring Traudl Junge, Hitler's personal secretary who heard the gunshot that ended his life with her own ears. She says all of a sudden, there was a bang that obviously came from within the bunker, since the sound of Soviet gunfire outside had a flatter noise. Others disregard the theory of Hitler killing himself entirely, making ridiculous claims that he somehow managed to escape to Argentina or even Antarctica in a flying saucer. I'm not kidding. One of the most important people they interview is Heinz Linge, Hitler's valet who was present in the bunker when he killed himself at the end of April 1945. Linz says the fuhrer knew his regime was finished, and wanted his staff to try and escape to the west to avoid being picked up by the russians. Linz was the last person he came to. Hitler said "I have given the order to break out. You should break out in groups and try to get through to the west." When Linz asked him "for whom do we fight for now?", Hitler looked at him and said "For the coming man." Linz saluted him, and disappeared out of the room. Traudl then gives an account of Hitler's last birthday, which was not a pleasant one. Hiding in his bunker like a cornered rat, Hitler was constantly high on an assortment of drugs and giving orders to largely imaginary armies. According to her, he suddenly told everyone to go to southern germany where a plane was waiting to fly them out of the country. Eva Braun stood up and told her lover "but you know I don't leave you." Hitler then kissed her which was a very rare thing to witness even for his closest associates. Later on, Linz tells how he is one of only two men to enter Hitler's room after his death. He says how Adolf had shot himself in the head with his Walther PPK while sitting on a red couch and had his head bent over to the right. Blood pooled onto the floor from the hole in his head and was leaking onto a carpet. Eva Braun was seated next to him and had both of her legs drawn up on the sofa. Her lips were a purplish hue so it was instantly obvious that she had swallowed poison. Linz and another SS officer then took their bodies outside the bunker, poured gasoline on them, and set them alight. Adolf had seen what people had done to the lifeless body of his fellow dictator in Italy, and didn't want to share the same fate. Mussolini's corpse was urinated and spat on, kicked, brutalized, and beaten to the point where he was unrecognizable. It is also worth noting that Hitler and Eva only married one day before their suicides. With Reichsminister Goebbels as best man, the bride and groom both swore they are of pure aryan ancestry. Overall, this is a nice bonus feature to World at War. The show is already the best ww2 documentary out there, and it is always nice to see more things related to the war's (and Adolf's) final moments.