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The End Of Hitler
Diary Entries
• Canadian citizen on imminent German surrender
• summer of 1944 Germany faced certain
defeat
→ Hitler did not plan on surrendering
• German soldiers continued to defend
homeland
→ despite rising death toll
• between 1944 and 1945 Hitler believed the
invention of a “miracle weapon” would turn
the war in his favour
→ most German scientists fled to Allied
countries to escape the Nazis
Invading Germany
• Feb. 1945 Germany was defenceless. Their
enemies were in full control
→ Hitler still refused to surrender
• The Allied forces had almost total command
of the air
• Increasing evidence was discovered about
Nazi Germany’s role in the Holocaust
Berlin Surrounded
• With the Soviet Union approaching from the east
and the Allies approaching from the west, Berlin
was surrounded.
• Hitler instructed a counterattack against the
Russians to keep them from taking over Berlin.
→Attack wasn’t carried out because German army
was depleted and the men fighting were weak/tired.
Not enough manpower to fight, leaving Germany
defenseless.
• The end for Germany was undeniable.
Hitler Commits Suicide
• Hitler was trapped in his bunker under the Reich
Chancellery building in the center of Berlin
• Mussolini (Italian dictator) was captured,
tortured and hung upside down in a gas station in
Milan square, 2 days earlier
→ Hitler choose death instead of capture
• On April 30th, 1945 after realizing imminent
capture, Hitler shot himself.
Hitler's "Thousand-Year Reich" lasted
12 years and three months.
BBC News Player - 1945: Adolf Hitler is dead
Successors
• In his will, Hitler made Karl Donitz his successor
as: Head of State, President and Supreme
Commander of the armed forces.
→Also named Propaganda Minister, Joseph
Goebbelsas, Head of Government with the title of
Chancellor.
• May 1st , Goebbelsas committed suicide
→ Donitz became soul representative of German
Reich
• Donitz knew that Germany's position was untenable
• Donitz devoted most of his efforts to attempt to
ensure German troops would surrender to the
British or Americans and not the Soviets
→ Feared vengeful Soviet reprisals against Nazi party
members and high-ranking officers.
→ Hoped to strike a deal with the western Allies
Surrender
• After Hitler’s suicide, German forces began to
give in
• On May 7th, 1945 at 2:41 am in a small school
house located in Rheims, France the final
unconditional surrender was signed
→ witnessed by Allies ( Britain, France, USA, &
USSR)
→ signed by Alfred Jodl on behalf of the German
High Command.
Tuesday, May 8th 1945 was 'Victory in Europe' (VE)
Day
Winston Churchill: German surrender
announcement May 7, 1945 - YouTube
Diary Entries
• Canadian response to German Surrender
• German Soldier response to German Surrender
Key Figures
• Hitler: German Dictator
→ suicide led to German surrender
• Karl Donitz: Hitler’s successor
→ appointed Head of State, President and Supreme Commander of the armed
forces
• Joseph Goebbelsas: Hitler’s other successor
→ appointed Head of Government, Chancellor of Germany (committed
suicide the next day)
• Count Ludwig Schwerin von Krosigk: replaced Goebblsas
→ Leading Minister (refused title of Chancellor)
• Alfred Jodl
→ signed unconditional surrender on behalf of the German High Command
Importance of Event
• marked the formal end of Hitler's war
• 6 years of war in Europe were over
• end of destruction & food rationing in Europe
→half a million homes had been destroyed, and many millions of
lives disrupted
• World War 2 was almost done
Works Cited
• Adams, Simon, and Simon Adams. Eyewitness World War II. London:
DK Pub., 2007. Print.
• Gilbert, Martin. The Second World War: A Complete History. New
York: H. Holt, 1989. Print.
• Grant, R. G. World War II: The Events and Their Impact on Real
People. New York, NY: Dk Pub., 2008. Print.
• Kershaw, Ian. Hitler. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. Print.
• Sheffield, Gary. "Victory in Europe Day." BBC News. BBC, 2011.
Web. Apr. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk>.