The End

  ‘Wollt Ihr den totalen Krieg?’ Die geheimen Goebbels-Konferenzen 1939–1943, ed. Willi A. Boelcke, Munich, 1969.

  Wullner, Fritz, NS-Militärjustiz und das Elend der Geschichtsschreibung, Baden-Baden, 1991.

  Yelton, David K., Hitler’s Volkssturm: The Nazi Militia and the Fall of Germany, 1944–1945, Lawrence, Kan., 2002.

  Zamecnik, Stanislav, ‘ “Kein Häftling darf lebend in die Hände des Feindes fallen”: Zur Existenz des Himmler-Befehls vom 14–18. April 1945’, Dachauer Hefte, 1 (1985),

  Zarusky, Jürgen, ‘Von der Sondergerichtsbarkeit zum Endphasenterror: Loyalitätserzwingung und Rache am Widerstand im Zusammenbruch des NS-Regimes’, in Cord Arendes, Edgar Wolfrum and Jörg Zedler (eds.), Terror nach Innen: Verbrechen am Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges, Göttingen, 2006.

  Zeidler, Manfred, ‘Die Rote Armee auf deutschem Boden’, in DRZW, vol. 10/1.

  —— Kriegsende im Osten: Die Rote Armee und die Besetzung Deutschlands östlich von Oder und Neiße 1944/45, Munich, 1996.

  Zeitzeugen berichten … Schwäbisch Gmünd – Erinnerungen an die Zeit von 1930 bis 1945, ed. Stadtarchiv Schwäbisch Gmünd, Schwäbisch Gmünd, 1989.

  Zhukov, G., Reminiscences and Reflections, vol. 2, Moscow, 1985.

  Ziemann, Benjamin, ‘Fluchten aus dem Konsens zum Durchhalten: Ergebnisse, Probleme und Perspektiven der Erforschung soldatischer Verweigerungsformen in der Wehrmacht 1939–1945’, in Rolf-Dieter Müller and Hans-Erich Volkmann (eds.), Die Wehrmacht: Mythos und Realität, Munich, 1999.

  Zimmermann, John, ‘Die deutsche militärische Kriegführung im Westen 1944–45’, in DRZW, vol. 10/1.

  —— ‘Die Kämpfe gegen die Westalliierten 1945 – ein Kampf bis zum Ende oder die Kreierung einer Legende?’ in Jörg Hillmann and John Zimmermann (eds.), Kriegsende 1945 in Deutschland, Munich, 2002.

  —— Pflicht zum Untergang: Die deutsche Kriegführung im Westen des Reiches 1944/45, Paderborn, 2009.

  Zolling, Peter, ‘Was machen wir am Tag nach unserem Sieg?’ in Wolfgang Malanowski (ed.), 1945: Deutschland in der Stunde Null, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1985.

  Index

  1st Panzer Army 168

  2nd Army 168, 197, 204

  3rd Panzer Army 33, 108, 168, 174, 250–51, 301, 349

  4th Army 27, 34, 100–101, 110–11, 168, 173–4, 251, 301

  retreat from Lötzen 197–200, 201, 202

  4th Panzer Army 168, 172, 301

  5th Panzer Army 132, 159–60, 304

  6th Air Fleet 205

  6th Army 94, 99–100

  6th SS-Panzer Army 132, 155–6, 170, 252–3, 284

  SS-Panzer Regiment 1 155–6

  7th Army 132

  9th Army 168, 204, 251, 301, 302, 337, 366

  surrender (May 1945) 368

  12th Army 303, 339, 366

  surrender (May 1945) 368

  17th Army 168

  19th Army (in Austria) 368

  21st Army 340

  12th Panzer Division 311–12

  116th Panzer Division 63

  see also Panzer Division Kurmark

  A4 rocket see V2 rockets

  Aachen 59, 62, 70, 131, 133, 143

  capitulation (October 1944) 70, 91, 318–19

  evacuation 62–5

  Oppenhoff as American-appointed Mayor 279

  Abwehr (military counter-intelligence) 328

  administrative systems/bureaucracy 3–15, 35, 41–2, 52, 83, 89–91, 96, 98, 127, 145, 162–4

  centres of government (April 1945–on) 341–2

  fragmentation of 14–15, 38–41, 42–4, 65–6, 225, 276–9, 315–21, 323–5, 340–44, 392, 393

  Gauleiter (provincial/regional governors) see Gauleiter

  post-capitulation 377

  in pre-war Germany 13

  under Dönitz as Reich president 358–62, 377

  under Goebbels 40–41, 75–9, 146, 241–2

  air superiority (Allied) 60, 61, 79, 90, 121, 132, 150, 160, 236, 247, 254, 265

  Alexander, Field-Marshal Sir Harold 369

  Allied bombing raids 3, 17, 20, 55, 62, 63, 64, 76, 84, 99, 146, 152, 189, 193, 197, 297, 317, 322, 332

  air-raid shelters 276, 283

  anti-aircraft defence 135, 277

  on Berlin 22, 190–91, 236, 239, 242, 277, 282–3, 294, 309; casualties 191

  casualty figures 191, 235, 236, 236–40, 379

  on Dresden 235, 236–40, 243

  effect of 258, 379; on armament production 79, 80, 134, 135, 140, 244; on civilian population 121, 124, 125, 126, 142–3, 146, 148–52, 273, 275–6, 320–21; on fuel supplies 79–80, 135; on industry 79–80, 82, 134, 135, 136, 138, 140, 150, 235–6; on transport 79, 82, 136, 137, 138, 140, 142–3, 144, 287, 299

  Eisenhower’s threat to renew (May 1945) 371

  on Hamburg 235, 238

  on Munich 236, 238

  round-the-clock 235

  total tonnage dropped 236

  Allied Control Commission 378

  Allied invasion (1944–5), in the East see Red Army

  Allied invasion (1944–5), in the West 24, 27,

  54–91, 116, 119, 120, 206, 296–7, 299–301

  D-Day (6 June 1944) 17, 54–5, 120

  Alsace offensive (North Wind) 165, 170, 254

  Ardennes offensive (Autumn Mist) see Ardennes offensive

  Austria, invasion of 300

  maps of 19, 57

  progress of 54–5, 58–60, 67–8, 69–75, 131–2, 247, 253–6, 257, 258, 259, 299–300, 318–21, 366–7, 387–8

  Rhine crossing 253, 254, 255, 256, 260, 266, 268–9, 270, 271, 281–2, 288–9, 297

  Allied powers, German attempts to negotiate with 280–86

  by Goebbels and Bormann 352

  by Himmler 241, 329, 330, 331, 336–7, 346; with US 229–30

  by von Ribbentrop 280–81, 282–3, 291

  by Wolff, with OSS 285, 363

  Allied strategy/tactics 10, 15, 18, 54–5, 56, 280, 300

  errors in 58, 59–60, 96, 387–8

  unconditional surrender, demand for 7–8, 10, 50–51, 71, 246, 271, 354, 361, 362, 369, 370–71, 375, 386–7; in Italy 364

  Alsace offensive (North Wind) (December 1944) 164, 170, 254

  Altendorf 335

  Altötting 344

  Alzey 268

  America see United States

  American Army 3, 54–5, 56, 62, 63, 116, 121, 131, 254, 257, 258, 260, 261, 271, 273, 297, 300, 315, 316, 322, 326, 333, 342–3, 344, 366, 368, 369

  First Army 59, 131

  Third Army 58, 131, 160, 254, 255, 299

  Sixth Army 131

  Ninth Army 131, 247

  V Corps 59

  VII Corps 59

  in Ardennes offensive 128, 130, 155–7, 160

  casualty figures 132

  in Italy 364

  ‘negro’ soldiers 156, 157

  Red Army, meeting up with (April 1945) 339

  troop numbers 364

  see also Allied invasion

  American prisoners of war, German execution of 156

  Angerapp river 110

  Ansbach 3–5

  Antwerp 56, 58, 130, 132, 153, 156, 160, 388

  Ardennes offensive (Autumn Mist) (December 1944) 127–8, 129–34, 135, 140, 155–7, 159–61, 164–5, 388

  aims/objectives 130, 132–3, 156, 160

  American troops in 128, 130, 155–7, 160

  British troops in 130, 131, 160

  as a failure 160–61, 166, 170, 207, 294, 397

  Hitler on 131–2, 133

  Jodl’s plans for 129, 130, 133, 134

  Keitel and 131–2, 133, 135

  map of 158

  progress of 155–7, 159–60

  armaments 11, 44, 53, 60, 256

  anti-aircraft defence 135, 277

  labour supply for 23, 24–5, 64, 69, 76–9, 81–3

  loss/destruction of 94, 95, 165, 255, 260

  miracle weapons 15, 18, 20, 60, 66, 73, 122, 126, 134, 153, 155, 190, 212, 213, 245, 256, 260, 282, 291, 312; atomic 312
; jet-fighters 139, 269, 299; V1 missiles 20, 62, 210, 269; V2 rockets 24, 153, 269

  production/supply 23, 24–5, 64, 69, 76–9, 81–3, 132, 134–5, 137–8, 140, 206, 212, 257, 396; Allied bombing, effect on 79, 80, 134, 135, 140, 244; deficiencies in 80–81, 244, 297, 305, 308, 311; see also labour supply above

  Speer as Armaments Minister 11, 23, 24, 25–6, 35, 43–4, 53, 77, 78–83, 134, 140–42, 170, 287–8, 291, 396

  Army Group A (subsequently Army Group Centre) (in the east) 168, 170, 196–7, 203

  Red Army capture of 375

  renamed Army Group Centre (January 1945) 203–4, 219, 259, 348, 372, 375

  Schörner as C-in-C 203, 252, 301, 353, 368, 369–71; post-capitulation 373–5

  Army Group B (in the west) 59, 132, 139, 140, 319

  Model as C-in-C 132–3, 135, 151, 156, 157, 160, 161, 253–4, 263, 297, 303–5, 314; his dissolution of (April 1945) 314

  Army Group C (Italy) 285

  surrender (May 1945) 363, 364, 366

  Army Group E (Croatia) 368, 369

  Army Group G (in the west) 59, 140, 141, 297, 311

  Hausser as C-in-C 253–4, 363; dismissal (April 1945) 299

  Schulz as C-in-C 299, 305, 316; capitulation (May 1945) 368

  Army Group H (in the west) 253, 263, 297, 299

  Army Group Centre (subsequently Army Group North) 110, 111

  Red Army offensive against (Summer 1944) 17, 24, 27, 28, 32, 33, 46, 49, 75, 92–3, 94, 96, 102; casualty figures 93

  regrouped 168, 170, 196–200

  renamed Army Group North (January 1945) 203–4, 250–51

  Army Group North (subsequently Army Group Courland) 50, 92, 94–5, 96, 100

  renamed Army Group Courland (January 1945) 204, 256

  Army Group North Ukraine (formerly Army Group South) 92, 93, 94

  Army Group North-West 366

  Army Group Ostmark (renamed Army Group South, April 1945) 368, 369, 372, 373

  Army Group South Ukraine 92, 93–4

  destruction of 94

  Army Group Upper Rhine 164, 204, 210

  Army Group Vistula 219, 223, 247, 366

  Heinrici as C-in-C 270, 301, 337–8, 340

  Himmler as C-in-C 204, 211, 250, 263, 270, 283–4, 353

  Arnhem 58, 388

  atomic weapons 312

  atrocities see French Army atrocities; German Army atrocities; Nazi atrocities; Red Army atrocities

  Augsburg 278, 342

  Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp 123, 172, 231–2, 329

  Australia, German prisoners of war in 306

  Austria 253

  Allied invasion (1945) 300, 316

  Nazi party in 317–18

  surrender 368, 369

  Vienna 213, 252; Red Army in 301

  Avranches 55–6, 68

  Axmann, Arthur 310

  Backe, Herbert (Minister for Agriculture under Dönitz) 359, 377

  Bad Windsheim 325–6

  Baer, SS-Sturmbannführer Richard 232

  Bagramyan, Marshal Ivan 168

  Balck, General Hermann 33–4, 58–9, 253

  Balkans 93–4, 95, 121

  Baltic area 94–5, 96, 108, 178, 183

  Memel (fortified port) 105, 107, 108, 110, 151, 188

  Red Army invasion (1945) 174, 250

  U-boat harbours 94

  Bastogne 156, 159, 160

  Bavaria 255, 342–3, 368

  Freedom Action of Bavaria 343–4

  Upper 189

  Bayreuth 297

  Wächtler as Gauleiter 317, 322–3

  BBC 276

  Bedell Smith, General Walter 363

  Act of Military Surrender (7 May 1945), present at signing of 371

  Behrens, Manja (mistress of Martin Bormann) 21

  Belgium 56, 59, 136

  Antwerp 56, 58, 130, 132, 153, 156, 160, 388

  Eupen-Malmédy German enclave 62

  von Below, Nicolaus 166

  Belz·ec extermination camp 214

  Berchtesgaden 213, 336, 381

  Göring in 342, 353

  Lammers in 340–41

  OKW in (April 1945) 339, 342

  Bergen-Belsen concentration camp 233, 329, 330, 332, 333

  British Army’s unopposed liberation of 329

  numbers killed 329–30

  Berger, Obergruppenführer

  Gottlob 87

  Berghof, Obersalzberg 21

  von Berlepsch, Obersturmführer Freiherr 240

  Berlin 6, 159, 223

  Allied bombing 22, 190–91, 236, 239, 242, 277, 282–3, 294, 309; casualties 191

  communications breakdown with 295, 316, 317

  defence/siege of 226, 243, 265, 288, 293–4, 301–2, 307, 308, 336–42, 395–6; Dönitz on 339; troop numbers involved in 308–9

  Döberitz troop-training ground 154

  evacuation 340–41, 345

  fall of (May 1945) 346, 349

  food supplies 190, 191, 274, 288, 294, 318

  foreign workers 226

  Hitler in (Führer bunker) 243, 294, 336, 337, 339–40, 342, 345–7; his suicide (April 1945) 6, 11, 12, 118, 295, 339, 346

  living conditions 189–91, 293, 294, 345

  morale in 212, 258, 293–4, 344–5

  Red Army advance on 168, 173, 174, 175, 250, 253, 293, 294, 300–302, 308, 315–21, 324; encirclement of 337–47

  refugees in 184, 189–90, 192

  Reich Chancellery building 24, 294; see also Hitler in above

  suicides in (April 1945–on) 356, 357

  Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 6

  Bernadotte, Count Folke, Himmler’s meetings with 283, 284, 329, 336

  Bernau 302

  Bitburg 66

  Blaskowitz, Colonel-General Johannes 59, 253–4, 263, 299

  as C-in-C in Netherlands 362, 363

  Bochum 235, 297

  Bohemia (part of former Czechoslovakia) 368, 369–70

  Prague uprising (May 1945) 370

  Red Army advance (May 1945) 370, 373–4

  bombing, of German cities see Allied bombing raids

  Bonhoeffer, Dietrich 328

  Bonn 254, 258

  Bormann, Gerda (née Buch) (wife of Martin Bormann) 21, 90, 164, 242

  Bormann, Martin 11, 20–22, 35, 38, 40, 51, 67, 138, 242

  Manja Behrens as his mistress 21

  character/personal appearance 21, 164, 337

  children 21

  criticism of 345

  Dönitz as Reich President and 350, 351

  Goebbels and 43, 317, 352; attempts to negotiate with Allies 352

  Göring and 340

  Himmler and 86; Volkssturm national militia founded by 86–8; see also Volkssturm

  Hitler and 21, 89, 90, 242, 358, 392, 396; as Secretary to the Führer 21

  Ley and 89

  as Nazi Party administrative head 20–22, 40, 41, 42, 53, 75, 162, 215–16, 217–18, 319, 321

  as Party Chancellery head 20–22, 40–44, 53, 75, 85, 89–91, 162, 211, 215–16, 217–19, 222–5, 241, 256, 264, 274, 279, 316, 319, 321, 337, 341, 392

  sexual activities 21

  his Special Action of the Party Chancellery speakers 256–8

  Speer and 77, 78, 83

  suicide (May 1945) 352, 356

  Bosch, Werner 136

  Brandenberger, General Erich 132

  Brandt, Rudolf 210, 240

  von Brauchitsch, Walther 32

  Braun, Major Alois 343

  Braun, Eva 345, 346

  Braunschweig 297

  Bremen 147, 299

  Breslau 104, 105, 168, 172, 173, 194, 252

  evacuation 182–3, 189, 192, 218

  Hanke as Gauleiter 245, 262, 320–21; his escape from (May 1945) 321

  Britain

  Churchill government 7

  Hess’s flight to 21

  Hitler on 130

  London 153, 236

  British Army 54, 55, 70, 116, 121, 254, 255, 257, 271, 273, 297, 299, 352, 358, 366

  21st Army
Group 131

  in Ardennes offensive 130, 131, 160

  Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, liberation of 329

  in Italy 364

  troop numbers 364

  see also Allied invasion

  Bromberg, punishment of Nazi functionaries in

  216–17

  Bruhn, Major-General Johannes 154

  Buch, Gerda see Bormann, Gerda

  Buch, Walter (father of Gerda Bormann) 21

  Buchenwald concentration camp 330, 331, 335

  Budapest 131, 252

  Buhl, General Walter 45

  building materials 136

  building projects 24, 243, 244

  Buissonville 160

  Bulgaria 94

  bureaucracy see administrative systems/bureaucracy

  Burgdorf, General Wilhelm 197, 200

  Busch, Field-Marshal Ernst 28, 366

  Busse, General Theodor 251, 301, 302, 337, 368

  Caen 55

  Canadian Army 254, 297, 299

  Canaris, Admiral Wilhelm 328

  Casablanca Conference (January 1943) 7, 50–51

  casualty figures 376–7, 379

  Allied 160; American 132, 156

  in concentration camps see concentration camps

  on death marches see death marches

  German 20, 23, 41, 56, 87, 92, 93, 94, 95, 120, 131–2, 146, 148, 152, 160, 215, 247, 250, 251, 252, 253, 255, 300; in Allied bombing 191, 235, 236–40, 238, 379; Army officers 394; as Soviet prisoners of war 375; by suicide 356, 357; from Volkssturm 107

  Hungarian 123, 262

  Jews 123, 184, 185–6, 214, 230, 231–4, 328, 332–3, 335; deaths from disease 329–30

  Polish 117, 123, 214; in Warsaw 93

  Red Army 175, 252

  see also execution

  Celle 160, 299, 349

  Chelmno death camp 214

  Chemnitz 297

  Cherbourg 54–5, 58

  Chernyakhovsky, General Ivan 168, 173

  Chuikov, General Vasily 174

  Churchill, Sir Winston 7, 246, 296

  on unconditional surrender, Allied demand for 387

  civil defence 135, 162–3

  civilian population

  Allied bombing, effect on 121, 124, 125, 126, 142–3, 146, 148–52, 273, 275–6, 320–21

  casualties see casualty figures

  death marches, reaction to 333, 334–6

  evacuation of see evacuation, of civilians

  execution of 52, 224–5, 328; numbers of 225; for showing a white flag 323, 326

  food supplies see food/water supplies