The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1944–1945

German allegiance to 11, 12, 13, 17–18, 20, 30–33, 51, 52, 71, 72–3, 150, 154–5, 192, 383–4; decline in 13–14, 18, 61, 65, 74, 101, 105, 122, 126–7, 150–51, 153, 154–5, 186, 191–2, 208, 212, 259, 260–61, 273–4, 291–2, 315, 317, 389–90; reaction to his death 349–50, 355

German resistance to 149

Mein Kampf 191–2

mental condition 165–6, 171, 399

negotiated peace, refusal to consider 281, 283, 387, 396–7

New Year speech (1945) 161–2

personal appearance see character/personal appearance above

in pre-war Germany 13

on Red Army atrocities 118

scorched earth decree (Nero Order) (March 1945) 290–91, 303, 309, 367; Speer’s opposition to 290–91, 303, 309

Speer mentions possible assassination of to Heinrici (April 1945) 309

strategic decisions 27, 28, 29, 39–40, 46, 48, 51, 55–6, 69–70, 76, 78, 94, 95–6, 118–19, 127–8, 130, 131–2, 133, 161–2, 165, 166, 169–71, 196–7, 210, 243, 252, 255–6, 285, 286, 289–90, 300, 308–9, 386–7

suicide (April 1945) 6, 11, 12, 118, 295, 339, 346, 356, 364; response to 348–55; Soviet suspicions of 372

his Testament (April 1945) 346, 351, 353, 354, 358

see also Nazi Party

Hitler Youth 3, 66, 73, 88, 89, 96, 103, 118, 185, 258, 280, 333

as soldiers 310–11, 320, 357, 394

Hodges, General Courtney 59

Hofer, Franz (Gauleiter of the Tirol) 317, 363, 364, 366

Hoffmann, Albert (Gauleiter of Westphalia-South) 319

Holland see Netherlands

Holz, Karl (Gauleiter of Franconia) 67–8, 319, 323

death in Nuremberg (April 1945) 319–20

Hoßbach, General Friedrich 27, 30, 34, 199, 200, 201–3

dismissal (January 1945) 203, 221

hospitals see medical services/supplies

Hübner, Lieutenant-General Rudolf 263

Hungarian Jews 123

Hungarian troops, in German Army 93

Hungary 93, 123, 170

Budapest 131, 252

Red Army invasion (1944) 131, 132, 151, 170, 252, 253, 284, 316

Hussein, Saddam 7

Hütten 335

industry 81, 82, 167

Allied bombing, effect on 79–80, 82, 134, 135, 136, 138, 140, 150, 235–6

armaments see armaments industry

coal for see coal supplies

collapse of 134, 135–7, 138–40, 164, 172, 244, 258, 287–8, 289

destruction/immobilization of, during German retreat 42, 80, 81, 82, 140–41, 286–7, 288, 289, 290–91; Hitler’s Nero Order on (March 1945) 290–91, 303, 309, 367

iron/steel production 136, 139, 254, 255, 287

raw materials for 80, 93, 94, 131, 135–6, 244

Rhine/Ruhr industrial area see Rhine/Ruhr . . .

Saar industrial area 58, 61, 65, 132, 136, 140, 141, 255

Silesian industrial area 167, 168, 172–3, 182, 187, 190, 195, 244, 252, 287

International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg (1945–6) 354

Iraq 7

iron/steel production 136, 139, 254, 255, 287

Italy 121, 206, 303

Bologna 267

administrative system 13, 398

Fascist Grand Council 398

German capitulation in (May 1945) 267, 285–6, 363, 396; Kesselring’s reaction to 364, 366

Kesselring in 303, 396

Rome, fall of (1944) 17

under Mussolini 7, 13, 47, 296, 364, 398

Wehrmacht in 165, 254, 256, 266–7, 284–5; see also German capitulation above

Wolff in 284–5, 292, 363

jails see state penitentiaries

Jena 297

jet-fighters 139, 269, 299

Jewish World Congress 336–7

Jews

anti-Jewish propaganda 123–4, 208

in concentration camps see concentration camps

on death marches see death marches

deportation of 208; see also concentration camps

in Dresden 237

Final Solution 23, 52, 119, 122–5, 172, 228, 229, 359, 382, 384, 391; German awareness of 123–4, 384; Himmler on 119, 128; Hitler on 122–3; Wannsee Conference on (January 1942) 359

Hungarian 123

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

Polish 117, 123, 214

Red Army treatment of 394

see also racial enemies

Jodl, General Alfred (Wehrmacht Operations Staff head) 27, 44–5, 48, 50–51, 131–2, 165, 169, 170, 205, 264, 296, 304, 305

Ardennes offensive, planning of 129, 130, 133, 134

in Berlin (Führer bunker) 338, 339, 340

Dönitz as Reich President and 350, 360, 366

German surrender, signatory to 371

post-capitulation 377, 378

post-war interrogation 133

Jordan, Rudolf (Gauleiter of Magdeburg-Anhalt) 245

Junge, Traudl 118

justice system see legal system

Jüterbog 302

Jüttner, Hans 36

Kaiserslautern 255

Kaltenbrunner, Ernst 65–6, 227, 230, 285, 291, 316, 364

von Kardorff, Ursula 189, 226

Karlsruhe 299

Kehrl, Hans 135–6

Keitel, Field-Marshal Wilhelm 32, 38, 48, 69, 106, 141, 169, 205, 304, 305

Ardennes offensive and 131–2, 133, 135

arrest by Allies 377, 380

in Berlin (Führer bunker) 338, 339

Dönitz as Reich President and 350, 360, 366, 368

German surrender, signatory to 372

as OKW head 204, 218, 296, 360

post-war interrogation 355

Kersten, Felix 228, 283

Kesselring, Field-Marshal Albert 170, 285, 302

as C-in-C West 254, 255, 262–4, 296, 302–3, 363–4

Dönitz as Reich President and 368

Eisenhower, peace negotiations with 369

Hitler and 300, 303, 364

in Italy 303, 396; German surrender in, his reaction to 364, 366

Model and 304

post-war memoirs 303

Kiel 228

1918 naval mutiny 265

Klemperer, Victor 124–5

von Kluge, Field-Marshal Hans Günther 46, 48–9, 55–6

Koblenz 152, 254, 255

Koch, Erich (Gauleiter of East Prussia) 22, 88, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 111, 115, 176–7, 200, 214, 245