Hans Krebs contribution to biology. Mysteries of the last hours of the Reich Chancellery

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1953
with Fritz Lipmann

German-English biochemist Hans Adolf Krebs was born in Hildesheim (Germany), in the family of otorhinolaryngologist Georg Krebs and Alma Krebs (Davidson). He received his primary education at the Andreanum-Gymnasium in Hildesheim. In 1918, Mr.. K. graduated from high school. In the last months of the First World War, he served in the communications regiment of the Prussian army. Then K. studied medicine at Göttingen, Freiburg, Munich and Berlin universities and in 1925. received a medical degree from the University of Hamburg. He then studied chemistry for a year at the Institute of Pathology at the University of Berlin and then began working as a laboratory assistant with Otto Warburg at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology in Berlin.

Warburg developed an experimental method for studying cellular respiration - the consumption of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide during the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Instead of studying breathing in intact animals or examining whole organs, Warburg began using thin sections of fresh tissue placed in a sealed vessel with a pressure sensor. When tissues absorbed oxygen during biochemical reactions, the pressure in the vessel decreased, and this served as an objective indicator of respiratory activity.

In 1930, Mr.. K. again engaged in clinical medicine and began working as an assistant at the municipal hospital in Altona (Hamburg) and privatdozent (external lecturer) at the medical clinic of the University of Freiburg. At the same time, he continued biochemical research. Using an experimental system similar to Warburg's, he described the urea cycle, the process by which end products of nitrogen metabolism are removed from the body. He found that the amino acid ornithine, added to liver sections, plays the role of a catalyst for this cycle, i.e. accelerates the synthesis of urea, but itself is not consumed. It turned out that ornithine is converted into a similar amino acid citrulline, which in turn is converted into the amino acid arginine. Arginine is broken down to urea and ornithine, and the whole cycle is repeated from the beginning. The development of the concept of cyclic processes in biochemistry brought K. world fame.

When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, K., a Jew by nationality, lost his job at the University of Freiburg. However, the Rockefeller Research Society gave him the opportunity to study biochemistry under Frederick Gowland Hopkins at the Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge in the UK. In 1933, Mr.. K. arrived in Cambridge, not taking with him "virtually nothing but a sigh of relief, a few books and 16 packs of Warburg vessels." He began working as a biochemist demonstrator and soon earned a master's degree. In 1935 he was appointed Lecturer in Pharmacology at the University of Sheffield. The following year, the scientist and leader of the Zionist movement Chaim Weizmann invited K. to work at the Institute of Biochemistry of the Hebrew University, which at that time was being created in Rehovot (Palestine). However, although K. and fascinated by the idea of a pioneer life, especially in the kibbutzim (collective farms), research opportunities at the Hebrew University were very limited and, in addition, the Arab-Israeli conflict broke out again. Therefore, K. decided to stay in England, where he was appointed teacher with hourly pay in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Sheffield.

In 1937, while studying the intermediate stages of carbohydrate metabolism, K. made the second most important discovery in biochemistry. He described the citric acid cycle, or tricarboxylic acid cycle, which is now called the Krebs cycle. This cycle is the common final pathway for the breakdown of carbohydrates, proteins and fats into carbon dioxide and water and is the main source of energy for most living organisms. In earlier works by Albert Szent-Györgyi, Franz Knoop, Karl Martius and other researchers, it was shown that in the presence of oxygen, citric acid (hexaatomic tricarboxylic acid) is converted into oxaloacetic acid (tetraatomic tricarboxylic acid) and carbon dioxide as a result of successive reactions.

The concept of the Krebs cycle allows you to understand how energy is produced from nutrients in the body. K. studied the sequence of transformation of energy in the body of nutrients in order to determine how carbohydrates are converted into other compounds. After analyzing the formulas of more than 20 organic acids close to carbohydrates, K. convinced that lactic and pyruvic acids are capable of undergoing a certain sequence of transformations by themselves. Ultimately, he began to use pyruvic acid in his experiments.

K. experimentally proved that during oxidation, pyruvic acid forms an intermediate compound - acetylcoenzyme A. (Coenzyme, or coenzyme, is an integral part of the enzyme necessary for its catalytic activity.) In addition, he discovered that carbon dioxide is released during this oxidation and other acids are formed; this whole process continues until the next molecule of coenzyme A.K. is involved. established that the basic principles of his cycle are also valid for other nutrients, in particular for fatty acids.

The discovery of the cyclic principle of intermediate metabolic reactions was a milestone in the development of biochemistry, since it gave the key to understanding the pathways of metabolism. In addition, it stimulated other experimental work and expanded understanding of the sequences of cellular reactions.

In 1939, Mr.. K. received British citizenship. During the Second World War, he directed the British Medical Research Council's research on nutrition, incl. concerning the need for vitamins A and C. In 1945, Mr.. K. was appointed professor, head of the Department of Biochemistry and director of the Medical Research Council on Cellular Metabolism, University of Sheffield.

In 1953, Mr.. K. was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the citric acid cycle." K. shared this award with Fritz Lipmann. In a congratulatory speech, Karolinska Institute researcher Erik Hammarsten said: "The Krebs cycle explains two simultaneous processes: decay reactions that release energy, and synthetic processes that use up that energy." In the Nobel lecture K. summed up his discoveries in the field of the citric acid cycle. Closing the speech with "an excursion into general biology," he analyzed the broader implications of these discoveries. “The presence of the same energy generation mechanism in all living beings allows us to draw two more conclusions,” he said. “Firstly, this mechanism arose at very early stages of evolution, and, secondly, life in its present form originated only once.”

A year after receiving the Nobel Prize K. was appointed professor of biochemistry at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Oxford University, where the Medical Research Council on Cellular Metabolism was relocated. Three years later, K. together with his former student Hans Kornberg discovered a kind of citric acid cycle - the glyoxylate cycle, in which two molecules of coenzyme A are converted into succinic acid. This cycle is more important for metabolic processes in plant and microbial than animal cells. K. and Kornberg worked together on the work "The transformation of energy in living matter (review)" ("Energy Transformation in Living Matter: A Survey", 1957), which examined the citric acid cycle and its function in living organisms.

After retiring from Oxford University in 1967. K. was appointed Consultant Professor of Biochemistry at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School in London. He continued his research on metabolic rate regulation, "inborn errors of metabolism" and preservation of the liver for transplantation at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford. K. critical of the "expensive and unproductive" university research and government policy.

He once compared his attempts to explain the chemical processes that take place in living cells to the search for the missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

In 1938, Mr.. K. married Margaret Sisley Fieldhouse. In the family they had two sons and a daughter. November 22, 1981 K. died in Oxford at the age of 81 years.

K. was awarded many awards, incl. the Lasker Prize of the American Health Association (1953), the Royal Medal (1954) and the Copley Medal (1961) of the Royal Society, as well as the gold medal of the Royal Society of Medicine (1965). In 1958, K. was granted a title of nobility by Queen Elizabeth II. He was a foreign member of the American Academy of Sciences and Arts and the American National Academy of Sciences. In addition, he was a fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the Weizmann Institute (Israel).

Nobel Prize Laureates: Encyclopedia: Per. from English - M .: Progress, 1992.
© The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
© Translation into Russian with additions, Progress Publishing House, 1992.

In the past material about German military intelligence, it was said that on May 7, 1941, the German military attache in the USSR, General Köstring (http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Köstring,_Ernst) and his deputy Colonel Krebs told Hitler something about weakness Soviet Union, that is, about the military potential. Russia has been playing the role of the weak for a century, as it is now - this is probably the strong point of underground technologies, but for some reason the Germans played along or bought into it. They themselves ruled Russia before the revolution, as they believed at that time, and they themselves bought it. Can the Germans do that?

This is Hans Krebs in 1944. The view is not very good and not clear. This happened to the Fuhrer and many Germans, as I understand it. Some worry in his eyes. Even in portraits and paintings of that period, artists obtained such views. In Soviet painting and in military photographs, this is not even close. Here it is - an illustration to the theme of the occultism of the Third Reich.

According to the Wikipedia reference material, Krebs, the hero of the First World War, lived in Moscow before the war, spoke Russian well and knew the command of the Red Army: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krebs,_Hans_(general).

"At the beginning World War I 16-year-old Krebs fought as a volunteer in Western front. After the war, he continued his military career in the Reichswehr.

expands the biography, and in German (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Krebs_%28Offizier%29) details even more: on September 3, 1914, Krebs volunteered for the 10th Hanover Jaeger Battalion (Hannoversche Bataillon - http:/ /wiki-de.genealogy.net/Jäg.B_10) in Goslar. As a cadet (Fahnenjunker) 27 November 1914 he was transferred to the Duke's infantry regiment Friedrich Wilhelm Brunswick(East Frisia) No. 78 (Infanterie-Regiment "Herzog EN”> FriedrichWilhelmvonBraunschweig“ (Ostfriesisches) Nr EN">. 78). March 19, 1915 he arrived with his regiment for action on the Western Front in France. The English text says that in the same 15th year he received the rank of lieutenant, that is, at the age of seventeen. After the war, in the 19th, he was recruited into the Reichswehr (Reichswehr).

How many German words with old meanings have been preserved: Hanseatic Hannover - "Khan-faith", "Khan faithful", Guslyar - some kind of "guslar", Reichswehr - "Paradise-faith" or "Paradise faithful".

“Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces Lieutenant General of the Infantry Hans Krebs at the headquarters of the Soviet troops in Berlin. On May 1, Krebs arrived at the location of the Soviet troops in order to draw the High Command into the negotiation process. On the same day, the general shot himself.”

In this photo, Krebs is confident, even pleased with something. And he shot himself. How so?

“Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, General of the Infantry Krebs, who arrived on May 1 at the location of the Soviet troops. On the same day, the general shot himself.”

There. In these two photos, he is already more thoughtful. Maybe he didn't really agree?

Hero of Stalingrad Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuikov,_Vasily_Ivanovich) he probably also could know from Moscow. It was at the Chuikov command post in Berlin that he arrived on May 1, 1945 with a message about the death of Hitler. So in the memoirs of Chuikov himself “The End of the Third Reich” (http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/chuykov2/index.html) it is said. There is this episode in several Soviet films, including the epic "Liberation".

Krebs could have known Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov from Berlin in the late 1920s, if between 1925 and 1928 Zhukov actually graduated from the underground Military Academy in Berlin, most likely in German.

The Germans had to go to negotiations, this was the only option for them. For such negotiations, Chuikov was in the center of Berlin in direct contact with Zhukov, and he was with the supreme. Krebs, who knew them personally and spoke Russian, went to the negotiations. Really two such old drinking buddies Zhukov and Krebs (Chuikov could be the third) did not agree on something that day on May 1, 1945 in Berlin? And Krebs was “soaked” for some reason by these or those? This is interesting because the big mystery of the underground boyars is the post-war fate of the leader of the German nation or his body. The fate of Krebs himself or his body is directly related to Hitler. Well, Goebbels is there for company with his family.

It is strange that Krebs shot himself on the same day. The Soviet command rejected the German version of surrender and demanded an ultimatum unconditional. So what. Probably the Germans already knew about it. Krebs returned to his own and "shot himself". What for? Didn't agree with old Russian friends about something personal? Haven't bargained for some guarantees? Is there some secret here, known only to the Moscow underground boyars? The German command specially detached Krebs for negotiations, since he spoke Russian, Zhukov, probably, and Chuikov knew him from pre-war times.

Surrender, any, probably requires the parties to agree on many details. For example, who, to whom, where, when, how to hand over weapons, military and other equipment and property. Planes, tanks, ships, entire fleets. And the official version of the underground boyars assures us that Chuikov sent Krebs, that is, sent him back, and the negotiations never began. In the evening no one saw him, he shot himself, it seems. There is no body, just like Hitler's body, because the Germans burned them. In general, no traces and ends. But how then did the capitulation take place if there were no negotiations? Forty years later, it was possible to show any pieces of paper about the strange reburial of the burned remains and demonstrate the jaws in Moscow. Why rebury them so many times in Germany - they would have taken them immediately beyond the Urals to a secret repository and no more problems. The underground workers are fooling the whole world somehow not in a smart way.

Boris Yaroslavtsev

How they tried to steal the victory from us

At dawn on May 1, 1945, General of Infantry Hans Krebs arrived at the command post of the commander of the 8th Guards Army, Colonel-General V. I. Chuikov. The German general gave Chuikov a document on his powers, signed by Bormann, and Hitler's "Political Testament". At the same time, Krebs handed Chuikov a letter to Stalin from the new Reich Chancellor of Germany, Goebbels. It said: “We inform the leader of the Soviet people that today at 15:50 the Fuhrer voluntarily passed away. On the basis of his legal right, the Fuhrer transferred all power in the will he left to Dönitz, me and Bormann. I am authorized by Bormann to establish contact with the leader of the Soviet people. This communication is necessary for peace negotiations between the powers that have the greatest losses. Goebbels."

The most significant details of the negotiations that took place then and the events that followed them that day were repeatedly described in memoirs and books on. They have been depicted in at least a dozen domestic and foreign films. The account of these last hours of the Battle of Berlin seems to be exhaustive. However, their careful study casts doubt on whether we know everything about how the agony of the Third Reich actually took place.

Why did these negotiations not lead to the surrender of Germany on May 1? For what reason, a few hours after the arrival of Krebs with a letter from Goebbels, the author of the letter, his wife, their children, and also his envoy to Chuikov lost their lives? Where did Bormann disappear without a trace, having authorized Goebbels "to establish contact with the leader of the Soviet people"? To try to find answers to these questions, one should point to a number of events that took place before May 1, 1945.

In search of a separate peace

Directing Krebs to Chuikov, Goebbels could recall his previous attempts to start peace negotiations with the USSR. Already the defeat of the German troops on the Kursk Bulge and the capitulation of Italy made him think about the inevitability of the defeat of Germany. While at Hitler's headquarters in Rastenberg, on September 10, 1943, Goebbels wrote down in his diary the essence of his reasoning about a separate peace: “We are faced with the problem of which side we should turn first - to the Russians, or to the Anglo-Americans. recognize that it will be difficult to wage war against both at the same time." In a conversation with Hitler, Goebbels asked the Fuhrer "whether something should be done in relation to Stalin." According to Goebbels, Hitler "answered that nothing needed to be done for the time being. The Führer declared that it would be easier to negotiate with the British than with the Soviets. At present, the Führer believes, the British can come to their senses more easily."

On March 22, 1945, Goebbels again invited Hitler to "talk to a representative of the Soviet Union" and was again refused.

By this time, the Reichsministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by I. von Ribbentrop, had repeatedly tried to start separate negotiations with the Western powers. For this purpose, the Secretary of State of the Reichsministry, Weizsäcker, was sent to the Vatican, the adviser of the Reichsministry, von Schmiden, was sent to Switzerland, and in March 1945, an employee of Ribbentrop Hesse in Stockholm was sent to Stockholm. All these missions ended in failure, which caused the gloating of Goebbels, who did not put a penny on Ribbentrop and his ministry.

At the same time, Goebbels ridiculed reports that appeared in the Western press that the initiative for peace negotiations came from Heinrich Himmler. On March 17, Goebbels wrote: "It is simply ridiculous that in such reports, Himmler is called the guarantor of peace on the part of Germany instead of the Fuhrer. It is alleged that a powerful German clique offered the head of the Fuhrer as a pledge. There is, of course, not a word of truth in this."

Only after more than a month Goebbels realized his mistake. Then it turned out that Himmler had been conducting such negotiations for a long time through the head of foreign intelligence of the SS Schellenburg, who established contact with the representative of the International Red Cross, Count Bernadotte in Sweden. At the same time, through General Wolf, Himmler negotiated in Switzerland with the head of the US Bureau of Strategic Services (later CIA) Allen Dulles and representatives of British intelligence. In the Nazi leadership, Hermann Goering and Albert Speer were also supporters of a separate peace with the Western powers.

Whose flag will be hoisted over the Reichstag?

However, Goebbels admitted in his diary that the moment for a separate peace had been lost. At this time, the question arose on the agenda: who will take Berlin? The alignment of forces in Europe and the world largely depended on this. The Western allies, especially Great Britain, made stubborn attempts to prevent the strengthening of the positions of the USSR.

On April 1, British Prime Minister W. Churchill wrote to US President F. D. Roosevelt: " The Russian armies will undoubtedly capture all of Austria, and enter Vienna. If they also capture Berlin, will they not have a too exaggerated idea that they have made an overwhelming contribution to our common victory, and might this not lead them to a frame of mind that will cause serious and very significant difficulties in the future? Therefore, I think that from a political point of view, we should move as far east as possible in Germany, and in the event that Berlin is within reach, we must undoubtedly take it.

The British Prime Minister thought not only about considerations of prestige. On the same days, the commander of the British armed forces in Europe, Field Marshal Montgomery, received a secret directive from Churchill: "Carefully collect German and fold it so that it can be easily distributed to German soldiers with whom we would have to cooperate if the Soviet offensive continued." Apparently, Churchill was ready to send the Allied armies along with the Nazi troops to strike at his own Red Army and drive it out of central Europe.

On March 29, Goebbels wrote in his diary: "Montgomery, in his statement, emphasized his intention to break through to the capital of the Reich if possible". At the same time, Goebbels admitted: “It is probably true that, as the American press agencies say, the enemy took possession of the bridges over the Main due to treachery. There are indeed elements among our leading people on the Western Front who would like to end the war in the West as soon as possible and therefore directly or indirectly play into the hands of Eisenhower".

The implementation of the plans of the allies was also facilitated by their secret negotiations with figures from the German leadership, including Himmler. These negotiations became the subject of correspondence between Stalin and Roosevelt, to which the Soviet leader, not without reason, accused the allies of treachery.

These accusations of Stalin were sent to Roosevelt, although in his message of April 3, the Soviet leader wrote: “I don’t understand ... the silence of the British, who left you to correspond on this unpleasant issue, but they themselves continue to remain silent, although it is known that the initiative in this whole story with the negotiations in Bern belongs to the British”. It was obvious that Stalin himself considered it a useless exercise to moralize Churchill, who was especially active in order to weaken the position of the USSR. At the same time, the harsh words addressed to the US President had a specific purpose: Stalin made it clear that by violating allied obligations in Europe, the United States was jeopardizing the fulfillment of allied obligations taken by the USSR at Yalta to participate in military operations against Japan. After all, Roosevelt had been trying to achieve this from the USSR since the end of 1941.

Stalin achieved his goal. The United States broke off negotiations with representatives of the German military command. In his message received at the Kremlin on April 13, Roosevelt thanked Stalin for "a sincere explanation of the Soviet point of view regarding the Berne incident, which, as it now seems, has faded and receded into the past, without bringing any benefit". Roosevelt expressed the hope that in the future "there should be no mutual distrust, and minor misunderstandings of this nature should not arise". He expressed confidence that "when our armies establish contact in Germany and unite in a fully coordinated offensive, the Nazi armies will disintegrate".

However, on the same day, news of Roosevelt's death came to Moscow, and Stalin sent "deep condolences" to the new US President Truman, evaluating the deceased as "the greatest politician on a world scale."

In addition to diplomatic measures, the Soviet leadership made military efforts in order to thwart attempts to steal the Victory from our people. On the day when W. Churchill sent a message to F. Roosevelt, on April 1, the commanders of the fronts G.K., Zhukov and I.S. Konev were summoned to J.V. Stalin. According to the memoirs of I. S. Konev, Army General Shtemenko "read aloud a telegram, the essence of which was briefly as follows: the Anglo-American command is preparing an operation to capture Berlin, setting the task of capturing it before the Soviet Army ... The telegram ended with the fact that, according to To all intents and purposes, the plan to take Berlin before the Soviet Army is considered by the Allied headquarters as quite real and preparations for its implementation are in full swing.After Shtemenko had read the telegram to the end, Stalin turned to Zhukov and to me: "So who will take Berlin, we or the allies?" Konev wrote: "It so happened: I had to be the first to answer this question, and I answered:" We will take Berlin and we will take it before the Allies ".

Meanwhile, German resistance on the Western Front had virtually ceased. On April 16, the day the Berlin operation began, Zhukov informed Stalin that, judging by the testimony of a prisoner of war, the German troops had received the task of decisively not yielding to the Russians and fighting to the last man, even if Anglo-American troops came out to their rear. Having learned about this message, Stalin, turning to Antonov and Shtemenko, said: "It is necessary to answer Comrade Zhukov that he may not know everything about Hitler's negotiations with the allies." The telegram said: "Ignore the testimony of a captured German. Hitler is weaving a web in the Berlin area to cause discord between the Russians and the Allies. This web must be cut by taking Berlin by the Soviet troops. We can do it, and we will do it".

Cutting the web spun by Hitler's spiders

The attack on Berlin by the forces of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, launched on April 16, led to the fact that on April 21, Soviet troops ended up in the suburbs of the German capital.

At this time, the Nazi leaders made efforts to direct all their forces to the fight against the Red Army. On April 22, Hitler accepted General Jodl's proposal to transfer General Wenck's newly formed 12th Army and General Busse's 9th Army from the Western Front to the Eastern Front. These armies were to move to the southern suburbs of Berlin and, uniting there, strike at the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

Konev recalled: "Hitler's orders during this period, all his efforts to unblock Berlin, all the orders given on this subject - both Wenck and Busse, and the commander of the 3rd Army, Henrici, and Schörner with his group of troops, and Grand Admiral Doenitz, who, according to the idea was to break through to Berlin with sailors - all this, given the prevailing balance of forces, had no real basis. But at the same time, it would be wrong to consider such attempts as deliberate absurdity. We are our actions (and previous ones, and those which were already deployed during the battles for Berlin) made them unrealistic. Hitler's plans would not have collapsed by themselves. They could collapse only as a result of our armed influence. It was the successes of the Soviet troops, obtained in difficult battles for Berlin, every day, every hour more and more exposed the illusory nature of Hitler's last hopes, plans and orders".

Realizing the inevitability of collapse, Hitler's associates hurried to agree with the allies on surrender. On April 23, Hitler's bunker received a telegram from Goering, who was in Obersalzberg. Goering wrote to his Fuhrer that, since he had decided to stay in Berlin, he, Goering, was ready to take over "the general leadership of the Reich." By this time Goering had decided to fly to Eisenhower in order to surrender to the Anglo-American forces. Having received Goering's message, Hitler became furious and immediately ordered Goering to be removed from all his posts. Soon Goering was taken into custody, and Bormann prepared a message about Goering's resignation from the post of head of the Luftwaffe due to an exacerbation of heart disease.

In his memoirs, German Minister of Armaments Albert Speer spoke about a conversation with Himmler that took place near Hamburg after Goering's arrest. According to Speer, Himmler did not attach any importance to what had happened. He said: “Now Goering will become the successor. We agreed a long time ago that I would be his prime minister. Even without Hitler, I will make him (Goering) the head of state ... Naturally, I will make decisions. I have already made contact with a number persons who enter my office."

Himmler was confident in the strength of his position and his indispensability. He spoke: "Europe will not be able to cope without me in the future. I will be needed as a Minister of Police. I only need to spend an hour with Eisenhower and he will understand it. They will soon realize that they depend on me. Otherwise, hopeless chaos awaits them."

On April 21, Himmler, secretly from Hitler, negotiated with the director of the Swedish department of the World Jewish Congress, Norbert Mazur, trying to establish contact with Eisenhower through him in order to capitulate on the Western Front. In exchange, Himmler agreed to release imprisoned Jews from a number of concentration camps. Thus, an agreement was reached on the release of a thousand Jews from Ravensbrück under the pretext of their Polish origin.

On 23 April, Himmler met Count Bernadotte in Lübeck at the Swedish consulate. According to Schellenberg, Himmler told the count: " It remains for us Germans to declare ourselves defeated, and I ask that my words be conveyed through the Swedish government to General Eisenhower, so that we all may avoid further unnecessary bloodshed. For us Germans, and especially for me, it is impossible to capitulate to the Russians. We will continue to fight against them until the front of the Western powers takes the place of the German front."

Schellenberg recalled: "Himmler indicated that he had the right to make a decision on this issue, since the death of Hitler is a matter of two or three days. At least Hitler will die in the struggle to which he devoted his life - the struggle against Bolshevism". At the same time, Himmler wrote a letter to Swedish Foreign Minister Christian Günther with a request to convey Himmler's declaration of cessation of the war to the leadership of the Anglo-American troops and the governments of the United States and Great Britain.

In his memoirs, B. L. Montgomery wrote that on April 27 he learned from the British War Office about Himmler's proposal. Field Marshal wrote: Himmler claimed that Hitler was terminally ill and that he (Himmler) was in a position to take full power into his own hands.. Although Montgomery claimed that he "did not give much thought to this message," he remarked further: "The ongoing Russian offensive was more dangerous than the defeated Germans. I knew that the Germans were practically finished. The most essential and immediate task was to move west at full speed and break through to the Baltic Sea, and then create a flank turned on east. That was the only way to keep the Russians out of Schleswig-Holstein, and thus into Denmark.". Thus, Himmler's willingness to capitulate in the west was entirely in line with Montgomery's plans.

However, the defeat by the Red Army of the main forces of the German troops in the Battle of Berlin, the encirclement of Berlin, the exit of Soviet troops to the Elbe testified to the failure of the attempts of a number of leaders of the Western powers, and, above all, Churchill to weaken the significance of Soviet successes. On April 25, Soviet soldiers met with American soldiers in the Strela area on the Elbe River and in the Torgau area on the Elbe River. These meetings turned into a vivid demonstration of the solidarity of the peoples of the anti-Hitler coalition. This event was marked by the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and fireworks in Moscow. Stalin, Churchill and the new US President Truman timed their speeches on the radio in advance to this expected event. These speeches, broadcast on the radio on April 27, 1945, demonstrated to the whole world the unity of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. Under these conditions, the leading figures of Western countries, primarily the United States, decided not to aggravate relations with the Soviet Union, seeking to ensure the participation of the Red Army in the war against Japan.

In his book of military memoirs, Crusade to Europe, General Dwight Eisenhower wrote that as hostilities in Europe drew to a close, “the time came to take on the second task. was still at peace with the Japanese." Eisenhower stressed that the United States received with hope the "information" according to which "Generalissimo Stalin told Roosevelt in Yalta that within three months from the day the surrender was signed, the Red Army would go to war with Japan." Therefore, the Americans not only tried not to aggravate relations with the USSR, but also tried to hasten the surrender of Germany so that the three-month period before the Soviet Union entered the war with Japan began to expire faster. This position of the American government eventually influenced the policy of Great Britain, although Churchill's secret directive to Montgomery regarding German soldiers and their weapons was not canceled.

On April 25, on the day of the meeting of Soviet and American troops on the Elbe, British Foreign Secretary A. Eden and US Secretary of State E. Stettinius informed W. Churchill and H. Truman about Himmler's proposals. The British Prime Minister and the US President regarded them as an attempt to sow discord between the allies. They declared that surrender was possible only to all three allies at the same time.

Two days later, on April 27, at an informal meeting of the British delegation, which arrived in San Francisco to participate in the founding conference of the United Nations, Anthony Eden remarked, as if by chance: "By the way ... we learned from Stockholm sources that Himmler made an offer through Bernadotte for the unconditional surrender of Germany to the Americans and us. Of course, we informed the Russians about this".

Skillfully organized "information leak" was immediately picked up by the media. Jack Winocavre, director of the British Information Service in Washington, who was present at the meeting, passed this on to Paul Rankin of Reuters, but asked that the source not be identified. Early on the morning of April 28, the news appeared in the London papers.

At 9 pm on April 28, from a BBC radio broadcast, Hitler learned of Himmler's negotiations with Count Bernadotte. According to the famous pilot of the Third Reich, Hannah Reich, who had just arrived in Berlin, Hitler "turned purple, and his face was distorted beyond recognition". Reitsch, who was known for her propensity to deliver long and emotional monologues, later vividly described this attack of the Fuhrer's rage. Hitler screamed in fury about the low betrayal of the man he trusted the most. He announced the deprivation of Himmler of all his titles. Reitsch then repeatedly repeated Hitler's order to her and to Ritter von Greim, who had just been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force in Göring's place: to immediately fly out of Berlin in order to "arrest Himmler as a traitor".

This was not easy to do: von Greim was wounded in the leg and moved on crutches. Therefore, although he was put on board a light aircraft, Hanna Reitsch led him. Taking off in the street at the Brandenburg Gate under fire from Soviet anti-aircraft artillery, Reich managed to escape from besieged Berlin and sent the plane to Plön, where Dönitz's headquarters were located.

At this time, as the authors of Himmler's biography Roger Manvell and Heinrich Frenkel wrote, "in Captivity, Dönitz ... and Himmler ... shared power." According to Schwerin von Krosig, who then took over as Foreign Minister in the last German government, the two eventually agreed that "they will faithfully serve the recognized successor of Hitler, and Dönitz clearly expected that Himmler would take the place of the Fuhrer, and he himself would become the Reichsfuehrer."

Dönitz received no clear instructions from Berlin to arrest Himmler, only a vague order from Bormann: "Immediately and ruthlessly punish the traitors". R. Manvell and G. Frenkel emphasize: "Only Greim had an unequivocal order to arrest Himmler, but he could not carry it out without the support of Dönitz, and he kept waiting for Himmler to become the Fuhrer himself. There is no information about how Greim's meeting with Dönitz went, what they said to a friend friend, what decision did you make?. One thing is clear: Hitler's order was not carried out.

In Berlin, Himmler's representative in the bunker, Hermann Fegelein, was chosen as the scapegoat. He tried to hide, was found in civilian clothes in his apartment in the Berlin quarter, which was about to be occupied by Soviet troops, and was brought to the bunker. The fact that Fegelein was married to Eva Braun's sister did not save him. On April 28, he was shot in the garden of the Reich Chancellery.

On the evening of April 28, Hitler summoned all the inhabitants of the bunker in which he lived for the last days, and invited them all to commit suicide. On the night of April 28/29, Hitler registered his marriage to Eva Braun. At the wedding ceremony, everyone was silent, with the exception of Goebbels, who tried to entertain the newlyweds and guests.

At 4 am on April 29, Hitler certified the personal and political testaments he had prepared. In it, Hitler announced his decision "to remain in Berlin and accept death voluntarily at the moment when I am sure that the residence of the Fuhrer and Chancellor can no longer be retained."

Hitler appointed Grand Admiral Dönitz Reich President of Germany, Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. J. Goebbels was appointed Chancellor of Germany, and M. Bormann was appointed Minister for Relations with the Party. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces was the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Schörner. Hitler demanded "from all Germans, all National Socialists, men and women and all soldiers of the armed forces, that they remain true to duty and obey the new government and its president until death."

He also announced that "Goering, Himmler and their secret negotiations with the enemy, conducted without my knowledge and against my will, as well as their criminal attempt to seize state power, in addition to disloyalty to me personally, caused incalculable harm to the country and the whole people". He expelled Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler from the party, removed them from all government posts. In one place of the will, Hitler, without naming Goering and Himmler by their last names, mentioned "despicable creatures", which undermined the "resistance" of the enemy.

Hitler's "political testament" was certified by four witnesses: Joseph Goebbels, Martin Bormann, General Wilhelm Burgdorf and General Hans Krebs. Three copies of this will were sent on April 29 to Dönitz and Schörner with three couriers who were supposed to overcome the positions of the Soviet troops.

On April 30, at 14.25, the troops of the 3rd shock army of the 1st Belorussian Front took the main part of the Reichstag building. At 2:30 p.m., Hitler gave Weidling free rein and allowed him to attempt a breakout from Berlin. And an hour later, Zhukov was informed that scouts Sergeant M.A. Egorov and Sergeant M.V. Kantaria had hoisted the Red Banner over the Reichstag. Twenty minutes after this event, Hitler shot himself.

And yet, as Konev wrote, "The Germans, already clearly doomed to defeat these days, continued ... to fight stubbornly, using our every oversight. In general, by the end of April 30, the position of the enemy's Berlin grouping became hopeless. It was actually divided into several isolated groups. The Imperial Chancellery, from which the defense of Berlin was controlled, after the loss of the communications center of the main command, located in a shelter on Benderstrasse, lost telegraph and telephone communications and was left with a poorly working radio connection ".

War correspondent P. Troyanovsky wrote how on the night of May 1, "a German car with a large white flag on the radiator suddenly appeared on the site of Colonel Smolin's unit. Our soldiers ceased fire. A German officer got out of the car and said one word: "Surrender..." He was understood, accepted and escorted to the headquarters. The officer stated that the newly appointed Chief of the General Staff, General Krebs, was ready to appear before the Soviet command in order to negotiate the surrender of the Berlin garrison. The Soviet command agreed to accept Krebs ... "

Two military attaches.

Obviously, even before his suicide, Hitler no longer counted on military success, but hoped to survive through diplomatic maneuvers. Perhaps this explained the resignation from the post of chief of staff of the German ground forces of a prominent military leader, practitioner and theorist of tank warfare, Heinz Guderian. On March 28, General of Infantry Hans Krebs was appointed to replace him. Although Goebbels did not say anything about Krebs' military talents, he was satisfied with this choice, calling him "excellent person", which "was our military attaché in Moscow".

Krebs spoke fluent Russian and was personally acquainted with Soviet military leaders during his work as an assistant to the military attache in Moscow until June 1941. Berlin was well aware of the remarkable episode from the activities of G. Krebs. Acting as a military attache, G. Krebs attended the farewell ceremony for Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka after the signing of the Soviet-Japanese neutrality treaty. In an effort to emphasize the fidelity of the USSR to the obligations assumed under this treaty, I. V. Stalin and V. M. Molotov personally arrived at the station and warmly welcomed Matsuoka. At the same time, the Soviet leaders tried to demonstrate their readiness to comply with the 1939 treaties signed between the USSR and Germany.

In a government telegram to Berlin, German Ambassador Schulenburg wrote on April 13, 1941, that during the farewell ceremony, I.V. Stalin "inquired loudly about me and, finding me, came up, hugged me by the shoulders and said:" We must remain friends , and you must now do everything for this!" Then Stalin turned to the acting military attache Colonel Krebs and, after making sure that he was German, told him: "We will remain friends with you in any case." Commenting on these words of Stalin, Schullenburg wrote: "Stalin, undoubtedly, greeted Colonel Krebs and me in this way deliberately and thereby consciously attracted the general attention of the large audience that was present at the same time."

It is possible that not Krebs's service in various army headquarters and army groups from 1941 to 1945, but his experience as a military diplomat in the USSR was primarily in demand by the leadership of the Third Reich in the spring of 1945.

At the same time, Goebbels began to study the biographies of those who commanded the Red Army, which had already entered Germany. On March 16, 1945, Goebbels wrote: "The General Staff presents me a book with biographical data and portraits of Soviet generals and marshals. From this book it is not difficult to draw various information about what mistakes we have made in the past years. These marshals and generals are exceptionally young on average, almost none of them are older than 50 years They have rich experience in revolutionary political activity, are convinced Bolsheviks, extremely energetic people, and on their faces one can read that they have a good national leaven.The majority are the children of workers, shoemakers, small peasants, etc. In short, , I am forced to draw the unpleasant conclusion that the military leaders of the Soviet Union come from better popular strata than our own".

It is possible that Goebbels' interest in Soviet marshals and generals was caused not only by a desire to shame his own military leaders. Judging by the contents of his diary, Goebbels at that time was primarily interested in matters of practical importance for Germany. It is possible that he wanted to know better about those with whom he wanted to enter into negotiations.

The biography of Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov fully corresponded to those general ideas about Soviet military leaders that Goebbels took out from acquaintance with their biographies. Born into a peasant family in the village of Serebryanye Prudy, Venevsky district, Tula province (now Moscow region), the future Marshal of the Soviet Union began his working life as a mechanic in Petrograd.

Having begun military service in December 1917 in the training mine corps in Kronstadt, V. I. Chuikov then joined the Red Army. He ended the Civil War with four wounds and as commander of a rifle regiment. Since May 1942, V.I. Chuikov has been an active participant in the Great Patriotic War. Under his command, the famous 62nd (later 8th Guards) Army fought in Stalingrad. Then the troops of the "Chuikovsky" army liberated the Right-Bank Ukraine, Belarus, participated in the brilliant Vistula-Oder operation.

It is possible that Goebbels paid attention not only to the combat experience of V. I. Chuikov, but also to his education, which allowed him to work in the diplomatic sphere. After completing his studies at the M.V. Frunze Military Academy, as well as academic mechanization and motorization courses at this academy, V.I. Chuikov graduated from the oriental faculty of the same academy. After participating in the Liberation Campaign of 1939 and the Soviet-Finnish War, V. I. Chuikov became a military attaché in China in 1940 and remained there until the beginning of 1942, i.e., during the period of our active assistance to this country in its struggle against Japanese aggression. So Chuikov gained diplomatic experience in the complex and delicate affairs of the Far East.

Probably, sending the former military attache in Moscow, General Hans Krebs, to the command post to Chuikov, Goebbels knew that the Soviet colonel general was well trained for international negotiations.

Having learned from V. I. Chuikov about the arrival of H. Krebs, G. K. Zhukov ordered General of the Army V. D. Sokolovsky to arrive "at the command post of V. I. Chuikov for negotiations with the German general." At the same time, Zhukov contacted Stalin by telephone. Reacting to the report of Hitler's suicide, Stalin said: "He's finished his game, scoundrel. It's a pity that we couldn't take him alive." At the same time, Stalin ordered: “Tell Sokolovsky. No negotiations, except for unconditional surrender, should be conducted with either Krebs or other Nazis. If there is nothing emergency, don’t call until morning, I want to rest a little. Today we have a May Day parade.”

Zhukov further wrote about Sokolovsky's call "at about 5 o'clock in the morning." According to the Army General, Krebs cited his lack of authority to negotiate surrender. He also reported: "Krebs is seeking a truce, allegedly in order to assemble the Dönitz government in Berlin. I think we should send them to hell if they do not immediately agree to unconditional surrender."

According to Zhukov, he supported Sokolovsky, adding: "Tell me that if Goebbels and Bormann's consent to unconditional surrender is not given before 10 o'clock, we will deliver a blow of such force that will forever discourage them from resisting." Zhukov further wrote: "At the appointed time, there was no response from Goebbels and Bormann. At 10:40, our troops opened heavy fire on the remnants of the special defense sector of the city center". From Zhukov's memoirs one can come to the conclusion that Krebs' visit was brief, and that Stalin generally forbade any negotiations.

Meanwhile, the most complete description of the negotiations with Krebs is available on 30 pages of the book by Marshal of the Soviet Union V.I. Chuikov "The End of the Third Reich". Chuikov noted that the writer Vsevolod Vishnevsky, poets Konstantin Simonov and Yevgeny Dolmatovsky, composers Tikhon Khrennikov and Matvey Blanter were also witnesses of the talks. The negotiations were transcribed. On the German side, in addition to Krebs, Colonel of the General Staff von Dufving, who acted as an adjutant to the general, as well as an interpreter, took part in the negotiations.

From the story of V. I. Chuikov, supported by shorthand records, one gets a slightly different impression of the negotiations at his command post than from the memoirs of G. K. Zhukov. Firstly, Chuikov reported that the negotiations went on for almost 10 hours. Secondly, Chuikov spoke about the establishment of a telephone connection between the German Reich Chancellery and the command post of the 8th Guards Army. Thirdly, during the negotiations with Krebs, Chuikov and Sokolovsky received calls from some higher-ranking officials more than once. And they could be G.K. Zhukov or I.V. Stalin. Therefore, Stalin, first declaring, according to Zhukov, the inadmissibility of any negotiations, then allowed their continuation and actually participated in them.

The stumbling block in the negotiations was the reluctance of the new leaders of the Reich to surrender without the consent of Dönitz. There were well-known reasons for this. The roles in the triuvmirate formed by Hitler were not clearly defined. The appeal to Stalin was written by Chancellor Goebbels, but he indicated that he was acting on behalf of Bormann. The credentials of Krebs were also signed by Bormann. Dönitz was appointed Reich President, that is, a post that was abolished after the death of the last president of the Weimar Republic, Paul von Hindenburg, on August 2, 1934. Commenting on Hitler's last appointments in his memoirs, former German Armaments Minister Albert Speer called them "the most absurd in his career statesman ... He could not clearly determine, as already happened in the last years of his life, who had the highest power: the chancellor or his cabinet, or the president. According to the letter of the will, Dönitz could not remove the chancellor or any of the ministers, even if it turned out they weren't fit for the job. So the most important part of the powers of any president was taken from him from the very beginning."

In addition, the Grand Admiral, who was in Plön, received scant information about what was happening in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery in recent days. Only three hours after the suicide of Adolf Hitler and his wife on April 30 at 18.35 Bormann sent a radiogram to Dönitz: "Instead of the former Reichsmarschall Goering, the Fuhrer appointed you as his successor. Written instructions have been sent to you. Immediately take the measures necessary in this situation."

The grand admiral did not receive any messages about Hitler's departure from life and believed that the highest power in Germany still belongs to the Fuhrer. For this reason, he sent a reply to Berlin expressing his allegiance to Hitler. Dönitz wrote: "If by the will of Fate ... I am destined to rule the Reich as your successor, I will do my best to ensure that the outcome of this war is worthy of the heroic struggle of the German people".

The concealment of information about Hitler's suicide was due to the fact that Goebbels and Bormann were afraid of Himmler, who was in Plön, where Dönitz was. Obviously, hiding the death of Hitler, his heirs believed that as long as Himmler considered the Fuhrer alive, the SS chief would not dare to seize power. Nor were they in a hurry to publish Hitler's "Political Testament", according to which Himmler was expelled from the party and deprived of all power. Most likely, they feared that premature publicity would only hasten Himmler's actions. The head of the all-powerful SS organization could declare Hitler's "Political Testament" transmitted by radiogram to be false, they were traitors, and even Hitler's murderers. Goebbels and Bormann hardly doubted that Himmler could put Dönitz under his control or even declare himself head of the Third Reich.

The position of Goebbels, Bormann and others was extremely precarious.

The real power of Hitler's heirs extended only to a few Berlin quarters. Lev Bezymensky gave exact data on the territory controlled by the Goebbels government: "From north to south, the extent of the empire was exactly 1650 meters - from the Weidendambrücke bridge to Prinz Albrecht Strasse; from west to east - 1150 meters - from the Brandenburg Gate to Schlossplatz". The very government of Germany, which was headed by Goebbels, was only the appearance of such. Of the 17 members of the government appointed by Hitler, only three were in Berlin: Goebbels, Bormann and the new propaganda minister, Werner Naumann. This explained the persistent desire of Hitler's heirs to gather Dönitz and all members of the government in Berlin, as Krebs constantly spoke about. This also explained their fears that Himmler might seize the initiative in the leadership of Germany.

To justify the legitimacy of their position, Goebbels and Bormann had only Hitler's "Political Testament". Referring to him, Goebbels, Bormann and their supporters emphasized that only they were authorized to negotiate surrender. Therefore, the first to know the contents of Hitler's political testament outside the bunker were the Soviet military leaders and Stalin. The statements that Goebbels and Bormann preferred to negotiate with the USSR were explained simply: those surrounded by Soviet troops had no choice but to capitulate to them. Paradoxically, Goebbels, Bormann and Krebs tried to take advantage of the general surrender in order to demonstrate their right to speak for the whole of Germany, that is, to confirm the legitimacy of their government by capitulation.

Krebs told Chuikov and Sokolovsky: " A complete and effective surrender can be decided by a legal government. If Goebbels does not have an agreement with you, then what will happen? You must prefer the legal government to the government of the traitor Himmler. The question of war is already a foregone conclusion. The result must be decided with the government indicated by the Fuhrer. " According to Chuikov, Krebs, "agitated, is almost shouting in Russian:" The traitor and traitor Himmler can destroy the members of the new government! ... Himmler thinks that the German troops can still be a force against the East. He has reported this to your allies. It is clear to us, absolutely clear!"

Krebs, Goebbels and others, not without reason, believed that the Soviet government was ready to accept the surrender of the government, which was in the Berlin trap, and thereby end the war in a matter of hours. Otherwise, hostilities could drag on. At the same time, Soviet military leaders invariably emphasized that all negotiations on a general surrender should take place with the participation of all allies.

At the same time, the seizure of power by Himmler, who had already entered into secret separate negotiations with agents of the Western powers, was unprofitable for the Soviet Union. Therefore, V. D. Sokolovsky, who arrived at the command post, referring to G. K. Zhukov, suggested that G. Krebs publicly "declare G. Himmler a traitor in order to interfere with his plans." Visibly perking up, Krebs replied: "Very smart advice. You can do it right away. Of course, with the permission of Dr. Goebbels.". Krebs asked permission to send Colonel von Dufwing to Goebbels.

Chuikov telephoned the chief of staff and ordered to secure the colonel's passage and at the same time link our battalion on the front line with the German battalion in order to establish a telephone connection between Goebbels and the Soviet army command post.

When crossing the line of fire, the group, which included von Dufwing, a German translator and Soviet signalmen, was fired upon from the German side, although the colonel held a white flag. Despite the fact that the commander of the Soviet company of signalmen was mortally wounded, communication with the Reich Chancellery was established. True, the connection from the German side did not work for a long time. And yet, after the return of von Dufwing, Krebs was able to talk to Goebbels on the phone.

After long negotiations, Krebs read to Goebbels over the phone the Soviet terms of surrender:

"1. Surrender of Berlin.

2. All capitulating surrender weapons.

3. Officers and soldiers, on a common basis, life is saved.

4. Assistance is provided to the wounded.

5. The possibility of negotiations with the allies by radio is provided.

Goebbels demanded the return of Krebs to discuss all these conditions with him.

In parting, Krebs was told: " Your government will be given the opportunity to announce that Hitler has died, that Himmler is a traitor, and to declare to the three governments - the USSR, the USA and England - about complete surrender. Thus, we will partially satisfy your request. Will we help you to form a government? No. But we give you the right to provide a list of persons that you do not want to see as prisoners of war. We give you the right to make a statement to the Allied Nations after surrender. The fate of your government depends on them.". Krebs was also told that after the surrender of Berlin, the Soviet troops would give the Germans an airplane or a car, as well as radio communications to establish contact with Dönitz.

Krebs: "The list of persons who are in Berlin, which we give, will not be considered as a list of prisoners of war?"

Answer: "This is ensured. We will retain the ranks, orders, edged weapons for officers. We give the right to present a list of members of the government, the right to communicate with Dönitz. But all this after the surrender".

Krebs: "So, after the surrender, the Soviet radio will give a message about the death of Hitler, about the new government and about Himmler's betrayal?" Having received another confirmation on this score, Krebs, according to Chuikov, "assured that he would try to quickly agree on everything. 13 hours 08 minutes. Krebs left".

According to Chuikov, after parting, Krebs returned twice “already from the stairs: at first he forgot the gloves that he put on the windowsill along with his cap; however, he put on his cap, but he didn’t take the gloves. The second time Krebs returned under the pretext that he had forgotten his field bag, which he didn’t have at all He assured that he had brought documents from Goebbels and Bormann in it, although - I remember this well - he took out papers from his side pocket ".

Chuikov explained Krebs' behavior in the following way: “It was clear from his eyes and behavior that the general hesitated: to go back to hell or to be the first to surrender to the mercy of the winner. Perhaps he was waiting for us to declare him a prisoner, with which he might have willingly agreed.”.

After Krebs crossed the line of fire, the Soviet military leaders waited for an answer from the Reich Chancellery. However, the Germans remained silent. Their silence dragged on.

G.K. Zhukov recalled: "At 18 o'clock, V. D. Sokolovsky reported that the German leadership had sent his truce. He said that Goebbels and Bormann had rejected the demand for unconditional surrender. In response, at 18:30, the last assault on the central part of the city began with incredible force, where the Imperial Chancellery was located and the remnants of the Nazis settled".

However, there is no documentary evidence that the leaders of the new government actually rejected the Soviet terms of surrender. The said truce did not produce any documents proving that he was acting on behalf of Goebbels or Bormann. There are no documents left about the meeting of the Goebbels government, at which it was decided to reject the Soviet conditions.

On the evening of May 1, a significant part of the inhabitants of the bunker attempted to break out of the Soviet encirclement. William Shearer estimated that between 500 and 600 bunker occupants, many of whom were SS, eventually managed to break through. They then ended up in the Allied occupation zones. Some of them later claimed that Generals Krebs and Burgdorf, as well as the Goebbels couple, did not join the breakthrough group, but committed suicide. It was reported that before committing suicide, Magda Goebbels, with the help of a doctor, killed her children. Bormann, according to the former inhabitants of the bunker. joined the participants of the breakthrough, but died on the way.

However, no one has been able to provide convincing evidence of how Krebs and Burgdorf committed suicide. Their bodies have not been found.

Conflicting evidence about the death of Bormann on the way out of the bunker. As Lev Bezymensky convincingly proved in his book "In the Footsteps of Martin Bormann", the statements of Hitler's personal chauffeur Erich Kempka in his book "I Burned Hitler" refuted his testimony at the Nuremberg Trials about Bormann's death from a tank explosion by a Soviet shell. The leader of the "Hitler Youth" Arthur Axmann, referred to by W. Shearer, assured that Bormann had taken poison during the escape. However, his body was never found. Martin Bormann, who was searched for a significant part of the twentieth century, disappeared without a trace.

Much has been told about the suicide of Goebbels, his wife, as well as the murder of their children, whose corpses were discovered. In his book, H. R. Trevor-Roper, cited the testimony of Goebbels' adjutant SS Hauptssturmführer Günter Schwagermann. He claimed that on the evening of May 1, Goebbels called him and said: "Schwagerman! The greatest betrayal has happened. The generals have betrayed the Fuhrer. All is lost. I will die with my wife and my family ... You will burn our bodies. Can you do this?"

According to Trevor-Roper, Schwagerman promised to do so. After that, the adjutant sent the driver Goebbels and the SS man for gasoline. " Soon (it was half past nine in the evening) Goebbels and his wife passed through the bunker. At the top of the stairs they passed Schwagerman and the driver Rakh, who was standing with gasoline. They walked past without saying a word and went up the stairs to the garden. Two shots were fired almost immediately. When Rakh and Schwagerman went out into the garden, they found two corpses on the ground. The SS orderly who had shot them was standing nearby. They obediently poured four canisters of gasoline over the corpses, lit them on fire and left.".

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He then studied chemistry for a year at the Institute of Pathology at the University of Berlin and then began working as a laboratory assistant with Otto Warburg at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology in Berlin.

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He once compared his attempts to explain the chemical processes that take place in living cells to the search for the missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

In 1938, Mr.. K. married Margaret Sisley Fieldhouse. In the family they had two sons and a daughter. November 22, 1981 K. died in Oxford at the age of 81 years.

If not for the humiliating attempts of Nazi Germany to conclude an agreement with the USSR on the eve of its defeat, perhaps the name of General Krebs would have sunk into oblivion. The talented military leader, who had the fate of asking for peace from the Soviet generals, like the Fuhrer, could not stand the bitterness of defeat.

Hans Krebs, General: biography

Hans Krebs was born on March 4, 1898 in Helmstedt, Germany. The boy was born in the family of a teacher. After graduating from high school, he entered the gymnasium, his parents tried to provide a decent future for their son. There are no additional facts about the family and relatives of this historical figure. It is reliably known that he devoted himself entirely to military affairs and was not married.

The beginning of a military career

In August 1914, Hans volunteered at the outbreak of the First World War. Many Germans believed that the military campaign of 1914 would help them break out into the people. This is exactly what happened to Hans. He graduated from World War I with the rank of lieutenant, which he received after being wounded at the front in 1915. Krebs fought on the Western Front in infantry units.

After the end of the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles, the lieutenant became a brave military man and a real hero, he had about a dozen awards in this company. After the end of the war, Hans decided to remain in the German armed forces. In 1925 he received the rank of chief lieutenant. In 1930, with the rank of Hauptmann, he was transferred to serve in the War Ministry. Here, the future General Krebs is studying Russian. The command is preparing a qualified specialist for work in Moscow.

Work in the USSR

Without a doubt, Hans Krebs (general) - one of the most qualified specialists in the Red Army, lived in the capital of the USSR. According to some sources, in 1933-1934, other documents indicate his date of residence as 1936-1939. There are documents that describe his work in the German embassy in 1933-1939. Over the years, Krebs perfectly mastered the Russian language, knew many military leaders of the Soviet Union personally.

In 1939, a new promotion - Krebs was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was chief of staff of the Seventh Army Corps, participated in the 1940 military campaign in Belgium, France and Luxembourg. Distinguished himself in breaking through the Maginot Line. For this military operation, he received buckles to existing awards.

In 1940, another promotion of an experienced staff officer - he received the rank of lieutenant colonel and was again sent to Moscow. He worked as the first deputy military attaché. Krebs served in this position until May 1941.

Krebs is a general. Military history of World War II

In 1941-1943. the talented officer was Chief of Staff of the Ninth Walter Model. In 1943, Krebs was transferred to a new headquarters, he began to command the Army Group Center.

Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with Nazi policies and defeats at the front force Hitler's zealous opponents to act. In June 1944, a group of conspirators led by General Claus von Stauffenberg made an attempt on Adolf Hitler. As a result, four military leaders are dead, and the Fuhrer is only shell-shocked. After the assassination attempt, a wave of repressions and purges began in the upper echelons of the upper mat. As a result of the investigation, General Hans Speidel was arrested, and his place as Commander "B" of the Western Front was taken by Hans Krebs, a general with an excellent record of service and a spotless reputation.

In this post, the general failed to prove himself from the best side. He, along with the military leaders of his headquarters, developed the Arden operation, which turned out to be a failure. The Germans suffered a strategic defeat.

In 1945, Krebs received the highest award of Nazi Germany - a cross with. In the same year, he took the position of adviser on operational situations at the headquarters of Commander-in-Chief Heinz Guderian.

At the end of March 1945, on the recommendation of General Burgdorf, it was Hans Krebs who was appointed commander-in-chief of the German ground forces. The general (military history remembered him in this position) became the last commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht in World War II.

Krebs' last diplomatic campaign

After being appointed commander, Hans Krebs, a general and a devoted Nazi, understood that the days of Nazi Germany were numbered, but many military leaders, like him, hoped for Hitler, but the Fuhrer decided to self-destruct. Today, historians are of the opinion that he actually shot himself in the bunker. But be that as it may, this news at the headquarters of the German troops produced the effect of a bolt from the blue. Goebbels and Bormann decided to establish contact with the top of the Soviet command, for which General Krebs came in handy.

The new commander of the ground forces knew the Russian language perfectly. Also, the course of the negotiation process could depend on Krebs' personal contact. He was familiar with Marshal Zhukov.

On May 1, 1945, Hans Krebs arrived at the headquarters of the Soviet command. The general, whose biography with a photo appeared in the international press that same evening, was a kind of "dove of peace." As the Nazi commander himself admitted, after the news of Hitler's suicide, the Soviet command was only interested in the details of the Fuhrer's death and where his corpse was. The "negotiation process" has reached an impasse. The whole night Krebs answered Chuikov's questions. The latter, in turn, called up Marshal Zhukov, who promised to consult with Stalin.

Only in the morning, having learned all the information of interest and the details of Hitler's death, Stalin ordered that a demand be presented to the representative of Germany for unconditional surrender.

General Krebs, in turn, was confused and said that he could not make such decisions on his own. At nine o'clock in the morning, the Nazi representative left for the Reichstag to coordinate further actions with his command. At six o'clock in the evening the truce brought a letter to the headquarters of the Soviet command, in which Goebbels and Bormann rejected I. Stalin's proposal to capitulate.

In his memoirs, General Chuikov writes that General Krebs left the headquarters of the Soviet command in a very depressed mood. He stopped several times, forgot his personal belongings. Chuikov suggested that Krebs wanted to be taken prisoner, in a situation of absolute defeat he wanted such a fate, but such a "trophy" of the Red Army was no longer needed.

On the evening of May 1, 1945, the commander of the ground forces, Hans Krebs, went down to the Fuhrerbunker and shot himself. He shot in the heart with his revolver. The Nazi's body has not been found.

Role of Hans Krebs in World War II

Of course, General Krebs was an excellent diplomat and intelligence officer. While working in Moscow, he was personally acquainted with the military elite of the Union. Having perfectly studied the Russian language, he easily entered into relations not only with diplomats, but also with ordinary staff officers.

Having gone from an ordinary soldier in the First World War to the commander of the ground forces in the Second World War, he gained experience and the necessary tactical skills in military operations. Almost all of his military campaigns were successful, except for the Arden operation. The only fact remains indisputable: if it were not for the participation of the general in the negotiations on May 1, 1945, his figure in military history would have remained invisible.

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