Photograph of Adolf Hitler surveying the damage outside the Führerbunker on April 28, 1945, just two days before his suicide on April 30[1284X779].

By the end of his life, Adolf Hitler was trembling constantly, struggling to walk, with glassy eyes, oily skin, and a weakened voice. He was increasingly paranoid, prone to violent outbursts, and detached from reality. Under the care of Theodor Morell, he reportedly took up to 28 pills a day, including methamphetamine, barbiturates, opiates, cocaine, testosterone, potassium bromide, and belladonna-based antispasmodics.

On January 16, 1945, Hitler retreated to the Führerbunker beneath the Reich Chancellery, a cramped shelter buried 8–10 meters underground. As Allied forces closed in, he expressed contempt for the German people, claiming they had “proven to be the weaker,” and that “only those who are inferior will remain.” He tasked Albert Speer with destroying Germany’s remaining infrastructure, while demanding civilians and soldiers fight to the death. Bridges were blown, food destroyed, and flooding in parts of Berlin’s subway system killed sheltering civilians.

Even then, Hitler clung to delusion, believing peace with Britain and the U.S. was still possible, and that victory over the Soviets might somehow be achieved.

On April 16, the Red Army launched the final assault on Berlin. As the city collapsed, several senior Nazis fled. Heinrich Himmler left on April 20, Hitler’s birthday, secretly attempting to negotiate peace. With Soviet forces nearing the city center, Hitler ordered SS General Felix Steiner to launch an impossible counterattack. When told it couldn’t be done, he erupted, denouncing his generals as traitors and declaring “everything is lost.” He resolved to stay in Berlin and die.

In the following days, Hitler learned that Hermann Göring had asked to assume leadership and that Himmler had tried to negotiate with the Allies. Enraged, he ordered both arrested (orders with little real effect) and authorized the execution of Hermann Fegelein, who had attempted to flee. Fegelein, Eva Braun’s brother-in-law, was shot despite her protests.

Around midnight on April 29, Hitler married Eva Braun in the bunker, with Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann as witnesses. Hours later, he learned that Benito Mussolini had been executed and publicly displayed, cementing his determination not to be captured alive. After testing cyanide on his dog, Blondi, he prepared for suicide.

On April 30, 1945, after less than 40 hours of marriage, Adolf and Eva Hitler said their goodbyes. Shortly after 2:30 p.m., they retreated to his private room. Minutes later, aides including Heinz Linge and Bormann entered to find both dead, Hitler from a gunshot wound, alongside signs of cyanide.

With his death, one of the most destructive and genocidal regimes in human history effectively came to an end. If you’re interested, I wrote a full piece on Hitler’s life and death here: https://open.substack.com/pub/aid2000/p/hare-brained-history-vol-89-the-death?r=4mmzre&utm_medium=ios