History Buffs: Downfall

Hello and welcome History Buffs! My name is Nick Hodges and today we're going to take a look at Hitler's last stand inside the Führerbunker. It's April, 1945 and the final days of the Third Reich. The Allies are closing in on Germany from the west, the Soviets are advancing from the east. They'll be the first to make it to the German capital, beginning the Battle of Berlin. Escape has become impossible. Many Germans have already fled, but some hid underground with their Führer, Adolf Hitler. The movie Downfall tells the story about the last ten days of his life, through the first-hand accounts of those who lived with him in the bunker. And unlike most World War II movies, this film portrays a more complex human side of the Führer, revealing his flaws, irrational decisions, illnesses and all. Much of the film draws from the memoir of a secretary, Trodde Ljunger, who witnessed it all until the very end. And the real Trodde Ljunger even makes an appearance at the beginning and end of the movie, reflecting on her years beside Hitler, perhaps history's most evil man. And in these interviews and through her character in the movie, she confronts her loyalty to him, her admiration and the faults she once overlooked. But how much of Downfall is historically accurate? Does it faithfully portray Hitler and the end of his reign? Well join me in this review as we will take a look at what the film got right, what it got wrong or what it overly exaggerated. This is Downfall. So the movie begins with Trodde Ljunger reflecting on her role as Hitler's secretary, and she tells us this. And this sets the tone for the entire movie. We're going to go back into a world to see how so many people were able to work with and for that monster. And while many were co-conspirators, there were others like Trodde Ljunger who, you could argue, were swept up by fate or sheer bad luck. Downfall begins by showing how Trodde became Hitler's secretary. We see five girls ushered through the East Prussian forest to the Wolf's Lair, Hitler's Eastern Front headquarters. Hitler is selecting candidates from the Chancellery staff in Berlin, and after meeting each one, he chooses Trodde for the job. In reality, it didn't happen quite this quickly. I do understand they were just trying to show how she got the job by luck, not because of any ties to National Socialism, but it still gets a few details wrong. Nothing major though. Such as there were actually ten girls brought in from the Chancellery to audition for the position, and unlike in the movie, the other girls weren't waiting outside the room. They actually spent time at the Wolf's Lair between meeting Hitler and the dictation test. But of the ten, Trodde was chosen first, primarily because of her connection to Munich. Hitler seemed to like Munich girls, as seen with his long-time girlfriend Eva Braun. While Trodde initially struggled with the dictation, she managed to catch up because Hitler's friend and diplomat, Walter Huell, interrupted. However, this isn't shown in the movie. Instead, we just see Hitler giving Trodde a second chance. But regardless, the outcome is the same. Trodde is the only girl who tries out for the role, and gets it, making her Hitler's newest and last secretary. Though this scene isn't entirely accurate, it sets a crucial tone for the movie. Downfall isn't about rehashing Hitler as an abstract, distant villain. We've all seen that movie before, many times. Instead, we see a man who is calm and patient with Trodde, even giving her a second chance when her nerves overwhelm her. She sees a different Hitler than the one history will condemn, and she'll spend her lifetime grappling with that. The movie then skips two and a half years to Berlin on the day of Hitler's birthday, April 20th, 1945. And for his birthday present, Stalin delivered a barrage of artillery shells and Katyusha rockets. The Soviets had reached the outskirts of the capital, and began pummeling the city. As many of you history buffs may already know, Germany's fate had been sealed long before this day. Most historians point to Operation Barbarossa as their pivotal moment, when Hitler decided to take on the Soviet Union. Of the many losses Germany faced in that campaign, it was undoubtedly the Battle of Stalingrad, where Hitler faced his biggest and most morale-crushing defeat. As the Fuhrer himself declared, if we abandon it, Stalingrad, we are really abandoning the whole meaning of the campaign. In telegrams to General Paulus, commander of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, Hitler forbade surrender, encouraging his soldiers to fight to the death in order to contribute to the building of the defensive front and the salvation of Western civilization. But by February 2nd, 1943, the last of the 6th Army did surrender, the first German field army to surrender in World War II. And as you could imagine, there were significant German casualties, with an estimated 300,000 lost due to combat, starvation, taken prisoner, or by freezing to death. Hitler's humiliating defeat against his sworn enemy had a massive impact on Germany's morale. It was so low in fact, that the country, along with some factions within the Wehrmacht, were increasingly turning against their Fuhrer. In one particularly famous event on July 20th, 1944, Colonel Klaus von Stauffenberg tried to blow up Hitler with a bomb in a briefcase. This assassination attempt, along with the Allied Normandy invasion on D-Day, June 6th, 1944, and the Soviets' advance into Poland in early 1945, forced Hitler into his bunker beneath the Chancellery in Berlin by January 1945. So it's no surprise then that the portrayal of Hitler we see is one of anger, distrust, and deteriorating physical and mental health. The first example of this we see in the movie is Hitler's trembling left hand when he goes to speak with his people at the Chancellery, which is absolutely true. Many of those closest to him noted that his tremors, which primarily affected the left side of his body, were a result of Parkinson's. Conditioning tried desperately to hide from the public, but it only worsened with the stress of losing the war. One of his closest friends, architect Albert Speer, head of the Ministry of Armaments and War Production, noted in his memoirs that Hitler was shriveling up like an old man, his limbs trembling, his feet dragging, his normally very clean and well-kept uniform stained with food. And throughout the movie, his appearance only gets worse. Those around him notice and talk about it out of earshot. In a conversation between Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler and his underling, SS Commander Hermann Fegelein, Himmler says this. Himmler leaves Berlin at this point, unwilling to die as it becomes increasingly clear that the city will soon fall. Those who remained loyal to Hitler, or those who didn't have any other choice, retreated to the bunkers underneath the Chancellery. There were two connected bunker structures used. First was the Vorbunker, which had a kitchen, a dining room, some supply rooms, and several guest quarters. Deeper down was the Führerbunker, which had a corridor-like conference room, a map room, Hitler and Eva's private quarters, Goebbels' room and office, a room for communications, and various other spaces. There was a generator running one of the Führerbunker's rooms, and the whole structure was below the water table, so it was constantly damp and smelled of exhaust fumes. One thing this film does exceptionally well is authentically recreating the Vorbunker and Führerbunker, both in terms of its physical layout and how claustrophobic it must have felt for those anxiously hiding from the incoming Soviets. Let's take a look at this scene when Albert Speer comes to speak to Hitler. First he goes to visit with Magda Goebbels, the wife of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda. That would have taken place here in the Goebbels' family quarters. The other room had bunk beds for their six children. He then leaves her room and heads into the Führerbunker, and although we don't see him take the stairs, he comes from the hall where the guards hang out, and into the corridor lounge. He looks to his right into the generator room, then still walking down the corridor, he looks right into the telecommunications room. From there he passes through the doorway, separated in the corridor lounge from the conference room, where he takes note of a drunk and passed out Martin Bormann, Hitler's private secretary, who surprisingly has a very minor role in this movie, despite being the one who wielded control over the flow of information and access to and from Hitler. But anyway, Speer heads left into Hitler's office, then takes the left door to find Eva Brown in her quarters. And I'm honestly impressed by the level of detail that went into this. And not just the bunker, the costuming, the set design, it's pretty spot on. Anyway, by April 21st, the Soviets had finally entered the city. The Battle of Berlin was well underway. Most of Hitler's men had already fled, but a few dozen waited out the rest of the war here, underground, watching their fuhrer deteriorate before their very eyes. He knew of the intense and chaotic struggle being waged above, street by street, tank by tank. 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Troddle notes in her memoirs that on his birthday, with Soviet tanks looming on Berlin's doorstep, Hitler told her that he can't leave. He more or less said the same thing to Troddle in real life, but upon reflection, Troddle realises that he just said out loud what they were all thinking. He no longer believed in victory wholeheartedly. But for now, he continues to go through the motions. His last outdoor public appearance was on his birthday, when he awarded Iron Crosses to Hitler Youth children and teenagers. Although this event did happen, it wasn't filmed, implied by the person we see with the camera here. The last real footage we have of Hitler giving out Iron Crosses to the Hitler Youth was shot a month earlier, on March 20th, 1945. In fact, that footage directly inspired how Hitler is dressed in this scene. Hitler came out with his entourage without wearing a coat, which was unlike his normal appearance, a coat with a turned up collar. Anyway, Hitler's still making plans to win the war, despite hiding underground, when he meets with his men in the Führerbunkers map room, which doubles as a teeny tiny conference room. He then orders General Theodor Busse to hold the 9th Army's ground and fight. When General Jodl counters that the 9th can't help, Hitler disregards him, insisting they can push the Soviets back in the north and east. Jodl tries again to bring him to reason, but Hitler shifts focus to Commander Steiner, who he believes should join the 9th to help propel the Soviets. Another General, Hans Krebs, reiterates that the 9th can't help, and the Red Army outnumbers the Wehrmacht 10 to 1. And Hitler's response? Just send in General Wenck, Commander of the 12th. All the while, Hitler's generals are side-eyeing each other and trying to navigate this tense situation. How can they get Hitler to see reason, to understand the truth? All of this is absolutely true. He was moving around imaginary units and giving out impossible orders. In reality, nothing could stop the Red Army by this point. Hitler believed that the few remaining troops might rally to defend Berlin, hoping they could reach the Eastern Front to hold back the Soviet advance. However, he either refused or was unwilling to accept the truth. The Soviets from the east and allied forces from the west had already defeated most of those units, leaving Berlin completely surrounded. Now along with Hitler giving desperate orders to imaginary troops, we also hear him turn on the German people. As Berlin falls, he demands what's left of his men to fight to the death and destroy anything the Soviets might use. A scorched-earth policy for his own capital, Speer tries to reason with him, warning that such destruction will leave civilians with no chance of survival. It's a disgusting sentiment, but very accurate to how Hitler felt about his own people, that they shattered the myth that the German Reich was invincible. Of course, many of us already know of his callous disregard for human life, his wars of conquest, his final solution. But what I really like about this movie is that it expands on his narcissistic worldview. Truth is, he saw everyone as expendable. Berlin by this point had become a war zone. We get our best visuals of this through the eyes of Peter Krantz, a Hitler Youth soldier who begins the film as a loyal fighter, but ends up disillusioned with war. While Peter Krantz is a fictional character, he represents both the Hitler Youth and perhaps the German people, those drawn in by Hitler's promises, only to end up fighting for a man who didn't care whether they lived or died. But although Berlin is burning above them, not everyone in the bunker knew what was going on. The secretaries, both Troddel Junge and Frau Goethe-Christian believe Steiner is coming to save them. After all, that's what they heard Hitler say. But Fegelein tells Troddel the truth. And it's here we have the most iconic scene in the entire movie, Hitler's furious outburst. We've all seen the memes, Hitler screams at his generals in German, while some cheeky translator provides hilariously inaccurate subtitles. It's been viewed millions of times in many different videos, but unless you speak German, you probably didn't know what he was actually angry about, so I'm going to fill you in. The scene begins with Hitler's generals all staring at him, uneasy and reluctant to break the news that Steiner didn't have enough forces to save Berlin as ordered. It's a powerful shot, accurately depicting just how afraid these men were of their Fuhrer, even as they watched him falling apart. Hitler, twitching, removes his glasses and sends everyone out, except Goebbels, his private secretary Bormann and four generals. The rest leave, but linker near the door, to hear what happens next. My Fuhrer, what you are saying is outrageous! You will pay with your own blood! You will drown in your own blood! Now I bet you're dying to know, is this scene of Hitler's breakdown accurate? Well, we know the meeting in question took place on April 22nd, 1945. Trottl reported in her memoirs that the officers were all running around, pretending to be busy, deluding themselves. She heard the meeting happening behind the closed door, she heard voices rising and falling, she heard Hitler shouting something, but couldn't hear what he said. Bormann left for a moment, and Trottl saw the men bent over a map of Berlin. Once the meeting ended, Hitler came out, and told the girls they were to leave on a plane, and that all was lost, hopelessly lost. So, if we just look at Trottl-Jünger's version of events, the film takes a few liberties. At no point do we see Bormann leave the room, nor do we see the men quietly hunched over the map. However, German historian Joachim Fest gives a different account of the meeting, one more in line with what we see in the movie. According to Fest, once Krebs finally told Hitler that the Steiner attack didn't happen, Hitler erupted in a tantrum. He leapt from his chair, threw his coloured pencils across the table, and screamed, denouncing his generals as disloyal, baseless, cowardly, and traitorous. That Hitler gesticulated wildly, pacing and pounding his fist, with tears of frustration rolling down his face. The final lines of that meeting, which match the movie, implied that Hitler now accepted the war was lost, but he'd never leave Berlin. He'd rather shoot himself in the head. Now, while not completely identical to what we see in the movie, Fest's interpretation here, better matches what we saw compared to Troddel-Jünger's account. But not long after Downfall came out in 2004, we heard from another source, someone who was there in the bunker until the very end. Hitler's bodyguard, messenger, and telecommunications operator, Rokas Misch. In a 2005 interview, when asked about whether or not he'd seen the movie, Rokas Misch said this. Oh yeah, I've seen it. Dramatic operetta. It's all Americanised. All that yelling and screaming. It wasn't like that down there in the bunker. The reality, it was a death bunker. Everyone whispered down there. A crazy screaming scene never happened. Well, at least when the generals were down there discussing military things. They were very quiet. It's a film, with all the freedoms of a film. It's no documentary. So, we have a lot of conflicting sources here, but I'd bet that the film was pretty close to what it was like in that room. Given the weight of the war on his shoulders, his initial hesitation to believe the truth about the state of his army, his increasing belief that everyone around him was traitorous, and his failing physical and mental health, I can believe this breakdown took place. Because as soon as Hitler left that meeting, he knew it was the beginning of his end. After his breakdown, Hitler starts making plans to send some people away, conceding that their service to their Fuhrer was no longer needed. It's at this point Eva tells Hitler, in front of everyone, that she won't leave him. Then the pair kiss, which comes across as awkward for the rest of the room. Which makes sense, because in real life, no one had witnessed any public display of affection between the couple. Their relationship had long been kept secret. Eva Braun first met Hitler in 1929, a few years before he became Chancellor. She was 17 and worked in Heinrich Hoffmann's photography shop, while Hitler was 40. From the very beginning, Eva was devoted to Hitler, even twice attempting suicide because she was unhappy with how little she got to see him. Hitler saw this as an act of loyalty and became protective of her. For the most part, Eva lived in seclusion at the Berghof, Hitler's mountain retreat in the Bavarian Alps. Yet even in footage of their private lives together, we see little physical affection between the two. So when Hitler kisses Eva Braun here, openly, it tells us how much he valued her display of loyalty by choosing to stay behind, and in unspoken words, die with him. Perhaps inspired by Eva's courage, Trudel announces she'll stay too, which feels like a strange decision, because throughout the movie, Trudel shows signs of regret, torn between her lingering loyalty to Hitler and her fear of returning home to face her family. So why, when she has a clear opportunity to leave, does she choose to stay behind? Her friend Frau Christian even calls her out on it. Well, the real Trudel grappled with this decision as well. In a documentary that chronicles her time with Hitler, Blindspot Hitler's Secretary, she recalls this very moment. ...and says, it's all lost, he must leave Berlin immediately. He had a completely rusted face and was actually like a death mask. And we stood there, completely disturbed. But then Eva Braun approached him, took his hands and said, but you know I'll stay with you, I'm not leaving. And then he approached her, and for the first time, no one had ever seen her kiss her on the mouth. And then Frau Christian and I, I don't know, I also said I'm staying. I don't know why I said that. I couldn't imagine where I was supposed to go. Now this paints a slightly different picture than what we see in the movie. It seems like the real kiss was in Hitler's office, in the company of women, not in a corridor in front of a large group of people watching, especially other men. Even so, the scene still emotionally conveys that private moment. Anyway, after that, Hitler begins planning a suicide with Eva. At one point, we see him sitting with her and discussing the best way to do it, which is pretty grim, but true. Those who wanted to leave the bunker did, or were sent out on Hitler's orders. General Keitel, for instance, was tasked with helping General Dönitz organise for when, in Hitler's mind, Germany would be magically saved from the Red Army and would need to rebuild. We also see Goebbels' wife Magda and their six children move into the Wuhrbunker. She was as loyal to Hitler as her husband, fully believing the Third Reich and a Führer. Neither Magda or Joseph Goebbels could imagine or wanted to live in a Germany without him. And now that Hitler's made up his mind to die, the mask slips even further. There's a great scene in the movie where Speer comes to say goodbye, and Hitler reflects on Germany's fate. But spare the people, my Führer. If my own people were to break at this trial, I couldn't shed a single tear. He would have deserved something else. It would be his own fate that he had to commit suicide. For months now, I've been issuing orders to destroy you. There are documents proving that I have not only disregarded your orders, but also treated you too badly. I had to tell you. My personal loyalty to you has never taken any damage. So you're leaving. Good. I hope so. This scene is absolutely true, and it cuts to the core of who Hitler really was. A man who, even in his final hours, felt personally betrayed by his own people, believing they deserved to die for failing him, wallowing in self-pity because his best friend refused to burn the world down with him on his way out. Anyway, things continue getting bleaker inside the bunker. There's a really stark juxtaposition between cute scenes of children singing sweetly to their Uncle Hitler and adults discussing their suicide plans, between those oblivious to what's happening versus those who accept their imminent deaths. In Eva's case, she chooses cyanide over a bullet, wanting to die a beautiful corpse. This causes the secretaries to ask for cyanide as well, and as accurately shown, Hitler hands some over, which he got from Himmler. He tells Troddle that he wishes he had a better final present for her. But elsewhere, others decide not to wait. In one scene, SS physician Ernst-Robert Gravitz asks Hitler for permission to leave Berlin with his family, fearing what the Russians might do if they capture him, and with good reason. As chief medical officer of the SS, Gravitz oversaw horrific experiments on concentration camp prisoners and helped orchestrate the euthanasia program, where the mentally ill and physically handicapped were murdered to purify the Aryan race. When Hitler denies his request, Gravitz returns home for dinner with his family. Beneath the table, he pulls the pins on two grenades, killing himself, his wife, and his two young children. This is accurate to what happened in real life. Now shortly after it becomes clear that Hitler will choose suicide over capture by the Soviets, Goering sends him a telegram. Bormann, the Nazi party secretary, reads it out loud. Despite what we see in the movie, Hitler didn't immediately react like this by ranting, raving, and screaming about betrayal. I mean, it's a great reaction. But it's not entirely accurate. It is true Bormann did use the telegram to convince Hitler that Goering was staging a coup, but at first Hitler remained calm. It wasn't until Goering sent a second telegram later in the evening that Hitler went into a rage. So, understandably, the filmmakers condensed both events into one for pacing, but the result was the same. It was just more proof that Hitler couldn't trust his men. This is only reinforced by Himmler's betrayal days later on April 28th, 1945. Hitler finds out through a confirmed British broadcast that Himmler has made an offer in Lubeck to surrender to the Allies, and once again, Hitler loses it. Once the bunker was able to confirm the news that Himmler tried to arrange negotiations through the Swedish diplomat, Count Bernadotte, even potentially accepting unconditional surrender, Hitler was incensed. Himmler had always been the model of loyalty, so for him to go behind the Fuhrer's back, that was enough to send Hitler even further over the edge. Right now, he needed answers, but who could he talk to that reported directly to Himmler? Well, the best person for that would be Hermann Fegelein, Himmler's direct liaison. So Hitler orders him to be brought in. Trouble is, Fegelein is nowhere to be found. We're previously shown Fegelein moving out of the bunker, staying in a hotel somewhere, trying to convince Eva Braun to escape Berlin with him. Fegelein had a habit of slipping away quietly, like at Eva's party for Hitler's birthday. But on this occasion, his disappearing act was outright seen as desertion. In the movie, Eva begs Hitler to save Fegelein, because he's her brother-in-law and her sister Gretel is pregnant with their child. Now whether she really did this is unknown, but just like in history, Hitler was unfazed by their family ties. Ever loyal, Eva composes herself and accepts her brother-in-law's fate. Fegelein is eventually found in his hotel room with a mistress and brought back to face his desertion. In reality, he was stripped of his rank, court-martialed and shot, likely either in a cellar corridor or near the exit to the gardens behind the Reich Chancellery. But in the movie, they speed up the timeline of his escape and have him shot before his court-martialing. By this point, all seems lost. Hitler has more or less admitted it himself. Goering, Speer, Himmler and Fegelein have all betrayed him or failed him. Yet he hasn't completely given up hope. While those around him recognise that the end is near, Hitler still believes there might be one last chance. In a meeting with his generals in the map room, General Weidling, who was put in charge of the Berlin defence area just days earlier, on April 23rd, tells him they can hold out for about two more days. To Hitler, this means there's just enough time for Wenck and his 12th Army to link up with Busse's 9th Army and come to the rescue. Of course, the generals know the 9th is gone, and Wenck's army is unlikely to reach Berlin in time. But this moment reinforces the tragic reality. While the generals see the inevitable, Hitler remains unable or unwilling to accept the truth. The war is lost, and the Red Army is unstoppable. Hitler then sends a telegram to Keitel, who is now out in the field, asking for information. In the movie, Hitler lists off four questions, but in reality, there were five. Where are Wenck's spearheads? When will they attack? Where is the 9th Army? Where is the 9th Army going to break through? And where are Holst's spearheads? That last one is missing from the movie. In the meantime, Hitler arranges a small, intimate wedding ceremony. Since it's the end, he might as well give Eva what she's always wanted, to be his wife. Though the two did get married on April 29th, the film fudges the timeline a bit. The real wedding took place after Himmler's betrayal and Fegelein's execution, but before Hitler sent off his final questions to Keitel, inquiring about the 12th and 9th Armies. But in any case, Hitler eventually gets his answers. In real life, he got four responses, whereas in the movie, Otto Gunsch, another one of Hitler's attendants, delivers only three. Krebs reads the telegram. The one missing, of course, has to do with Holst's whereabouts, since they dropped that whole line of questioning from the film. Anyway, for Hitler, this is well and truly the end. He turns to Otto Gunsch and makes plans for what comes next. And all of this, including Gunsch's call to get more petrol delivered, is completely accurate. Once that's all squared away, the next thing Hitler does is put down his dog Blondie. This served two purposes. One, he didn't want his beloved German shepherd to suffer a violent death at the hands of the Soviets. While Hitler was certainly cold with people, including his long-time girlfriend and now wife Eva Braun, he was always very affectionate with Blondie and his other dogs. But the second reason was to test the cyanide capsules, as they came from Himmler, who had just betrayed him. In any case, the cyanide worked, and tragically, Blondie is killed. Luckily, we don't see that happen on screen. Hitler, both in real life and in the movie, is clearly shaken. But it at least affirms for him that the cyanide works. Now, much like with the wedding, the timeline here is a bit wrong. Blondie and her five puppies were killed before Hitler sent out the telegram to get information about the 9th and 12th armies, not after. And Hitler wasn't actually there when it happened. Sergeant Torno the dog walker opened Blondie's mouth while Dr. Werner Hasse, a physician, crushed the cyanide capsule inside. Hitler only came in once the deed was done. And it took place in the toilets where Dr. Schenk was, not in the hallway. But for the purpose of pacing, all of these events are rearranged to make Hitler's acceptance of defeat feel more gradual, rather than jarring as it was in real life. Narratively, it makes more sense for his next step, after killing his dog, to be his own suicide, not continuing to coordinate the war as he actually did. On April 30th, 1945, Hitler says his goodbyes. He has dinner with his secretaries and his private chef, Fraulein Mazziali. It was quiet, eerie, and, as accurately depicted, his final meal was a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce. Trudel called it a banquet of death under the mask of cheerful calm and composure. After that, he lined up a select group of people and, with Eva in tow, the pair said their final goodbyes. As you can see, the film does an OK job recreating Trudel's memory of the event. It's not exact, but it captures the essence of it well enough. Hitler and Eva go into the room together for the last time, and we see the door close. There's a brief interruption from a crying, inconsolable man, But it's not enough to stop him. Both Adolf and Eva Hitler are dead. Now, since Downfall relies heavily on Trudel Junge's memoirs, it's fitting to show the scene from her perspective. Trudel later recalled, It's echoed on through all the rooms. The Führer is dead now. However, historical experts question whether Trudel actually heard the gunshot. By her own admission, she was on the stairwell between the Wurmbunker and Führerbunker, likely unable to distinguish the sound amid the roaring diesel generators and heavy Soviet bombardment. Regardless of whether she heard it, the fact remains, Hitler was dead, and with him, so too died the Third Reich. As promised, Otto Gunsch stepped in to handle the bodies. In the movie, we see him confirm Hitler and Eva's deaths and prepare their cremation. But in real life, the first person to enter was Hans Rattenhuber, the head of Hitler's personal security, and a figure curiously absent from the movie. But as depicted, Hitler used cyanide and a gun, Eva just the cyanide. Their bodies were brought outside to the garden, placed in a shell crater, and set on fire. And just like we see in the movie, a small detachment of men stood by to give a final Nazi salute as Hitler's remains were destroyed. However, in real life, the bodies didn't fully burn on the first attempt. Rattenhuber had to arrange for more petrol to finish the job later that afternoon. But now that Hitler was gone, those who were left faced a grim choice. Follow him in death, or attempt a dangerous escape from Berlin? Most chose to flee, but a few remained to end their lives in the bunker, or just outside by their own hands. The film's portrayal of these deaths is telling. Hitler and Eva's deaths are kept off screen. We only see the aftermath, the blood on the couch, and their bodies draped in sheets. Likewise, Gravitz's death is implied, rather than shown directly. We see him pull the grenade pins, then the explosion from outside, followed by his daughter's doll falling. But some deaths after Hitler's are shown more graphically. We watch Krebs and Bergdorf share one last cigarette before entering a room, only for Rookesmisch to find the bloody evidence of their suicide. Yet the most haunting post-Hitler death remains the murder of the Goebbels children, a stark reminder of the devastation Hitler's ideology brought, even to his closest followers. Magda Goebbels was mentally destroyed when the Fuhrer died. As one of his most fanatical followers, she decided her family couldn't live in a world without Hitler, or without National Socialism. So, she made a plan. We see her meeting with Dr. Stumpfegger, another SS physician, who mixes together a solution with white powder. It's implied that this will put the children to sleep. Magda Goebbels, Stumpfegger, and Joseph Goebbels then head to the children's room in the Wohlbunker, where they are reading out loud. And it's here where we have the hardest scene to watch in the entire movie. Joseph stays outside the room, while his wife and Dr. Stumpfegger go in. In reality, Joseph Goebbels wasn't waiting just outside the door. He was in his room in the Fuhrerbunker at the time. Magda returns to kill the children while they slept, administering the cyanide in liquid form, not by crushing capsules between their teeth, as depicted in the movie. But what makes this scene even more unsettling is that it might get one detail right. Helga, who we just saw struggling because she knew something was wrong, was later found with bruises on her body. It's unclear whether the bruises were from when Magda and the doctor sedated the children, or from the cyanide poisoning itself. But it's a chilling thought. What follows after is mostly accurate. Magda sits down to play solitaire, a bit disturbing considering what she had just done, while Goebbels dictates his last will to Trodel Junge. Though, in real life, this happened before Hitler's death. It was at the scene where he bursts in and interrupts Trodel earlier, when she's writing Hitler's last will. In the movie, he says he'll come back later, but in reality, it happened at that moment. Anyway, after a while, Joseph Goebbels dons his gloves, walks past Roger Smich, and tells him he's no longer needed. Then adds in French, The game is over. He and Magda then go upstairs and take their own lives. Like Hitler, Goebbels arranged for their bodies to be burned. However, one detail not shown in the movie is that Goebbels asked the guards to ensure they were truly dead before setting their bodies on fire. So they were shot multiple times posthumously, just to be sure. Anyway, just like with Hitler's death, theirs are not depicted on screen. We only see the aftermath. But from this point on, it's chaos, both inside and outside the bunker. Those attempting to escape scramble to suit up and flee, hoping to avoid capture by the Red Army. In the streets, we see Germans hang for desertion. Through the eyes of young Peter, we see the harsh realities of war. Initially a loyal Hitler supporter, Peter now realizes the futility of it all. When he returns home to check on his parents, he discovers they're both dead, and he's lost everything. Only to wonder, for what? Although Peter is a fictional character, like I said, he's a good representation of the German people. At first, they were lulled in by Hitler and his promises. But by the end, many are disillusioned by the war and endless fighting, especially in the face of the Red Army's advance through their streets. Peter also represents Germany's future, one that must rebuild after the collapse of National Socialism. After Hitler's death, some generals, including Goebbels, sought to end the war. Previously, Goebbels sent General Krebs to meet Soviet commander Vasily Chukov the day after Hitler's suicide. Krebs requested a ceasefire, but Chukov rejected it, demanding an unconditional surrender. And it was at this meeting that the Soviets learned Hitler was dead. Chukov reported this to his superiors, though he pretended to already know. Ultimately, the meeting yielded no results for the Germans, and both Krebs and Goebbels soon met their fates. The next day, on May 2nd, 1945, General Weidling met with Chukov, but this time capitulated to unconditional surrender. In the movie, we see Weidling read out the surrender to urge the few pockets of Germans still fighting to give up, which aligns with historical events, though the exact wording may differ slightly due to translation. But did Weidling pass out after reading the broadcast? Well, there's no proof to suggest he did. This was likely done for dramatic effect. As the survivors try to find a way out, they realize they're surrounded. A few commit suicide, like Hitler's friend, the diplomat, Walter Huell, but the rest are left behind as Troddle makes a run for it. She eventually meets up with Peter, and the two of them manage to escape behind Russian lines. This didn't happen, of course, since Peter doesn't exist, and Troddle was eventually caught and thrown in a Soviet prison. But it's a fitting end to the movie. We then get to learn what happened to the other characters, whose fates were unknown through a series of title cards. Overall, Downfall is a brilliant movie. Sure, a few events are out of order and some scenes are exaggerated, but the filmmakers really tried to show Hitler's last days as accurately as possible. But that's not to say there weren't some issues, and also decisions I don't agree with. One that stands out is how they show Dr. Ernst-Gunther Schenck. Throughout the movie, he's kind of treated like a moral compass. We first meet him on Hitler's birthday, just as Operation Klauswitz kicks off. People are burning papers and moving out of the Chancellery. Schenck's unit is supposed to leave too, but he insists on staying to help. The movie portrays him as someone who's ignoring politics to do what's right. We see him delivering medical supplies, performing surgeries he's not really trained for, and being this saviour figure. But the truth is, Dr. Schenck was not exactly a good guy. I mean, the scenes with Schenck helping Dr. Hasse with surgeries are accurate, but here's the problem. Because the movie only covers a brief window of time, it leaves out some crucial details. Dr. Schenck wasn't simply a well-meaning doctor. In reality, he worked at concentration camps, and even used prisoners at the Mauthausen-Gusen camp as test subjects for a new kind of protein sausage. And whatever he put in them was deadly, killing several prisoners. So by only showing him in and around the bunker, the movie gives an incomplete picture of who he really was, and overlooks some of the terrible things he did as part of the Third Reich. And in fact, that is one of the most controversial parts of the movie. As visually and historically impressive as Downfall is, many people were struck by his decision to show Hitler not just as a monster, but as a human being. Director Oliver Hirschspiegel explained this choice in an interview, saying this. But here's the issue. Downfall only covers the last ten days of Hitler's life, a tiny snapshot. Because of this narrow time frame, it can only show us pieces of who these people really were. Hitler's character feels fully realised, because we already know his story and understand the depths of his evil. But with lesser-known figures like Schenck, this limited scope creates an incomplete and misleading picture. We don't get the full context of Schenck's involvement in Nazi war crimes, so what we see in the movie doesn't capture who he truly was. And while Downfall makes choices like this for storytelling purposes, it also takes some creative liberties in his historical details, like the State of the Reich Chancery on Hitler's birthday. By April 20th, 1945, it was a bombed-out shell of a building, not the spotless room we see in the movie. I mean, take a look at these pictures. These are the last known photographs of Hitler before he killed himself. They were taken on his birthday as he inspected the Chancery building's damage. And, as you can see, there are giant holes everywhere. There would have been dust and debris littering the rooms, water leaking from the ceiling. In Downfall, the room is too shiny and clean. See what I mean? But while the film pulls back on some details, probably for budgetary reasons, it really nails others, sometimes in ways that makes the horror of war feel all too real. There's a scene later in the movie where Troddle sees starving Berliners carving chunks of meat off a dead horse. And these moments are straight from Troddle-Jünger's account. And I appreciate the film's commitment to these details because it makes everything feel raw and authentic. At the end of the movie, just like in the beginning, we hear from the real Troddle-Jünger and why she didn't see any of this coming. It's a poignant moment that captures the weight of everything we've just seen. Of course, I perceived these horrors of the Nuremberg trial, these 6 million Jews and the racial people who were killed there, as a very frightening, terrible fact. But I hadn't yet established the connection with my own past. I was satisfied that I didn't have any personal guilt and that I didn't know anything about it. I didn't know anything about this extent. But one day I passed the memorial, which was built for Sophie Scholl on the French Strasse. And there I saw that she was my yearling and that in the year I became Hitler, she was executed. And in that moment, I felt that it wasn't an excuse to be young, but that perhaps one could have learned things. Troddle and so many others swept up in Hitler's vision for the Third Reich were left to pick up the pieces of what he left behind. Downfall, with all its intensity, gives us a window into those chaotic final days in the bunker, with the Battle of Berlin raging above, leading to Germany's surrender in World War II. For any history buff and World War II fans who haven't seen Downfall, it's a must-watch. Though controversial for its attempt to show the human side of an inhuman man, it tells an important story through the eyes of those who are there to witness it. Well, that about wraps it up. Once again, thanks to our sponsor for today's episode, War Thunder. Now available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and mobile. Don't forget to click the links in the pinned comment or description box. PC and console players can grab a bonus pack of premium vehicles, Eagle and Valor decorator, 100,000 silver lines, and seven days of premium account time. My name is Nick Hodges, and thanks for watching History Buffs. And remember, if you like the show, help the channel grow. If you wish to support History Buffs, then you can now do so at Patreon. And as always, let me know in the comments section what you thought about Downfall. And of course, what historical movie should I review next? 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