Alwin-Broder Albrecht (18 September 1903 – 1 May 1945) was a German naval officer who was one of Adolf Hitler's adjutants during World War II.

He was born in Sankt Peter-Ording in the Province of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1922 he joined the German Navy. On 1 June 1934, he was promoted to Kapitänleutnant. Then on 1 November 1937, he was promoted to the rank of Korvettenkapitän. When Karl-Jesco von Puttkamer, Hitler's liaison officer to the Navy, was transferred to active service on 19 June 1938, Albrecht took over that position. However, on 30 June 1939, the Commander of the Navy Grossadmiral Erich Räder wanted him transferred to Tokyo as a military attaché or kicked out of the Navy completely when it was found out that Albrecht had married a woman "with a past". Hitler was against it. So on 1 July 1939, Hitler appointed Albrecht a NSKK-Oberführer and made him one of his adjutants.

Hitler had an argument with Räder over it and this was something Räder never forgot. Hitler went on to meet Albrecht's wife and liked her. Under Reichsleiter Philipp Bouhler, Albrecht remained on Hitler's staff and worked in the Reich Chancellery. Albrecht was last seen defending Hitler's Reich Chancellery with a machine gun. He is believed to have committed suicide on 1 May 1945, aged 41.



 
Ernst-Robert Grawitz (8 June 1899 – 24 April 1945) was a German physician (and an SS Reichsarzt) in Nazi Germany during World War II.

Grawitz was born in Charlottenburg, in the western part of Berlin, Germany.

As Reichsarzt SS and Polizei (Reichsphysician SS and Police), Grawitz advised Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler on the use of gas chambers. Grawitz was also head of the German Red Cross. His wife, Ilse, was the daughter of SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Waffen-SS Siegfried Taubert.

Towards the end of World War II in Europe, Grawitz was a physician in Adolf Hitler's Führerbunker. When he heard that other officials were leaving Berlin in order to escape from advancing Soviet armies, Grawitz petitioned Hitler to allow him to leave; his request was refused. In addition to denying his request, Hitler made a point of humiliating Grawitz in front of several of the female bunker residents for his (perceived) cowardice.

As the Soviets approached, Grawitz decided to kill himself along with his family. While eating supper with his wife and two children house in Babelsberg, he pulled the pins out of two grenades that he held under the table. The explosion blew up his family and himself.



 
Wilhelm Burgdorf (14 February 1895 – 2 May 1945) was a German general. Born in Fürstenwalde, Burgdorf served as a commander and staff officer in the German Army during World War II.

Burgdorf joined the German Army (Reichsheer) at the outbreak of World War I as an officer cadet and was commissioned as an infantry officer in Grenadier Regiment 12 in 1915. Between the wars he served in the Reichswehr and was promoted to captain in 1930. In 1935 he became an instructor in tactics at the military academy in Dresden with the rank of major and was appointed an adjutant on the staff of the IX corps in 1937. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1938 and served as the commander of the 529th Infantry Regiment from May 1940 to April 1942. In May 1942, he became Chief of Department 2 of the Army Personnel Office. Burgdorf became the Deputy Chief in October 1942, when he was promoted to Generalmajor. Burgdorf was promoted to Chief of the Army Personnel Office and Chief Adjutant to Hitler in October 1944. At that time, he was further promoted in rank to Generalleutnant. Burgdorf retained that rank and position until his death.

As part of Burgdorf's function as Hitler's chief adjutant, he played a key role in the death of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Rommel had been implicated as having a peripheral role in the bomb plot of 20 July 1944, in which an attempt was made to assassinate Hitler. Hitler recognised that to haul the most popular general in Germany before a People's Court would cause a scandal throughout Germany and accordingly arranged a face-saving maneuver.

On 14 October 1944, Burgdorf, with General Ernst Maisel, arrived at the Rommel home. Burgdorf had been instructed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel to offer Rommel a choice – take poison, receive a state funeral, and obtain immunity for his family and staff, or face a trial for treason. Rommel drove away with Burgdorf and Maisel. Rommel's family received a telephone call 10 minutes later saying that he had died.

Shortly before the Battle of Berlin, Burgdorf was overheard by Philipp Freiherr von Böselager saying, "When the war is over, we will have to purge, after the Jews, the Catholic officers in the army." Böselager, a Roman Catholic Wehrmacht officer, vocally objected, citing his own decorations for heroism in combat. Böselager then left before General Burgdorf could respond.

When the Soviet Army began their assault on Berlin, Burgdorf joined Hitler in the Führerbunker. On 28 April, when it was discovered that Heinrich Himmler was trying to negotiate a surrender to the western Allies via Count Folke Bernadotte, Burgdorf became part of a military tribunal ordered by Hitler to court-martial Himmler's SS liaison officer Hermann Fegelein. Fegelein, by that time was Eva Braun's brother-in-law. SS-General Wilhelm Möhnke presided over the tribunal which, in addition to Burgdorf and Möhnke, included SS-General Johann Rattenhuber and General Hans Krebs. However, Fegelein was so drunk that he was determined to be in no condition to stand trial. Möhnke closed the proceedings and turned Fegelein over to Rattenhuber and his security squad.

On 29 April 1945, Burgdorf, Krebs, Josef Göbbels, and Martin Bormann witnessed and signed Hitler's last will and testament. On 2 May, following the earlier suicides of Hitler and Göbbels, Burgdorf and his colleague Chief of Staff Hans Krebs also committed suicide by gunshot to the head. The bodies of Krebs and Burgdorf were found when Soviet personnel entered the bunker complex.



 
Hans Krebs (4 March 1898 – 2 May 1945) was a German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) general of infantry who served during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Krebs was born in Helmstedt. He volunteered for service in the Imperial German Army in 1914, was promoted to lieutenant in 1915, and to first lieutenant in 1925. Krebs was a career officer, and reached the position of chief of staff of various army groups until he became a General of Infantry.

As Chief of the Army General Staff (OKH), Krebs was in the Führerbunker below the Reich Chancellery garden during the Battle of Berlin.

On 28 April 1945, Krebs made his last telephone call from the Führerbunker. He called Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel at the new Supreme Command Headquarters in Fürstenberg. He told Keitel that, if relief did not arrive within 48 hours, all was lost. Keitel promised to exert the utmost pressure on General Walther Wenck who commanded the German 12th Army and General Theodor Busse who commanded the German 9th Army. The 12th Army was attacking towards Berlin from the west and the 9th Army was attacking from the south. Adolf Hitler had ordered both of these armies to link up and come to the relief of Berlin. In addition, forces under General Rudolf Holste were to have attacked towards Berlin from the north.

Later on 28 April, when it was discovered that Heinrich Himmler was trying to negotiate a backdoor surrender to the western Allies via Count Folke Bernadotte, Krebs became part of a military tribunal ordered by Hitler to court-martial Himmler's SS liaison officer Hermann Fegelein. Fegelein, by that time was Eva Braun's brother-in-law. SS-General Wilhelm Möhnke presided over the tribunal which, in addition to Krebs and Möhnke, included SS-General Johann Rattenhuber and General Wilhelm Burgdorf. However, Fegelein was so drunk that he was determined to be in no condition to stand trial. Möhnke closed the proceedings and turned Fegelein over to Rattenhuber and his security squad.

On 29 April, Krebs, Burgdorf, Josef Göbbels, and Martin Bormann witnessed and signed the last will and testament of Adolf Hitler. Hitler dictated the document to his personal private secretary, Traudl Junge. Bormann was head of the Party Chancellery (Parteikanzlei) and private secretary to Hitler.

Late that evening, Krebs contacted General Alfred Jodl (Supreme Army Command) by radio and made the following demands:

Request immediate report. Firstly, of the whereabouts of Wenck's spearheads. Secondly, of time intended to attack. Thirdly, of the location of the 9th Army. Fourthly, of the precise place in which the 9th Army will break through. Fifthly, of the whereabouts of General Holste's spearhead.

In the early morning of 30 April, Jodl replied to Krebs:

Firstly, Wenck's spearhead bogged down south of Schwielow Lake. Secondly, 12th Army therefore unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of 9th Army surrounded. Fourthly, Holste's Corps on the defensive.

Later that day, Hitler committed suicide at around 15:30 hrs. In accordance with Hitler's last will and testament, Großadmiral (Grand Admiral) Karl Dönitz was named Hitler's successor as Staatsoberhaupt (Head of State), with the title of Reichspräsident (President) and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The same document named the Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Josef Göbbels as "Head of Government" with the title of Reichskanzler (Chancellor).

On 1 May, after Hitler's suicide on 30 April, Göbbels sent Krebs and Colonel Theodor von Dufving, under a white flag, to deliver a letter he had written to General Vasily Chuikov. Dufving was General Helmuth Weidling's Chief of Staff. The letter contained surrender terms acceptable to Göbbels. Chuikov, as commander of the Soviet 8th Guards Army, commanded the Soviet forces in central Berlin. Krebs arrived shortly before 4 a.m. and took Chuikov by surprise. Krebs, who spoke Russian, informed Chuikov that Hitler and Eva Braun, his wife, had killed themselves in the Führerbunker. Chuikov, who was not aware that there was a bunker complex under the Reich Chancellery or that Hitler was married, calmly said that he already knew all of this. Chuikov was not, however, prepared to accept the terms in Göbbels' letter or to negotiate with Krebs. The Soviets were unwilling to accept anything other than unconditional surrender, as it was agreed with the other Allies. Krebs was not authorized by Göbbels to agree to such terms, however, and so the meeting ended with no agreement. According to Traudl Junge, Krebs returned to the bunker looking "worn out, exhausted". Krebs's surrender of Berlin was thus impeded as long as Göbbels was alive.

At around 8 p.m. on the evening of 1 May, Göbbels removed this impediment. Shortly after killing their own children, Göbbels and his wife, Magda, left the bunker complex and went up to the garden of the Reich Chancellery. They each bit on a cyanide ampule and either shot themselves at the same time, or were given a coup de grâce immediately afterwards by Göbbels' SS adjutant, Günther Schwägermann. Their bodies were then doused with petrol by Schwägermann and burned. After Göbbels' death, Krebs became suicidal. The responsibility for surrendering the city fell to General of the Artillery (General der Artillerie) Helmuth Weidling, the commander of the Berlin Defense Area.

On 2 May, with Krebs in no condition to do it himself, Weidling contacted General Chuikov to again discuss surrender. Weidling and Chuikov met and had the following conversation in which Chuikov asked about Krebs:

Chuikov: "You are the commander of the Berlin garrison?"
Weidling: "Yes, I am the commander of the LVI Panzer Corps."
Chuikov: "Where is Krebs?"
Weidling: "I saw him yesterday in the Reich Chancellery. I thought he would commit suicide. At first he (Krebs) criticized me because unofficial capitulation started yesterday. The order regarding capitulation has been issued today."

As the Soviets advanced on the Reich Chancellery, Krebs was last seen by others, including Junge, in the Führerbunker when they left to attempt to escape. Junge relates how she approached Krebs to say goodbye and how he straightened up and smoothed his uniform before greeting her for the last time. Krebs and General Wilhelm Burgdorf, along with SS Untersturmführer Franz Schädle of the SS-Begleitkommando des Führers, stayed behind with the intention of committing suicide. Sometime in the early morning hours of 2 May, they committed suicide by gunshot to the head. The bodies of Krebs and Burgdorf were found when Soviet personnel entered the bunker complex. Schädle also committed suicide and Högl was wounded in the head while crossing the Weidendammer Bridge (during the break out) and died of his injuries on 2 May 1945.

Thereafter, the corpses of Krebs, the Göbbels family along with the remains of Hitler, Eva Braun and Hitler's dogs were repeatedly buried and exhumed by the Soviets. The last burial had been at the SMERSH facility in Magdeburg on 21 February 1946. In 1970, KGB director Yuri Andropov authorised an operation to destroy the remains. On 4 April 1970, a Soviet KGB team with detailed burial charts secretly exhumed five wooden boxes. The remains from the boxes were thoroughly burned and crushed, after which the ashes were thrown into the Biederitz river, a tributary of the nearby Elbe.




  
Franz Schädle (19 November 1906 – 1 May 1945) was the commander of Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard (the SS-Begleitkommando des Führers), as an-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) from 5 January 1945 until his death on 1 May 1945, aged 38.

He was born in Westerheim, Baden-Württemberg and after trade school he worked as a construction technician. He joined the SS on 1 February 1930. On 1 March 1932, Schädle became one of eight founding members of Hitler's personal bodyguard. He also served on the staff of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler from 1 May 1934. Schädle guarded Hitler at his headquarters and accompanied him on all his trips.

On 5 January 1945, Schädle was appointed commander of the bodyguard unit. On 28 April 1945 he was wounded in the leg by shrapnel. According to Otto Günsche, Schädle was present at Hitler's cremation in the garden of the Reich Chancellery on 30 April 1945. Schädle later committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a pistol, rather than join the break out from the Reich Chancellery to escape from the advancing Red Army.