It was significant, that Himmler wanted the freed prisoners designated as Polish, Masur noting that, ‘He did not want to create any friction between himself and Hitler on account of the Jews’. Even now, Hitler’s most trusted paladin was treading carefully with the implementation of his treasonous activities. The meeting ended at 05.00hrs, by which time Schellenberg was becoming increasingly anxious regarding Count Bernadotte who had been left waiting at Hohenlychen. Himmler bade farewell to Masur, after which he walked outside towards his car with Kersten. To his most trusted confidante he then said:
Oh! Herr Kersten, we have made serious mistakes. We wanted greatness and security for Germany and we are leaving behind us a pile of ruins, a crumbling world. But it is still true that Europe must rally to a new standard, else all is lost. I always wanted what was best, but very often I had to act against my real convictions. Believe me Kersten, that went very much against the grain and it was bitter to me. But the Fuhrer decreed that it should be so, and Goebbels and Bormann were a bad influence on him. As a loyal soldier I had to obey, for no state can survive without obedience and discipline. It rests for me alone to decide how long I have to live, since my life has now become meaningless. And what will history say of me? Petty minds, bent on revenge, will hand down to posterity a false and perverted account of the great and good things which I, looking further ahead, have accomplished for Germany. The blame for many things which others have done will be heaped on me. The finest elements of the German people perish with the National Socialists; this is the real tragedy. Those who are left, those who will govern Germany, hold no interest for us. The Allies can do what they like with Germany.
Kersten, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the years in which you have given me the benefit of your medical skill. My last thoughts are for my poor family. Farewell!
The parting with Kersten betrayed the extent to which Himmler was fatigued by his own intrigues. With his enthusiasm visibly waning, he set off for the delayed meeting at Hohenlychen.
Himmler arrived at the sanatorium at 06.00hrs in time for breakfast with Bernadotte. His fatigue must have been evident as he explained to Bernadotte that he had hardly slept at all for the past few nights. Following breakfast they proceeded to discuss the proposed humanitarian measures, including Bernadotte’s suggestion that released Scandinavian prisoners be allowed to continue their journey from Denmark to Sweden. Himmler refused this reasonable request. Bernadotte however continued to press the issue, later recalling:
…I again put forward the request that the Scandinavian prisoners, who were at the time being transported to Denmark, should be allowed to continue the journey to Sweden, but Himmler once more refused. Schellenberg subsequently told me that Hitler had again forbidden any concession on this point.
Himmler, however agreed to some of my other requests. He agreed that if Denmark should become a battle-ground, the Scandinavian prisoners of war were to be transported to Sweden through the help of the Swedish Red Cross. He also showed genuine interest in my proposal that the Swedish Red Cross be allowed to fetch all French women interned at Ravensbruck concentration camp, and said that he not only agreed to this, but that he wished us to remove women of all nationalities from there, as the camp in question was shortly to be evacuated. I promised him that I would immediately give our detachments orders to this effect.
A few hours earlier in his meeting with Masur, Himmler had limited the number of prisoner releases at Ravensbruck to 1000, now after this remarkable volte-face, he retired to his bed, utterly exhausted.
Himmler slept fitfully. A few hours later, he complained of feeling ill to Schellenberg. His right hand man could only state in exasperation, ‘There’s nothing more I can do for you’. Later, after discussing the deteriorating military situation, Schellenberg accompanied Himmler to their headquarters located near Wustrow. After being delayed by marauding enemy aircraft, Himmler said, ‘Schellenberg, I dread what is to come’. That evening, they discussed the war situation again, Schellenberg was highly critical of policy regarding the remaining concentration camp prisoners:
After dinner, when we were alone again, we spoke of various problems of food supplies, the danger of epidemics, reconstruction, prisoner-of-war administration, and so on, I told him of Kaltenbrunner’s blind and unrealistic attitude in insisting on the evacuation of all the concentration camps…
Schellenberg went on to say that he considered the evacuation of the camps to be a crime. He argued that it would be better to leave the prisoners in situ, where in due course they would be relieved by the advancing Allies. Himmler retorted, ‘Schellenberg, don’t you start too! Hitler has been raging for days because Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen were not completely evacuated’. Notwithstanding, Himmler’s vacillations, he had in effect finally crossed the Rubicon. His contacts with Masur and Bernadotte initiating a process which within a matter of days would lead to a complete break with Hitler.
Chapter Eight
‘Are the Russians already so near?’
The civilian population of Berlin had long since become accustomed to Allied bombing raids. They were frequent, noisy and violent, yet they had a certain predictability. However, following the last Allied raid on Berlin, carried out by American bombers on the morning of 21 April, that sense of predictability vanished. The first Soviet artillery strike delivered on the heart of Berlin shortly after the last American B-17 departed was an altogether different experience. That morning, the streets were busier than usual as civilians rushed to secure what would probably be their last supplies before the siege began. There were particularly heavy queues outside the boarded up, but still very much in business, Karstadt department store on Hermannplatz. Many others took the opportunity after the expected lull following the air raid, to fill whatever containers they had with water from pumps or standpipes.
When it came, the sound of artillery fire momentarily transfixed shoppers who realised too late that the incoming deluge of hot metal was heading straight for them. Seconds later, shells began to plough up the area. Unprotected bodies were hurled into the air, or smashed against the boarded up sides of the department store. The scene was one of utter carnage. Those who could, fled in panic. The dreaded Ivan was at the gates.
Hitler’s realisation that Berlin was now a front line city came shortly afterwards as the intensity of the Soviet barrage increased. By now, shells were landing everywhere across the city. Even Hitler’s bunker was not totally immune as vibrations rocked the structure. Being an old infantryman, Hitler was quickly able to discern that this latest attack was shellfire and not aerial bombs. He emerged from his room unshaven, demanding to know from General Burgdorf what exactly was going on. Burgdorf answered that Berlin was under fire from Soviet artillery. Hitler could not quite bring himself to accept the reality of the situation asking, ‘Are the Russians already so near?’. The suggestion that the gunfire was directed from long range batteries on the Oder prompted Hitler to telephone the Luftwaffe Chief of Staff for clarification. General Karl Koller was at his headquarters in the Werder Game Park when the call came through:
Hitler: Do you know that Berlin is under artillery fire?
Koller: No.
Hitler: Can’t you hear it?