Berlin 1945

Hitler, presiding over a rapidly disintegrating Third Reich, retreated to his Führerbunker in Berlin on 16 January 1945. As his long serving Luftwaffe adjutant, Below traveled with Hitler back to Berlin. Early on, Hitler continued to utilize the undamaged wing of the Reich Chancellery, where he held afternoon military conferences in his large study.^[5] However, that practice ended and all the military briefing conferences were moved down into the Führerbunker. By April, to the Nazi leadership, it was clear that the Battle for Berlin would be the final battle of the war.^[6] On 12 April 1945, Below was a guest of Albert Speer to see the last performance of the Berlin Philharmonic before the city was captured by the Red Army. He later wrote: "The concert took us back to another world."^[7]

On 15 April, Eva Braun was moved into the room next to the room Hitler occupied in the Führerbunker. Below wrote the following of her: "She was charming and obliging and showed no weakness right up to the last moment."^[8]

By 27 April, Below was part of a very small group which were present for the military briefings. General Krebs was the only senior military officer still present and Reich propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, who had moved into the bunker complex with his family, now also was present.^[9] On 29 April, after the wedding of Hitler and Braun, Below was a witness to the last will and testament of Adolf Hitler. He did not sign the Political Testament but added his signature to the Private Testament of the document.^[10] Thereafter, Below asked Hitler if he could leave the Führerbunker and attempt to make it out of Berlin to the west. Hitler granted him permission to leave.^[11] On 30 April, Below left Berlin carrying a letter from Hitler to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel explaining the recent events of betrayal and extolling the sacrifices of the German people.^[12]