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Berchtesgaden military intelligence records

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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
Ms. Coll. 647
Repository:
University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Extent:
4 boxes (70 folders)
Preferred Citation:
Berchtesgaden military intelligence records, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania
Date:
1945-1950 (inclusive)
Creator:
Allen, George R. (George Rankin)
Form:
Transcripts
Abstract:
The core of the collection comprises records of the Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC) detachment of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army, which was stationed in Berchtesgaden, Germany, at the close of the Second World War. George R. Allen, who collected the materials, was a member of that CIC detachment. Included are typed transcripts of interviews with, statements from, or reports on family and staff of Adolf Hitler, including Fritz Goernnert (assistant to Hermann Göring), Franz Brandenburg and Willy Lau (Göring's guards), Christa Schroeder (Hitler's personal secretary), Paula Wolf (Hitler's sister), Angela Hammitzsch (Hitler's half-sister), Theodor Morell (Hitler's personal physician), Erich Kempka (Hitler's chauffeur), Günther Mannertz (member of the SS), Heinrich Doose (member of the Waffen-SS and driver), Percy Schramm (head compiler of the war journal of the German High Command Operational Staff), Erwin Nagel (German soldier in a convicts detachment), and Heinz Buchholz (member of stenographic service of Hitler's headquarters). Also included are transcribed excerpts from stenographic notebooks of Hitler's secretaries, as well as transcribed and re-constructed records of Hitler's daily military conferences, December 1942 to March 1945 (incomplete). The collection contains three essays in English by George Allen concerning the provenance of the records, as well as four manuscript versions, along with galley proofs and page proofs, of Felix Gilbert's book, Hitler Directs His War (1950), with a foreword by Allen.

George R. Allen (1919-1998) and the Counter-Intelligence Corps in Berchtesgaden, Germany, in 1945

During the Second World War, George R. Allen served with the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army as an interrogator of prisoners of war. As the war drew to a close in 1945, the Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC), which was entering upon the task of rounding up former Nazi officials in German territory, was sorely in need of individuals who spoke German. Because of his knowledge of German, Allen was assigned to the CIC detachment of his division. One of his colleagues in the detachment was Erich Albrecht, who was of half German parentage and spoke fluid German as well as French. The detachment had the task of finding and interrogating Nazis in the areas to which they were assigned. In May, Allen's CIC detachment was sent to Berchtesgaden, in the Bavarian Alps, the site of a favored retreat of Hitler and a key site in Nazi operations.

Allen arrived in Berchtesgaden on 5 May 1945. Over the next several months the Germans who were questioned by Allen and Albrecht included a number of figures from Hitler's immediate milieu, such as his sister, his half-sister, his chauffeur, one of his personal secretaries, and his personal physician. The interrogations yielded information about the last days of Hitler, including his suicide and the events around it; the assassination attempt on Hitler in July 1944; the death (also by suicide, as it was revealed) of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in October 1944; the structure of the Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst) of the SS; and the movements and actions of the German High Command Operational Staff (Wehrmachtführungsstab) in the last months of war. Among the various materials that came into the possession of the CIC detachment in Berchtesgaden were two stenographic notebooks found in Hitler's house, containing dictations of top Nazi officials, including Hitler himself.

On 7 May, just as Allen was taking up his duties in Berchtesgaden, he was brought two Germans who were said to have information of special interest. Their names were Gerhard Herrgesell and Hans Jonuschat, and they turned out to be former members of the Stenographic Service of Hitler's headquarters. From them, Allen learned about the existence of detailed records of Hitler's daily military conferences, which the Stenographic Service had been recording for Hitler since September 1942. Eventually Allen met the six colleagues of Herrgesell and Jonuschat, and then had at his disposal the entire eight-person team of stenographers who had been working for Hitler at the end of the war.

Hitler had created the Stenographic Service following a serious disagreement with one of his military leaders, Alfred Jodl; the service was given the mission of keeping careful minutes of his military conferences. The members of the service were highly qualified professionals, all of them with legal training; most of them had previously been stenographers for the German parliament, which had stopped meeting in April 1942. Hitler's military conferences were typically held twice a day, with the most important and longest conference, in the early to mid afternoon, devoted to the discussion of the 'morning military situation' (Morgenlage) for that day; and a second meeting, late in the evening, focused on the 'evening military situation' (Abendlage). In addition there might be a third special conference.

Two stenographers covered each conference so that they could compare their notes; and three official typescript copies were created on the basis of the stenographic records. The primary copy, along with the original stenographic notes, was reserved for Hitler himself, and was kept at his current headquarters, moving around with him from place to place. One of the remaining two copies was filed in the Army Archives in Berlin; and the other was delivered to Brigadier General Walter Scherff, the official historian of the German High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht).

At the time that Allen spoke to the stenographers, both the archive copy and Scherff's copy were presumed to have been destroyed. Hitler's set of the records had been flown out of Berlin to be stored in a garage facility in Hintersee, a small town outside of Berchtesgaden. Around the end of April or the beginning of May, those records were supposed to have been destroyed by the SS, on orders given by Scherff. Nevertheless, Allen went out to the site with several of the stenographers to investigate.

In Hintersee, Allen found that the records had been dumped into a pit and burned. But the destruction was not complete. Sifting through the charred remains over the next several days, Allen and his colleague Albrecht were able to retrieve a significant number of viable fragments, amounting to about 800 pages. The former stenographers of Hitler were given a work space at the CIC headquarters at Berchtesgaden, and they worked for two months or more on transcribing and reconstructing the fragments.

Before his military service, George Allen, who had graduated from Haverford College in 1940, had worked in the family business, William H. Allen, Bookseller, dealing in specialized and rare books, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. George Allen's father, William Allen, had founded the bookstore in 1918, in Temple, Pennsylvania, and had moved it to Philadelphia two years later. Following the death of William Allen in 1935, his widow, George's mother, ran the business. After George Allen's discharge from military service in November 1945, he returned to the firm and headed it until the end of his life. He died on 20 November 1998. An obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer (25 November 1998) described Allen as "the dean of Philadelphia booksellers."

The Berchtesgaden Military Intelligence Records comprise materials related to the records gathered by the Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC) detachment of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army, which was stationed in Berchtesgaden, Germany, at the close of the Second World War. George R. Allen, who collected the materials, was a member of that CIC detachment. Two categories of materials form the core of the collection: 1) transcriptions of interrogations and reports of the CIC in Berchtesgaden (Series II); and 2) transcriptions of fragmentary records of Hitler's military conferences (Series IV).

The subjects of the interrogations recorded by Allen and his colleagues in Berchtesgaden and vicinity beginning in May 1945 were all Germans with Nazi associations who had been found in the area, including such figures as Paula Wolf, Hitler's sister; Angela Hammitzsch, his half-sister; Christa Schroeder, one of Hitler's personal secretaries; Erich Kempka, former chauffeur of Hitler, who offered information about the suicide of Hitler and Eva Braun; Heinz Buchholz, a former member of the Stenographic Service of Hitler's headquarters, who was an eyewitness to the assassination attempt on Hitler on 20 July 1944; and Percy Ernst Schramm, who had been the head compiler of the war journal of the German High Command Operational Staff (Wehrmachtführungsstab). Allen cautions in his introductory essay: "In reading these interrogations the critic must remember that we did not make them for posterity, but only for our immediate information and reference."[1] The records of these interrogations found in Series II are partly in the form of typescripts and partly in the form of typescript carbons. A number of the documents have handwritten emendations, and a few are signed. When originally received by the University of Pennsylvania in 1946, these documents represented confidential material, since the interrogations were carried out by military personnel in Germany in the execution of their duties.

Included in Series II are also the transcriptions produced by the CIC detachment of excerpts from two stenographic notebooks containing dictations by high-level Nazi officials, including Hitler. Allen mentions in his introductory essay that he "confiscated [the notebooks] from an AP reporter who had found them in Hitler's house on the Obersalzberg."[2]

Not all of the individuals found and detained by the CIC in Berchtesgaden were interrogated with a stenographer present. In the case of "top-ranking men" such as Robert Ley, Fritz Sauckel, and General Frank Ritter von Epp, Allen explains that, "not being sufficiently well briefed," he and his colleagues found that the subjects were able to answer all questions evasively, with a view to clearing themselves, and that it was therefore felt that such interrogations would not yield any useful information. Lower-ranking subjects who were interrogated had various reasons for being willing to give their stories, and gave them voluntarily, "or as volunteerily [sic] as information is given when it is asked by the victor of the vanquished." Allen clarifies that he and his colleagues "at no time used violence or force in questioning persons."[3]

The fact that a subject was interrogated by Allen's CIC detachment did not necessarily mean that he or she was being arrested. In his introductory essay, Allen mentions, for instance, that Hitler's sister Paula was simply let go, and makes some remarks concerning the question of arrests in other cases. He refers to the decision about whom to arrest as one of his primary responsibilities and indicates that the guidelines provided by the Army handbook were impossible to fulfill: "In my area I had neither the German-speaking personnel to process nor the means to evacuate the several hundred persons eligible for arrest in this handbook."[4]

English translations of selected interrogations that were made by George Allen for Army records are found in Series III, along with a memorandum dictated by him, dated 4 January 1947, in which he claims authorship of the translations (his name is not indicated on the typescripts themselves), and also makes some other remarks about extant copies of interrogations.[5]

The second main category of materials, found in Series IV, comprises transcriptions of fragmentary records of Hitler's military conferences from December 1942 to March 1945, which were fortuitously salvaged by George Allen and his colleague Erich Albrecht from the charred remains of one set of Hitler's official record that had been stored at Hintersee, a small town outside of Berchtesgaden. Allen was led to the site by former members of Hitler's Stenographic Service, who were among the people whom he questioned in Berchtesgaden. The former stenographers of Hitler transcribed the fragments of the record at the CIC headquarters in Berchtesgaden in May to June 1945.

Series IV comprises a full set of the documents that were produced by the team of stenographers at Berchtesgaden, in the form of typescript carbons with occasional handwritten emendations. This set was one of a total of six copies that were produced. It was one of the two copies given to the Military Intelligence Service, and was retained by Allen. One copy, along with the original fragments, was sent to the United States Seventh Army Document Center, and today resides in Washington, D.C. The other three copies were turned over to the United Nations War Crimes Commission.[6]

The reconstructed records of Hitler's military conferences in Series IV represent only a small fraction of the total record. The surviving fragments amounted to about 800 pages out of an estimated 200,000 pages that constituted the full record.[7] In the 1950s and 1960s additional discoveries were made of materials related to several of Hitler's military conferences beyond the set of records represented here.[8]

Three essays by George Allen (Series I) provide a general orientation to the collection. They are in the form of typescripts with handwritten emendations; two of them are signed. Two of the essays are expressly formulated as introductions to, respectively, the records of the CIC interrogations (Series II) and the transcribed fragments of the minutes of Hitler's military conferences (Series IV).

In addition, the collection also includes, as Series IV, materials related to the publication of Hitler Directs His War. The Secret Records of His Daily Military Conferences, selected and annotated by Felix Gilbert (New York: Oxford UP, 1950), a book that conveys a portion of the records of Hitler's military conferences in English translation, with explanatory notes by Gilbert, and a foreword by George Allen.[9] Among these materials are four typewritten manuscripts, including one read by Allen, and one that was the final manuscript for publication; galley proofs; and page proofs.

A few newspaper clippings can be found at the end of the collection (Series V), all dating from approximately 1945 to 1946. These news articles contain reports about the information that was being learned at that time by American military intelligence in Germany.

Endnotes (Scope and Contents)

[1] "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations," typescript I (folder 1), p. 11.

[2] "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations," typescript I (folder 1), p. 9.

[3] "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations," typescript I (folder 1), pp. 11-12.

[4] "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations," typescript I (folder 1), p. 12.

[5] See folder 23.

[6] The disposition of the six copies is recounted by Helmut Heiber in his introduction to the first complete published edition of the material, Hitlers Lagebesprechungen. Die Protokollfragmente seiner militärischen Konferenzen, 1942-1945, ed. Heiber (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1962), 25. That edition appeared in English as: Hitler and His Generals. Military Conferences 1942-1945. The First Complete Stenographic Record of the Military Situation Conferences, from Stalingrad to Berlin, trans. Roland Winter, Krista Smith, and Mary Beth Friedrich (London: Greenhill Books, 2002). The latter edition includes an English edition introduction by Gerhard L. Weinberg; and David M. Glantz is credited as the Editorial Advisor English Edition.

[7] George Allen, "Introduction to Hitler's 'Lagebesprechungen,'" typescript (folder 2), p. 2. See also Allen's foreword, "On the Discovery and Preservation of the Record," in Hitler Directs His War. The Secret Records of His Daily Military Conferences, selected and annotated by Felix Gilbert (New York: Oxford UP, 1950), xi.

[8] Transcriptions related to two additional military conferences were included in Heiber's German edition in 1962. Gerhard Weinberg published a further conference transcript in 1964; and other newly discovered material was published by the German magazine Der Spiegel in 1966. See Weinberg's discussion of these later discoveries in the English edition introduction to Hitler and his Generals, iv-v.

[9] According to Gerald Weinberg, Hitler Directs His War "contains less than a quarter of the surviving material"; English edition introduction to Hitler and his Generals, ix, n. 3.

Gift of George R. Allen, 1946, 1950.

People
Subject

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Finding Aid Author
Violet Lutz
Finding Aid Date
2007
Use Restrictions

Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Collection Inventory

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Series Description

This series is comprised mainly of three manuscripts produced by Allen. The first two of these manuscripts, "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations" (folder 1) and "Introduction to Hitler's 'Lagebesprechungen'" (folder 2) provide background information about, respectively, the records of interrogations contained in Series II, and the transcribed fragments of Hitler's military conferences contained in Series III. The third document, bearing the title "The Legend of Hitler," is a more subjective interpretation by Allen of the materials that he and his colleagues were able to gather at Berchtesgaden, especially with regard to the bearing of these materials on a historical understanding of Hitler. Also included (in folder 2) are two miscellaneous items: a proposal (author uncertain) concerning a book based on the reconstructed records of the military conferences; and a memorandum from an unidentified writer requesting copies of some of the records.

Allen's "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations" provides information that helps in understanding the authorship of some of the documents in Series II, and/or the circumstances under which they came to be produced (information that in some cases cannot readily be deciphered from the documents themselves). In the opening paragraphs, Allen relates how he and his colleagues, including Erich Albrecht, came to Berchtesgaden, and were charged with finding Nazis in the area. He then tells of his encounter with Gerhard Herrgesell and Heinz Jonuschat, former members of Hitler's Stenographic Service, and their leading him to the remains of the records of Hitler's military conferences. Other 'informants' who provided information to Allen and his colleagues are also mentioned. The middle part of the document is devoted to successive narratives about the following Nazis and how they were picked up: Fritz Sauckel; Julius Streicher; Franz Xaver Schwarz and his son; Dr. Robert Ley; Fritz Goernnert; Hermann Göring; General Frank Ritter von Epp; Fräulein Christa Schröder; Hitler's sister Paula; Hitler's half-sister Angela (recounted from a Corps report); Dr. [Theodor] Morell, Hitler's physician; Erich Kempka, Hitler's chauffeur; Artur Kannenberg, Hitler's majordomo; two bodyguards of Göring; two Sicherheitsdienst men from Austria; Heinrich Doose; Prof. [Percy Ernst] Schramm; Erwin Nagel; and Kreisleiter [Bernhard] Stredele. (Many, but not all of these individuals were interrogated with a stenographer present; Allen explains why some were not.) The document ends with a general discussion about the circumstances of the interrogations; Allen's task of having to decide whom to arrest; and a passing reference to correspondence of Nazi officials and other materials that were also gathered.

Allen's "Introduction to Hitler's 'Lagebesprechungen'" gives a brief description of the discovery of the fragments of Hitler's military conferences, and the way in which the work of transcribing and reconstructing them was carried out. Then, it mainly recounts information that Allen learned from the former members of Hitler's Stenographic Service concerning such matters as the background of the service; the qualifications of the stenographers and their method of working; and the circumstances of Hitler's military conferences. It also includes a general discussion of some of the content of the records, as well as remarks about what one needs to consider in reading the reconstructed records and what their significance is.

It should be noted that one of the stenographers, Heinz Buchholz, recorded background information about the Stenographic Service in his own words, in German (see under Series IV).

Physical Description

3 folders

"Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations." Includes the following:
* Typescript I, with handwritten emendations, signed by Allen, undated
* Typescript II, undated
* Two carbon copies of typescript II, undated.
Box 1 Folder 1
"Introduction to Hitler's 'Lagebesprechungen [=military conferences],'" typescript with handwritten emendations, signed by Allen, undated.
Accompanied by two miscellaneous items: 1) outline of a proposed book on the "documents of Hilter's daily military conferences," typescript carbon, undated; and 2) memorandum (apparently addressed to George Allen) from an unidentified writer, typescript, undated. Requests copies of some of the documents, on behalf of Chester Willmot, a war reporter.
Box 1 Folder 2
"The Legend of Hitler," typescript, with handwritten emendations, undated.
Box 1 Folder 3

Arrangement and Description

The arrangement of the records in this subseries reflects the sequence in which they were ordered when received from George Allen in December 1946 (the order given in the inventory record from the original processing of the collection at that time). The sequence does not seem to represent any particular scheme; however, the items follow in the same sequence in which they find mention in Allen's essay "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations" (folder 1). Included are transcriptions of interrogations; first-person statements by subjects; and reports about interrogations in which the information learned from the subject is recapitulated in a third-person narration. The last item in this subseries, the report on the interrogation of Hans Helling, former secretary of Rudolf Hess, which was apparently written by Allen, was originally found among Allen's translations of interrogations (series III).

Physical Description

18 folders

Transcription of interview with [Fritz] Goennert, former assistant to Hermann Göring ("Besprechung zwischen Mr. Albrecht und Herrn Dipl. Ing. [Fritz] Goernnert").
Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations, 12 May 1945. In German. The interview was conducted by Erich Albrecht, of the CIC. The questioning mainly concerns the events surrounding the arrest of Göring by Hitler's SS in April 1945.
Box 1 Folder 4
Report of the 2nd French Armored Division concerning the questioning of three members of Göring's household in Berchtesgaden ("2. Division blindée, Securité militaire / Note de renseignements"). Typescript carbon, 9 May 1945. In French.
Includes a list identifying the three individuals: Charles Archmann, Jean Lyasakowski, and Joseph Zychski; and a recapitulation of a statement given by Archmann concerning the events leading up to the arrest of Göring by the SS on 23 April 1945. Allen notes in his "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations" that this report "in some measures supplements Goernnert's statement" .
Box 1 Folder 5
Statements by Franz Brandenburg and Willy Lau, former personal guards of Göring.
Box 1 Folder 6
Contents

* Statement by Franz Brandenburg and Willy Lau ("Franz Brandenburg, Kriminal-Obersekr., / Willy Lau, Kriminal-Sekretär, vom Begleit-Kdo. des ehem. Reichsmarschalls Goering / Bericht"). Typescript carbon, Berchtesgaden, 5 July 1945. In German. Mainly concerns the events around 23 April 1945, when Göring was arrested by Hitler's SS.

* Statement by Franz Brandenburg ("Franz Brandenburg, Kriminal-Obersekretaer / An den C.I.C. der 101 A. B.-Division"). Typescript carbon, Berchtesgaden (Ramsauerstrasse 8), 4 July 1945. In German. Concerns events in August 1944, apparently related to Göring=s intervention with Nazi authorities to facilitate the emigration to Switzerland of a certain Dutch Jew, Walter Bachstitz.

Transcription of interview with Christa Schroeder, former personal secretary of Hitler ("Besprechung zwischen Herrn Albrecht und Frl. [Christa] Schröder, früher Sekretärin v. Hitler"). Typescript, Berchtesgaden, 22 May 1945. In German.
The interview was conducted by Erich Albrecht, of the CIC. Includes one leaf of a different typescript (carbon), with an appended statement from Schroeder concerning the last letter of Eva Braun to her sister (parenthetical heading of the appended statement: "Ende der Aussage von Frl. Schröder, Sekretärin von Hitler") .
Box 1 Folder 7
Transcription of interview with Paula Wolf (née Hitler), sister of Hitler ("Besprechung zwischen Mr. Albrecht und Frl. Paula Hitler"). Typescript, Berchtesgaden, 26 May 1945. In German. The interview was conducted by Erich Albrecht, of the CIC.
Box 1 Folder 8
"The very uninteresting life of Hitler's half-sister." Typescript, undated. In English.
Report concerning the interrogation of Angela Hammitzsch, half-sister of Hitler, conveying information apparently elicited from her during interrogation, along with generalizing statements and judgments of the writer. In his "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations," George Allen states: "The interrogation of Hitler's half-sister Angela is taken from a Corps report and was not made by us. She had been staying at the Berchtesgadener Hof prior to our arrival, but had left a short time before for Dresden".
Box 1 Folder 9
Daily report [of CIC] for 18 May 1945 ("Tagesbericht vom 18. Mai 1945"), including a report about the interrogation of Dr. [Theodor] Morrell, personal physician to Hitler. Typescript, undated [circa 18 May 1945]. In German.
Composed in a telegraphic, impersonal style. Describes an expedition to Bad Reichenhall (nearby city, and seat of the Berchtesgaden district), where Dr. Morell was interrogated at the municipal hospital. Statements made by Morell are reported in the third person. Also included is a mention of an action concerning SS members in the military hospital. Presumably the report was composed by Erich Albrecht, who, according to George Allen (in "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations"), conducted the interrogation of Morell.
Box 1 Folder 10
Statements by Erich Kempka, former SS member and chauffeur of Hitler, about the last days of Hitler.
Box 1 Folder 11
Contents

* Statement by Kempka about the last days of Hitler ("Erklärung von Herrn Erich Kempka über die letzten Tage Hitlers"). Typescript with handwritten emendations, signed by Kempka and by the recorder of the statement (Protokollführer), Hempshell [?], Amtsgerichtsrat (court official), Berchtesgaden, 20 June 1945. In German. Includes, as appendices, two pages of diagrams drawn by hand. On the reverse of the last page of the statement is an unsigned, handwritten note in English that gives details about the additional statement made by Kempka concerning the burning of the blood-stained rug (see below), and dates the statement to 23 June.

* Statement by Kempka concerning the burning of the blood-stained rug from the room where Hitler and Eva Braun died. Signed autograph note, undated [Berchtesgaden, 23 June 1945]. In German. The entire statement reads: "Der Teppich aus dem Sterbezimmer von Adolf Hitler und seine Frau wurde später verbrannt, weil er voller Blut war. Erich Kempka."

* Additional statement by Kempka ("Ergänzende Erklärung des Herrn Erich Kempka"). Typescript signed by the recorder of the statement (Protokollführer), Hempshell [?], Amtsgerichtsrat (court official), Berchtesgaden, 4 July 1945. In German. Includes a handwritten diagram of the room where the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun were found. Kempka made this additional statement in response to a statement of another SS officer, Hermann Karnau (taken down 20 June 1945 by staff-writer Daniel de Luce in Montgomery's headquarters), which had been read to Kempka.

See also newspaper clippings related to the statements of Kempka, circa 1945-1946, in folder 70.

Statements by two unidentified former members of the German Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service), the intelligence branch of the SS. .
Box 1 Folder 12-13
Note

In his "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations," George Allen refers to "two Sicherheitsdienst men from Austria" as among the individuals detained, placing them in the category of those "who had more information to give than we cared to take down." He further notes: "I interrogated these two and gave them a typewriter, telling them to prepare a complete account of the Werwolf and the SD." Includes the following items, presumed to have been jointly produced by the two men:

* Statement concerning the origin, development, and work of the Sicherheitsdienst of the SS ("Entstehung, Entwicklung und Aufgaben des Sicherheitsdienstes des Reichsfuehrers SS"). Typescript with handwritten emendations, 15 May 1945. In German. Composed in an impersonal voice. Accompanied by a handwritten diagram showing the position of the Sicherheitsdienst within the structure of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office).

* Statement concerning the nature and development of "Werwolf," a secret military operation of the Nazi leadership, initiated in early 1945. Typescript with handwritten emendations, 13 May 1945. In German. Composed in an impersonal voice. Untitled; begins: "Die ersten Vorarbeiten fuer die Aktion 'Werwolf' wurden vor cirka 3 Monaten begonnen ...."

Report on "Interrogation--Günther Mannertz (Werwolf activities)." Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations, [Miesbach], 6 May 1945. In English.
Conveys in third-person narration a "small part" of the story imparted by the 21-year-old Mannertz, including some biographical background on him. Mannertz had been a member of the SS, and, for only six weeks, a member of the Sicherheitsdienst. A handwritten note indicates that the interrogation was carried out by Erich Albrecht in Miesbach, another locality in southern Bavaria, where he and George Allen had been stationed immediately prior to their arrival in Berchtesgaden.
Box 1 Folder 14
Statement by Heinrich Doose, former member of the Waffen-SS and driver for high-level Nazi military personnel, concerning the death of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel ("Niederschrift über die Aussage des Heinrich Doose vor CIC 101 am 30.5.45"). Typescript, 30 May 1945. In German.
Included is a statement in response to Doose's statement, by Heinz Buchholz, former member of the Stenographic Service of Hitler's headquarters ("Anmerkung zur der [sic] Niederschrift über die Aussage des Heinrich Doose"). Typescript signed by Buchholz, 31 May 1945. In German. Mostly concerns Hitler's reactions upon hearing the news of Rommel's death. Under Buchholz's signature: "ehemal. Mitgl. d. stenogr. Dienstes im F.H.Qu. [Führerhauptquartier]"

See also newspaper clippings concerning reports about how Rommel died (Doose's statement is not mentioned), circa 1945-1946, in folder 70.
Box 1 Folder 15
Statement concerning the war journal of the German High Command, and the possibility of reconstructing the German military conduct of the war ("Ueber die Moeglichkeit, den Verlauf der deutschen Kriegsführung in den Jahren 1939-1945 zu rekonstruieren") [by Professor Percy Ernst Schramm, the head compiler of the war journal]. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations, signed by Schramm, undated [circa May 1945]. In German. Composed in an impersonal voice.
Box 1 Folder 16
Statement by Percy Ernst Schramm about matters pertaining to the German High Command Operational Staff (Wehrmachtsführungsstab) in the period from 20 April to 1 May 1945 ("Notizen von Major Schramm (WFSt), Professor aus Göttingen"). Typescript carbon (two copies), Berchtesgaden, 30 May 1945, and photocopy. In German. Composed in an impersonal voice. In two parts, with a narrative followed by a timeline of orders and announcements.
Section headings: 1) Verlegung Wfst [Wehrmachtsführungsstab] am 20. 4. 1945; and 2) Ein- und ausgegangene Befehle, Meldungen usw. des Führungsstabes B.
Box 1 Folder 17-18
"Concerning: Dealing out Military Justice under the Regime Himmler! Especially: Report on the Conditions and the Treatment in a 'Strafvollsteckungszug' i.e. an Army Convicts Detachment!" Typescript carbon, Kempten (Allgäu), 20 June 1945.
English translation of a statement by Erwin Nagel, about his experiences as a German soldier in a convicts detachment. Heading: "Erwin Nagel / Engineer / Kempten (Allgäu) / Immenstädterstrasse 156-1/2 (in the war: Motor Vehicles Driver with the 272th [sic] Volksgrenadier Division)." George Allen notes in his "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations": "The report in English by Erwin Nagel of Kempton [sic], presumably a translation by an American Intelligence soldier of German birth, was given to me by a friend who had several copies. I have included it as it gives a typical story, that of a griper who, when the Americans came in, claimed to have been anti-Nazi".
Box 1 Folder 19
Statement by Heinz Buchholz, formerly of the Stenographic Service of Hitler's headquarters, concerning the attempt on Hitler's life, on 20 July 1944, which Buchholz witnessed ("Das Attentat auf Adolf Hitler am 20. July 1944. Augenzeugenbericht von Regierungsrat Heinz Buchholz, ehemaliges Mitglied des Stenographischen Dienstes im F.H.Qu. [Führerhauptquartier]"). Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations, signed by Bucholz, Berchtesgaden, 14 July 1945. In German.
Accompanied by a diagram depicting the room and those present when the assassination attempt occurred.
Box 1 Folder 20
"Subject: The famous ride of Rudolf Hess / Re: Statement of Hans Helling, former secretary to Hess." 1 typescript and 3 carbons, undated [circa 1945-1946].
Report [by George Allen] on the interrogation of Hans Helling, former secretary to Rudolf Hess, concerning Hess's journey to England in 1941.
Box 1 Folder 21
Description

This subseries comprises a single typescript carbon of transcriptions from two stenographic notebooks of Hitler's secretaries that were found in Hitler's home in Berchtesgaden and came into the possession of the CIC. These transcriptions were originally included by Allen in the sequence of reports on the interrogations (subseries II.A), but have been categorized here as a separate subseries, since they represent material of such a different nature from the interrogations.

Physical Description

1 folder

Excerpts from the stenographic notebooks of secretaries of Hitler, as transcribed by the CIC. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations, undated. In German.
Box 1 Folder 22
Note

The excerpts ("Auszuege aus Stenogrammblöcken von Sekretärinnen des Führers") are from stenographic notes of 14 February 1941; circa March 1944; circa 1942; and undated. In his "Introduction to Berchtesgaden Interrogations," George Allen states that the source of these excerpts were "two short-hand note books" that he had "confiscated from an AP reporter who had found them in Hitler's house on the Obersalzberg." Includes the following 7 parts:

* Memorandum dictated by Ernst von Weizsäcker [here: Waitzäcker], of the German Foreign Office ("Stenogrammblock II, Seiten 12 bis 15 (Frl. Wolf)"), Berlin, 14 February 1941. Apparently records a telephone conversation with the German Foreign Minister [Joachim von Ribbentrop], in which Weizsäcker reported about an exchange with an envoy of Mussolini.

* Letter to the Turkish president, [Ismet] Inönü, apparently dictated by Hitler ("Stenogrammblock III, Seiten 1-3 / Schreiben an den türkischen Staatschef Innönü"). Concerns relations between Germany and Turkey, making reference to the German ambassador to Turkey, [Franz] von Papen, having just returned.

* Telegram dictated by [Joachim von] Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, apparently addressed to the German ambassador in Turkey [Franz von Papen] ("Stenogrammblock II, Seiten 43-44 / Telegramm von Außenminister Ribbentrop nach Ankara"). Makes reference to the imminent march of German troops into Bulgaria.

* Draft of a letter, dictated by Hitler, to the Turkish president ("Stenogrammblock II, Seiten 45-47 / Entwurf eines Schreibens des Führers an den türkischen Staatspräsidenten")/ Concerns relations between Germany and Turkey, making reference to Bulgaria having recently joined the Three-Power Pact (Dreierpakt).

* Memorandum dictated by Joachim von Ribbentrop ("Auszüge aus dem Stenogrammblock II, Seite 55 / Londoner Sache"; [for signature:] "v. Ribbentrop"), apparently intended for Hitler. Reports on a telephone call received by Weizsäcker from [Herbert von] Dirksen, the German ambassador in London, making reference to the British ambassador to Germany, [Sir Nevile] Henderson, having recently been called back to London to report on events in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. Ends with Ribbentrop's proposal that Dirksen be called to Berlin.

* Two memoranda concerning developments in Budapest around 19 March [1944], as German troops were arriving: the first dictated by [Otto] Winkelmann, the SS commander in Budapest; the second by a representative of the Reich Security Main Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt) ("Auszüge aus dem Stenogrammblock II, Seiten 64/65"). First memorandum is headed: "Über Wien"; for the signature of: "Winkelmann." The second memoranum is headed: "Aus Wien: betrifft: Verlauf...."; from: "Reichssicherheitshauptamt."

* Three letters from Hitler, circa 1942 ("Briefe Hitlers /(aus aufgefundenem Stenogrammblock, wohl von 1942"). The letters are addressed, respectively, to Hitler's half-sister Angela [Hammitzsch]; his sister Paula [Wolf]; and Frau [Franziska] Braun, the mother of Eva Braun. Brief cover letters to accompany a sampling of foodstuffs, including bacon, which Hitler had received on his birthday and was sending on to the addressees. Footnotes by the transcriber complete the identification of the addressees.

Series Description

This series comprises English translations of seven of the interrogations or statements found in Series II. Also included is a memorandum from George Allen dated 4 January 1947 (folder 23), which indicates that he produced these translations for Army records. The memorandum has been grouped with this series because, in the main, it provides a guide to the translations that follow, which otherwise bear no indication of their origins. The seven translations have been arranged in the order in which they find mention in Allen's memorandum.

It should be noted that in his 1947 memorandum Allen also makes other remarks, mostly concerning the whereabouts of originals or copies of certain interrogations.

Concerning the translations themselves, it can be noted that in a few cases, Allen has transposed transcriptions of interviews into a unified statement by the subject; and in two cases he has appended his own explanatory "prologue" to his translation of the actual record (and in one of those instances an "epilogue" as well).

Physical Description

8 folders

Memorandum dictated by George Allen. Typescript, 4 January 1947.
Concerns the English translations that Allen made of selected Berchtesgaden interrogations and reports, with references to extant copies of some of the interrogations or reports.
Box 1 Folder 23
English translation of the interrogation of Dr. Fritz Goernnert [here: Goerrnert], aide to Göring. Typescript and 2 carbons, undated [circa 1945-1946].
In translating, Allen transformed the transcription of the interview into a unified statement by Goernnert.
Box 1 Folder 24
"Subject: The later days of Göring," English translation of the interrogation of Franz Brandenburg and Willy Lau, personal guards of Göring. Typescript and 2 carbons, undated [circa 1945-1946].
Box 1 Folder 25
English translation of the interrogation of Paula Wolf (née Hitler), Hitler's sister. Typescript and 2 carbons, undated [circa 1945-1946].
In translating, Allen transformed the transcription of the interview into a unified statement by Wolf.
Box 1 Folder 26
English translation of the interrogation of Christa Schroeder, one of Hitler's personal secretaries. Typescript and 2 carbons, undated [circa 1945-1946].
In translating, Allen transformed the transcription of the interview into a unified statement by Schroeder. The document mistakenly gives Schroeder's first name as "Clare".
Box 1 Folder 27
English translation of the statement of Erich Kempka, Hitler's chauffeur. Typescript and 2 carbons, undated [circa 1945-1946]. Concerns the last days of Hitler.
Box 1 Folder 28
"Subject: Rommel's death ride," English translation of the statement of Heinrich Doose. Typescript and 2 carbons, undated [circa 1945-1946].
Includes a "Prologue" and an "Epilogue" composed by George Allen.
Box 1 Folder 29
"Subject: The attempted assassination of Hitler on 20 July 44," English translation of the statement of Heinz Buchholz, former member the Stenographic Service of Hitler's headquarters. Typescript and 2 carbons, undated [circa 1945-1946].
Includes a "Prologue" composed by George Allen.
Box 1 Folder 30

Series Description

This series comprises the stenographically recorded minutes of Hitler's military conferences (Lagebesprechungen), as transcribed and reconstructed by former members of Hitler's Stenographic Service, from charred fragments--some sets of original stenographic notes and some typescripts--discovered in Berchtesgaden in the first half of May 1945. All of these holdings are typescript carbons.

The transcribed and reconstructed records pertain to 56 different fragments that have been numbered 1 through 54, with the numbers 1 and 19 used twice (1a and 1b; 19a and 19b). The last fragment (number 54) is a piece of a manuscript or draft of a speech that was apparently recorded not by Hitler's Stenographic Service but by one of his personal secretaries. Among the remaining fragments, there is generally one fragment corresponding to any given military conference, except in three instances in which two different fragments pertain to the same military conference (2 and 3; 22 and 23; 24 and 25). On the whole, therefore, it appears that the remains of 52 military conferences are represented, including two addresses by Hitler to his division commanders.[1]

The series has been arranged according to the numbered sequence of the fragments as designated on the typescripts. That sequence was established at the time of, and in connection with the reconstruction work carried out in May to June 1945. It does not correspond to the chronological order.[2]

Aside from the records themselves, the series includes, at the beginning: 1) general preliminary remarks by Heinz Buchholz, one of the former members of Hitler's Stenographic Service ("Allgemeine Vorbemerkungen zu den Fragmenten des Stenographischen Dienstes im FHQ"); and 2) an overview of the fragments ("Gesamtübersicht der Fragmente des Stenographischen Dienstes im FHQu"). The overview is incomplete, ending with fragment 48 (it is not clear if the document ended there, or if the particular typescript carbon held in the collection is incomplete). The overview gives information about each fragment, including: type of record (shorthand notes or typescript); the stenographer(s) responsible for the transcription/reconstruction and/or the original record; the content and date of the conference; the extent and physical condition of the surviving material; and the number of pages in the typescript of the reconstructed record.

The eight stenographers who reconstructed the records represented the complete team of stenographers who had comprised Hitler's Stenographic Service at the end of the war. They were: Dr. Kurt Peschel, Ludwig Krieger, Dr. Hans Jonuschat, Dr. Ewald Reynitz, Dr. Kurt Haagen, Karl Thöt, Heinz Buchholz, and Gerhard Herrgesell. An additional stenographer, Heinrich Berger, whose name appears in the overview of the fragments, was killed on the occasion of the assassination attempt on Hitler, on 20 July 1944. (According to Buchholz's preliminary remarks, Herrgesell first joined the team at that point, to replace Berger.) It appears that the work was distributed among the stenographers in such a way that fragments comprised of stenographic notes were generally transcribed by the same stenographer(s) responsible for the original, with the exception of notes originally taken by Berger, or where otherwise noted.

Endnotes (Series Description, Series IV)

[1] Allen, in his foreword to Hitler Directs His War, refers to "the remains of fifty-one conferences, some complete, or practically complete, some consisting of only a few charred pages" (xi). The chronological overview of the fragments in that edition (175-179) seems to list only 50 conferences. I was unable to determine where the discrepancies lie. The overview offered in Heiber's German edition, Hitlers Lagebesprechungen (6-9) includes the records of two additional conferences discovered at a later point, and shows a total of 53 conferences, apparently with the omission of fragment 19b.

[2] Heiber states in his introduction to the German edition: "Die Numerierung der Fragmente erfolgte willkürlich in der Reihenoflge der Bearbeitung und wurde von Regierungsrat Buchholz vorgenommen, der gleichsam als neuer Bürochef der Arbeitsgruppe fungierte" [The numbering of the fragments resulted randomly from the sequence in which they were worked on. The sequence was assigned by Councillor Buchholz, who acted as a sort of new office manager for the working group of stenographers]; Hitlers Lagebesprechungen, 25.

Physical Description

32 folders

General preliminary remarks concerning the transcription of the fragmentary records, by Heinz Buchholz, former member of the Stenographic Service of Hitler's headquarters ("Allgemeine Vorbemerkungen zu den Fragmenten des Stenographischen Dienstes im FHQ [Führerhauptquartier]"). Typescript carbon, signed, with handwritten emendations, 6 June 1945. In German.
Describes the original organization and purpose of the Stenographic Service; the nature of the fragments of the minutes of Hitler's military conferences (the Lagebesprechungen); the process by which the fragments were transcribed; and aspects to be considered in reading the reconstructed records.
Box 1 Folder 31
Overview of the fragments transcribed. Typescript carbon with handwritten title, undated. In German.
Box 1 Folder 32
Note

Although promising in its title to be complete ("Gesamtübersicht der Fragmente des Stenographischen Dienstes im FHQu [Führerhauptquartier]"), the overview includes only 48 of the 54 extant fragments. The following information is given about each fragment: type of record (i.e. either shorthand notes, with name of stenographer; or typescript); content; date; extent and physical condition of the surviving material; and number of pages in the typescript of the reconstructed record.

Fragment 1a: Military conference, afternoon situation, March 1945. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Herrgesell, with a prefatory note by Herrgesell.
Box 1 Folder 33
Fragment 1b: Military conference, afternoon situation, beginning of March 1945. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Herrgesell, with a prefatory note by Herrgesell, dated 24 May 1945.
Box 1 Folder 33
Fragments 2 and 3: Military conference, noontime situation, on 6 November 1944. Typescript carbon, with a page of prefatory notes signed by Krieger. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Krieger and Dr. Reynitz.
Box 1 Folder 34
Fragment 4: Hitler's discussion with General Field Marshal [Wilhelm] Keitel on 19 May 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Peschel and Dr. Jonuschat.
Box 1 Folder 35
Fragment 5: Hitler's discussion with SS-Sonderführer (Lead Technical Specialist) [Konstantin] von Neurath on 20 May 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Krieger and Dr. Reynitz.
Box 1 Folder 35
Fragment 6: Military conference, evening situation, on 24 February 1945 in Berlin. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Buchholz and Dr. Haagen, with a prefatory note by them.
Box 1 Folder 36
Fragment 7: Hitler's discussion with Colonel General (Generaloberst) [Kurt] Zeitzler on 27 December 1943. Typescript carbon with one handwritten insertion. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Peschel and Dr. Jonuschat.
Box 1 Folder 36
Fragment 8: Military conference, morning situation, on 12 December 1942 at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Peschel and Dr. Jonuschat. Prefaced by list of speakers.
Box 1 Folder 37
Fragment 9: Military conference, evening situation, on 9 January 1945 at Adlerhorst (Eagle's Nest), Hitler's military headquarters on the Western Front, near Bad Nauheim. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Jonuschat and Herrgesell.
Box 2 Folder 38
Fragment 10: Hitler's discussion with General [Alfred] Jodl und Colonel General [Kurt] Zeitzler on 28 December 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Reynitz and Thöt.
Box 2 Folder 38
Fragment 11: Hitler's discussion with Colonel General Zeitzler on 29 December 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Peschel and Dr. Jonuschat.
Box 2 Folder 39
Fragment 12: Hitler's discussion with General Field Marshal [Georg von] Küchler on 30 December 1943 at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes. Original notes taken by Buchholz and Berger; transcription carried out by Buchholz alone.
Box 2 Folder 39
Fragment 13: Military conference, morning situation, on 25 July 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Reynitz and Thöt.
Box 2 Folder 40
Fragment 14: Military conference, evening situation, on 25 July 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Reynitz and Thöt.
Box 2 Folder 41
Fragment 15: Military conference, evening situation, on 26 July 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Reynitz and Thöt.
Box 2 Folder 41
Fragment 16: Military conference, morning situation, on 26 July 1943. Typescript carbon, with handwritten notation of the fragment number. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Thöt.
Box 2 Folder 42
Fragment 17: Hitler's discussion with Field Marshal Kluge on 26 July 1943. Typescript carbon, with handwritten notation of the fragment number. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Reynitz and Thöt.
Box 2 Folder 43
Fragment 18: Long-distance telephone call between Hitler and Colonel General [Kurt] Zeitzler on 28 January 1944. Typescript carbon, with handwritten heading: "Fragment Nr. 18 / (Stenograph. Dienst im F.H.Qu.)." Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Jonuschat.
Box 2 Folder 44
Fragment 19a: Military conference at the end of February or the middle of March 1945 (scattered individual leaves of the record, order uncertain). Typescript carbon, with handwritten notation of the fragment number. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Reynitz.
Box 2 Folder 44
Fragment 19b: Military conference in July 1943 about measures to be taken in the event that Italy left the alliance (only snippets of leaves from the record). Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Buchholz.
Box 2 Folder 44
Fragment 20: Military conference, evening situation, on 18 June 1944, at the Berghof, Hitler's home near Berchtesgaden. Typescript carbon, with handwritten notation of the fragment number. Transcription of stenographic notes. Original notes taken by Buchholz and Berger; transcription carried out by Buchholz alone, with a prefatory note by Buchholz.
Box 2 Folder 44
Fragment 21: Military conference, morning situation, on 19 November 1943. Typescript carbon, with handwritten notation of the fragment number. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Peschel and Dr. Januschat. Prefaced by a list of speakers.
Box 2 Folder 45
Fragments 22 and 23: Military conference, evening situation, on 23 March 1945, in Berlin, at Hitler's apartment. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Buchholz and Herrgesell.
Box 2 Folder 46
Fragments 24 and 25: Military conference, noontime situation, on 27 January 1945, in Berlin. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Peschel and Dr. Jonuschat. (The stenographers responsible are not indicated in the transcription but are listed on the overview, folder 32.).
Box 2 Folder 47
Fragment 26: Military conference, afternoon situation, at the beginning of March 1945 (only individual leaves from the record). Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Buchholz and Herrgesell, with a prefatory note by them.
Box 2 Folder 48
Fragment 27: An address by Hitler before his division commanders, on 28 December 1944, at Adlerhorst, Hitler's military headquarters on the Western Front, near Bad Nauheim. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy; stenographic notes originally taken by, and transcription carried out by Buchholz and Herrgesell, with prefatory remarks by them, dated 16 May 1945.
Box 2 Folder 48
Fragment 28: An address by Hitler before his division commanders, on 12 December 1944, at Adlerhorst, Hitler's military headquarters on the Western Front, near Bad Nauheim. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations. Transcription of typescript copy; stenographic notes originally taken by, and transcription carried out by Buchholz and Herrgesell, with prefatory remarks by them, dated 22 May 1945.
Box 2 Folder 49
Fragment 29: Military conference, evening situation, on 1 December 1942. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy (stenographers responsible not given).
Box 2 Folder 50
Fragment 30: Hitler's discussion with Major General (Generalmajor) [Wolfgang] Thomale on 29 December 1944 at Hitler's military headquarters on the Western Front, near Bad Nauheim. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy; transcription carried out by Herrgesell and Dr. Haagen.
Box 2 Folder 50
Fragment 31: Military conference, beginning of January 1945 (only a small part at the end of the record). Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Herrgesell, with a prefatory note by him.
Box 2 Folder 51
Fragment 32: Military conference, evening situation, probably at the beginning of March 1943, at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Krieger, with a prefatory note by him.
Box 2 Folder 51
Fragment 33: Military conference, noontime situation, on 10 January 1945 at Adlerhorst, Hitler's military headquarters on the Western Front, near Bad Nauheim. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Reynitz and Thöt.
Box 2 Folder 52
Fragment 34: Military conference, morning situation, on 22 December 1943, at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy, with prefatory remarks (stenographers responsible not given).
Box 2 Folder 53
Fragment 35: Military conference, evening situation, most probably on 20 December 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy, with a prefatory note. Stenographic notes originally taken by Dr. Peschel and Dr. Jonuschat, and transcription carried out by Buchholz and Herrgesell.
Box 2 Folder 53
Fragment 36: Military conference, morning situation, probably at the beginning of March 1944. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Dr. Haagen and Dr. Jonuschat.
Box 2 Folder 54
Fragment 37: Military conference, morning situation, on 4 October 1943, at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Krieger, with a prefatory note by him.
Box 2 Folder 54
Fragment 38: Military conference, evening situation, on 4 March.1943, at Werwolf, Hitler's headquarters at Vinnitsa, near Kiev, in the Ukraine. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations. Transcription of typescript copy (stenographers responsible not given).
Box 2 Folder 55
Fragment 39: Military conference, morning situation, on 5 March 1943, at Werwolf, Hitler's headquarters at Vinnitsa, near Kiev, in the Ukraine. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy (stenographers responsible not given).
Box 2 Folder 55
Fragment 40: Military conference, morning situation, on 6 April 1944. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy, with a prefatory note (stenographers responsible not given).
Box 2 Folder 56
Fragment 41: Hitler's discussion with Colonel General (Generaloberst) [Johannes] von Blaskowitz, on 28 December 1944 in Adlerhorst, Hitler's military headquarters on the Western Front, near Bad Nauheim. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy; stenographic notes originally taken by, and transcription carried out by Buchholz and Herrgesell, with a prefatory note by them.
Box 2 Folder 57
Fragment 42: Military conference, evening situation, on 17 September 1944, at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy, with a prefatory note. Stenographic notes originally taken by Dr. Reynitz and Thöt, and transcription carried out by Dr. Reynitz and Herrgesell.
Box 2 Folder 58
Fragment 43: Military conference, morning situation, on 1 September 1944, at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy, with a prefatory note (stenographers responsible not given).
Box 2 Folder 59
Fragment 44: Military conference, evening situation, on 26 October 1943, at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy (stenographers responsible not given).
Box 2 Folder 60
Fragment 45: Military conference, evening situation, on 18 May 1944, at the Berghof, Hitler's home near Berchtesgaden. Transcription of typescript copy (stenographers responsible not given).
Box 2 Folder 60
Fragment 46: Hitler's discussion with General (Generalleutnant) [Siegfried] Westphal und General (Generalleutnant) [Hans] Krebs, on 31 August 1944, at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations. Transcription of typescript copy (stenographers responsible not given).
Box 2 Folder 60
Fragment 47: Military conference, morning situation, on 1 February 1943, at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia. Typescript carbon. Transcription by Buchholz of stenographic notes originally taken by Berger, with a prefatory note by Buchholz.
Box 2 Folder 61
Fragment 48: Military conference, morning situation, during the second half of May 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Krieger, with a prefatory note by him.
Box 2 Folder 61
Fragment 49: Military conference, afternoon situation, at the end of February or the beginning of March 1945. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Herrgesell.
Box 2 Folder 62
Fragment 50: Military conference, morning situation, on 21 March.1943, at the Berghof, Hitler's home near Berchtesgaden. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, by Krieger, with a prefatory note by him.
Box 2 Folder 62
Fragment 51: Military conference of March 1944. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations. Excerpt of 12 lines from a fragment that was not otherwise transcribed, with prefatory remarks (it is not noted whether the fragment consisted of stenographic notes or a typescript, and no stenographer's name is given).
Box 2 Folder 62
Fragment 52: Brief military conference, evening situation, at Wolfsschanze, Hitler's military headquarters on the Eastern Front, near what was then Rastenburg in East Prussia, probably in February 1944. Typescript carbon. Transcription of stenographic notes, with prefatory remarks (it is noted in the remarks that the same stenographer who originally took the notes also carried out the transcription, but the name is not given).
Box 2 Folder 62
Fragment 53: Excerpt from a military conference, evening situation, in Dezember 1943. Typescript carbon. Transcription of typescript copy, with a note by Krieger.
Box 2 Folder 62
Fragment 54: Fragment of a speech (or the draft of a speech) of Hitler. Typescript carbon. Transcription of a half-page of typescript copy, with a note by Krieger. The note explains that the typescript was probably produced by a secretary of Hitler, and that the speech can be dated to around September 1939, or winter 1939-1940.
Box 2 Folder 62

Description

This series comprises four manuscripts, along with galley proofs, page proofs, and one item of correspondence from the publisher, Oxford University Press, to Felix Gilbert.

Physical Description

4 folders

Hitler Directs His War, manuscript #1. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations, undated. Includes an occasional typed insert. A few leaves are from a typescript, rather than the carbon.
Box 3 Folder 63
Hitler Directs His War, manuscript #2. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations, undated. Note on title page for Part I: "Proofread by George Allen." Includes some annotations in German that apparently note the original German wording, for comparison with the English translation. A few leaves are from a typescript, rather than the carbon.
Box 3 Folder 64
Hitler Directs His War, manuscript #3. Typescript carbon with handwritten emendations, undated. A few leaves are from a typescript, rather than the carbon.
Box 3 Folder 65
Hitler Directs His War, manuscript #4--final version for publication. Typescript with handwritten emendations, 20 June 1950. Includes handwritten annotations giving instructions to the printer.
Box 3 Folder 66
Hitler Directs His War, galley proofs, with handwritten corrections, 8-9 June 1950.
Box 4 Folder 67
Hitler Directs His War, page proofs, with handwritten corrections, 22 July 1950.
Box 4 Folder 68
Hitler Directs His War: Correspondence to Felix Gilbert from Oxford University Press, 17 August 1950. Letter signed by Annabel Kusanobu, Secretary to Miss Nicholson, enclosing proofs of maps, appendix ("Analysis of the Transcript"), and bibliography.
Box 4 Folder 69

Arrangement and Description

Articles dating from approximately 1945 to 1946, containing reports about information being learned by military intelligence in Germany, directly or tangentially related to the Berchtesgaden interrogations in the collection, grouped according to subject.

Physical Description

1 folder

Newspaper clippings, 1945-1946, undated.
Box 4 Folder 70
Contents

* Clippings pertaining to the interrogation of Erich Kempka, chauffeur of Hitler, concerning Hitler's last days

* Clippings about the reported suicide of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (tangentially related to the interrogation of Heinrich Doose, although Doose is not mentioned in the news reports)

* Miscellaneous clippings, pertaining to the questioning of the secretary of Martin Bormann, concerning the last days in Hitler's bunker, and Bormann's possible whereabouts; and to the interrogation of three physicians of Hitler--Erwin Giesing, Hans Karl von Hasselbach, and Karl Brandt--concerning Hitler's personality

Print, Suggest