Chapter 191 Chapter Thirty-One Five Minutes After Midnight, or "The Captain Sinks with the Ship" (3)

That night General Eckard Christian, Luftwaffe Chief of Operations, burst into Kohler's headquarters outside Berlin: "The Führer is in a state of collapse!" He recounted the horrors that had happened.Kohler couldn't believe it, got into the car, went straight to the new Supreme Command, and asked Jodl if what Christian said was true.Jodl replied calmly: "It's true." Kohler asked the Führer if he would actually commit suicide. "Yes, he is very stubborn at this point." Kohler was very angry.He said he had to go see Goering in person and tell him what the Fuehrer had said: "If there are negotiations, the Reichsmarshal can do a better job than me."

At dawn on April 23, Kohler and his staff took 15 JU-52 planes to Munich.In Berchtesgaden, Göring had learned a great deal.That morning, he told his waiter—who was alone—that Bowman had sent him a confidential telegram informing him that the Führer had suffered a nervous breakdown and that he should take command.Goering was hesitant and dubious.What should he do?Act now, or wait?Kohler did not arrive at his cozy but unpretentious residence in Goering in Obersalzburg until noon.He excitedly told Goering all about Hitler's collapse.Of course, he already knew most of this, so he didn't react much, which made Kohler very strange.He asked if Hitler was still alive.Has he designated Bowman as his successor?Kohler replied that the Führer was still alive when he left Berlin, there were still one or two ways to escape, and the capital could hold out for about a week. "Anyway," he said, "it's up to you to act now, Reichsmarshal!"

Göring could not make up his mind.Wasn't it also possible that Hitler had appointed Bormann as his successor?he asked again.The purpose of Bowman, the old enemy, in sending him a telegram may be to deliberately let him seize power. "If I act, he will call me a traitor; if I do not act, he will accuse me of not being able to stand up in the most critical time." He sent for Hans Ramesh.This person is a legal expert and the custodian of the legal documents that Hitler personally established him as his successor in 1941.The document stated that Goering was his successor after Hitler's death.It also stipulated that if the Führer was unable to exercise his powers—permanently or temporarily—Göring would be Hitler's successor.

What Göring wanted to know was whether the military situation in Berlin was such that he should take over power.Ramesh dared not make a decision.He was well aware that his influence over the Führer had declined and that of Bormann had risen.So he asked whether, since 1941, the Führer had issued an order to annul the documents establishing him as successor. "No," said Ramesh, who checked every now and then to see if it would be repealed.He declared that this decree has the force of law and does not need to be announced again. It was suggested that a telegram be sent to the Führer asking if he still needed Goering as his deputy.So he drafted a telegram: "My Fuhrer, in view of your decision to guard Berlin, do you want me to take over all the powers of the Reich in accordance with the order of June 29, 1941?" After Goering read it, he added: " . . . the phrase "full authority over domestic and foreign affairs" in order to give him the right to negotiate with the Allies.He was worried and said, "What if I don't get an answer? There must be a time limit. That is to say, I must get an answer before then."

Kohler suggested that it should be set within 8 hours, Goering wrote a time limit, and then he wrote hurriedly: "You must understand that in the most difficult time of my life, the feelings I have for you cannot be expressed. Expressed in words. May God bless you and let you come here soon. Your most loyal Hermann Göring." After writing, he leaned back heavily and said: "Terrible!" If there is no reply by 10 o'clock, he must take drastic action. "I need to end the war immediately." Inside the bunker, the person most enraged by Goering's telegram—the last of Goering's intercepted by British "super" secrets—seems to be Bowman.He demanded that Göring be executed.Hitler refused to go so far, sending Goering three contradictory telegrams.The first telegram proposed that if Goering resigned from all positions, the death penalty for treason would be ignored; the second telegram annulled the decree to make Goering his successor; Confusion of Thoughts—a vaguely worded letter (“You are very wrong in thinking that I am blocked from realizing my desires, and from where I do not know.”), which led to Bauer Man felt that this might be a prelude to a pardon.On his own initiative, Bormann telegraphed the SS commander in Salzburg to arrest Goering for treason.

Krebs called Keitel from inside the bunker.He told him in detail about Goering's dismissal.Keitel was frightened and kept saying that there must be a misunderstanding.Suddenly, Bowman's voice cut in.Goering, he shouted, had been dismissed "not even from the chairmanship of the German Hunters' Association".Keitel didn't answer.He thought to himself, "The situation is too serious for these cynical remarks." That afternoon, Keitel met with Hitler.The talks failed, and he returned to the headquarters by car with Jodl. "On the way, we talked very frankly. Both agreed that we could not let it go—we discussed the possibility of taking the Führer in the bunker, using force if possible." But they dropped the idea again. The reason is that they cannot obtain the cooperation of the Führer's Guards and Security Forces.