Animals & Nature0 min ago
Hitler's bunker has just recently been rediscovered. What do the Germans intend to do with it
00:00 Mon 19th Nov 2001 | History
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A.� Thanks for the question, Pussing. As Incitatus points out, the Germans knew where it was, but are having a big problem knowing what to do with it. In October, however, another section was unearthed.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
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Q.� What has been found
A.� Builders working on land behind the Mosse Palais at Potsdamer Platz in the centre of Berlin have found a previously unknown section of the long-destroyed Nazi Reich Chancellery. Local historians and archaeologists are convinced that more sections will be found from the Mitteltraktbunker central bunker complex, near prefab housing blocks from the communist era and land used by Sat I, the German television station.
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Q.� So this is quite a find
A.� The discovery itself was unspectacular, but it soon fuelled interest in how many levels of the Nazi subterranean maze existed. The network is a constant cause for surprise. In 1990, SS bunkers were found 75 yards away from the Fuehrer Bunker, where Hitler spent his last days. They were discovered when security officials searched the area for a rock concert.
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Q.� Anything interesting in them
A.� Murals glorifying Nazi ideology - probably painted in 1940-1 when the Nazis thought they would win the war. Visitors were permitted at first, but the tunnels were then sealed by the Berlin authorities, who feared they might become a Neo-Nazi shrine. Local historians, however, felt the bunkers should be transformed into an anti-fascist museum, serving as a reminder of the evils of dictatorship.
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Q.� It's not known how big the bunkers were
A.� Unclear. Until the recent find, it was thought the subterranean complex comprised 32 separate rooms, covering 8,000 square metres. The original building plans - drawn up by Hitler's architect Albert Speer - showed just one underground level. Hitler's bunker was built under the chancellery's garden in 1943.
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Q.� What happened to the Reich Chancellory
A.� Destroyed by the Russians in 1945. They tried dynamiting the bunker, too, without success, so they covered it up. It remained in the no man's land next to the Berlin Wall in the Soviet era. Then came reunification, a building boom ... and the derelict land was ripe for development.
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Q.� This is where Hitler died
A.� Yes. On 30 April, 1945, as the Red Army battled its way into the heart of Berlin, Hitler poisoned his dog Blondi, and also Eva Braun, the woman he had married only a few hours before. He then shot himself.
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Q.� He killed his dog, too
A.� As the Russians closed in, Hitler began to suspect that the cyanide capsules provided by SS chief Himmler wouldn't work - so he tried one on his faithful Alsatian bitch. It worked. Her body was burned in a shell crater with Hitler and Braun. The charred corpses were discovered by Soviet troops. The cremation sit is now a children's playground. (Click here for a feature on Hitler's grave)
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Q.� So should the bunkers be opened to the public
A.� Berlin's regional parliament has said no. Rochus Misch, an old soldier who worked as a telephone operator in the bunker, said: 'This is history. It should be left open. This is where the Nazi era happened and where Hitler died. And it should be left out in the open, for all the world to see.'
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Another Berliner, Lea Rosh, said: 'Simply blow the thing up, scatter the ashes and be done with it.'
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Steve Cunningham
