Hitler left the Führerbunker for the last time on this day in 1945, his 56th birthday.
On this day in 1945 Adolf Hitler left his bunker in Berlin and stood above ground for the last time in his life. It was his 56th birthday, when Soviet troops were already within reach of the Third Reich’s capital. Hitler had spent almost the whole of 1945 in the Führerbunkeru, where he had moved from the Reich Chancellery.
During his last visit to the surface, Hitler awarded Iron Crosses to members of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) who participated in the defense of the last remnants of the Third Reich. That same day artillery shells started falling on Berlin. They were fired by the 1st Belorussian Front, a large group of 11 armies commanded by Soviet marshal Zhukov.
