We present to your attention a very valuable historical find. This is one of the protocols of the interrogations made by the Soviet authorities with the German diplomats who were captured after 1944. In 2011, Russia announced part of these documents. It is surprising that the interest in them from the Bulgarian academic community is not great. Among the documents, we also found the interrogation of the Nazi ambassador to Bulgaria, Adolf-Heinz Beckerle, about his last meeting with Hitler.
Source: CA FSB of Russia. N-20808. L. 167-175. Certified typed copy.
Moscow second time 1950
Beckerle, Adolf, born in 1902, lives in Frankfurt am Main, German, member of NSDAP, former German ambassador to Bulgaria, Obergruppenführer of the USA.
Question: Tell us about your last visit to Hitler’s headquarters.
Answer: On August 23, 1944, I learned about the coup d’état in Romania and the suicide of the German ambassador in Bucharest, Manfred von Killinger.
Even before this happened, I was called by Ribbentrop to Hitler’s headquarters to personally report to the latter about the situation in Bulgaria. Disposing of Antonescu made my visit extremely necessary, because in the Bulgarian government there was a certain hesitation aimed at getting Bulgaria out of the war.
So, on August 23, 1944, I went from Sofia to Hitler’s headquarters in East Prussia.
On August 24th I was in Berlin, and from there a special train took me to headquarters. Ribbentrop soon found me. Joachim von Ribbentrop looked as calm as ever, and only his deathly pallor betrayed the dismay caused by the German army’s position in the southern Front. the East.
He absentmindedly listened to my brief report on the situation in Bulgaria. It was obvious from his look that he didn’t expect good news from me. After making some comments to the effect that a wholesale German flight from Bulgaria should be avoided because it would cause panic in anti-German circles, Ribbentrop suddenly waved his hand. hope and said: “However, the solution of the Bulgarian question is completely within the scope of the Führer. We all trust in his providence.”
I understood that the situation was terrible. Ribbentrop immediately telephoned and arranged an audience at exactly 11 o’clock in the afternoon. At exactly 11 a.m. Ribbentrop and I arrived at Wolfshanze headquarters.
It was with great joy that I crossed the threshold of the newly built log cabin where only a month before Stauffenberg had attempted to assassinate Hitler. It was a well appointed building with a large number of rooms and a large long hall where Hitler and his military advisers, Keitel and Jodl, discussed the situation on the front. Ribbentrop went into the hall, leaving them in the reception room.
About half an hour later, the adjutant invited me to the hall.
Off to the side, lonely, sat my boss Ribbentrop. I sat next to him.
For 8-10 minutes Hitler ignored me. He ordered Keitel in a loud voice, sometimes asking questions to the officers sitting at the table, and they gave him the necessary information. I was struck by the fact that the question of whether a battalion from the reserve should be given to the commander of the Eastern Front or to another man was being discussed in Hitler’s headquarters. I later learned that no front line general was supposed to use a battalion or regiment of reserve soldiers. I admit that this situation affected me a lot.
Suddenly one of the supporters came in and told Hitler that an air raid had been announced. Hitler then invited everyone present to go to the bunker. We left the wooden hut, walked about 20 steps along the walkway covered with camouflage nets, and entered the bunker, which looked like a large egg-shaped conglomerate. Inside was a brightly lit circular room with a desk and armchair for Hitler and a few round tables and ordinary chairs for the others.
Hitler turned to Ribbentrop with the question of what he had to report. Ribbentrop introduced me and said that Ambassador Beckerle would personally report on the situation in Bulgaria.
Only then could I look at Hitler properly.
He sat hunched over, resting his trembling hands on his knees and staring perfectly still through into space.
I only managed to say a few sentences and I was just getting down to the point of my report when Hitler stopped me and turned to the therapist: “Bring the letter sent by the Bulgarian governors. Ambassador Beckerle will give them an answer.” I could tell by Ribbentrop’s expression that this was the first time he had heard of such a letter. The aide returned with the letter and Hitler asked Ribbentrop to read it. out.
The content of the letter, signed by the governors Prince Kiril, Filov and Mihov, was as follows. The Regents assured Hitler of their loyal feelings, but at the same time they declared that Bulgaria was no longer able to bear the burdens of the war. The rulers asked Hitler to allow Bulgaria to withdraw from the war and pointed out that such a step would allow them to deal with the disaffected elements in their own country and thus “revive Bulgaria”. .
Immediately after reading the letter, Hitler ordered the stenographer to reply. The answer was full of the Führer’s usual demagogic claims about the power of the Third Reich, which would fight to end its victory. Along with this, Hitler was threatening the governors to bring themselves and their loyalists into the hands of the Russian Bolsheviks.
The stenographer came out and Hitler turned to me. Raising his unpleasantly raspy voice, he asked me to put pressure on the rulers, and if that didn’t work, to riot and establish a military dictatorship.
Here he asked Fegelein to move a division of SS soldiers to the Skopje area.
Then he signed the letter given by the assistant and handed it to me. Two or three minutes passed in silence. Then, while he was looking with a heavy immovable look of his bulging eyes, Hitler began to speak in a monotone voice. He talked non-stop for over two hours. It was a disjointed monologue, during which Hitler would sometimes complain that the generals were hiding the truth from him, and then threaten all those who were disaffected with murder. .
From time to time he shouted his usual phrases about future victory, and at other times, lowering his voice, he talked about possessing rocket planes with which he would destroy the enemy. The two-hour advance was abruptly halted by a lengthy numerical calculation of divisional equipment, fuel supplies, etc.
Yodl reached his seat; Keitel sat motionless and only blinked frequently with red eyelids, while Hitler spoke. At half past two it was clear that he noticed that the attention of the congregation had visibly decreased. He finished speaking suddenly, got up, and, taking his gloves in his cap, announced that the reception was over.
Everyone stood up. Hitler quietly gave me his hand, looked at me intently for a moment longer, and without a word left the bunker. Ribbentrop and I went out after him. Ribbentrop invited me into his car and we went to his residence.
That was my last meeting with Hitler.
Q: What instructions did you receive from Ribbentrop?
Answer: When we got out of the car in the castle courtyard, Ribbentrop, without inviting me in, said while he was still in the car: “So, now it is the most important thing is that you go to Sofia immediately. The Führer has given you instructions.’ I protested that I myself had not received any special instructions. “How come you didn’t get it?” Ribbentrop continued angrily, “if you do not succeed in influencing the rulers, organize a coup and install Tsankov as dictator. He won’t let us down.”
Then Ribbentrop asked me if I had enough combat units to hold a riot. I replied that I had no such parts. Then Ribbentrop advised me to move, gather forces and, most importantly, not to lose control of the government, as happened, he said, in Romania. I gathered from Ribbentrop’s closing remarks that definitive instructions would follow.
Ribbentrop also said that I should maintain close contact with the German commander in the Balkans, and that the army would ultimately have the final say, which would determine the timing and planning for the riot. .
The questioning ended at 6 pm.
My exact words are in the protocol and have been translated for me into German.
FREE
The inquiry made: St[арши] the operative full power of the Subdivision of the 2nd Ch[авно] Commanding Officer for the MGB in the USSR, Major KOPELYANSKY
True: KOPELYANSKI
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