Before the Downfall

Not far from the East Prussian town of Rastenburg – Kętrzyn in today’s Poland – one of the central locations of the Second World War was hidden deep among the forest: the »Wolf’s Lair«. After launching his invasion of the Soviet Union, this was where Adolf Hitler spent the vast majority of his time. It was here that the systematic murder of European Jewry was decided upon. It was also the site of Claus von Stauffenberg’s failed assassination attempt on 20 July 1944, which the dictator survived with just minor injuries. But while many people are familiar with the name, not so many have a clear idea of the compound itself, and of the events that occurred there over almost three and a half years.

Drawing on eye-witness accounts and previously unpublished documents, in Before the Downfall, Felix Bohr reconstructs what everyday life was like in the »Wolf’s Lair«. And he uses these depictions to pose a number of key questions, such as: What can we learn about Hitler’s personality from the first-hand accounts of officers, cooks, and servants? And how did the increasingly chaotic environment and the paranoid atmosphere in this isolated complex influence the decisions that were made there? Bohr’s dense descriptions inform a precise analysis of the upper echelons of the Nazi regime, which between strolls through the forest and regular teatimes, plotted Germany’s gruesome crimes against humanity.

»Bohr has managed to write a glittering book about how right-wing extremists have managed to at once use politics for their own ends and claim authority over the interpretation of history. In light of current attempts to downplay the historical importance of the Nazi era [by right-wing politicians in Germany], his book is more current than we might like to think.« Klaus Hillenbrand, taz. die tageszeitung on The War Criminals’ Lobby

»Bohr’s important analysis, which impresses with its well-researched wealth of facts, leaves the reader reeling at the extent of the tentacles of the fascist kraken.« Knud von Harbou, Süddeutsche Zeitung on The War Criminals’ Lobby