Cover story: At the end of his reign Hitler lived underground, protected by walls several meters thick. Henchmen indulged in orgies there, Goebbels killed his children, the "Führer" got married and then shot himself. Bernd Eichinger's film "Der Untergang" (The Downfall) now gives the absurd drama a real face. For two months Hitler crouched in his air-raid shelter, surrounded by faithful followers and fanatics, schemers and traitors. No other period in this mass murderer's life provokes as morbid a fascination as the final chapter deep below the earth's surface.
"A Popular Uprising Was Impossible"
SPIEGEL in-depth interview with British historian Ian Kershaw about the Germans' wish to continue fighting toward the end of the war, the decline of the Führer myth, and Hitler's desperate determination to survive:
"Hitler's popularity had already suffered through the crisis in the winter of 1941, when the Wehrmacht retreated for the first time outside Moscow. And of course the decisive turning point was the Stalingrad defeat in early 1943. From then on things went downhill. People held Hitler personally responsible for the disaster. ... The devoutness to the Führer assumed a quasi religious quality, almost becoming a sort of popular piety. The people really did believe that he himself had boosted the economy and got rid of unemployment. ... Hitler was a total egocentric. All he was interested in was his own image in history. He didn't want to capitulate, whatever the cost, and the Germans were to fight alongside him. If that meant their doom then he was prepared to accept that. He had no pity with the population - but he didn't strive towards the destruction of Germany."
"Time to Incinerate the Boss"
Interview with Hitler's bodyguard Rochus Misch about the final days in the Führer's bunker:
"We still hoped Hitler would be taken away from Berlin. But he didn't want that; there was nothing to be done. It went on from day to day, from one half day to the next half day, from hour to hour until at last he told that he didn't want to be disturbed any more. ... I remember drinking a glass of wine with Hanna Reitsch and Goebbels's servant; when Mrs. Goebbels came by with the children, and Mrs. Reitsch said: "My God, Mrs. Goebbels, even if I have to fly in twenty times to get the children out, they mustn't stay here. But she said: "No, Mrs. Reitsch, the children are staying here." ...Later the children came down again, dressed in white night-shirts with their hair combed. Then Mrs. Goebbels went away silently with the children."
"We Were Heading for a Catastrophe"
SPIEGEL in-depth interview with former South African president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Frederik Willem de Klerk, about the transformation of the Apartheid state into a democracy, the role of Nelson Mandela and the lessons to be learnt for peace in the Middle East:
"Nelson Mandela wasn't a president who attended to day-to-day political business. ... Mandela concentrated on maintaining the peace. His main achievement was that he had an incredibly conciliatory influence on his people, and was shown great respect by those who were not among his people. ... One of the reasons we failed was that we Whites divided up the land and wanted to keep too much for ourselves. The Israelis are dividing up their land too now. They are building a wall, but they are not leaving the Palestinians with a viable state. For this reason they will find themselves in the same situation in ten years' time as the one I found myself in when I became president."
"Licence to Read"
Justice: Explosive documents in the Holger Pfahl case were opened while being carried by the postal service. This coup bolsters worries that intelligence services have been interfering in the case for years. As though the mammoth investigation of bribery and secret overseas bank accounts were not complicated enough as it is, the prosecutors' work is now being made considerably harder by the latest "accident": whatever was so important to the mysterious clandestine readers could become worthless for the trial, because evidence that has been tampered with can be called into question by the council for the defence since it could have been altered and therefore rendered unusable.
"State Enemy Number One"
How Greece's only doping inspector was obstructed in his work: Konstantinos Kenteris was Greece's greatest athlete. And if you like, Jannis Psarellis was his toughest opponent. Two and a half years ago, the graduate chemist started hunting down cheats in his own country on behalf of the world anti-doping agency. Little did he know what this would involve. It was inevitable that there should be a conflict of interests between Psarellis and the powerful figures of the sports world. One was fighting for clean competition, the others for their reputation and that of their country. Each felt they were in the right. But Psarellis was the weaker.
"We're Alive Again"
SPIEGEL interview with Iraqi weight-lifter Mohammed Abd al-Muni about training during the war, American media and beautiful women in the Olympic village:
"The war broke out just as I was going to step up my programme. I practised in a small hall in a backyard. At some stage it was riddled with bullet holes and looters had taken away everything that wasn't screwed to the ground. We regularly had power cuts, and I constantly had to reckon with being bombarded. ... Another problem was my diet. There were no vitamins, no dietary supplements. I was often ill and had pain in my arms and hands. ... Initially, some US media showed an interest in us. But when we told them that none of us athletes had ever been tortured by the old regime, we apparently ceased to be a story."
"The Confused Are Passing on the Confusion"
SPIEGEL in-depth interview with philosopher Peter Sloterdijk about the reign of the politicians from the '68 generation, the angry moanings of the Germans pampered by affluence, the dream of a European "society of comfort" and his latest book "Sphären III":
"From 1967 until the Baader Meinhof crisis of 1977 we played at being the popular front and valiantly prevented the rise of Hitler. But at least there was a script, even if it had slipped by half a century. Today, by contrast, the left lacks any programme, be it moderate or radical. The age group that is now in place is the most confused generation in German intellectual history. ... The confused generation can only pass on confusion. It's doing so successfully. ... The present-day culture of pampering is no longer only a matter a tiny group of nobles, but of the bulk of the population. From an anthropological point of view, this is a completely new phenomenon in the world. But one of the operational secrets seems to be that no one must speak about the unparalleled collective luxury. Instead it's necessary to keep publishing more and more new fictions about shortages. ... Europe's nations, including Germany, do not need to liquidate themselves. But they should remember their large-scale, joint script: this is the home of the anti-miserabilist programme, according to which humanity as a whole, or at least a large part of it, should be included in a world-wide community of comfort."
"Where the Dragons Live"
Nato: The American supreme commander James Jones wants to turn the unwieldy alliance of Cold War days into a rapid reaction force against terrorism, drugs cartels and rogue states. Not all his European allies are enthusiastic about the proposal.
"Uncanny Genius"
Japan: Not far from Tokyo, chess guru Bobby Fischer is in remand pending deportation. A loyal collection of fans is doing everything it can to prevent his being extradited to the United States. With just 600 members in the entire country, the Japanese chess association leads the existence of a sect. But here in particular, chess legend Fischer has his most ardent followers.
"Genius in the Devil's Workshop"
Music: Why was Mozart's death treated like a state secret? A Cologne mathematician believes he has discovered that the composer was syphilitic and cured himself to death using mercury. The Cologne lecturer has strung together evidence, piece by piece, to create an astonishingly coherent argument, and has given his daring hypothesis a criminological packaging - a field day for Mozartians.
"Mystery in the Heavenly Mountains"
Climate: Whether they are trying to predict tomorrow's weather or next century's climate, clouds often pose huge mysteries to scientists. Some spew out hail, others evaporate; some warm the earth below, others cool it down. Only gradually are researchers understanding the forces that govern the heavens.
"Paradise in a Golden Coffin"
Palaeobiology: Scientist are using amber specimens to reconstruct an entire ecosystem: the Baltic amber forest was a subtropical jungle with non-biting midges, praying mantises, pine trees, palms and babbling mountain streams. The species that existed back then are largely related to those now living in Southeast Asia, where a climate has persisted to the present day that is very similar to the one that existed in Europe during the Eocene period. Back then, the annual average temperature in the Baltic was five degrees warmer that today.
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