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Hans-Erich Voß | |
|---|---|
 Hans-Erich Voss in Soviet captivity | |
| Born | (1897-10-30)30 October 1897 |
| Died | 18 November 1969(1969-11-18) (aged 72) |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| Service years | 1917–1945 |
| Rank | Vizeadmiral |
| Commands | heavy cruiserPrinz Eugen Naval Liaison Officer to Hitler's headquarters |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards | Iron Cross Wound Badge of 20 July 1944 |
Hans-Erich Voss (orVoß, seeß) (30 October 1897 – 18 November 1969) was a GermanVizeadmiral (vice admiral) and one of the final occupants of theFührerbunker during thebattle of Berlin in 1945.He was also among the last people to see bothAdolf Hitler andJoseph Goebbels alive before they committed suicide. After the war in Europe ended, he spent several years in prison in both theSoviet Union andEast Germany.
Voss was born inAngermünde,Brandenburg on 30 October 1897.[1] He graduated from theGerman Naval Academy in 1917. He served in theReichsmarine and later in theKriegsmarine.[1] In 1942, he was commander of theheavy cruiserPrinz Eugen, and metJoseph Goebbels, then Reich Propaganda Minister, when Goebbels accompanied a party of journalists on a tour of the ship.[2] Thereafter, he was promoted to the rank ofKonteradmiral and appointed the Naval Liaison Officer to Hitler's headquarters in March 1943.[1]
Voss was present during thebomb plot attack against Hitler on 20 July 1944. He was in the conference room at Hitler's Rastenburg HeadquartersWolfsschanze ("Wolf's Lair") as theKriegsmarine representative. Around 12:30 hours as the conference began, plotterClaus von Stauffenberg primed the bomb to explode in ten minutes. The primed bomb was then placed in a briefcase under a table around which Hitler, Voss and more than 20 officers had gathered.[3][4] Shortly thereafter, Stauffenberg made an excuse to leave the room. While Stauffenberg was hurriedly arranging for a car to take him and his aide to the airfield, the bomb detonated, destroying much of the conference room.[5]
Although Hitler survived with minor wounds, three officers and astenographer were fatally injured and died soon afterwards.Voss was also wounded in the bomb blast but he quickly recovered. He became a recipient of theWound Badge of 20 July 1944. Initially his award class was presented in black but then it was upgraded to silver and finally gold because he was wounded a number of times after the initial award. Voss was the only member of the German military to have received all three badges.
In his capacity asKriegsmarine Liaison Officer, Voss accompanied Hitler, Goebbels and their entourages into theFührerbunker complex under theReich Chancellery inBerlin.[1][6] In the final months ofNazi Germany, Voss became a confidante of Goebbels and his wifeMagda Goebbels. He was aware that Goebbels had decided that they would not leave the bunker, but would killtheir children and then themselves.[7]
On 30 April, Voss was among the group of officers whom Hitler informed that he had decided to commit suicide rather than attempt to escape from Berlin, which was surrounded by theRed Army. On that same afternoon, Hitler bade farewell to an assembled group of people, including Voss.[8] Hitlershot himself that same afternoon.[9]
Interrogated bySoviet officers on 6 May, Voss recounted:
When Goebbels learned that Hitler had committed suicide, he was very depressed and said: "It is a great pity that such a man is not with us any longer. But there is nothing to be done. For us, everything is lost now and the only way out left for us is the one which Hitler chose. I shall follow his example".[10]
On 1 May, Voss saw Goebbels for the last time:
Before the breakoutfrom the bunker began, about ten generals and officers, including myself, went down individually to Goebbels's shelter to say goodbye. While saying goodbye I asked Goebbels to join us. But he replied: "The captain must not leave his sinking ship. I have thought about it all and decided to stay here. I have nowhere to go because with little children I will not be able to make it".[11]
Voss then joined the group led by SS-BrigadeführerWilhelm Mohnke, which broke out of the bunker and tried to escape from Berlin.[11] Most of the group were captured by Soviet forces within a day.[12] Voss was brought back to the bunker for questioning, and to identify the partly burned bodies of Joseph and Magda Goebbels, and also the bodies of their six children, who had been poisoned. The Soviet account states:
Vice-Admiral Voss, being asked how he identified the people as Goebbels, his wife and children, explained that he recognised the burnt body of the man as former Reichsminister Goebbels by the following signs: the shape of the head, the line of the mouth, the metal brace that Goebbels had on his right leg, his goldNSDAP badge and the burnt remains of his party uniform.
According to theSoviet account of their investigation of Hitler's death, Voss was responsible for noticing that one of a number of bodies in a dry water tankstrongly resembled Hitler.[13]
Voss was made a Sovietprisoner of war.[14] In August 1951, he was prosecuted by the Soviet authorities on charges that "he held a command post in Hitler's war fleet, that was involved in an aggressive war in breach of international laws and treaties." In February 1952, the Court Martial of the Moscow Military District sentenced him to 25 years' imprisonment. By a decree of the Praesidium of the Supreme Soviet in December 1954, however, he was released and handed over to theGerman Democratic Republic authorities. He was released by East Germany (GDR) on 21 January 1955.[1] Voss died atBerchtesgaden inBavaria in 1969.
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