Foreign News: Pauper’s Will

No man had less to bequeath, but as his doomsday drew near, Adolf Hitler dictated a last will and political testament. The document, discovered by U.S. Army Intelligence in the suitcase of a minor Nazi bureaucrat, was made public last week.

The prophet of the big lie, the propagandist who believed in “the thousandfold repetition of the most simple ideas” could not face himself even in the face of doomsday. On rich bond stationery, bearing his printed name and a silver swastika atop each page, he wrote:

“It is not true that I … wanted the war in 1939. It was . . . provoked entirely by those international statesmen who were either of Jewish origin or who worked in Jewish interests. . . . Out of the ruins of our cities . . . hatred will arise and be constantly renewed. . . .”

The date on the document was April 29, 1945. Next day, as British Intelligence believes, the Führer and Eva Braun, his bride of one day, perished in the Berlin Chancellery’s ruins. Two days later the Russians captured Berlin.