what happened to adolf hitler at the end of the war?
Suicide
entailment
 Hitler 's suicide was likened by contemporaries to a " spell " being broken . Public support for Hitler had collapsed by the time of his death and few Germans mourned his passing ; Kershaw argues that most civilians and military personnel were too busy adjusting to the collapse of the country or fleeing from the fighting to take any interest . According to historian John Toland , National Socialism " burst like a bubble " without its leader . 

entailment
 By 26 April , the complex at Obersalzberg was under attack by the Allies , so Göring was moved to his castle at Mauterndorf . In his last will and testament , Hitler expelled Göring from the party and formally rescinded the decree making him his successor . He then appointed Karl Dönitz , the Navy 's commander @-@ in @-@ chief , as president of the Reich and commander @-@ in @-@ chief of the armed forces . Hitler and his wife , Eva Braun , committed suicide on 30 April 1945 , a few hours after a hastily arranged wedding . Göring was freed on 5 May by a passing Luftwaffe unit , and he made his way to the American lines in hopes of surrendering to them rather than to the Russians . He was taken into custody near Radstadt on 6 May by elements of the 36th Infantry Division of the United States Army . This move likely saved Göring 's life ; Bormann had ordered him executed if Berlin had fallen . 

entailment
 As the Soviets approached Berlin , Hitler 's efforts to organize the defence of the city became ever more meaningless and futile . His last birthday , celebrated at the Führerbunker in Berlin on 20 April 1945 , was the occasion for leave @-@ taking for many top Nazis , Göring included . By this time , Carinhall had been evacuated , the building destroyed , and its art treasures moved to Berchtesgaden and elsewhere . Göring arrived at his estate at Obersalzberg on 22 April , the same day that Hitler , in a lengthy diatribe against his generals , first publicly admitted that the war was lost and that he intended to remain in Berlin to the end and then commit suicide . He also stated that Göring was in a better position to negotiate a peace settlement . In 1941 — a week after the start of the Soviet invasion — Hitler had issued a decree naming Göring his successor in the event of his death . 

entailment
 Shortly before Hitler was eligible for parole , the Bavarian government attempted to have him deported back to Austria . The Austrian federal chancellor rejected the request on the specious grounds that his service in the German Army made his Austrian citizenship void . In response , Hitler formally renounced his Austrian citizenship on 7 April 1925 . 

entailment
 After the war , Kesselring was tried for war crimes and sentenced to death . The sentence was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment . A political and media campaign resulted in his release in 1952 , ostensibly on health grounds . He was one of only three Generalfeldmarschalls to publish his memoirs , entitled Soldat bis zum letzten Tag ( A Soldier to the Last Day ) . 
