When the message was handed to Hitler, the eruption was spectacular. It was the ultimate betrayal – ‘der treue Heinrich’, longest-serving paladin, chief of his own guard, beside whom all other traitors paled. Hanna Reitsch described him raging like a madman with puce, distorted face and shuffling up and down the corridor of the bunker thrusting the scarcely credible report at everyone he met, all of whom reacted in an equally hysterical or stunned fashion. Finally Hitler retired to discuss the sensation with Bormann and Goebbels.
