0

In one Soviet film I had seen a Soviet officer who was in Hitler's bunker tasked with maintenance of a telephone line between the bunker and the Soviet command.

But this was about the final stages of the war. I wonder whether something similar was undertaken earlier.

2
  • 3
    Which film was it? Nov 13, 2015 at 15:32
  • 7
    Yes, Hitler used to call Stalin up at 3am in the morning and scream at him in German. Nov 13, 2015 at 19:53

2 Answers 2

2

Almost certainly this was a bunker repurposed by the Soviets as a high level command center, the phone line put in as part of that.
While it's not impossible that there was a direct phone line between the German and Soviet governments at some point early in the war (there were quite a few economic links between the countries of course, and German military training happening illegally in the USSR), they didn't exactly see eye to eye after the start of operation Barbarossa (and there was little love lost between them even before that) so I don't see Stalin and Hitler sitting down with a brandy and cigar in front of their respective fireplaces and having a nice little chat over the phone.

Most likely though the whole thing is nothing but fantasy, at the time late in the war a radio link would be more likely, and earlier it'd have been telegraph, not telephone.

4
  • This was Hitler's bunker, not repurposed. The Soviet officer was interacting with German officers, Goebbels etc in the film
    – Anixx
    Nov 13, 2015 at 7:03
  • 7
    @Anixx that'd be pure fantasy. Goebbels was never in Soviet hands, and the only thing Soviets did with Germans during the war was to shoot them, rape them (if women), or ship them off to POW camps.
    – jwenting
    Nov 13, 2015 at 7:13
  • It was not in soviet hands
    – Anixx
    Nov 13, 2015 at 7:16
  • @jwenting I know it's not really 'helping to improve' the answer but I wanted to say I commend you very much for pointing that out about the Soviets and how they treated the Germans including civilians; that fact is something that really bothers me and I feel it's not talked about even remotely close to near enough (though perhaps it can never be talked enough probably even if each side didn't try to write history and there wasn't such a thing as victors' justice).
    – Pryftan
    Mar 14, 2018 at 20:15
1

They might have installed a telephone line to arrange for the May 1st meeting between Krebs and Chuikov to negotiate a surrender of Berlin garrison. Hitler was already dead and Goebbels died that afternoon, opening the way to the surrender.

1
  • They didn't. Officers had to go out with white flags and find a Soviet officer to talk to. Dec 2, 2016 at 23:52

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.