Martin Bormann Essays (2187 words) - SS-Obersturmbannfhrer

Martin Bormann On the night of October 15, 1946, ten of the twelve major war criminals, condemned to death at the Nuremberg trials, were executed. Of the two who eluded the hangman, one was ReichMarshal Hermann Goring, who committed suicide by swallowing a lethal vial of cyanide two hours before his execution. The other man was Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, who had managed to gain an enormous amount of power within the Nazi Party. He was virtually unknown outside of the Party elite as he had worked in the shadows of Hitler. As the end of the war drew near, many of the top Nazis were fleeing. Hermann Goring had fled west, and had been captured by American soldiers, after the death of Hitler had been announced. In Hitler's political will, Goring had been expelled from the party while Martin Bormann had been named Party Minister . According to Jochen Von Lang, Gobbels and Bormann had ?held a military briefing on the night of May 2, 1945. ? Gobbels had already decided to commit suicide but Bormann despe rately wanted to survive. The last entry into his diary was ?escape attempt! ? Martin Bormann's whereabouts after this night is unknown. There are many speculations as to his fate ranging from the probable to the spectacular. Reichsleiter Bormann who, according to A. Zoller, ?exercised absolute control over the whole structure of the Reich? and yet, virtually unknown to the public, was born June 17th, 1900. He was born in Saxon to a Postal Clerk. Bormann joined an anti-Semitic organization in 1920 and by 1923 he was a member of the Freikorps. During this period, he was imprisoned for a year for murder and one year after his release Bormann joined the Nazi Party as a financial administrator. By 1933 he had worked his way to being made a Reichsleiter, a General of the SS and the Chief of Staff to Rudolf Hess. When Hess took flight to England, Bormann gladly inherited his position and became Hitler's deputy. He had many enemies in the Party and Goring explained that even Goebbels feared him and his power . Bormann saw himself to be quite a noble character and in a letter to his wife dated April 2nd, 1945 he wrote that, ?if we are destined, like the Nebeliung, to perish in King Attila's hall, then we go to de ath proudly and with our heads held high.? For all his bravado, as the time to fight arrived, Bormann made a frantic attempt to survive. At the end of the war, the allied leaders decided to prosecute top Nazis as War Criminals in Nuremberg. As Martin Bormann was missing, it was decided that he would be tried in absentia. Although the allies had testimony stating that Bormann was dead, they ignored it because if ?Bormann at this point was to be declared dead by the court, and then to surface later on, die-hard Nazis would suspect that perhaps the Furher was alive too.? In order for allied credibility to remain intact, Bormann was to be tried for Crimes against Peace, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity. Dr. Friedrich Bergold was appointed to this difficult task of defending a missing man. He considered it ?a miscarriage of justice for the Tribunal to try his client in absentia.? The International Tribunal sentenced Reichsleiter Martin Bormann to death. The night of May 1-2, 1945 is the last known whereabouts of Martin Bormann. The Reichsleiter was desperately trying to leave Berlin alive. He had tried to negotiate with the Russians for a brief cease-fire in order for him to obtain a safe passage through the enemy's lines. It had been rejected. The survivors in the Fuhrerbunker were attempting to escape the city and every twenty minutes a group left. Bormann emerged wearing an SS uniform without rank and a leather overcoat. His pocket contained a copy of Hitler's will, securing him to power. His group, that included Axmann, Kempka and Stumpfegger, arrived at the Friedrichstrasse Subway station but were held up at the Weidendammer Bridge. The Russians held the other side of the bridge and therefore made it impossible to cross without the cover of tanks. Miraculously, some German tiger tanks and a few armoured