While hiding in a fortified two-level 3,000-square-foot underground bunker, one of history's most brutal tyrants promised the world that his empire would last 1,000 years.
Hitler's Third Reich lasted 12, officially ending on April 30, 1945, when the Führer committed suicide in his bunker with his new wife after learning that Allied forces had surrounded Berlin.
Before retreating to the Führerbunker, Hitler and top Nazi officials enjoyed lavish compounds in Berchtesgaden, a resort village in the Bavarian Alps.
These are the best surviving photographs of Allied troops reveling in the spoils of war at Hitler's private residence.
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Easy Company after taking the Eagle's Nest, Hitler's former residence.
A paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division enjoys the view and a cognac while lounging on the terrace of Hitler's retreat at Berchtesgaden after the end of the war in 1945.
Maj. Dick Winters, Lewis Nixon, Harry Welsh, and two other battalion staff members, celebrate VE-Day in Berchtesgaden, Germany.
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