Did Hitler visit the occupied Mariupol?

After the trip of Vladimir Putin to Mariupol on March 18, the photography of Adolf Hitler with the signature “Fuhrer in Mariupol, 1941” began to spread in social networks. We decided to check whether Hitler went to Mariupol and how much the photograph corresponds to this.

Two visits to the occupied Mariupol - Vladimir Putin in 2023 and Adolf Hitler in 1941 were often compared on Twitter - for example, a publicist has a tweet about this Andrei Piontkovsky and former co -owner of the company Yukos Leonid Nevzlin.  There are mention of Hitler's trip and in YouTube. The photograph was so widely dispersed that some Ukrainian sites have made Collections The brightest comments from the Internet.

Mariupol was occupied by the German troops on October 8, 1941, when parts of the 3rd Panzer Corps of the 1-Tank group of the Wehrmacht (Army Group "South") entered the city. This period of city occupation lasted almost two years, until September 15, 1943. Thus, statements About the allegedly held first visit by Hitler to Mariupol in August are not true.

But about Hitler’s trip to the occupied Mariupol in December 1941 is known at once from several sources. The chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces Franz Halder did not call Mariupol directly in the diaries, but in sufficient detail Described The situation around this visit. The German army in this direction was in critical situation, and the command decided to leave the previously occupied Rostov-on-Don and move to the line of fortifications on the Mius River.  The commander of the South Group Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt was relieved of his post for this decision, but Walter von Reichenau, who replaced him, confirmed the order of retreat. The Galder’s diary for December 3, 1941 states: “Fuhrer, while in the Army Group“ South ”, told the commander of the Army Group, that neither he nor the command of the tank army is innocent in the current development of events.” The command of the South group was located at that time just in Mariupol.

For more details about the trip itself, he talked in his memoirs Fuhrer’s personal pilot Hans Baur: “During one flight to Mariupol-on the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov-Hitler, his adjutant, Major General Shmundt and Doctor, were on board the aircraft. Having flew out of Rastenburg, we made an intermediate landing in Kyiv. From there, the general who was responsible for this section of the front was warned by telephone about our imminent arrival. <...> In Mariupol, Hitler was met by Field Marshal Leeeb and General SS Zepp Dietrich, the chief of his personal guard. "

Another certificate is materials Interrogation Soviet counterintelligence of the head of the personal guard of Hitler Hans Rattenhuber. He said that on December 2, 1941, Hitler flew to Mariupol in order to understand the situation on the spot: “With the assistance of the secret field police, I carried out the necessary security measures in Hitler’s direct apartment, such as the reinforced patrol service, internal and external guard, the closure of the entire adjacent area for extraneous traffic. I did not have wider protection measures for me, as this could cause an unnecessary hype. Due to these minimum measures, Hitler's stay in Mariupol remained unknown to local residents. ”

Thus, judging by the testimonies of the representatives of Hitler’s closest encirclement, he really visited Mariupol, and this happened on December 2, 1941.

A separate analysis is also necessary and photographs that have become popular recently are needed. She is not in Bundesarchivbut the traces of the picture were found on one of military-historical forums. In the upper part of the photograph, the inscription "Fuhrer in Mariupol" and the date. With her, bloggers had difficulties: at first glance, the picture says 08/16/1941. Apparently, because of this, there was an erroneous information about Hitler’s trip to Mariupol in August. But the flip side of the photo, also published on the forum, helps to solve this problem.

The date is repeated here again, and this time it is obvious that this is not 082, and Dez is a reduction from the German Dezember.

In addition, on the back there are also explanations of who is marked with crosses in the picture: the lower cross is located under the feet of Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau (in his right hand he has a Felmarshal rod), the upper - above the head of the general Evalda von Kleist. The first at that time was headed by the Army Group South, the second-the 1st Panzer Army.

In the Mariupol photograph of 1941, everything coincides: it is obvious that it was done in the cold season (this follows from the uniform), Hitler was accompanied by military leaders who at that time were supposed to be in the southern section of the front. The discrepancy is only in the date indicated on the photo - December 16. But we can assume that the inscription was made later, and its author forgot some details. In addition, there is another photograph from Mariupol-a picture that depicts Hitler and Alexander Ler, commander of the 4th Air Fleet. This photograph was exhibited at Online auction In Germany.

Thus, there is no doubt about the authenticity of the photograph, as well as the fact of the visit of Adolf Hitler to the occupied Mariupol in December 1941.

Photo on the cover: social networks

Is it true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that the Ukrainians falsified the report on the shelling of the maternity hospital in Mariupol?
2. Is it true that the interview with Marianne Pogurskaya confirms the version of the Russian authorities about the destruction of the maternity hospital in Mariupol?