Wilhelm Zander (22 April 1911 – 27 September 1974) was an adjutant to Martin Bormann during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He died in Munich in 1974.

Biography

He was born in Saarbrücken. Although he received only minimal education, Zander built up business interests in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He abandoned these interests to take up a full-time post as a

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

worker. In 1933, he joined the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...

'' (SS) and later achieved the rank of SS-'' Standartenführer''. In early 1945, he accompanied Martin Bormann and German leader

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

to the '' Führerbunker'' in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. On 29 April 1945, during the Battle of Berlin, Hitler dictated his last will and political testament. Hitler then ordered that three copies be made and hand-delivered to Field Marshal

Ferdinand Schörner Ferdinand Schörner (12 June 1892 – 2 July 1973) was a German military commander who held the rank of ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded several army groups and was the last Command ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, the

Brown House, Munich The Brown House (german: Braunes Haus) was the name given to the Munich mansion located between the Karolinenplatz and Königsplatz, known before as the ''Palais Barlow'', which was purchased in 1930 for the Nazis. They converted the structure i ...

and Karl Dönitz in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

. Three messengers were assigned to take the will and political testament out of the besieged city of Berlin to ensure their presence for posterity. The couriers were Hitler's army adjutant, Willy Johannmeyer, deputy press attaché,

Heinz Lorenz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

and Zander, respectively. The three men said their farewell to Hitler and were handed a white dossier with the testament by Bormann at approximately 4.00 am. Armed with automatic weapons and wearing helmets to break through Soviet lines, the men left the bunker around 8.00 am. On 30 April as the Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

closed in on the bunker complex, Hitler

committed suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

. The three couriers continued their journey and made it through the Soviet Army encirclement of Berlin to the Elbe River.

Post-war

Zander changed his identity, adopted the surname Paustin and worked as a gardener after the war in Europe ended. He hid his copy of the documents in a suitcase near Lake Tegernsee. Zander was arrested in the American occupation zone, and as a consequence, the copies of Hitler's will, testament, and wedding documents fell into the hands of the American and British forces. Thereafter, by January 1946, the texts of the documents were published in the American and British press.Eckert, Astrid M., ''The Struggle for the Files: The Western Allies and the Return of German Archives After the Second World War'', Cambridge University Press, 2012, p. 46

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zander, Wilhelm 1911 births 1974 deaths SS-Standartenführer Military personnel from Saarland People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Martin Bormann Waffen-SS personnel