Lesung "Vor dem Untergang" von Felix Bohr

In the organizer's words:

In May 2025, the THFxGeschichte event series at Tempelhof Airport will focus on the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.

On May 21, Felix Bohr will read from his book "Vor dem Untergang" (Before the Fall), which will be published in April. In a subsequent discussion, he will provide further in-depth insights and answer questions from the audience. The event will be moderated by the historian and social scientist Laura Haßler.

About the book

Not far from Rastenburg in East Prussia, now Ktrzyn in Poland, was a central location of the Second World War: the "Führer Headquarters Wolf's Lair". Adolf Hitler spent the majority of his time there after the attack on the Soviet Union. It was here that the systematic murder of European Jews was decided. It was there that the Stauffenberg assassination attempt took place on July 20, 1944, which the dictator survived only slightly injured. However, while the name is familiar to many, very few people have a precise idea of the facility itself and what took place there for almost three and a half years.

Felix Bohr reconstructs everyday life in the "Wolf's Lair" on the basis of contemporary testimonies and previously unpublished documents. He links his descriptions with fundamental questions: What can we learn about Hitler's personality from the reports of officers, cooks and valets? How did the increasingly chaotic conditions and paranoid atmosphere in the remote complex influence the decisions made there? Bohr's dense descriptions provide a precise analysis of the top level of the Nazi regime, which planned the German crime against humanity between tea parties and walks in the woods.

About Felix Bohr

Felix Bohr, born in 1982, is a historian and journalist. He studied history and Catholic theology in Berlin and Rome. He has been working for the news magazine Der Spiegel since 2012, currently as head of the history department.

Moderation:
Laura Haßler

About Laura Haßler

Laura Haßler studied history and social sciences in Berlin and Almaty. Since 2020, she has been researching the history of the NPD youth organization "Junge Nationaldemokraten" at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam. Among other things, she has published on right-wing school newspapers, private bunker construction and the Bundeswehr songbook. From 2021 to 2024, she was also a member of the Berlin board of the Trade Union for Education and Science.

Price information:

Free registration is required.