Heinz Lorenz (born August 7 1913 in Schwerin, Germany; died ?) was Hauptschriftführer (Chief Recording Clerk) at the Deutsches Nachrichten Büro (German News Agency) and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's press officer.
As the Second World War in Europe drew to a close, Lorenz was among those who joined Hitler at his last headquarters, the Führerbunker, underneath the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. Among his duties, he monitored the news agency Reuter's broadcasts by the BBC Radio. Ironically, when the Führerbunker's lines of communication were cut by the advancing Soviet armies, these broadcasts supplied Hitler and his remaining generals "useful information that [they] no longer had about the geographical locations of Allied advances"[1]
http://greyfalcon.us/BUNKER.htm
These suspicions seemed dramatically confirmed. Heinz Lorenz appeared in the bunker when a message was picked up from Reuters confirming that the Reichsführer-SS, Heinrich Himmler, had offered to surrender to the western Allies, but that this had been declined. [from Ian Kershaw's Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis]
Heinz Lorenz
born on August 7, 1913 in Schwerin, since 1936 Hauptschriftführer (Chief Recording Clerk) at the German News Agency, until April 29, 1945 in the bunker, then went to Munich, courier task, he brought a copy of Hitler´s last will out of the bunker, until 1947 in war captivity.
Hitler’s press officer, Heinz Lorenz, was instructed to take down the remaining historic war conferences as best he could. His fragmentary notes—which begin with Keitel’s exhausted return with Jodl from the battlefield at 3 P.M. on April 23—reveal the growing desperation at Hitler’s shelter.
"The deputy press attach in the bunker Heinz Lorenz monitored Reuters on the BBC. After our own communications were lost, he started giving me their news reports. They contained useful information that we no longer had about the geographical locations of Allied advances in Germany and throughout Europe."
(Notes on Trevor-Roper's Is Hitler Really Dead?)
...IN THE summer of 1945 a Luxembourg journalist, Georges Thiers, had approached the British Military Government in Hanover...
...Later, however, he had fallen under the suspicion of using false papers: he had been arrested and had admitted that in fact he was not a Luxemburger but a German, and that his name was not Georges Thiers, but Heinz Lorenz...
Hedwig Johanna [Goebbels]
Born February 19, 1937, she was commonly called "Hedda". She had insisted, in 1944, that when she grew up she was going to marry SS Adjutant Günter Schwägermann, having been captivated by the fact he had a fake eye.
You remember that Schwägermann was the Goebbels' personal Adjudant since 1940 until May 1, 1945. He lived the last hours in the bunker and was able to escape from Berlin to the west.
I just know Günter August Wilhem Schwägermann was born on July 24, 1915 in Germany. I would like to know if he's still alive, or the date of his death.
Günther Schwägermann was the one-eyed adjutant to Dr. Goebbels. His last rank was, I believe, SS-Hauptsturmführer effective 30.7.1942; SS-nr. was 312231. Schwägermann was born 24.7.1915 survived the war and died quite a few years ago.
GOEBBELS, Dr. phil. Joseph Paul (1897 - 1945) Reichsminister / Gauleiter / M.d.R.: Born: 29. Oct. 1897 in Rheydt. Suicide: 1. May 1945 in garden of Reichskanzlei, Berlin (shot by his adjutant, SS-Hauptsturmführer Günther Schwägermann, along with his wife, Magda
Hauptsturmführer Günther August Wilhelm Schwägermann
born on July 24, 1915 in Ûlzen, since about 1940 Göbbel´s Personal Adjutant, until May 1, 1945 in the bunker, successful escape to West Germany, then until 1947 in American war captivity.
http://www.roland-harder.de/historisches/rochus_misch_interview.html : "Peter Högl, Leiter der RSD-Dienststelle 1" ("Peter Högl, leader of the RSD-office 1")
RSD: Reichssicherheitsdienst ("Reich Security Service"; see Johann Rattenhuber)
- ^ Hitler relied on Britain for news, testimony by Führerbunker survivor Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven.