View source for Nicolaus von Below

{{Short description|German Luftwaffe officer (1907–1983)}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Nicolaus von Below
| image         = Nicolas von Below Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F051625-0295, Verleihung des EK an Hanna Reitsch durch Hitler (cropped).jpg
| image_size    = 
| caption       = Below in 1941
| nickname      = 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1907|9|20|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Anklam]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1983|7|24|1907|9|20|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Detmold]], [[West Germany]]
| placeofburial = 
| allegiance    = {{plainlist|
* [[Weimar Republic]]
* [[Nazi Germany]]
}}
| branch        =''[[Reichswehr]]''<br />''[[Luftwaffe]]''
| serviceyears  = 1928–1945
| rank          = ''[[Oberst#Oberst in the Wehrmacht|Oberst]]''
| unit          = 
| commands      = 
| battles       = [[Second World War]]
| awards        = [[Pilot/Observer Badge]] in Gold with Diamonds<br />[[Wound Badge]]
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = 
}}
<!--[[File:MB Puttk Belw RFSS Hitler44.jpg|thumb|180px|right|Nicolaus Von Below (third from right), with Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler.]] -->
'''Georg Ludwig Heinrich Nicolaus von Below''' (20 September 1907 &ndash; 24 July 1983) was an officer in the German ''[[Luftwaffe]]'' and an [[List of Adolf Hitler's personal staff|adjutant to Adolf Hitler]].

==Early life==
Below was born on the estate of [[Ziethen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern|Jargelin]] near [[Anklam]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oriese.webpark.pl/below.htm |title=Biography (Polish) |publisher=Oriese.webpark.pl |access-date=2013-02-07}}</ref> in the [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Province of Pomerania]].  He was a member of the German aristocracy.
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R99057, "Wolfsschanze", Adolf Hitler mit Stab.jpg|thumb|Nicolaus von Below (second from right, front row) with [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] and staff in 1940]] 
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F051625-0295, Verleihung des EK an Hanna Reitsch durch Hitler.jpg|thumb|Nicolaus von Below (left) with Hitler, [[Hermann Göring]] and [[Hanna Reitsch]] in 1941]]
==Service==
He trained as a pilot in 1929 at the ''[[Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule]]'' (DVS—German Air Transport School).{{sfn|Joachimsthaler|1999|p=293}} From 1929 to 1933 he served with the ''[[Reichswehr|Reichsheer]]'' 12th Infantry Regiment.{{sfn|Joachimsthaler|1999|p=293}} Below then joined the German Air Force and served with Jagdgeschwader 132 "Richthofen" and then transferred to [[Jagdgeschwader 26]]. Below became German dictator [[Adolf Hitler]]'s Air Force (''[[Luftwaffe]]'') military [[adjutant]] in 1937. Below's task was to be the link between Hitler and the air force leadership.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=375}} Hitler generally disliked and was suspicious of soldiers with aristocratic backgrounds.  This was particularly true as the tide of [[World War II]] turned against Germany.  But Below, with the rank of [[colonel]], was one of the few members of Hitler's entourage to continually serve in a close capacity for so many years.

During the time between the Christmas and New Year's holiday of 1944, Hitler told Below:  "I know the war is lost, the enemy's superiority is far too great."  But Hitler, still dwelling on the [[20 July Plot]] to kill him, placed the blame on traitors.  He then told Below:  "We will never surrender, we may go down, but we will take a world with us."{{sfn|Beevor|2002|p=8}}

===Berlin 1945===
Hitler, presiding over a rapidly disintegrating [[Third Reich]], retreated to his ''[[Führerbunker]]'' in Berlin on 16 January 1945. As his long serving Luftwaffe adjutant, Below traveled with Hitler back to Berlin. Early on, Hitler continued to utilize the undamaged wing of the [[Reich Chancellery]], where he held afternoon military conferences in his large study.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=902}} However, that practice ended and all the military briefing conferences were moved down into the ''Führerbunker''. By April, to the German military leadership and some Nazi Party leaders, it was clear that the [[Battle of Berlin|Battle for Berlin]] would be the final battle of the war.{{sfn|Beevor|2002|p=139}} On 12 April 1945, Below was a guest of [[Albert Speer]] to see the last performance of the [[Berlin Philharmonic]] before the city was captured by the [[Red Army]].  He later wrote:  "The concert took us back to another world."{{sfn|Beevor|2002|pp=188–189}}

On 15 April, [[Eva Braun]] was moved into the room next to the room Hitler occupied in the ''Führerbunker''.  Below wrote the following of her:  "She was charming and obliging and showed no weakness right up to the last moment."{{sfn|Beevor|2002|p=254}} 

By 27 April, Below was part of a very small group which were present for the military briefings. [[Hans Krebs (Wehrmacht general)|General Krebs]] was the only senior military officer still present and Reich propaganda minister [[Joseph Goebbels]], who had moved into the bunker complex with his family, now also was present.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=938}} On 29 April, after the wedding of Hitler and Braun, Below was a witness to the [[last will and testament of Adolf Hitler]].  He did not sign the Political Testament but added his signature to the Private Testament of the document.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=950}} Thereafter, Below asked Hitler if he could leave the ''Führerbunker'' and attempt to make it out of Berlin to the west. Hitler granted him permission to leave.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=952}} On 30 April, Below left Berlin carrying a letter from Hitler to Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]] explaining the recent events of betrayal and extolling the sacrifices of the German people.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=952, 953}}

==Post-war==
He was arrested by the British in 1946 and held until 1948.{{sfn|Joachimsthaler|1999|p=293}} After the war, Below wrote a memoir of his experiences as an adjutant to Hitler from 1937 to 1945, ''Als Hitlers Adjutant 1937–45'' (1980), translated as ''At Hitler's Side'' (2001) ({{ISBN|1-85367-468-0}}). He died on 24 July 1983 in [[Detmold]], [[West Germany]].{{sfn|Joachimsthaler|1999|p=293}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite book | last = Beevor | first = Antony | author-link = Antony Beevor | title = Berlin: The Downfall 1945 | publisher = Viking-Penguin Books | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-0-670-03041-5 }}
* {{cite book | last = Joachimsthaler | first = Anton|author-link=Anton Joachimsthaler | title = The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, Evidence, and Truth | year = 1999 | orig-year = 1995 | publisher = Brockhampton Press | isbn = 978-1-86019-902-8 }}
* {{cite book | last = Kershaw | first = Ian | title = Hitler: A Biography |author-link = Ian Kershaw | publisher = W. W. Norton & Company | location = New York | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-393-06757-6 }}

==External links==
*{{DNB portal|118508776|TYP=}}

{{Final occupants of the Führerbunker}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Below, Nicolaus Von}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1983 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Vorpommern-Greifswald]]
[[Category:Luftwaffe personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Below family|Nicolaus]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the Province of Pomerania]]
[[Category:Adjutants of Adolf Hitler]]
[[Category:German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom]]