This is the first I've seen that he committed suicide "with his wife and his children". I was aware he had two sons by his first wife, however there is no reference in his SS file- that I could find, anyway- to any children by his second. His eldest son was KIA in 1944. I suppose it's possible the article refers to his younger son, born in 1927, and possibly another child (or children), but can anyone provide a definitive answer? Here's what I have on Hilgenfeldt and family:Am 25. April 1945 beging Hilgenfeldt zusammen mit seiner Frau und seinen Kindern Suizid in Berlin.
And here's the inconclusive information I have on Hilgenfeldt's death:Married on 24.04.1922 to Marie-Charlotte Köhler; separated ca.1935 and finally divorced 30.11.1940. Remarried 06.12.1940 to Leopoldine Statischek of Wien (born 23.09.1907 in Novi Sad, Serbia / committed suicide by poison in the Hilgenfeldt mansion, Berlin, 25 (?).04.1945). Two sons resulted from his first marriage (Reinhard, born 02.03.1923 / killed in action 02.11.1943 as a Fähnrich in I.Bataillon / Fallschirm-Jäger-Regiment 3 during a heavy British air attack on the Trigno River area 1 km south of Tufillo, Italy and _____, born 1.10.1927). Both sons attended the NAPOLA institution in Naumburg.
Thanks in advance for any further details.25.04.1945 near the Görlitzer Station, Berlin while serving in defense of the city ; officially declared dead at the register’s office in Berlin-Charlottenburg by his sister, Hedwig Hilgenfeldt, in 1957. The circumstance of his death are unclear; differing accounts report that he either died during house to house street fighting in Berlin with a weapon in his hand, or as the result of a personal attack on the street, or through suicide. On 06.05.1945 the Berlin Caritas director F. Füssel stated "There was heavy fighting within the main Social Welfare office. Hilgenfeldt is dead. He had a sign around his neck which read ‘Hier liegt der Verbrecher Hilgenfeldt’ (Here lies the criminal Hilgenfeldt).
~ Mike