Death at the Kaiserhof

[Mannheim]

I was idly reading about assassination attempts on Hitler and came across this gem on Wikipedia under 'Operation Spark (1940)':
"By early 1943, German failure to overcome the Soviet Union, including the disastrous defeat at Stalingrad, defeats in North Africa, and increasing Allied bombing of Germany had substantially weakened many Germans' allegiance to the Nazi regime. Ludwig Roselius (majority shareholder of Focke-Wulf) and Barbara Goette were involved and released documents reveal that two months later Hitler strangled Roselius in the Hotel Kaiserhof (Berlin) on the evening of 15/5/1943."
A Google of Barbara Goette revealed this on Wikipedia:
"Barbara looked after Roselius for the final nine months of his life in the now demolished Hotel Kaiserhof in Berlin and she held his hand shortly before he died."
I have some difficulty visualising Hitler strangling anybody in the Kaiserhof in 1943 but to do it while - or shortly after - someone was holding the victim's hand is a bit much. Does anyone know what really happened or what the 'released documents' are?

[Sejanus]

The Wiki page referenced, "Operation Spark (1940)" is located here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation ... %281940%29

And it looks like this Hitler strangulation claim originates in a book titled "Bombshell" by Ludwig Leidig that per Amazon.com was released in 2013:

http://www.steamfeed.com/new-memoir-is- ... -roselius/

http://www.amazon.com/Bombshell-Ludwig- ... 1625163462

The steamfeed article refers to the book as a "novel" but it is supposed to be a "historical biography" per Amazon. I am not finding any source so far that positively identifies the book as using the term fiction or non-fiction. Odd. The author says it is true, per his remarks on Amazon:

Hi,

My name is Ludwig Leidig. As I was fortunate enough to inherit a treasure trove of documents, letters, telegrams, photos etc. from my mother Barbara I decided to write the book Bombshell. My background is maths and physics but I also like playing tennis and walking in the Adelaide hills.

The Bombshell story is fantastic but entirely true. It took me over 50 years to put it all together and I'm still finding bits and pieces. It would certainly make a fabulous movie and Cate Blanchett is perfect for the main role. Fingers crossed!

Was Hitler even in Berlin on the date of this incident (15/5/1943) and what were the circumstances if he was? Did these people (Goette and Roselius) actually exist? Was the Kaiserhof habitable on the date in question (not bomb damaged enough yet)? And did the firm Roselius worked for exist? These are a few of my questions.

I, too would like to see more proof before believing anything like this...

[GregSingh]

Was Hitler even in Berlin on the date of this incident (15/5/1943)?

He was. And not in a good mood because of capitulation of Axis forces in North Africa (13/14 May).

From Domarus:
During the next few days, Hitler issued a series of rather confusing decrees from Berlin. They were realized only in part. Goebbels enumerated and commented the following in his diary:
1. Hitler’s decision to have the English prisoners of war discreetly unchained; they had been kept in chains ever since October 1942.
“We can no longer risk a prestige fight with the English on the question of chains, since the English now have more German than we have English captives under lock and key."
2. Hitler’s instruction “to form an anti-Bolshevik legion with the English prisoners.”
3. Hitler’s order to direct “evacuations from the air-war zone in the west for the time being to the occupied French territories, especially the
province of Burgundy.”
4. Hitler’s decree ordering all speeches intended for broadcast to be “presented in writing” to him before they were aired.

[Sejanus]

Thanks, Greg.

[Mannheim]

Thanks for the research, gents.