Elena Rzhevskaya

Elena Moiseevna Rzhevskaya (Russian: Еле́на Моисе́евна Рже́вская, born Elena Kagan; 27 October 1919 – 25 April 2017) was a writer and former Soviet war interpreter. In April and May, 1945, she participated in the Battle of Berlin. According to her memoirs, called in English Memories of a War-time Interpreter, she was a member of the Soviet unit searching for Adolf Hitler in the ruins of the Reich Chancellery. Hitler's charred remains were, according to her own words, found by soldier Ivan Churakov on 4 May 1945. Four days later, on 8 May, Colonel Vassily Gorbushin gave her a small box that contained Hitler's dental remains. During the identification of the corpse, the Soviet team worked in top-secret conditions. Rzhevskaya and Gorbushin managed to find in Berlin, Käthe Heusermann, an assistant of Hugo Blaschke, Hitler's personal dentist. Heusermann confirmed the identity of the Nazi leader. The information was, however, suppressed by Joseph Stalin, who later ordered the facts not to be publicized. She was a recipient of the Andrei Sakharov Prize for Writer's Civic Courage.

Biography Elena Kagan was born to a Jewish family in the Belarusian town of Gomel. The secret transport took place over the night of 5 and 6 May, allegedly in order to prevent commander of the city Nikolai Berzarin and his 5th Shock Army from claiming a stake in the findings. However, it was Berzarin who commissioned Colonel Vassily Gorbushin, for whom Rzhevskaya served as interpreter, with investigating Hitler's fate. Hitler's dental remainssaid to be found loose in the oral cavity while somehow clamping down on the tonguewere supposedly removed during the alleged autopsy conducted on 8 May. These remains, which are the only remains of Hitler's actually proven to be found, consisted of a golden maxillar bridge and a lower jawbone fragment with teeth and dental work. On 8 May, Gorbushin gave a casket containing the dental remains to Rzhevskaya and told her to keep an eye on it, as she would be less likely than the male officers to get drunk and lose them.

However, the Soviets needed a direct testimony of someone who witnessed Hitler's death. Otto Günsche, Hitler's personal adjutant, and Johann Rattenhuber, head of Hitler's RSD bodyguard, were arrested in different sectors, and their testimonies were not available at the time. On 13 May, the Soviet Army arrested Harry Mengershausen, a member of Hitler's personal SS guard. During an interrogation, he confirmed that on 30 April, he witnessed Hitler's valet, Heinz Linge, and Günsche carrying the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun through the bunker's emergency exit to the garden behind the Reich Chancellery, where they were doused in petrol and set alight.

Despite the attempts at concealment, the information about their findings was noted and published by newspapers of the allied occupation armies. The reaction of the Soviet command was unusual. According to Rzhevskaya, everybody was ordered to search for Hitler. A false investigation started. The Soviet press repeatedly reported that Hitler fled to Argentina or was in hiding under the protection of the Spanish dictator Franco.

Aftermath In her memoirs, Rzhevskaya writes: "I was absolutely convinced that we, along with all gathered information and key witnesses, will be sent to Moscow".

Selected works Rzhevskaya's literary work has earned her numerous awards. Memoirs of a Wartime Interpreter: From the Battle of Rzhev to Hitler's Bunker; London: Greenhill Books, 2018; contains Berlin, May 1945 Berlin, May 1945 (Берлин, май 1945); Moscow: Pravda, 1988, Moscow: Soviet Writer, 1965 Berlin, May 1945: Memories of a War Interpreter (Берлин, май 1945 : Записки военного переводчика); Moscow: Moscow Worker, 1986 Immediate Approaches (Ближние подступы); Moscow: Soviet Writer, 1985 There Was a War (Была война); Moscow: Soviet Writer, 1979 In Kashira Library (В Каширской библиотеке), 1950. In the Den of Fascism: Memories of a War Interpreter. (В логове фашизма : записки военной переводчицы); Science and Life, 1967 Spring Coat (Весна в шинели), 1961 Ворошенный жар; New World, 1984 Distant Rumble (Далёкий гул); Friendship of Peoples, 1988 Домашний очаг : как оно было; Friendship of Peoples, 2005 Alive, brother (Жив, браток); New World, 1987 Over the Shoulders of the Twentieth Century (За плечами ХХ век), Moscow: AST, 2011 Gravity (Земное притяжение), 1963. Punctuation (Знаки препинания); Moscow: Soviet writer, 1989 Special Assignment: The Story of Scouts. (Особое задание: Повесть о разведчиках), 1951 From Home to the Front (От дома до фронта), 1967. Why? Questions of the Literature (Почему? Вопросы литературы), 1999 Many Years Later (Спустя много лет), 1969 (short stories and novellas) «…Так как все кончено…» : фрагмент из кн. «Геббельс. Портрет на фоне дневника», (Goebbels. Portrait on the background of the diary); Friendship of Peoples, 1994 The war – The Face of War: a conversation with Elena Rzhevskaya, by T. Beck (У войны - лицо войны : беседа с писательницей Е. Ржевской; записала Т. Бек) Questions of the Literature, 1996 February – The Curves of a Road (Февраль - кривые дороги) Moscow: Soviet writer, 1975 It was in Moscow, Kiev, Paris ...: About Victor Nekrasov (Это было в Москве, в Киеве, в Париже… : О Викторе Некрасове); Friendship of Peoples; 2001