Mark Jones

Mark Jones is the author of 1923: The Forgotten Crisis in the Year of Hitler’s Coup

The birthday party that paved the way for Hitler to win power

Ten days before Adolf Hitler died, the Führer turned 56. Just after midnight on 20 April 1945 his personal assistants gathered outside his room to offer him their congratulations. Hours later the political leadership of the Third Reich did likewise. Men responsible for mass death, including Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring and Albert Speer, stood inline