The Hitler Suicide Scene is a major scene in Downfall. Many Untergangers use different parts of the scene, rather than using the entire scene in full (even though that also happens). Although dark and gruesome in nature, most parts of the scene have been used in parodies.
In Downfall[]
Traudl Junge is preparing sandwiches for the Goebbels children. Whilst they discuss living in the bunker, in the conference room, Joseph Goebbels, Martin Bormann, Wilhelm Burgdorf, Hans Krebs, Walther Hewel, and Hans Baur sit around in silence, while Joseph stands, waiting for the inevitable. A gunshot goes off seconds later, which shocks everyone. Helmut Goebbels, mistaking it for enemy artillery hitting the surface, reacts by uttering "Bull's eye!".
In the conference room, Burgdorf stands up and peeks out through the doorway, whilst Heinz Linge heads to the Führer's office and, after slowly opening the door and peeking inside, he tells Otto Günsche and Bormann that "It has happened". Günsche then walks into Hitler's lounge room (which is not shown), inspects the bodies, then heads back outside, giving Bormann a nod and into the conference room, where he announces that "The Führer is dead". The generals and Goebbels then bow their heads.
Meanwhile, back in the hallway, the men including Rochus Misch, can be seen lighting cigarettes and smoking, an action which was prohibited in Hitler's presence. Back in the lounge, Heide Goebbels opens the door and sees her father and the removal of the bodies, and says: "There's Papa". Traudl proceeds to take a look at the events outside as seen by Heide. Horrified, and possibly to keep Heide from witnessing anymore, she quickly slams the door shut.
The bodies are removed from the lounge room and taken upstairs. Trying to inquire about the petrol, Erich Kempka encounters the party hauling the bodies on the staircase. As the corpses of Eva Braun (who committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide pill) and Hitler (who died by a gunshot to the head) are being carried past him, Günsche tells him to be quiet.
The burial plot is doused with gasoline. As the bodies are placed into the ground, an artillery shell nearly hits them. Kempka tells the soldiers to hurry by adding more petrol to the burial plot. The corpses are set on fire and the party salutes Hitler. After narrowly avoiding another artillery shell, the party rushes back inside the bunker.
In the bunker, a worried and possibly traumatized Traudl drinks a cup of water (or possibly liquor) to calm her nerves. An impulse occurs to her, and she slowly walks to the lounge room, where she sees the scene where Hitler and Braun committed suicide. Bloodstains can be seen where Hitler was supposedly sitting and Braun's handbag is also seen. She runs away terrified.
In the Parodies[]
While the scene is dark and grim in nature, it is quite commonly used in parodies. The most common use of this scene in parodies is the part when Otto Günsche exits the room and walks through the corridor. It's usually used to depict Günsche walking out after a review or Pros and Cons session after being told to search for Fegelein, or simply him walking around the bunker (taken to the extreme by Vzorkic in Günsche gets lost). His quote "the Führer is dead" is also used on multiple occasions.
The part where Burgdorf rises from his seat in the conference room after hearing the gunshot is also used on occasions when he became curious about the plethora of sounds heard in the bunker.
The part with Hitler's staff saluting the funeral pyre has been used in Soalric Parker's The Bunker Games due to the similarity of the Hitler Salute with the three-finger salute used in the Hunger Games.
With that said, the only part of the scene that is almost never used is the one where Hitler's staff hauls the dead bodies away from the room to be burned at the surface. One such example is Traudl bad secretary by 1979Onetime, where Traudl, after being hired, slept in her room for so long that Hitler became impatient enough to kill himself. Traudl wakes up and goes into Hitler's room, only to find bloodstains there.
Some screenshots are also used in the parodies like in shots where Hitler screams "NO!" in Hitler Rants Parodies' videos.
Trivia[]
- Goof: The bodies of Hitler and Eva can be seen moving after being laid in the crater, presumably because the actors want to take the historically correct positions.
- The portion of the scene where Traudl is making the Goebbels' children something to eat is rarely used in parodies.
- This is one of two scenes where an F bomb is dropped in the film. Günsche tells Kempka to shut up for complaining about why he needed "all that fucking gasoline". The other is the Party Scene, when during the bombing, someone exclaims, "Fucking hell!"