WW2-Poland-2015
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Consultation was at about 12.00 . After meetings Hitler would have lunch. Until September 1942 he ate meals in the<br />
dining room of casino I and later in his bunker. The number of guests during a meal at the casino was limited and<br />
consisted of people closest to Hitler.<br />
“Evening meetings” were held at about 18.00 during which problems of airspace war were mostly dealt with. Those<br />
meetings lasted for approximately one hour and usually took place in Hitler's work room.<br />
The dates of Hitler's visits in Wolf's Lair: June 24, 1941 - July 16, 1942, November 1, 1942 - November 7, 1942,<br />
November 23, 1942 - February 17, 1943, March 13, 1943 - March 19, 1943, May 9, 1943 - May 21, 1943, July 1, 1943 -<br />
18 July 1943, July 20, 1943 - February 27, 1944, July 14, 1944 - November 20, 1944.<br />
Localization and construction<br />
The decision about the construction on the site was taken in autumn 1940. The following considerations had decided<br />
about the location of the headquarters right here: closeness to the former Soviet Union border of the Kętrzyn forest<br />
/this had an important psychological meaning (the Barbarossa plan foresaw an attack against the Soviet Union)/, East<br />
Prussia was one of the most fortified districts of the Third Reich, there were many fortresses in this area (Giżycko,<br />
Toruń, Kłajpeda, Pilawa) and there were also the so called 'fortified areas' with entrenchments and barbed wire.<br />
The area selected for the headquarters was located far from major roads in an old forest which formed a natural shield<br />
all year round. Also the Great Mazurian Lakes were a natural barrier against land troops.<br />
The stated in many guide books overall number of employees /3000 to 5000 / seems to be severely underestimated.<br />
Prof. F. Seidler in the monograph about F.Todt says that in programming assumptions the construction of the main<br />
field at Hitler's headquarters projected to hire 50 thousand workers (20, p. 352). Peter Hoffmann in a letter to the<br />
author of this guide indicates that on 20 July 1944 (the day of the attack on Hitler) about 5 thousand labourers worked<br />
in the headquarters. The author of this publication - despite the widely circulated rumours about hiring prisoners of<br />
war and forced labourers - didn't find any documents confirming that opinion.<br />
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