" It is May 1st , 1945 . Berlin is lost . No German is safe . The Soviet army terrorizes the city , raping and looting as they battle their way toward the ultimate prize : the Reichstag . Capturing the vaunted seat of Nazi power and Adolph Hitler himself will avenge Germany's invasion of Russia five years ago . The streets are nothing but rubble ; full of corpses and waste . Dead German soldiers hang by their necks from street corner lampposts , executed by fanatical Nazis for retreating . The Berlin skyline is a haze of smoke and fire , the thud of artillery fire never ending .
Inside Adolph Hitler's underground bunker , the party is coming to an end . Ever since the Fuhrer committed suicide two days ago , the soldiers , secretaries , and other bunker staff have danced and drunk champagne , knowing these might be their final days . The paranoia that preceded Hitler's death has now been replaced by cold fear about what comes next . The Russians will not go easy on the Fuhrer's personal staff . Whether they will be murdered or imprisoned in a Soviet gulag , no one knows . Each man and woman longs to escape -- flee the bunker and run for their lives . But that is not a possibility , for such behavior might be deemed a betrayal . the penalty could be a gunshot to the head by the SS or Gestapo who remain on duty .
Only Martin Bormann remains calm . The bunker now belongs to him . The forty - four - year - old bureaucrat has been loyal to Adolph Hitler for more than a dozen years , serving as his personal secretary and right - hand man . Bormann holds the title of SS -- Reichsleiter .
Nothing Hitler accomplished during the war has taken place without Bormann's knowledge . He has been married for sixteen years to the former Gerda Buch , who has given him ten children . But Bormann rarely sees his family -- his loyalty has been to Hitler alone . The Brown Eminence , as Bormann is known , was the Fuhrer's confident , financial adviser , and babysitter , enduring his leader's moods and whims with patience and cunning , always searching for ways to increase his own personal power .
Bormann is a short , heavyset man with a fondness for cruel revenge . It was Bormann who suffered a perceived snub by famed tank general Erwin Rommel in the early days of World War II , then repaid the insult five years later by persuading the Fuhrer to order Rommel's execution after a failed plot to kill Hitler .
Bormann is also a realist , foreseeing the fall of the Reich as long as two years ago . With Hitler's blessing , he began making plans for Germany's postwar resurrection . In August 1944 he allegedly coordinated a gathering of German industrialists in Strasbourg to facilitate the movement of corporate capital to other countries , where it could be sheltered until after the war . Because of Bormann , 750 new companies have been established around the world to hide Nazi assets .
Argentina is home to ninety - eight of these hidden corporations . Additionally , Bormann has overseen the shipment of diamonds , gold , and blue - chip stock certificates into the South American country . In an outrageous and still unproven act of deception , Bormann allegedly concocted Operation Tierra Del Fuego to ship this wealth to Buenos Aires by submarine . Bormann has also spent hours meticulously planning his eventual escape route from Berlin to Argentina , where he envisions a new life of power and luxury . He will be the new Fuhrer , a head of state whose nation has just fallen . ' Bury everything , ' Adolph Hitler warned Bormann , anticipating his own death . ' You will need it to return to power. '
Bormann just needs to get out of the bunker alive . "