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A man who'd declared war on the world climbed four flights of stairs just to pin
1945 Event

April 20

Hitler's Last Trip to the Surface: Handing Out Iron Crosses to Boy Soldiers

A man who'd declared war on the world climbed four flights of stairs just to pin metal on boys too young to shave. April 22, 1945, Berlin: Hitler handed out Iron Crosses to twelve-year-old members of the Hitler Youth while Soviet artillery shattered the bunker above. These kids stood in their uniforms, eyes wide, believing they were heroes when the city was already burning around them. They died that night or later, used as props for a dying leader's final delusion. That day taught us that propaganda doesn't just lie; it steals childhoods before the first bullet even flies.

April 20, 1945

81 years ago

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