Editing Wolf's Lair (section)

== Layout ==
The buildings within the complex were camouflaged with bushes, grass, and artificial trees on the flat roofs; netting was also erected between buildings and the surrounding forest so that the installation looked like unbroken dense woodland from the air. The site consisted of three concentric security zones.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Location and construction of Wolf's Lair – Why Gierloz / Ketrzyn?|url=https://wolfsschanze.pl/en/location-and-construction/|access-date=2022-01-14|website=Wolfsschanze|language=en-US}}</ref>

*''Sperrkreis 1'' (Security Zone 1) was located at the heart of the Wolf's Lair, the perimeter was ringed by steel fencing and guarded by the SS ''[[Reichssicherheitsdienst]]'' (RSD). Within the compound, security was managed by ''Dienststelle'' I (command I) from the ''[[SS-Begleitkommando des Führers]]'' (FBK) which operated under the auspices of ''Obersturmbannführer'' [[Bruno Gesche]]. These were the only armed guards Hitler allowed to be near him.<ref>{{cite book | last = Felton | first = Mark | author-link = Mark Felton | title = Guarding Hitler: The Secret World of the Führer | year = 2014 | publisher = Pen and Sword Military | location = London | isbn = 978-1-78159-305-9 |page=104}}</ref> They never had to surrender their weapons and were never searched whereas the RSD were required to remain at positions some distance away from Hitler.<ref>{{cite book | last = Misch | first = Rochus | author-link = Rochus Misch | title = Hitler's Last Witness: The Memoirs of Hitler's Bodyguard | publisher = Frontline Books–Skyhorse Publishing, Inc| location = London | year = 2014 | orig-year = 2008 | isbn = 978-1848327498 |pages =120–121}}</ref> The zone contained the Führer Bunker and ten other camouflaged bunkers built from {{convert|2|m|ftin|adj=mid|-thick}} [[steel-reinforced concrete]]. These shelters protected members of Hitler's inner circle such as [[Joseph Goebbels]], [[Martin Bormann]], [[Hermann Göring]], [[Wilhelm Keitel]], and [[Alfred Jodl]]. Hitler's accommodation was on the shaded northern side of the Führer Bunker. Both Hitler's and Keitel's bunkers had additional rooms where military conferences could be held.<ref name="kershaw">Kershaw 2000 p. 55</ref>
*''Sperrkreis 2'' (Security Zone 2) surrounded the inner zone. The area housed the quarters of several Reich Ministers such as [[Fritz Todt]], [[Albert Speer]], and [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]]. It also housed the quarters of the personnel who worked in the Wolf's Lair and the military barracks for the RSD.
*''Sperrkreis 3'' (Security Zone 3) was the heavily fortified outer security area which surrounded the two inner zones. It was defended by [[land mine]]s and the ''[[Führerbegleitbrigade]]'' (FBB), a special armoured security unit from ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' which manned guardhouses, watchtowers, and checkpoints.

A facility for [[Oberkommando des Heeres|Army headquarters]] was also located near the complex.<ref name=kershaw /> The FBK and RSD had responsibility for Hitler's personal security within the site, while external protection of the complex was provided by the FBB, which had become a regiment by July 1944.  The FBB was equipped with tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and other heavy weapons. Any approaching aircraft could be detected up to {{convert|100|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}} from the site. Additional troops were also stationed about {{convert|75|km|mi|abbr=on|round=5}} away.<ref name="website">{{Cite web |title=Location and construction of Wolf's Lair – Why Gierloz / Ketrzyn? |url=http://wolfsschanze.pl/en/location-and-construction/}}</ref>
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[[File:Lageplan Wolfsschanze.svg|thumb|center|upright=2.6|{{image key |list type=ordered
|Office and barracks of [[Begleitkommando-SS|Hitler's bodyguard]]
|[[SS-Begleitkommando des Führers|FBK]]/[[Reichssicherheitsdienst|RSD command post]]
|Emergency generator
|Bunker
|Office of [[Otto Dietrich]], Hitler's press secretary
|Conference room, site of the [[20 July plot|20 July 1944 assassination attempt]]
|RSD command post
|Guest bunker and air-raid shelter
|RSD command post
|Secretariat under [[Philipp Bouhler]]
|Headquarters of [[Johann Rattenhuber]], [[SS]] chief of Hitler's security department, and Post Office
|Radio and telex buildings
|Vehicle garages
|Railway siding for [[Führersonderzug|Hitler's Train]]
|Cinema
|Generator buildings
|Quarters of [[Theodor Morell|Morell]], [[Karl Bodenschatz|Bodenschatz]], [[Walther Hewel|Hewel]], [[Hans-Erich Voss|Voß]], [[Karl Wolff|Wolff]], and [[Hermann Fegelein|Fegelein]]
|Stores
|Residence of [[Martin Bormann]], Hitler's personal secretary
|Residence and bunker of [[Adolf Hitler]]
|Bormann's personal air-raid shelter for himself and staff
|Office of [[Fritz Wiedemann|Hitler's adjutant]] and the [[Heerespersonalamt|Wehrmacht's personnel office]]
|Military and staff mess II
|Quarters of General [[Alfred Jodl]], Chief of Operations of [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|OKW]]
|Firefighting pond
|[[Joachim von Ribbentrop|Office of the Foreign Ministry]]
|Quarters of [[Fritz Todt]], then [[Albert Speer]] after Todt's death
|RSD command post
|Air-raid shelter with [[Flak]] and MG units on the roof
|Hitler's bunker and air-raid shelter
|New tea room
|Residence of General Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]], supreme commander of OKW
|Old tea house
|Residence of ''[[Reichsmarschall]]'' [[Hermann Göring]]
|Göring's personal air-raid shelter for himself and staff, with Flak and MG on the roof
|Offices of the [[Oberkommando der Luftwaffe|High Command of the Air Force]]
|Offices of the [[Oberkommando der Marine|High command of the Navy]]
|Bunker with Flak
|Cemetery
|[[Kętrzyn|Rastenburg]] railway line
}}]]

===Reinforcements===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Reprich-012-08, Wolfschanze, Hitler, Ley, Porsche und Göring.jpg|thumb|Hitler meeting Reich Commissioner [[Robert Ley]], automotive engineer [[Ferdinand Porsche]], and ''[[Reichsmarschall]]'' [[Hermann Göring]] at the ''Wolfsschanze'' in 1942]]
Hitler's secretary, [[Traudl Junge]], recalled that Hitler repeatedly spoke in late 1943 or early 1944 of a possible bomber attack on the ''Wolfsschanze'' by the Western [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. She quoted Hitler as saying, "They know ''exactly'' where we are, and sometime they're going to destroy everything here with carefully aimed bombs. I expect them to attack any day."<ref>{{cite book|author=Junge, Traudl|title=Until the Final Hour|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2003|page=116}}</ref>

According to Speer, between 28 July 1941 and 20 March 1942, Hitler left Rastenburg only four times for a total of 57 days.  Afterwards, Hitler spent the next three months in [[Obersalzberg]] before returning to Rastenburg for the next nine months.<ref name="Speer 2">{{cite book |last1=Speer|first1=Albert|title=Inside the Third Reich|date=1995|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|location=London |isbn=9781842127353 |page=401}}</ref>

Hitler's entourage returned to the ''Wolfsschanze'' from an extended summer stay at the [[Berghof (residence)|Berghof]] in July 1944. The previous small bunkers had been replaced by the [[Organisation Todt]] with "heavy, colossal structures" of reinforced concrete as defense against the feared air attack.<ref>Junge, Traudl. ''Until the Final Hour''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003, p. 126.</ref> According to Armaments Minister [[Albert Speer]], "some 36,000,000 marks were spent for bunkers in Rastenburg [Wolf's Lair]."<ref name = "Speer">Speer, A: ''Inside the Third Reich'', p. 217</ref>

Hitler's bunker had become the largest, "a positive fortress" containing "a maze of passages, rooms and halls." Junge wrote, "We had air-raid warnings every day" in the period between the [[20 July plot|20 July assassination attempt]] and Hitler's final departure from the ''Wolfsschanze'' in November 1944, "but there was never more than a single aircraft circling over the forest, and no bombs were dropped. All the same, Hitler took the danger very seriously, and thought all these reconnaissance flights were in preparation for the big raid he was expecting."<ref>Junge, Traudl. ''Until the Final Hour''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003, p. 145.</ref>

No air attack ever came. It has never been revealed whether the Western Allies knew of the ''Wolfsschanze''{{'}}s location and importance.  The Soviet Union was unaware of both the location and the scale of the complex until the site was uncovered by its forces during their advance towards Berlin in early 1945.<ref>[[Antony Beevor|Beevor, Antony]] (1999) ''Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942–1943''. New York: Penguin Books. {{isbn|9780140284584}}</ref>