Eyewitness to Hitler's Bunker Suicide

Oral History of the Death of Adolf Hitler

Sep 10, 2009

A secretary, a nurse, an aide and a bodyguard talk to the press about the last hours of Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler, in the final days of World War II.

Any oral history account of Adolf Hitler’s demise in the closing of World War II generates a lot of interest both in the general public and the media. There is always an almost morbid fascination about the downfall and death of the world’s most hated leader, responsible for the Holocaust and the death of millions.

People who came forward in the last few years to claim that they have been eyewitnesses to the Nazi dictator’s final days in his Berlin bunker in 1945 include:

In Hitler’s Bunker

In 2002, 81-year-old Junge, Hitler’s secretary during 1943-45, recalled the bunker’s eerie atmosphere and Hitler sitting for long periods of time staring into the distance: “we were all in a state of shock, like machines”. With the Soviet troops advancing and the bunker shaking with the explosions of shells, Junge took down Hitler’s last will and testament on April 28, 1945. Hitler, previously “a pleasant older gentleman” according to Junge, had by that time lost all touch with reality.

Hitler’s Last Days

In 2005, von Loringhoven, then 91 years old, came forward as “one of the last living eyewitnesses to Hitler’s final days”. He was an aide to army chiefs and managed to escape Hitler’s bunker 24 hours before the Nazi dictator shot himself. He recalled his surprise when he saw the Nazi leader he thought to be strong and charismatic, a broken man half-paralysed on his left side with eyes “pale and without any expression any more”.

Loringhoven described life in Hitler’s bunker, the wild mood swings, the constant talk of suicide and Hitler’s aggression towards his generals. However, in contrast to Junge, Loringhoven remembers Hitler as “realistic” one day before his suicide. The 91-year-old eyewitness related his memory of the six Goebbels children about to be poisoned by their mother and how he managed to escape the bunker before Hitler’s death.

Hitler’s Bunker Suicide

Erna Flegel from Berlin, who was 93 years old in 2005, claimed to be Hitler’s nurse at the end of World War II and to be present in the bunker when Hitler committed suicide. She recalled Hitler being “paralysed with paranoia” in the last days: “he didn’t trust anyone... not even the cyanide capsule he swallowed”. Flegel claimed she tried in vain to save the Goebbels children from their “merciless” mother.

Eyewitness to the Death of Adolf Hitler

On September 2009, 92-year-old Rochus Misch who was Hitler’s bodyguard and telephone operator was interviewed by the BBC. He was in Hitler’s bunker and saw the Nazi dictator’s dead body and that of Eva Braun, after they have committed suicide. Hitler was slumped with his head on the table and Eva Braun lying on the sofa with her knees to her chest wearing a blue dress with white frills.

Misch watched as “they wrapped Hitler up” then “someone shouted to me: Hurry upstairs, they’re burning the boss!” He decided not to go, afraid that he might be killed for being the last eyewitness. Misch fled the bunker but was later captured by the Soviet army and spent the next 9 years in Soviet labour camps.

Oral History and Eyewitness Stories

As with any oral history accounts or indeed historical resources these eyewitness stories should be treated with caution. Recollections are often “contaminated” by individual bias, by the individual’s desire to justify his or her actions, to please the interviewer or to present his or her current opinion about an event as valid at the time the actual event took place.

Another contributor to oral history accounts of Hitler's last days is Hitler Youth courier Armin Lehmann who died in 2008. Rochus Misch published his story in 2008.

“An Eyewitness to Hitler in New Film – Documentary Film Shown at Berlin Film Festival”, Berlin February 12, 2002; CBS News.

“Former Nurse Tells of Hitler’s Last Days”, 3 May 2005, DW-World.De, Deutsche Welle.

“I was in Hitler’s suicide bunker” by Steven Rosenberg, BBC News, Berlin, 3 September 2009.

BNC101

The copyright of the article Eyewitness to Hitler's Bunker Suicide in Oral History is owned by Lito Apostolakou. Permission to republish Eyewitness to Hitler's Bunker Suicide in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.