- Summary
- After being seriously wounded in the 1939 Polish campaign, Rochus Misch was invited to join Hitler's SS-bodyguard. There he served until the war's end as Hitler's bodyguard, courier, orderly and finally as Chief of Communications. On the Berghof terrace he watched Eva Braun organize parties; observed Heinrich Himmler and Albert Speer; and monitored telephone conversations from Berlin to the East Prussian FHQ on 20 July 1944 after the attempt on Hitler's life. Towards the end Misch was drawn into the Fuhrerbunker with the last of the 'faithful'. As defeat approached, he remained in charge of the bunker switchboard as his duty required, even after Hitler committed suicide. Misch knew Hitler as the private man and his position was one of unconditional loyalty. His memoirs offer an intimate view of life in close attendance to Hitler and of the endless hours deep inside the bunker; and provide new insights into military events such as Hitler's initial feelings that the 6th Army should pull out of Stalingrad. Shortly before he died Misch wrote a new introduction for this first-ever English-language edition. The book also contains a foreword by the Jewish author Ralph Giordano and a new introduction by Roger Moorhouse.
- Uniform Title
- Letzte Zeuge. English
- Variant Title
- Memoir of Hitler's bodyguard.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Misch, Rochus, 1917-2013, author.
- Published
- London Frontline Books, 2014
©2014
- Locale
- Germany
Berlin
- Edition
- First English language edition
- Contents
-
My childhood : 1917-1937
Conscripted soldier : 1937-1939
The outbreak of war : 1939
Hitler needs a courier
My Reich : the telephone switchboard
The Berghof, Hitler's special train, and Rudolf Hess
FHQ Wolfsschanze : 1941
FHQ Wolfsschanze, FHQ Wehrwolf, Stalingrad, my honeymoon : 1942
The Eastern Front begins to turn West
The philanderer : 1944
Weddings and treason : 1944
Preparing the Berlin Bunker : February-April 1945
Bunker life : the last fortnight of April 1945
Hitler's last day : 30 April 1945
Negotiations and the Goebbels's children : 1 May 1945
Break-out and capture
My nine years in Soviet captivity
My homecoming and new beginnings.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Stehle, Michael, author.
Precht, Jørn, 1967- author.
Giordano, Ralph, 1923-2014, author.
Carstensen, Regina, author.
Zarrinbal, Sandra, author.
Moorhouse, Roger, writer of introduction.
- Notes
-
Translation of: Der letzte Zeuge.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
My childhood : 1917-1937 -- Conscripted soldier : 1937-1939 -- The outbreak of war : 1939 -- Hitler needs a courier -- My Reich : the telephone switchboard -- The Berghof, Hitler's special train, and Rudolf Hess -- FHQ Wolfsschanze : 1941 -- FHQ Wolfsschanze, FHQ Wehrwolf, Stalingrad, my honeymoon : 1942 -- The Eastern Front begins to turn West -- The philanderer : 1944 -- Weddings and treason : 1944 -- Preparing the Berlin Bunker : February-April 1945 -- Bunker life : the last fortnight of April 1945 -- Hitler's last day : 30 April 1945 -- Negotiations and the Goebbels's children : 1 May 1945 -- Break-out and capture -- My nine years in Soviet captivity -- My homecoming and new beginnings.
Translated from the German.
