Read Online Hitler's Last Witness by Rochus Misch - Free Book Online
Authors: Rochus Misch
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commented soberly: âA half year too late.â Nevertheless, he mentioned having had a presentiment about it. Goebbels seemed to find new hope in Rooseveltâs death. Once again, the talk was of âa turnâ in events.
Of course, there was nothing at all in the days that followed which pointed to such a turn. I took ever less interest in my service instructions, which required me to eavesdrop telephone conversations infrequently to check the tone quality, and now I listened into everything. I was constantly on the watch for something new. It was all totally clear: the Western Allies were maintaining the military pressure relentlessly in order to obtain the unconditional surrender of Germany. Nothing suggested we might achieve a separate peace at the last minute. To the very end, Hitler could not understand why the British would not unite with him against Bolshevism.
Since February, my work hours could not have been considered normal. They were adapted to Hitlerâs rhythms, in which night became day, and day became night. The last situation conference seldom began before midnight and lasted into the early hours.
The cellar and bunker rooms were filling noticeably. It seemed to me that all members of the state and Party leadership were being given quarters here, in addition to their junior adjutants, who inhabited the catacombs in the New Reich Chancellery. The first rooms that one reached at the end of Kannenberg-Allee were those of Luftwaffe adjutant Nicolaus von Below, Otto Günsche and General Wilhelm Burgdorf. In this stretch were also to be found the domains of Martin Bormann and his co-workers â the half-brothers Wilhelm Zander and Alwin-Broder Albrecht.
Much further on were the rooms of the female secretaries â Gerda Christian, Christa Schroeder, Traudl Junge and Johanna Wolf. These were adjacent to the offices of Himmlerâs liaison officer Hermann Fegelein, General Hans Krebs and Major Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven. Finally, rooms had been allotted to Vice-Admiral Hans-Erich Voss, diplomat Walther Hewel and Hitlerâs pilots Hans Baur and Georg Betz. The remaining rooms were for the house staff. Right at the end of this cellar, behind the officersâ mess and the garages, were the living quarters for the staff of the motor pool and the office of Hitlerâs driver Erich Kempka. In one of the large cellar rooms with access to Voss-Strasse, an emergency hospital had been set up. Many civilians sought treatment there â the dressing station was quickly filled to overflowing. I only came to this part of the catacombs once, and briefly.
So, there we sat â like the German people â in cellars, and above us the land lay in ruins.
* Misch must mean here âin Hitlerâs lifetimeâ, since he went into the study â the death room â immediately after the suicide. (TN)
Chapter Thirteen
Bunker Life: The Last Fortnight of April 1945
SOMETIME IN MID-APRIL, âBUNKER lifeâ began. Hitler descended into the place where he would die. Eva never left his side, and lived from then on in his dressing room. All situation conferences were now held in the Führerbunker map room and the bunker telephone switchboard had to be manned around the clock. Our SS bodyguard commander Schädle came up to me. I already suspected what he was going to say: âMisch, you are going down there with them.â
Reluctantly, I made my way with my sleeping mat into the new subterranean kingdom. On the way down into the Führerbunker, every step reinforced my bad feelings about the move. I was never claustrophobic, but since those days down there I understand the fear of confined spaces. While most of the steel doors were open most of the time, the last door down into the Führerbunker itself was always kept shut. In front of this last door, one of the bodyguard, occasionally with an RSD colleague, would be seated at a small table. The RSD were principally
Of course, there was nothing at all in the days that followed which pointed to such a turn. I took ever less interest in my service instructions, which required me to eavesdrop telephone conversations infrequently to check the tone quality, and now I listened into everything. I was constantly on the watch for something new. It was all totally clear: the Western Allies were maintaining the military pressure relentlessly in order to obtain the unconditional surrender of Germany. Nothing suggested we might achieve a separate peace at the last minute. To the very end, Hitler could not understand why the British would not unite with him against Bolshevism.
Since February, my work hours could not have been considered normal. They were adapted to Hitlerâs rhythms, in which night became day, and day became night. The last situation conference seldom began before midnight and lasted into the early hours.
The cellar and bunker rooms were filling noticeably. It seemed to me that all members of the state and Party leadership were being given quarters here, in addition to their junior adjutants, who inhabited the catacombs in the New Reich Chancellery. The first rooms that one reached at the end of Kannenberg-Allee were those of Luftwaffe adjutant Nicolaus von Below, Otto Günsche and General Wilhelm Burgdorf. In this stretch were also to be found the domains of Martin Bormann and his co-workers â the half-brothers Wilhelm Zander and Alwin-Broder Albrecht.
Much further on were the rooms of the female secretaries â Gerda Christian, Christa Schroeder, Traudl Junge and Johanna Wolf. These were adjacent to the offices of Himmlerâs liaison officer Hermann Fegelein, General Hans Krebs and Major Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven. Finally, rooms had been allotted to Vice-Admiral Hans-Erich Voss, diplomat Walther Hewel and Hitlerâs pilots Hans Baur and Georg Betz. The remaining rooms were for the house staff. Right at the end of this cellar, behind the officersâ mess and the garages, were the living quarters for the staff of the motor pool and the office of Hitlerâs driver Erich Kempka. In one of the large cellar rooms with access to Voss-Strasse, an emergency hospital had been set up. Many civilians sought treatment there â the dressing station was quickly filled to overflowing. I only came to this part of the catacombs once, and briefly.
So, there we sat â like the German people â in cellars, and above us the land lay in ruins.
* Misch must mean here âin Hitlerâs lifetimeâ, since he went into the study â the death room â immediately after the suicide. (TN)
Chapter Thirteen
Bunker Life: The Last Fortnight of April 1945
SOMETIME IN MID-APRIL, âBUNKER lifeâ began. Hitler descended into the place where he would die. Eva never left his side, and lived from then on in his dressing room. All situation conferences were now held in the Führerbunker map room and the bunker telephone switchboard had to be manned around the clock. Our SS bodyguard commander Schädle came up to me. I already suspected what he was going to say: âMisch, you are going down there with them.â
Reluctantly, I made my way with my sleeping mat into the new subterranean kingdom. On the way down into the Führerbunker, every step reinforced my bad feelings about the move. I was never claustrophobic, but since those days down there I understand the fear of confined spaces. While most of the steel doors were open most of the time, the last door down into the Führerbunker itself was always kept shut. In front of this last door, one of the bodyguard, occasionally with an RSD colleague, would be seated at a small table. The RSD were principally
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