Rochus Misch ; co-authored by Michael Stehle, Professor Jörn Precht, Ralph Giordano, Regina Carstensen and Dr. Sandra Zarrinbal ; introduction by Roger Moorhouse
xvii, 254 pages :
illustrations ;
23 cm
"Originally published in German in 2008 under the title Der Letze Zeuge. This is the first English language edition and includes an introduction by Roger Moorhouse and a new introduction by Rochus Misch"--Title page verso
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
0
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