Hitler's Last Witness: The Memoirs of Hitler's Bodyguard by Rochus Misch (2008)

Hitler's Last Witness: The Memoirs of Hitler's Bodyguard by Rochus Misch is a firsthand account from the man who served as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard, courier, and telephonist from 1940 until the Führer's death in 1945. As one of the last surviving members of Hitler’s inner circle, Misch offers a rare, unfiltered glimpse into daily life inside the Reich Chancellery and the Führerbunker.

The memoir covers his early years, wartime service, and how he came to work directly for Hitler. Misch recounts mundane routines, intense moments during Allied bombings, and the final days of the Third Reich, including his experience during Hitler and Eva Braun's suicides. Rather than offering political analysis, the book reflects Misch’s perspective as a loyal soldier caught in history’s darkest chapter, often detached from or unwilling to confront the regime’s atrocities.

Blunt, human, and often unsettling, Hitler's Last Witness provides a unique - and controversial - perspective on one of history’s most notorious regimes from a man who watched it collapse from the inside.

About the Author:
Rochus Misch (1917–2013) was a member of the SS and served as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard, courier, and telephonist from 1940 until the fall of the Third Reich in 1945. Born in Silesia (then part of Germany), Misch joined the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, Hitler’s elite bodyguard unit, and was eventually assigned to Hitler’s personal staff.

He was present for many pivotal events of the war, including the final days inside the Führerbunker, witnessing firsthand the collapse of Nazi Germany. Misch was captured by the Soviets in 1945 and spent nine years in a Soviet prison camp before returning to Germany.

Until his death in 2013, Misch remained one of the last surviving individuals from Hitler’s inner circle. His memoir, Hitler’s Last Witness, reflects his experiences not as a policymaker or ideologue, but as a man who observed history unfold from within the Nazi regime—often loyal, occasionally naive, and unapologetically blunt. His account is both a rare historical document and a controversial reminder of the human faces behind one of history’s darkest chapters.