Unmasking a Shadowy SS Bunker Witness

By Peter David Orr

I’ve spent years diving into the murky waters of Adolf Hitler’s supposed suicide in the Berlin Führerbunker on April 30, 1945. My book, Hitler’s Suicide: Reasonable Doubt, meticulously dissects the accounts of over 80 witnesses, exposing contradictions, fabrications, and gaps that challenge the standard narrative. Yet, despite exhaustive research, some mysteries refuse to crack. One such enigma—a shadowy figure mentioned in a 1945 newspaper article—has left me both intrigued and deeply frustrated. I’m turning to you, my fellow sleuths, to help unmask this elusive SS man.

My quest started with an article from the Giornale Lombardo, published on June 6, 1945, under Allied military governance in Milan. You can read the text of the article in the header/graphic, above. It quoted an unnamed "SS leader" described as an "elite guard officer" who was among the last to see Hitler alive.

According to this officer, on April 27, 1945, in the Reich Chancellery, Hitler was seated on a "divan" in his office, with Eva Braun writing letters nearby. The SS leader recounted Hitler’s dramatic outburst: “While I live there will be no war between Russia, America and Britain. They wish for my destruction. If I disappear, they will not remain united long. A collision will be inevitable. It is imperative that when that time comes, I am alive to lead the German people to victory. The Reich cannot hope for any future unless the whole world believes me dead. I must…” At that moment, Hitler asked the officer to leave the room.

The article also mentions a letter from Eva Braun to her parents, warning them not to worry if they didn’t hear from her “for a long time.” This SS leader’s account, published just weeks after Berlin’s fall, suggested Hitler planned to fake his death. But who was this mysterious figure? I set out to identify him, and what followed was a grueling investigation that led to more dead ends than answers.

The Hunt Begins: Defining the Criteria

To identify this SS leader, I established clear criteria based on the article’s details. He had to be:

1. In the Führerbunker on April 27, 1945, with a role that granted regular access to Hitler’s private office, likely to deliver reports or provide security updates.

2. A senior SS officer (SS-Sturmbannführer or higher) to fit the "SS leader" label, and possibly a member of Hitler’s elite guard, like the Führerbegleitkommando (FBK) or Reichssicherheitsdienst (RSD), to match the "elite guard officer" description—though the newspaper might have used the term loosely.

3. Captured by Western Allies in Northern Italy or western Austria by early June 1945, as the article’s publication in Milan suggested a local source.

I turned to my repository of witnesses, which includes everyone historians and journalists have ever mentioned in connection to the Führerbunker in April 1945 and systematically sifted through candidates, cross-referencing their roles, movements, and capture details.

The Candidate Identification Process

I started with members of the FBK, Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit, as the "elite guard officer" label pointed in that direction. These men were armed and allowed in Hitler’s presence, often delivering security updates:

1. Hans Hofbeck, Helmuth Beermann, and Hans Reißer: All FBK guards, likely in the bunker on April 27. But their low ranks (e.g., SS-Untersturmführer for Hofbeck) and roles as bodyguards meant they didn’t have regular access to Hitler’s private office. They were more likely stationed outside, not walking in during a private moment. They were Soviet POWs in June of 1945. Eliminated.

2. Rochus Misch: An SS-Oberscharführer in the FBK, serving as a bodyguard and telephone operator. He was in the bunker but was captured by the Soviets shortly after the May 1–2 breakout, making him inaccessible to Western Allies in June 1945. Eliminated.

3. Werner Schwiedel: An SS-Oberscharführer in the FBK, Schwiedel was involved in the aftermath of Hitler’s death, tasked with burning a rug in his study. Intriguingly, he used the term "divan" in his testimony—a unique linguistic match to the article. But he, too, was a Soviet POW. Eliminated.

Next, I considered the RSD, another unit responsible for Hitler’s security:

1. Johann “Hans” Rattenhuber: SS-Gruppenführer and head of the RSD, Rattenhuber had direct access to Hitler’s office to deliver security reports. He was in the bunker on April 27 but was wounded and captured by the Soviets during the breakout. Eliminated.

2. Hermann Karnau: An SS guard in the RSD, Karnau claimed to have seen the burning of Hitler’s body on April 30. He escaped Berlin and surrendered to British and Canadian forces in Northern Germany in May 1945—not Northern Italy or western Austria. Plus, as a low-level guard, he wasn’t part of Hitler’s elite guard unit and wouldn’t have walked into Hitler’s private office in the bunker. Eliminated.

3. Heinrich "Harri" Mengershausen, Jr. and Erich Mansfeld: Both RSD guards of insufficient rank. Mengershausen was captured by the Soviets. Eliminated. Mansfeld was captured in near Bremen by US intelligence on June 14 and wasn't interrogated until July 28, 1945. Eliminated.

I broadened the search to high-ranking SS officers in the bunker who might have had access to Hitler’s office, even if they weren’t strictly part of his security detail:

1. Otto Günsche: SS-Sturmbannführer and Hitler’s personal adjutant, Günsche had constant access to Hitler’s office. But he was captured by the Soviets. Eliminated.

2. Heinz Linge: SS-Obersturmbannführer and Hitler’s valet, Linge also had intimate access but was captured by the Soviets. Eliminated.

3. Wilhelm Mohnke: SS-Brigadeführer, commanding the defense of the Reich Chancellery, Mohnke likely had access to report on the battle situation. Captured by the Soviets. Eliminated.

4. Günther Schwägermann: SS-Hauptsturmführer and Goebbels’ adjutant, Schwägermann was a promising candidate. As a senior SS officer in the bunker, he likely had access to Hitler’s office to deliver reports for Goebbels. He escaped Berlin and reached the American Zone, but he lived incognito until his arrest in Munich on June 25, 1945—too late for the article and in the wrong location. Eliminated.

5. Werner Naumann: SS-Brigadeführer and Goebbels’ deputy, Naumann also had access as a key Propaganda Ministry figure. He escaped with Schwägermann’s group, reaching the American Zone, but his capture date is uncertain. Given his later activities in the Naumann Circle by 1951, he likely wasn’t arrested by early June 1945. Eliminated.

6. Hans Baur: SS-Gruppenführer and Hitler’s pilot, Baur had access but was captured by the Soviets. Eliminated.

7. Ludwig Stumpfegger: SS-Obersturmbannführer and Hitler’s doctor. Dr. Stumpfegger died during the breakout according to all but one source and the Giornale Lombardo article surely would have mentioned that this witness was a doctor, as it would lend credibility. Eliminated.

8. Hermann Fegelein: SS-Gruppenführer and Himmler’s liaison, Fegelein was in the bunker but was never in Allied custody. Eliminated.

Elimination Frustration

With each candidate, I hit a wall. Most bunker occupants were captured by the Soviets, who kept their POWs under tight control, inaccessible to Western Allies in June 1945. Those who escaped to the West, like Schwägermann and Naumann, either weren’t captured in time or were arrested in the wrong location—like Munich, not Northern Italy or western Austria. The "divan" clue, which pointed to Schwiedel and Artur Axmann (in hiding until December 1945), only deepened my frustration, as neither fit the timeline or location. If the Soviets allowed US intelligence to talk to Schwiedel, there's not record of it on either side.

What SS officer might have been overlooked? Figures like Karl Wolff (captured in Northern Italy on May 2, 1945) and Otto Skorzeny (captured in Salzburg on May 16, 1945) were in the right region but weren’t in the bunker on April 27. Alfred Rach, an SS officer who escaped with Schwägermann, lacked a clear rank or role, and there’s no evidence he was captured in time.

The Bottom Line

Despite endless digging, no SS officer fits the criteria. Perhaps this "SS leader" is a composite figure created by US intelligence for dramatic effect? In May 1945, the Allies were interrogating thousands of German POWs across Europe, and the Giornale Lombardo might have received a summarized report, blending accounts from bunker survivors. Alternatively, the newspaper could have misidentified the source or sensationalized the story to fuel speculation about Hitler’s fate. Considering this paper was the official mouthpiece of the US occupation forces in Northern Italy, it sure is a weirdly cagy admission.

Mystery  Man  Identified
Take a look at the two articles, below. In the one on the left, notice the curious phrase "former officials of the German reichchancellery (sic)". Officials. Plural. "They never saw the corpses". The former officials never saw the corpses. These officials sited the testimony of "an SS leader who was among the last Germans to see Hitler alive". The only Reich Chancellery officials in American hands before June, in  Bavaria, who had been with Hitler, but were not there on the date of Hitler's supposed suicide, were the legal secretaries (men) on Hitler’s personal staff at the Reich Chancellery who served as a shorthand experts and stenographers: Gerhard Herrgesell, Ludwig Krieger, Heinz Buchholl, Karl Thoet, Dr. Kurt Peschel, Dr. Ewald Reynitz, and Hans Helling. They were in American custody before May 15, 1945, in Berchtesgaden. Herrgesell was the spokesman of these officials and American intelligence in Berchtesgaden allowed them a great deal of freedom as long as they cooperated in two tasks:
1. Reconstituting their stenographic notes and reports of the Hitler war conferences. Which they had attempted to destroy by burning just prior to Berchtesgaden's capture by the Americans. Herrgesell and his men were given office space to cobble together as much of the burned remains and to fill in the missing pieces based on their memories. That's right; based on their memories of war conferences.
2. Herrgesell was employed by US Army CIC in Berchtesgaden as a translator and stenographer for the interrogations of Hitler's chauffeur (also found/captured in Berchtesgaden). Herrgesell was even trusted to question Kempka alone, without supervision.

On several occasions in mid-May of '45, US Army Intelligence trotted Herrgesell out, at press conferences to dish juicy details about Hitler's 'last days'. For example, on May 18, Herrgesell told the gathered press corps about the last Fuehrer conference that he attended on April 22, 1945, saying Hitler  proclamed, “I'm going to stay in Berlin. I won't desert now. I will fall here before the Chancellery” and emphasized that Hitler repeated these points at least ten times, followed by those present pleading with Hitler to “recant and agree to leave”.  When one examines the Herrgesell appearances at press conferences from May 15-22, a clear picture emerges: Despite the fact that Herrgesell and his fellow stenographer departed Belin in the earliest morning hours of April 23,  1945, he was consistently painting a picture of Hitler's suicide, as if he knew about it firsthand. 

Now, take a look at yellowed article on the right. Notice Herrgesell's telling phrase at the end about Eva Braun. This match establishes Herrgesell and his Reich Chancellery stenographers as the officers quoted in the Giornale Lombardo article of June 6, 1945.  Herrgesell was obviously involved in an interrogation of an unnamed elite SS guard who was with Hitler in Berlin in the end. What this man said during the interrogation forced Herrgesell and his colleagues to admit they hadn't seen Hitler's dead body because they hadn't been in Berlin at the time of the supposed suicide. It it obviously the testimony of this unnamed "SS leader" that made them change their tune.

Two Finalists
1. SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Erich  Kempka.  Führerbegleitkommando (Führer Escort Command"; FBK).  Hitler’s chauffeur and  chief of the Reich Chancellery motor pool. 
2. Hermann Karnau: Previously eliminated for the above-stated reasons. Eliminated again, because, although British Intelligence did share him with US Intelligence in Berchtesgaden, so his account of Hitler's 'last days' could be compared to Kempka's account, this sharing did not take place until July and August of '45.

So, Erich Kempka is the last man standing. By default, he's the "SS leader" in the Giornale Lombardo article.  

Those familiar with Kempka's official account, particularly his popular and oft-quoted memoirs (see cover image, below), know that his interaction with Hitler in the Führerbunker on April 27,  1945, in which Hitler talks of faking his death, has never been repeated again...until now, that is.