When Soviet soldiers entered Hitler’s bunker on May 2, 1945, they were surprised to find only one soldier still there.
Two days earlier, Hitler and his girlfriend, Eva Braun, had committed suicide. Since then, the bunker had mostly been emptied, with some officials fleeing the surrounded capital and others taking their own lives.
On May 1, General Hans Krebs held his final peace talks with the Soviet command. The negotiations failed because the Fuhrer did not want to surrender unconditionally. Krebs returned to the bunker, followed by General Burgdorf, who left a suicide note on the morning of May 2.
Meanwhile, Franz Schädle, the commander of Hitler’s bodyguards, shot himself after suffering serious injuries.
While Hitler prepared his suicide pills, General Weidling of the Wehrmacht surrendered Helmuth’s military district to the Red Army, bringing the defense of Berlin to an end.
Telegram operator Rochus Misch finally left the building where he had been hiding for days. Soviet soldiers captured him soon afterward. In the end, it was discovered that the last person to leave the Fuhrer’s shelter was Johannes Hentschel.
Hentschel was the bunker’s mechanic, responsible for keeping the electricity and fresh water running. He did not leave immediately because the wounded men in the field hospital above depended on him.
So, the last person to leave Hitler’s bunker was a mechanic who had kept the bunker functioning.
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