erich kempka served as hitlers personal driver from 1934 through to the fuhrers dramatic suicide in 1945 his candid memoirs offer a unique eyewitness account of events leading up to and during the war culminating in those dark final days in the fuhrers headquarters deep under the shattered city of berlinhe begins by describing his duties as a member of hitlers personal staff in the years preceding the war driving the fuhrer throughout germany and abroad and accompanying him to rallies the crux of his memoirs however covers his life with hitler in the berlin fuhrerbunker during this time he was responsible for a transport fleet of cars and often drove the likes of speer or kesselring on inspection tours to the hot spots on the front and in march 1945 he accompanied the fuhrer to his final frontinspection tour kempka was also present when news came through of goring and himmlers efforts to seize power and negotiate a truce with the western alliescrucially kempka also witnessed hitlers marriage to eva braun and his last dinner and personal farewell to all those present before he and his wife committed suicide hitlers final order to kempka was that he have ready enough petrol to burn him and his wife under constant soviet artillery fire kempke linge and others poured petrol over the bodies and burnt themthe account concludes with kempkas hazardous escape out of a burning berlin more than 800 km through enemyoccupied germany home to find his wife at be there he was arrested by american cfic personnel and interrogated before being sent to serve as a witness at nuremburg