Erich Kempka was a member of the SS in Nazi Germany who served as Adolf Hitler's primary chauffeur from 1936 to April 1945. He was present in the area of the Reich Chancellery on 30 April 1945, when Hitler shot himself in the Führerbunker. Kempka delivered the petrol to the garden behind the Reich Chancellery, where the remains of Hitler and Eva Braun were burned.
Kempka driving Hitler and Benito Mussolini in September 1937
Hitler and Kempka in a Mercedes W31 – September 1939, Poland
Adolf Hitler, chancellor and dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, committed suicide via a gunshot to the head on 30 April 1945 in the Führerbunker in Berlin after it became clear that Germany would lose the Battle of Berlin, which led to the end of World War II in Europe. Eva Braun, his wife of one day, also committed suicide by cyanide poisoning. In accordance with Hitler's prior written and verbal instructions, that afternoon their remains were carried up the stairs and through the bunker's emergency exit to the Reich Chancellery garden, where they were doused in petrol and burned. The news of Hitler's death was announced on German radio the next day, 1 May.
Front page of the US Armed Forces newspaper Stars and Stripes on 2 May 1945
Eva Braun and Hitler at Berchtesgaden (with Hitler's dog Blondi at right), June 1942
Situation of World War II in Europe at the time of Hitler's death. The white areas were controlled by Nazi forces, the pink areas were controlled by the Allies, and the red areas indicate recent Allied advances.
Exterior of the Führerbunker shortly before its destruction. Hitler and Braun's remains were burnt in a shell crater outside the emergency exit at the left.
