Abstract
The eightieth anniversary of the execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at Flossenbürg concentration camp fell on 9 April 2025. Since his death, Bonhoeffer’s renown as a brilliant theologian and courageous anti-Nazi martyr has grown hugely. Countless books have been written about him, he is commemorated in the Anglican calendar, and his statue adorns the entrance to Westminster Abbey. Bonhoeffer has also captured the imagination of Hollywood, being the subject of Todd Komarnicki’s controversial film Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. The same month in which the film was premiered also saw the publication of John McCabe’s new book Dietrich Bonhoeffer – The Last Eight Days: the untold story of the journey to Flossenbürg.
While there have been many previous biographies of Bonhoeffer, McCabe’s impressive new study offers fresh insights into the final days of Bonhoeffer’s life. In April 1945, as it became clear that Germany had lost the war, Hitler ordered the liquidation of Bonhoeffer and others who had been involved in the plot to assassinate him on 20 July 1944. In order to avoid their being freed by the advancing Allies, Bonhoeffer and 12 other prisoners were transported from Berlin, where they had initially been confined, to Buchenwald concentration camp and then further south to Bavaria.
McCabe provides valuable details of this final journey and of Bonhoeffer’s travelling companions. Notable among them were Hermann Pünder, a former secretary of state and decorated First World War veteran, who, although initially cleared of involvement in the plot, was immediately re-arrested by the Gestapo; Erich and Margot Heberlein, former German diplomats; and Colonel Horst von Petersdorff, a former stormtrooper who had narrowly escaped death in the Night of the Long Knives.
Drawing on documents that have only recently become available, McCabe argues that the account of Bonhoeffer’s last days has been ‘greatly exaggerated’ in the hagiography which has built up around him (p. 2). This portrayal has distorted Bonhoeffer scholarship since the publication of the first major biography by Eberhard Bethge in 1967. A key aim of McCabe’s new book is to dispel many of the myths that have surrounded Bonhoeffer’s death. One is the claim that the sound of US gunfire could be heard in Flossenbürg on the day of Bonhoeffer’s execution, even though American forces were at least 100 kilometres away. Another is the belief that Bonhoeffer’s execution could somehow have been averted had there been enough momentum within Nazi Germany in support of saving him. The truth, according to McCabe, is that such was the determination on the part of senior Nazis to ensure the destruction of the Third Reich’s enemies that nothing short of the liberation of the camp by US forces two weeks later, or the collapse of the entire regime, would have altered the outcome.
One of the most troubling aspects of McCabe’s research is the claim that the widely accepted account of Bonhoeffer’s death – as first advanced by Bethge – is inaccurate. For decades, it was believed that Bonhoeffer knelt serenely in prayer before being hanged, his death ensuing after a few seconds. However, evidence from close associates of Bonhoeffer in Flossenbürg suggests that this account is unlikely to be true. Their testimony reveals that the SS personnel entrusted with carrying out the sentences of death were notorious for their brutality and use of prolonged torture, suggesting that the circumstances surrounding Bonhoeffer’s death may have been much more disturbing than has hitherto been thought.
This is a meticulously researched, deeply moving and at times harrowing book. If there is one weakness, it is that the author often extends his discussion far beyond the intended scope of the book. For example, while it is useful that the volume places Bonhoeffer’s and his companions’ lives in a broader historical context, many chapters contain extensive analyses of global events and exhaustive profiles of figures such as Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich. These digressions detract from what would otherwise be a tightly focused and fast-paced narrative.
That said, the book succeeds in correcting the historical record surrounding Bonhoeffer’s final days; indeed, rather than inadvertently diminishing Bonhoeffer’s reputation in a dubious mythological glow, the book’s accuracy enhances his stature as a man who paid the ultimate price for opposing Nazi tyranny. It secures Bonhoeffer’s place as a genuine hero for Christians of today, for whom he will doubtless continue to be an inspirational figure.