<sod>Such is the traditional account of Bonhoeffer's death. Over the decades it achieved almost the status of an epitaph; for instance, Eric Metaxas's best-selling biography quotes it without comment.<ref>{{cite book|year=2010|author=Eric Metaxas|isbn=978-1595551382|title=Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy|publisher=Thomas Nelson}}</ref> But many recent biographers see problems with the story, not due to Bethge but his source. The purported witness was a doctor at Flossenbürg concentration camp, Hermann Fischer-Hüllstrung<ref>;little seems to be known about this doctor. A secondary work in German says Fischer-Hüllstrung was tried for killing prisoners by a variety of means and acquitted, but retried later and sentenced to three years in prison. This source does not however know the date of Fischer-Hüllstrung's death. {{cite book|year=2014|author=Thomas O.H. Kaiser|isbn=978-3-7357-6225-2|title="Von Guten Machten Wunderbar Geborgen..." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theologe, Pastor und Dichter in Wiederstand gegen Hitler (German Edition)|publisher=BOD – Books on Demand, Norderstedt}}</ref> who may have wished to minimize the suffering of the condemned men to reduce his own culpability in their executions. J.L.F. Mogensen, a former prisoner at Flossenbürg, cited the length of time it took for the execution to be completed (almost six hours), plus departures from camp procedure that would probably not have been allowed to prisoners so late in the war, as jarring inconsistencies. Considering that the sentences had been confirmed at the highest levels of Nazi government, by individuals with a pattern of torturing prisoners who dared to challenge the regime, it is more likely that "the physical details of Bonhoeffer's death may have been much more difficult than we earlier had imagined."<ref>{{cite book|year=2004|author=Craig J. Slane|isbn=1-58743-074-6|title=Bonhoeffer as Martyr: Social Responsibility and Modern Christian Commitment|publisher=Brazos Press}}</ref><eod>
<sod>This is the traditional account of Bonhoeffer's death, which over the decades went unchallenged; for instance, Eric Metaxas's best-selling biography quotes it without comment.<ref>{{cite book|year=2010|author=Eric Metaxas|isbn=978-1595551382|title=Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy|publisher=Thomas Nelson}}</ref> But many recent biographers see problems with the story, not due to Bethge but his source. The purported witness was a doctor at Flossenbürg concentration camp, Hermann Fischer-Hüllstrung<ref>;little seems to be known about this doctor. A secondary work in German says Fischer-Hüllstrung was tried for killing prisoners by a variety of means and acquitted, but retried later and sentenced to three years in prison. This source does not however know the date of Fischer-Hüllstrung's death. {{cite book|year=2014|author=Thomas O.H. Kaiser|isbn=978-3-7357-6225-2|title="Von Guten Machten Wunderbar Geborgen..." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theologe, Pastor und Dichter in Wiederstand gegen Hitler (German Edition)|publisher=BOD – Books on Demand, Norderstedt}}</ref> who may have wished to minimize the suffering of the condemned men to reduce his own culpability in their executions. J.L.F. Mogensen, a former prisoner at Flossenbürg, cited the length of time it took for the execution to be completed (almost six hours), plus departures from camp procedure that would probably not have been allowed to prisoners so late in the war, as jarring inconsistencies. Considering that the sentences had been confirmed at the highest levels of Nazi government, by individuals with a pattern of torturing prisoners who dared to challenge the regime, it is more likely that "the physical details of Bonhoeffer's death may have been much more difficult than we earlier had imagined."<ref>{{cite book|year=2004|author=Craig J. Slane|isbn=1-58743-074-6|title=Bonhoeffer as Martyr: Social Responsibility and Modern Christian Commitment|publisher=Brazos Press}}</ref><eod>