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Rochus Misch (born July 29, 1917) is a former Oberscharführer in the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler who worked as a courier, bodyguard and telephone operator for Adolf Hitler from 1940 to 1945. He is the only person still living out of those who were in the Führerbunker in April-May 1945.

Biography

Early life

Misch was born in Oppeln in the Province of Silesia. He became an orphan at the age of two and grew up with his grandparents. He worked as a painter. He has a daughter named Brigitta Jacob-Engelken.

Nazi career

In 1937, Misch joined the Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), the predecessor to the Waffen-SS. The SS-VT trained alongside Hitler’s personal body guard, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) that continued to serve exclusively as his personal protection unit. Misch was badly wounded in Poland when negotiating the surrender of Polish troops. As the last living member of a Lower Silesian family, his company leader recommended him for the Führerbegleitkommando rather than front service.

Misch was transferred to the LSSAH. As a junior member of Hitler's permanent bodyguard. Misch traveled with Hitler from throughout the Second World War. When not serving as a bodyguard, Misch and others in the unit served as telephone operators or couriers. On January 16, 1945, following the German defeat in the Battle of the Bulge, Misch and the rest of Hitler's personal staff moved into the Führerbunker in Berlin. He was not to leave it for any significant period of time until the end of the war. Misch handled all of the direct communication from the bunker.

Following the suicides of Hitler and Joseph Goebbels on April 30 and May 1 (1945) respectively, Misch and mechanic Johannes Hentschel, two of the last people remaining in the bunker, exchanged letters to their wives if anything were to happen to one of them. Misch had witnessed the discovery of the bodies of Eva Braun and Hitler after their suicide, and was present (in the bunker complex) during the time the Goebbels' poisoned their children. Misch fled the bunker on May 2 only hours before the Red Army seized it. He was captured shortly thereafter by Soviet forces. Misch was then tortured as they tried to extract information regarding Hitler's exact fate. Misch spent nine years in Soviet labor camps.

Later life

After his release from captivity in 1954, Misch returned to Berlin where he lived two miles from the Führerbunker. Following the rediscovery of the bunker in the 1990s, Misch stated publicly that the bunker should not be completely destroyed, being an important part of world history.

In May 2005, Misch appeared in the news when he was accused of tainting the memories of Holocaust victims after calling for a plaque in memory of the Goebbels children, who were killed by Magda Goebbels, shortly before her own suicide on May 1, 1945.

Since the deaths of Bernd von Freytag-Loringhoven on February 27, 2007, and Armin Lehmann on October 10, 2008, Rochus Misch is now the last survivor of the Führerbunker.

On the occasion of the release of the 2004 German film Downfall (Der Untergang) in France, a French journalist (Nicolas Bourcier) interviewed Misch multiple times during the second part of 2005. The resulting biography was published in French as J'étais garde du corps d'Hitler 1940–1945 ("I was Hitler's bodyguard 1940-1945") in March 2006. Translations are planned to be released in South America, Japan, Spain, Poland, Turkey and Germany in autumn 2007. It has been announced that the English-language edition of his book will be released by the end of 2008.

Misch served as consultant to writer Christopher McQuarrie on the 2008 film Valkyrie, a depiction of the 20 July plot.

As of January 2009 Misch still lives in Berlin in the same house he moved into when he was released from prison by the Russians. The house is located in the district of Rudow in South Berlin. Misch regularly receives visitors from the public who wish to speak to or interview him.

Portrayal in the media

Rochus Misch has been portrayed by the following actors in film and television productions.

• Michael Kitchen in the 1981 United States television production The Bunker.
• Heinrich Schneider in the 2004 German film Downfall (Der Untergang).
• Florian Lukas in the 2005 German television production Die Letzte Schlacht (The Bunker).

References

1. ^ Rosenberg, Steven (3 September 2009). "I was in Hitler's suicide bunker". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
2. http://www.hinduonnet.com/2000/05/21/stories/1321135d.htm Hindu Newspaper report
3. Rachel Abramowitz (2008-12-27). "Cruise, Singer and McQuarrie discuss 'Valkyrie'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
4. "Rochus Misch (Character)". IMDb.com. Retrieved May 8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

• Burns, Chris. (October 15, 1999). "Berliners debate what to do with Hitler's bunker". CNN
• Hall, Allan. (May 3, 2005). "Hitler, the Tragic Goebbels Children and Me: 60 Years on, Führer's Nurse Tells Her Story". The Daily Mail, p. 13
• Der Spiegel online, 29 July 2007, Des Teufels Leibwächter: Die Geheimnisse des letzten lebenden Hitler-Vertrauten
• 2005 Salon.com interview

• 1917 births
• Living people
• SS non-commissioned officers
• People from Opole
• People from the Province of Silesia