Rochus Misch, 1917–2013
The bodyguard who defended Hitler to the end
Rochus Misch never had any regrets about his wartime service to the man he affectionately called “the boss.” For most of World War II, the former German soldier was Adolf Hitler’s bodyguard and personal assistant. He poured tea for propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, witnessed the attempted assassination of the führer by his top generals in 1944, and was one of the first people to see the bodies of Hitler and his mistress, Eva Braun, after they committed suicide in April 1945—Hitler by gunshot, Braun by poison. “I saw him slumped with his head on the table,” he said. “I saw Eva on the sofa; her head was next to him, her knees drawn tightly up to her chest.”
Misch, the last known witness to Hitler’s final days, was 20 when he joined the SS, the Nazi Party’s elite corps, said the Associated Press. “I signed up for war against Bolshevism, not for Adolf Hitler,” Misch said. While recovering from a wound sustained during Germany’s 1939 invasion of Poland, he was invited to become one of Hitler’s two chief bodyguards. He met the Nazi leader and was impressed. “He wasn’t a monster or superhuman,” Misch said in 2011. “He stood across from me like a completely normal man with nice words.”
By late April 1945, as the Soviet army surrounded Berlin, Hitler had retreated to his underground bunker with Misch and several key aides. Misch was present at Hitler and Braun’s marriage on April 29. “I wondered how I would address her—Frau Hitler?” said Misch. “It was a moot question,” said The New York Times. The next day, knowing their cause was lost, the couple committed suicide. Misch fled the bunker two days later and was captured by Soviet troops. He spent much of the next nine years in prison camps in Kazakhstan and Siberia, said the Los Angeles Times. After his release, he returned to Berlin and opened a home decorating business.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Until the end, Misch deflected questions over responsibility for the Nazis’ murder of 6 million Jews, saying Hitler never mentioned the Final Solution in his presence. “That was never a topic,” he claimed in 2005. “Never.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Making a police state out of the liberal university'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
8 looming climate tipping points that imperil our planet
The Explainer New reports detail the thresholds we may be close to crossing
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Try 6 free issues of The Week Junior
Spark your child's curiosity with The Week Junior - the award-winning current affairs magazine for 8-14s.
By The Week Published
-
Benjamin Zephaniah: trailblazing writer who 'took poetry everywhere'
Why Everyone's Talking About Remembering the 'radical' wordsmith's 'wit and sense of mischief'
By The Week UK Published
-
Shane MacGowan: the unruly former punk with a literary soul
Why Everyone's Talking About The Pogues frontman died aged 65
By The Week UK Published
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Legendary jazz and pop singer Tony Bennett dies at 96
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
Martin Amis: literary wunderkind who ‘blazed like a rocket’
feature Famed author, essayist and screenwriter died this week aged 73
By The Week Staff Published
-
Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian folk legend, is dead at 84
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Barry Humphries obituary: cerebral satirist who created Dame Edna Everage
feature Actor and comedian was best known as the monstrous Melbourne housewife and Sir Les Patterson
By The Week Staff Published
-
Mary Quant obituary: pioneering designer who created the 1960s look
feature One of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century remembered as the mother of the miniskirt
By The Week Staff Published