Rochus Misch

Rochus Misch (29 July 1917 – 5 September 2013) was a German Oberscharführer (senior squad leader) in the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) during World War II. He served as a courier, bodyguard and telephone operator for German leader Adolf Hitler from 1940 to 1945. He was the last remaining survivor among the occupants of the Führerbunker in the final days of the war in Europe.

Early life
Misch was born in Alt-Schalkowitz near Oppeln in the Province of Silesia (now Stare Siołkowice, Poland). His father, a construction worker, died of wounds sustained in World War I. His widowed mother died of pneumonia when he was three, and he grew up with his grandparents. He worked as a painter. Misch married his wife Gerda on New Year's Eve, 1942. They had a daughter, Brigitta Jacob-Engelken, who worked as an architect and supported Jewish causes. After he returned from the Soviet Union, Brigitta learned from her maternal grandmother that Brigitta's mother was Jewish, making Brigitta Jewish as well (according to Jewish tradition). Misch refused to acknowledge it.

Nazi career
In 1937, Misch joined the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), the predecessor to the Waffen-SS. The SS-VT trained alongside Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). Misch was badly wounded while negotiating the surrender of Polish troops during the Battle of Modlin. For this act he was awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class. As Misch was the last living member of his Lower Silesian family, his company leader recommended him for the Führerbegleitkommando (SS-FBK). This was made up of members of the LSSAH who no longer had to serve on the front lines.

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

Hitler committed suicide on 30 April. Misch witnessed the discovery of the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun, and was present (in the bunker complex) during the time when Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda poisoned their six young children and committed suicide on 1 May 1945. Misch and mechanic Johannes Hentschel, two of the last people remaining in the bunker, exchanged letters to their wives in case anything happened to either of them. Misch fled the bunker on 2 May only hours before the Red Army seized it. He was captured shortly thereafter. Misch was brought to the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow, where he was tortured in an attempt to extract information regarding Hitler's exact fate. Misch spent nine years in Soviet forced labour camps.

Later life
After his release from captivity in 1953, Misch returned to Berlin, arriving home on New Year's Eve 1953, where he lived 3.2 km from the Führerbunker. Following the rediscovery of the bunker in the 1990s, Misch stated publicly that the bunker complex should not be completely destroyed, being an important part of world history.

He struggled for several years with what to do with his life after captivity. He was offered various odd jobs, among others as a bodyguard and as a driver. While he entertained these offers, which for the most part were through his wartime contacts, all early offers would entail moving away from Berlin, which his wife refused unconditionally. He finally obtained credit backed by wealthy German philanthropists to buy out a painting and wallpaper business from a retiree in Berlin. He ran this modest business successfully, and during the early Allied occupation of Berlin also became involved in the making of peanut butter for American troops. This sideline became so successful that he considered leaving painting. His wife intervened and he remained in the painting business until retirement. His memoir in German, Der letzte Zeuge (The Last Witness), was published in 2008.

With the deaths of Bernd von Freytag-Loringhoven on 27 February 2007, Armin Lehmann on 10 October 2008, and Siegfried Knappe on 1 December 2008, Misch became the last survivor of the Führerbunker. Misch was loyal to Hitler to the end, saying "He was no brute. He was no monster. He was no superman", "...very normal. Not like what is written", and "He was a wonderful boss".

After the release of the 2004 German film Downfall (Der Untergang) in France, French journalist Nicolas Bourcier interviewed Misch on multiple occasions during 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, ISBN 2253121541. Translations were released in South America, Japan, Spain, Poland, Turkey and Germany in 2006 and 2007.

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

Misch lived in Berlin in the same house he moved into when he was released by the Soviets. The house is located in the district of Rudow in South Berlin. Misch regularly received visitors who wished to speak to or interview him. On 15 May 2011, by then terminally ill, Misch gave his last interview, to the Daily Express.

Misch died in Berlin on 5 September 2013 at the age of 96.

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 Schmieder ( † 2010) in the 2004 German film Downfall (Der Untergang'').
 * Florian Lukas in the 2005 German television production Die Letzte Schlacht (The Last Battle).