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Otto Günsche (24 September 1917 – 2 October 2003) was a German mid-ranking officer in the
Waffen-SS
The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...
of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He was a member of the
SS Division Leibstandarte before he became
Adolf Hitler's personal adjutant. Günsche was taken prisoner by soldiers of the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
in Berlin on 2 May 1945. He was held in various labour camps and prisons by the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
until 2 May 1956 and provided key testimony regarding
Hitler's death.
Life and career
Otto Günsche was born in
Jena
Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...
in
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach () was a German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was raised to a grand duchy in 1815 by resolutio ...
. After leaving secondary school at 16 he volunteered for the ''
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH (), began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding the Führer's person, offices, and residences. Initially th ...
'' and joined the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
on 1 July 1934. He first met Adolf Hitler in 1936. He was Hitler's SS adjutant from 1940 to 1941. From 1 January 1941 to 30 April 1942, he attended the SS officers' academy. He then had front-line combat service as a Panzer Grenadier company commander with the LSSAH. On 12 January 1943, Günsche became a personal adjutant for Hitler. From August 1943 to 5 February 1944, Günsche served on the
Eastern Front and in France. In March 1944 he was again appointed a personal adjutant for Hitler. As a personal SS adjutant ''(Persönlicher Adjutant)'' to Hitler, Günsche was also a member of the ''
Führerbegleitkommando'' which provided security for Hitler. During the war, one or two were always present with Hitler during the military situation conferences. He was present at the
20 July 1944 attempt to kill Hitler by use of a bomb at the
Wolf's Lair
The Wolf's Lair (; ) was Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II.
The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the village of Görlitz (now Gierłoż, Kętrzyn County, ...
in
Rastenburg. The explosion burst Günsche's eardrums and caused him to receive a number of contusions.
With the end of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
imminent, on 30 April 1945 Hitler tasked Günsche with ensuring the cremation of his body after
his death. That afternoon, Günsche stood guard outside the room in the ''
Führerbunker
The () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters (''Führerhaupt ...
'' where Hitler and
Eva Braun committed suicide. After waiting a short time, Hitler's valet,
Heinz Linge, opened the study door with
Martin Bormann
Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, private secretary to Adolf Hitler, and a war criminal. Bormann gained immense power by using his position as Hitler ...
at his side. The two men entered the study with Günsche right behind them. Günsche then left the study and announced that Hitler was dead to a group in the briefing room, which included
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
, General
Hans Krebs, and General
Wilhelm Burgdorf
Wilhelm Emanuel Burgdorf (15 February 1895 – 2 May 1945) was a German general who rose to prominence during the final years of World War II. Burgdorf served as a commander of 529th Infantry Regiment from May 1940 to April 1942 (part of the 299 ...
. Günsche had the table and chairs in the study moved out of the way and blankets were laid out on the floor. Hitler and Braun's lifeless bodies were then wrapped in blankets. In accordance with Hitler's prior written and verbal instructions, his and Braun's bodies were carried up the stairs and through the bunker's emergency exit to the garden behind the
Reich Chancellery
The Reich Chancellery () was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared since 1875, was the fo ...
to be burned. Having ensured that the corpses were burnt using
petrol
Gasoline (North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formul ...
supplied by Hitler's chauffeur
Erich Kempka, Günsche left the ''Führerbunker'' after midnight on 1 May. The next day, he was taken prisoner by Soviet
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
troops that were
encircling the city and flown to
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
for interrogation by the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
.
Post-war and death
Before sentencing, Günsche was held in the
NKVD special camp No. 48 for high-ranked POWs.
[ :File:Приговор Отто Гюнше от 15 мая 1950 года военного трибунала войск МВД Ивановской области.jpg] He served his sentence in
Sverdlovsk, transferred to
Bautzen
Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...
in
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
in 1955, and released on 2 May 1956. During imprisonment, Günsche and Linge were primary sources for ''Operation Myth'', the biography of Hitler which was prepared for
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
. According to Soviet officers, Linge collaborated freely, while Günsche did not and reportedly even resorted to threats "to bring Linge round to his point of view". The dossier was edited by officers of the Soviet
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
(later superseded by the
MVD, separate from the agency of the
KGB
The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
, formed in 1954). The report was received by Stalin on 30 December 1949 (and published in 2005 as ''
The Hitler Book'').
As one of three witnesses to the immediate aftermath of Hitler's death (i.e. seeing the body before it was moved), Günsche was
torturously interrogated by the Soviets, who focused on
Hitler's method of death and potential escape using a
body double
In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes for another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...
. He was kept in solitary confinement by the Soviets and thus could not corroborate details with Linge. After his release, Günsche was questioned by the western
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
as to Hitler's manner of death, which included court testimony. Günsche provided some inconsistent details, according to one Soviet report he purportedly stated that he only saw Hitler's body after it had been moved. According to another Soviet statement Günsche said he entered the room behind Linge and clearly saw Hitler's body (purportedly in an armchair), but only learned from Linge that the cause of death was a gunshot. Additionally, Kempka,
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...
leader
Artur Axmann
Artur Axmann (18 February 1913 – 24 October 1996) was the Germans, German Nazi national leader (''Reichsjugendführer'') of the Hitler Youth (''Hitlerjugend'') from 1940 to 1945, when the war ended. He was the last living Nazi with a rank equi ...
and Hitler's secretary
Traudl Junge recalled that Günsche initially told them that Hitler shot himself through the mouth.
Kempka stated that Günsche had made a hand gesture indicating this. Günsche denied making such statements or a gesture suggesting Hitler's manner of death. In June 1956, Günsche testified that Hitler shot himself in the right temple and that he saw a blood-puddle stain on the floor.
Historian
Anton Joachimsthaler, who wrote a number of books about Hitler, cited Günsche's statements and court testimony in his exhaustive book on Hitler's death, first published in 1995. He also interviewed Günsche directly about the events and statements of others as to Hitler's death and aftermath. Joachimsthaler did conclude, based on the evidence, that Günsche was mistaken as to the position of where Hitler was sitting when first observed after death and criticized him and Linge for delegating the task of the actual burning of the corpses to SS officers
Ewald Lindloff and Hans Reisser.
Günsche died of heart failure at his home in
Lohmar
Lohmar (; Ripuarian: ''Luhme'') is a municipality and a town in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Lohmar is located about 20 km east of Cologne and 15 km north-east of Bonn in the Bergisches Land a ...
,
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
, in 2003. He had three children. Günsche's body was cremated.
According to journalist Jean-Christophe Brisard and filmmaker
Lana Parshina, as of 2017 the Soviet military file on Günsche, although declassified, remained closed to the public without the authorization of a family member.
See also
*''
Downfall'' (2004 film), in which he was portrayed by actor
Götz Otto
Awards and decorations
*
Wound Badge
The Wound Badge () was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the Imperial German Army, German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between the worl ...
in Silver
*
Infantry Assault Badge
The Infantry Assault Badge () was a German military decoration awarded to Waffen-SS and ''Wehrmacht Heer'' soldiers during the Second World War. This decoration was instituted on 20 December 1939 by the Commander-in-Chief (''Oberbefehlshaber'' ...
*
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
2nd Class
*
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
1st Class
References
Citations
Bibliography
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Guensche, Otto
1917 births
2003 deaths
Military personnel from Jena
People from Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
SS-Sturmbannführer
Adjutants of Adolf Hitler
German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union
Prisoners and detainees of East Germany
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 1st class
Waffen-SS personnel