Hitler's last bodyguard
Rochus Misch was a German officer injured on the eastern front during WWII and hospitalized back in Germany. When he recovered, he looked for a suitable job and after an extensive security check by the SS, he was assigned to Hitler's bodyguard unit. He soon became part of Hitler's inner circle, and moved around with him, staying particularly at the Berghof in Bavaria. Misch's family moved to Bavaria and lived nearby. When his daughter Brigitta was born, Eva Braun gave them a baby carriage as a present.
During April-May, 1945, Misch was in the bunker in Berlin with Hitler, working as a bodyguard, courier and telephone operator. He was the first to witness Hitler after he shot himself and also witnessed the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun being taken to be burnt. He still lives in Berlin and at the age of 92, after a long silence, he now talks about his experiences. He escaped the Bunker, but was caught by Soviet forces and imprisoned in Siberia, until his release in 1953, when he returned to Germany and his family.
His daughter Brigitta had grown up without a father for 8 years and was very relieved to see him alive. But, after a few years, father and daughter did not get along well, she was upset learning about the Nazi period, but her father refused to discuss his role in it.
One day her grandmother took her aside and told her an amazing secret, that she was Jewish and consequently so was her mother and herself. But, her grandmother said don't tell your mother, she doesn't want to know about it, and also later when her father heard about this he refused to believe it. Her grandmother paid for her to take Hebrew lessons and eventually she went to Israel and lived on a kibbutz. She returned to Germany, became an architect and married, and Birgitta Jacob-Engelken still lives in Bavaria in the same house in which she grew up.
Although father and daughter don't see eye-to-eye, she doesn't blame him for the Nazi war crimes because his work was "harmless." She thinks he performed a useful task in witnessing Hitler's dead body, but she thinks he shows no "critical reflection."
This is a true story documented by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8237708.stm
During April-May, 1945, Misch was in the bunker in Berlin with Hitler, working as a bodyguard, courier and telephone operator. He was the first to witness Hitler after he shot himself and also witnessed the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun being taken to be burnt. He still lives in Berlin and at the age of 92, after a long silence, he now talks about his experiences. He escaped the Bunker, but was caught by Soviet forces and imprisoned in Siberia, until his release in 1953, when he returned to Germany and his family.
His daughter Brigitta had grown up without a father for 8 years and was very relieved to see him alive. But, after a few years, father and daughter did not get along well, she was upset learning about the Nazi period, but her father refused to discuss his role in it.
One day her grandmother took her aside and told her an amazing secret, that she was Jewish and consequently so was her mother and herself. But, her grandmother said don't tell your mother, she doesn't want to know about it, and also later when her father heard about this he refused to believe it. Her grandmother paid for her to take Hebrew lessons and eventually she went to Israel and lived on a kibbutz. She returned to Germany, became an architect and married, and Birgitta Jacob-Engelken still lives in Bavaria in the same house in which she grew up.
Although father and daughter don't see eye-to-eye, she doesn't blame him for the Nazi war crimes because his work was "harmless." She thinks he performed a useful task in witnessing Hitler's dead body, but she thinks he shows no "critical reflection."
This is a true story documented by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8237708.stm
posted by Jack Cohen at 12:09 PM
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