Rochus Misch, a bodyguard who was with Adolf Hitler in his Berlin bunker during the last hours of the Nazi leader’s life, died Thursday at the age of 96.
In a 2005 interview with the Associated Press, Misch recalled the final days in Berlin, but offered no expression of regret for his relationship with one of the greatest villains of the 20th century.
"He was no brute. He was no monster. He was no superman," Misch told the AP.
Misch, who accompanied Hitler for five years, called him a “wonderful boss.”
To the end, Misch said he didn’t know about the killing of six million Jews and that Hitler never talked about it in his presence.
Misch joined the SS, Nazi Germany’s most loyal troops, at the age of 20. When Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, Misch was taken to the Soviet Union and spent nine years in prisoner of war camps. He returned to Berlin in 1954, reunited with his wife Gerda and opened painting shop.
In a 2005 interview with the Associated Press, Misch recalled the final days in Berlin, but offered no expression of regret for his relationship with one of the greatest villains of the 20th century.
"He was no brute. He was no monster. He was no superman," Misch told the AP.
Misch, who accompanied Hitler for five years, called him a “wonderful boss.”
To the end, Misch said he didn’t know about the killing of six million Jews and that Hitler never talked about it in his presence.
Misch joined the SS, Nazi Germany’s most loyal troops, at the age of 20. When Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, Misch was taken to the Soviet Union and spent nine years in prisoner of war camps. He returned to Berlin in 1954, reunited with his wife Gerda and opened painting shop.