Waffen-SS officer during World War II (1917?2003)
Otto Gunsche
(24 September 1917 ? 2 October 2003) was a mid-ranking officer in the
Waffen-SS
of
Nazi Germany
during
World War II
. He was a member of the
SS Division Leibstandarte
before he became
Adolf Hitler's personal adjutant
. Gunsche was taken prisoner by soldiers of the
Red Army
in Berlin on 2 May 1945. After being held in various prisons and labour camps in the
Soviet Union
, he was released from Bautzen Penitentiary on 2 May 1956.
Life and career
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]
Otto Gunsche was born in
Jena
in
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
. After leaving secondary school at 16 he volunteered for the
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
and joined the
Nazi Party
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, Gunsche became a personal adjutant for Hitler.
From August 1943 to 5 February 1944, Gunsche 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
(Personlicher Adjutant)
to Hitler, Gunsche was also a member of the
Fuhrerbegleitkommando
which provided security protection 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
at the
Wolf's Lair
in
Rastenburg
. The bomb explosion burst Gunsche's eardrums and caused him to receive a number of contusions.
With the end of
Nazi Germany
imminent, Gunsche was tasked by Hitler on 30 April 1945 with ensuring the cremation of his body after
his death
.
That afternoon, he stood guard outside the room in the
Fuhrerbunker
where Hitler and
Eva Braun
committed suicide.
After waiting a short time, Hitler's valet,
Heinz Linge
, opened the study door with
Martin Bormann
at his side.
The two men entered the study with Gunsche right behind them. Gunsche then left the study and announced that Hitler was dead to a group in the briefing room, which included
Joseph Goebbels
,
General Hans Krebs
, and General
Wilhelm Burgdorf
.
Gunsche 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 to be burned.
Having ensured that the corpses were burnt using
petrol
supplied by Hitler's chauffeur
Erich Kempka
, Gunsche later left the
Fuhrerbunker
after midnight on 1 May.
On 2 May 1945, Gunsche was taken prisoner by Soviet
Red Army
troops that were
encircling the city
and flown to
Moscow
for sharp interrogation by the
NKVD
.
Post-war and death
[
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]
Before sentencing, he was held in the
NKVD special camp No. 48
for high-ranked POWs.
[15]
He served his sentence in
Sverdlovsk
,
[16]
transferred to
Bautzen
in
East Germany
in 1955, and released on 2 May 1956.
During imprisonment, Gunsche and Linge were primary sources for
Operation Myth
, the biography of Hitler which was prepared for
Joseph Stalin
. The dossier was edited by officers of the Soviet
NKVD
(later superseded by the
MVD
, separate from the agency of the
KGB
, formed in 1954). The report was received by Stalin on 30 December 1949. The report was published in book form in 2005 under the title:
The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin from the Interrogations of Hitler's Personal Aides
.
Gunsche died of heart failure at his home in
Lohmar
,
North Rhine-Westphalia
in 2003. He had three children. Gunsche's body was cremated.
See also
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Awards and decorations
[
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]
References
[
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]
Citations
Bibliography
- Angolia, John (1987).
For Fuhrer and Fatherland: Military Awards of the Third Reich
. R. James Bender Publishing.
ISBN
0912138149
.
- Eberle, Henrik; Uhl, Matthias, eds. (2005).
The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin from the Interrogations of Hitler's Personal Aides
. New York: Public Affairs.
ISBN
978-1-58648-366-1
.
- Galante, Pierre; Silianoff, Eugene (1989).
Voices from the Bunker
. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
ISBN
978-0-3991-3404-3
.
- Hamilton, Charles (1984).
Leaders & Personalities of the Third Reich, Vol. 1
. R. James Bender Publishing.
ISBN
0-912138-27-0
.
- Hoffmann, Peter
(2000) [1979].
Hitler's Personal Security: Protecting the Fuhrer 1921-1945
. Boston: Da Capo Press.
ISBN
978-0-30680-947-7
.
- Joachimsthaler, Anton
(1999) [1995].
The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth
. Trans. Helmut Bogler. London: Brockhampton Press.
ISBN
978-1-86019-902-8
.
- Kershaw, Ian
(2008).
Hitler: A Biography
. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
ISBN
978-0-393-06757-6
.
- Linge, Heinz
(2009).
With Hitler to the End
. Frontline Books?Skyhorse Publishing.
ISBN
978-1-60239-804-7
.
- "Otto Gunsche, 86, Who Helped to Burn Hitler's Body, Dies"
.
The New York Times
. Associated Press. October 14, 2003.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- O'Donnell, James (2001) [1978].
The Bunker
. New York: Da Capo Press.
ISBN
0-306-80958-3
.
Final occupants of the
Fuhrerbunker
by date of departure (1945)
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20 April
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21 April
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22 April
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23 April
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24 April
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28 April
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29 April
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30 April
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1 May
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2 May
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Still present on 2 May
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Committed suicide
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Killed
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Unknown
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|
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International
| |
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National
| |
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People
| |
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Other
| |
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