Part II
Spiegel: Did you feel relieved after Hitler's death?
Misch: With me, it had to do with fear, because I did not know what would happen next. Because we were witnesses, I was afraid Gestapo would murder us.
Spiegel: What did you do then?
Misch: I wanted to inform Schädle [Franz Schädel was the Chef of the Führer-Begleitkommandos - edit.] but half-way there I turned around because I was so confused about everything. When I got back, only about half or quarter of a minute later, Hitler was already on the ground and Linge and some others were already taking care of his body [einwickeln]. Later they carried the corpse past me.
Spiegel: Did you witness the burning of the body?
Misch: No. A colleague said: 'So, now the Chef will be burned, hurry and go up [to take a look].' 'No', I said. 'I'm not goin up there, you go.' But he didn't want to go either.
Spiegel: How did you end up in Hitler's service?
Misch: In 1937 I signed up for the SS-Verfügungstruppe [combat support force?] which later turned into the Waffen-SS.
Speigel: Were you a National Socialist?
Misch: I was nothing, just a soldier like millions of others. But I was an orphan and I was recruited with the idea/prospect to become a civil servant [not sure what orphans have to do with this... :lol:]. And then I thought why don't I go into Government service. That is how I came to the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler.
Spiegel: At that time you were not yet included in the Dictator's entourage.
Misch: No, at first I was at the Front. But in 1940 the Führer's Adjutantur was looking for someone for the 'Begleitkommando' [escort duties].
Spiegel: And how/why did they pick you?
Misch: My Kompaniechef recommended me.
Spiegel: You must have distinguished yourself in some way.
Misch: Just before this I was severely injured and I received convalescence leave. [...]
TBC.
Rochus Misch
You know something? You really have a lot of nerve. I admire Rochus Misch because he's a nice person. He has been through very traumatic events in his lifetime -- fighting in combat, having to stand by while his boss and others committed suicide, having to witness a mother poisoning her six children, being captured by the Russian Army, and undergoing imprisonment and torture. Many people would never want to speak of such horrors, but Rochus has shown a lot of class and personal strength by sharing his memories with those who are curious about the history he lived through. I am not a historian; I am not making a documentary film; I did not offer Rochus any money or "air time" for speaking with me. And yet, he invited me, a total stranger from another country, into his own home for several hours, because I was interested in his experiences.gunslinger wrote:Well im tempted to agree with Panzerass reaction,
With all respect, but,I,m not sure about this sort of admirationI nearly cried when I arrived at his house and saw both ornaments on display in his living room. Rochus had saved all of my letters to him
can some one pleace explain, where interest stops, and admiration begins.
especialy in this field of interest.
If you have a problem with the fact that I *like* Rochus, then I have only this to say to you:
Judge not lest ye be judged.
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Mehmet Fatih
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I think Rochus Misch has never said to press that he was always loyal to his Führer or he was a Nazi.As he said to the reporters, he was nothing.
I agree with Geli.To like a man who witnessed the most interesting part of 20th century is not a wrong thing i think.As i have never met him, i have no reason to like him but he didnt commit any crimes or did anything bad.He was just an ordinary man serving his country and his leader.
Regards
I agree with Geli.To like a man who witnessed the most interesting part of 20th century is not a wrong thing i think.As i have never met him, i have no reason to like him but he didnt commit any crimes or did anything bad.He was just an ordinary man serving his country and his leader.
Regards
Well said, Geli! This "gunslinger" indeed has a load of nerve especially because he himself is like obessesed about the SS-Hitler-jugend-division (he even made yet another gloryfying website about it :roll:) so he not very well placed to give others lectures on "the borderline where admiration" begins. And then I'm not talking about his avtar; the symbol of a nazi-division. If we judge "gunslinger" by his own standards he comes off as bad as can be.Geli wrote:You know something? You really have a lot of nerve. I admire Rochus Misch because he's a nice person. He has been through very traumatic events in his lifetime -- fighting in combat, having to stand by while his boss and others committed suicide, having to witness a mother poisoning her six children, being captured by the Russian Army, and undergoing imprisonment and torture. Many people would never want to speak of such horrors, but Rochus has shown a lot of class and personal strength by sharing his memories with those who are curious about the history he lived through. I am not a historian; I am not making a documentary film; I did not offer Rochus any money or "air time" for speaking with me. And yet, he invited me, a total stranger from another country, into his own home for several hours, because I was interested in his experiences.gunslinger wrote:Well im tempted to agree with Panzerass reaction,
With all respect, but,I,m not sure about this sort of admiration :?I nearly cried when I arrived at his house and saw both ornaments on display in his living room. Rochus had saved all of my letters to him
can some one pleace explain, where interest stops, and admiration begins.
especialy in this field of interest.
If you have a problem with the fact that I *like* Rochus, then I have only this to say to you:
Judge not lest ye be judged.
I'm really "gunslinger" used this thread to launch this silly personal attack towards you, there really was no need for that. If anything, it probably was jealously from his part.
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gunslinger
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@Dimitrii
Well, that the problem right there,
I have an interest and admiration in a Military historical way, i'm not sure about yours
and please dont act as a 16year old macho boy,
Geli has spoken already, dont over do it.
Ps i stay with my point:
I'm simply not used to people that has a facination of the 3rd reich , in that manor.
best regards
Henk/ the Netherlands
Well, that the problem right there,
I have an interest and admiration in a Military historical way, i'm not sure about yours
and please dont act as a 16year old macho boy,
Geli has spoken already, dont over do it.
Ps i stay with my point:
I'm simply not used to people that has a facination of the 3rd reich , in that manor.
best regards
Henk/ the Netherlands
"Misch: I was nothing, just a soldier like millions of others. But I was an orphan and I was recruited with the idea/prospect to become a civil servant [not sure what orphans have to do with this... :lol:]. And then I thought why don't I go into Government service. That is how I came to the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler."
Many of those that wanted to join the government and especially the SS (and particularly the Leibstandarte), had to submit a genealogy showing their heritage back several generations. If you were an orphan, this might be difficult to do.
Luft300
Many of those that wanted to join the government and especially the SS (and particularly the Leibstandarte), had to submit a genealogy showing their heritage back several generations. If you were an orphan, this might be difficult to do.
Luft300
@ Luft300:
re: Many of those that wanted to join the government and especially the SS (and particularly the Leibstandarte), had to submit a genealogy showing their heritage back several generations. If you were an orphan, this might be difficult to do.
not difficult at all, being an orphan does not automatically means you do not know where you come from, his parents could both have died in an accident or his father in the first world war, or by sudden illness.....
I have a friend now in the same situation, both parents are dead, one in a crane accident and the other from a long illness, he is an orphan, but knows exactly where he came from....also being an orphan does not automatically means you are in dire straits (ie: whitout monetary support...) just without parents .....
best regards
Xavier
Instandsetzungtruppfuhrer
re: Many of those that wanted to join the government and especially the SS (and particularly the Leibstandarte), had to submit a genealogy showing their heritage back several generations. If you were an orphan, this might be difficult to do.
not difficult at all, being an orphan does not automatically means you do not know where you come from, his parents could both have died in an accident or his father in the first world war, or by sudden illness.....
I have a friend now in the same situation, both parents are dead, one in a crane accident and the other from a long illness, he is an orphan, but knows exactly where he came from....also being an orphan does not automatically means you are in dire straits (ie: whitout monetary support...) just without parents .....
best regards
Xavier
Instandsetzungtruppfuhrer
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Potsdamerplatz
- Member
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- Location: Scotland
Part III
Misch: Just before this I was severely injured and I received convalescence leave. That's when my company chef suggested I spend the time at the battalion commander's brother's farm. I gave a good impression there. The sister-in-law also spoke well of me. In any case the battalion cammander called me and said, we have to be careful that there is no trouble because it will go directly to the greater circle of the Führer.
Spiegel: Where did you go/where were you brought?
Misch: To the Führer apartment in the old Reichskanzlei. We were bodyguards, but in that time when there was nothing to do we helped out: distributing newspapers or dispatches or bringing visitors like Göring to Hitler. They always wanted to know: how is the Führer feeling, is someone looking after him etc.
Spiegel: Do you remember your first meeting with Hitler?
Misch: After twelve days the Chefadjutant Wilhelm Brückner called me and asked: where do I come from, where was I wounded etc. Well, then he tore open the door and Hitler was standing there. He had a letter. We were after all also his couriers. I was hot, I was cold, I was everything. Hitler asked Brückner where I came from. He said from Silesia. Hitler said: the young man can do something for me now. Bring this letter to my sister in Vienna.
Spiegel: Were you also trained as a bodyguard.
Misch: No. They told us we shouldn't be overbearing towards the people that wanted to get close to Hitler. The älteren Kameraden said: if the Chef sees that he will get angry.
Spiegel: Many who met Hitler reported that he had a hypnotic effect, that went out from him. Did you also experience this?
Misch: No, absolutely not. This was a normal person.
Spiegel: Since when did you make telephone calls for him?
Misch: That was already from the beginning. I still remember our telephone number at the Führerbunker: 12 00 50.
Spiegel: Did you listen in on telephone calls?
Misch: Yes, we had to regulate the sound of the calls: if a voice was too high, we made it 'darker' and so on. Just like a radio.
Spiegel: Do you remember if Hitler mentioned on the telephone about the holocaust?
Misch: No, during my time of duty in Hitler's inner circle, there was never any mention of this. I first learned about it as a POW.
Spiegel: You were there when Hitler moved into the Fürherebunker in February 1945.
Misch: First, after the air-raid siren, when the all clear was sounded, he would return upstairs to his apartments. It was like a concrete coffin down there. That wasn't really a 'house/living' bunker, they were cells. Later he stayed downstairs.
TBC.
Misch: Just before this I was severely injured and I received convalescence leave. That's when my company chef suggested I spend the time at the battalion commander's brother's farm. I gave a good impression there. The sister-in-law also spoke well of me. In any case the battalion cammander called me and said, we have to be careful that there is no trouble because it will go directly to the greater circle of the Führer.
Spiegel: Where did you go/where were you brought?
Misch: To the Führer apartment in the old Reichskanzlei. We were bodyguards, but in that time when there was nothing to do we helped out: distributing newspapers or dispatches or bringing visitors like Göring to Hitler. They always wanted to know: how is the Führer feeling, is someone looking after him etc.
Spiegel: Do you remember your first meeting with Hitler?
Misch: After twelve days the Chefadjutant Wilhelm Brückner called me and asked: where do I come from, where was I wounded etc. Well, then he tore open the door and Hitler was standing there. He had a letter. We were after all also his couriers. I was hot, I was cold, I was everything. Hitler asked Brückner where I came from. He said from Silesia. Hitler said: the young man can do something for me now. Bring this letter to my sister in Vienna.
Spiegel: Were you also trained as a bodyguard.
Misch: No. They told us we shouldn't be overbearing towards the people that wanted to get close to Hitler. The älteren Kameraden said: if the Chef sees that he will get angry.
Spiegel: Many who met Hitler reported that he had a hypnotic effect, that went out from him. Did you also experience this?
Misch: No, absolutely not. This was a normal person.
Spiegel: Since when did you make telephone calls for him?
Misch: That was already from the beginning. I still remember our telephone number at the Führerbunker: 12 00 50.
Spiegel: Did you listen in on telephone calls?
Misch: Yes, we had to regulate the sound of the calls: if a voice was too high, we made it 'darker' and so on. Just like a radio.
Spiegel: Do you remember if Hitler mentioned on the telephone about the holocaust?
Misch: No, during my time of duty in Hitler's inner circle, there was never any mention of this. I first learned about it as a POW.
Spiegel: You were there when Hitler moved into the Fürherebunker in February 1945.
Misch: First, after the air-raid siren, when the all clear was sounded, he would return upstairs to his apartments. It was like a concrete coffin down there. That wasn't really a 'house/living' bunker, they were cells. Later he stayed downstairs.
TBC.
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Potsdamerplatz
- Member
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- Location: Scotland
Part IV
Spiegel: On 22 April 1945 Joseph Goebbels brought his wife and children to the front bunker. When was it clear to you that the children would be murdered?
Misch: Actually when Frau Goebbels decided to kill herself.
Spiegel: Did someone try to stop her?
Misch: I remember I was drinking a glass of wine with Hanna Reitsch and the servant of Goebbels. Frau Goebbels passed us by and Frau Reisch said: 'My God, Frau Goebbels, and if I have to fly twenty times in and out to get the children out, they cannot stay here.' And then two other women came out of the front bunker and tried to persuade her. But she said: 'No, the children are staying here'.
Spiegel: What happened next?
Misch: Later the children came down again, all dressed in white nightgowns with their hair neatly combed. I continued working and made telephone calls. Then Frau Geobbels, still not speaking, went away with the children. Well, at some time Dr Naumann [Werner Naumann was State Secretary in the Propaganda Ministry - edit.] came by and said: 'Dr Stumpfegger [Ludwig Stumpfegger was the last personal Dr of Hitler - edit.] will give them something drink, some kind of sweet [candy] water'. Dr Naumann also said, if it was up to him, and then he motioned in the direction of J Goebbels, the children would no longer be here [meaning away from the bunker].
Spiegel: Did you see Frau Goebbels anymore after the murders?
Misch: Yes, she came back down into the room of Goebbels, the door was open, and she began laying down cards.
Spiegel: Did she show some kind of reaction/s?
Misch: She was in tears. Goebbels then came to her. But he didn't comfort her or anything, nothing. He watched as she continued to play patience. Maybe one or one and half hours, I'm not sure.
Spiegel: Do you believe that Frau Goebbels killed her children by her own hand?
Misch: Naumann told me that Dr Stumpfegger did it.
Spiegel: How did you then get out of the bunker?
Misch: There were so few of us left down there and contact became more and more friendly. I told Goebbels: 'I would also like to leave'. Sometime he came back and said: 'Well, we understood how to live, now we shall also understand how to die. You can now finish up [and go, he was relieved of duty].
Spiegel: You didn't get very far.
Misch: I went to the U-bahn station Kaiserhof and ran along the tracks. There I met Linge and others. Bombs had torn open the roof and the Russians were throwing handgrenades down. We all made it till the Stettiner trainstation. And there we heard through an airvent German voices. Then we said now we have to get out. Those were comrades btw, but they were already prisoners and the Russians promptly captured us.
Spiegel: How did the Russians find out that you had done duty in the Führerbunker?
Misch: In the pow camp I met Hans Bauer, Hitler's chief pilot. They just sawed off his leg. I gave him some support. Then he was to go to Militärlazarett [hospital] in Moscow. Then he said: 'Misch, will you stay with me? I may take someone with me as support. And then both of us were brought to Moscow. Not in the hospital but in the Lubjanka [the central of the secret police - edit]. That's where the interrogations began. And at some stage Bauer said: 'why don't you ask my supporter, he knows it better then I'. Then it was my turn.
Spiegel: What did they want to know?
Misch: Everything. What happened down there, what I did. First it went normal. Then for week I was subjected to the worst tortures. The Russians said that Hitler had a body double and they wouldn't believe me.
Spiegel: How long were you in Soviet captivity?
Misch: Almost nine years.
The End.
I suggest the naysayers shut (deleted by moderator) up and show Geli some respect for hers.
And Rochus Misch? I don't think I need to write anything else, do I?
Learn your history before you post.
Spiegel: On 22 April 1945 Joseph Goebbels brought his wife and children to the front bunker. When was it clear to you that the children would be murdered?
Misch: Actually when Frau Goebbels decided to kill herself.
Spiegel: Did someone try to stop her?
Misch: I remember I was drinking a glass of wine with Hanna Reitsch and the servant of Goebbels. Frau Goebbels passed us by and Frau Reisch said: 'My God, Frau Goebbels, and if I have to fly twenty times in and out to get the children out, they cannot stay here.' And then two other women came out of the front bunker and tried to persuade her. But she said: 'No, the children are staying here'.
Spiegel: What happened next?
Misch: Later the children came down again, all dressed in white nightgowns with their hair neatly combed. I continued working and made telephone calls. Then Frau Geobbels, still not speaking, went away with the children. Well, at some time Dr Naumann [Werner Naumann was State Secretary in the Propaganda Ministry - edit.] came by and said: 'Dr Stumpfegger [Ludwig Stumpfegger was the last personal Dr of Hitler - edit.] will give them something drink, some kind of sweet [candy] water'. Dr Naumann also said, if it was up to him, and then he motioned in the direction of J Goebbels, the children would no longer be here [meaning away from the bunker].
Spiegel: Did you see Frau Goebbels anymore after the murders?
Misch: Yes, she came back down into the room of Goebbels, the door was open, and she began laying down cards.
Spiegel: Did she show some kind of reaction/s?
Misch: She was in tears. Goebbels then came to her. But he didn't comfort her or anything, nothing. He watched as she continued to play patience. Maybe one or one and half hours, I'm not sure.
Spiegel: Do you believe that Frau Goebbels killed her children by her own hand?
Misch: Naumann told me that Dr Stumpfegger did it.
Spiegel: How did you then get out of the bunker?
Misch: There were so few of us left down there and contact became more and more friendly. I told Goebbels: 'I would also like to leave'. Sometime he came back and said: 'Well, we understood how to live, now we shall also understand how to die. You can now finish up [and go, he was relieved of duty].
Spiegel: You didn't get very far.
Misch: I went to the U-bahn station Kaiserhof and ran along the tracks. There I met Linge and others. Bombs had torn open the roof and the Russians were throwing handgrenades down. We all made it till the Stettiner trainstation. And there we heard through an airvent German voices. Then we said now we have to get out. Those were comrades btw, but they were already prisoners and the Russians promptly captured us.
Spiegel: How did the Russians find out that you had done duty in the Führerbunker?
Misch: In the pow camp I met Hans Bauer, Hitler's chief pilot. They just sawed off his leg. I gave him some support. Then he was to go to Militärlazarett [hospital] in Moscow. Then he said: 'Misch, will you stay with me? I may take someone with me as support. And then both of us were brought to Moscow. Not in the hospital but in the Lubjanka [the central of the secret police - edit]. That's where the interrogations began. And at some stage Bauer said: 'why don't you ask my supporter, he knows it better then I'. Then it was my turn.
Spiegel: What did they want to know?
Misch: Everything. What happened down there, what I did. First it went normal. Then for week I was subjected to the worst tortures. The Russians said that Hitler had a body double and they wouldn't believe me.
Spiegel: How long were you in Soviet captivity?
Misch: Almost nine years.
The End.
I suggest the naysayers shut (deleted by moderator) up and show Geli some respect for hers.
And Rochus Misch? I don't think I need to write anything else, do I?
Learn your history before you post.
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Michael Miller
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Potsdamerplatz
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Fascinating ending - just like in the movie "DOWNFALL" I thought it was an exaggeration what happened at the end with Magda Goebbels calmly playing cards and Josef Goebbels saying to Misch - "right you can go now, we don't require you any longer" but apparently that's the way it happened. Incredible!!!