Connecting with the remaining inner circle

[robertmountfor]

[Split from "Berghof Obersalzberg"]

Robert,

You mean you actually got to speak to Herr Döhring? Is there
anything else that you can share that he may have said that we
would be interested in hearing?

Thanks

Over twenty years ago i made it my mission to connect with all and any remaining inner circle.
Traudl Junge was top of my list, and corresponded with her long before anyone was remotely interested in het. A wonderful and kind woman, devoted to braille and those who were deaf.
I kept some of her typed envelopes....same fingers that typed the final testament of you know who!
I was just in time to call and correspond with a fascinating soldier... ADC to General Krebs, von Loringhoven. You should def buy his book, 'In The Bunker With Hitler. A very good read. He was such a pleasant and kind gentleman, who signed my book and corresponded on several topics.
Herbert Doering as you might have seen from his various interviews was a very funny man who had a real zest for life, and who could really mimic his boss albeit respectfully, very well.
Sadly none really left, i think even Bernhard Frank may now have passed on....? Another delightful man whose excellent book had some fascinating insights.
Although ss commander of Obersalzberg he met his Chief on only two occasions i seem to remember.
He was the victim of an two outrageous attempts to con him and attempt to destroy his reputation.

[Paulheald]

Hi Robert Mountfor - very interesting comments since most, if not all, have gone by now. Did you by any chance interview SS Oberscharfuehrer Roches Misch? I think that, until very recently, he was the sole surviving member of the Bunker staff. So sad that so much history dies with these people. I well remember that when the film "Downfall" was screened Roches Misch commented that it was historically reasonable save that the Bunker was shown to be very much larger than it really was. I was looking at photos of the outer shell of the Bunker when the the "Popovs" excavated it . The interior certainly must have been very cramped and claustrophobic.

[robertmountfor]

Hello paul, i did chat with him in the past. I asked him about Downfall...he said it was pure Hollywood.
Rochus is a fine gentleman, and used to give out some fine autographed pictures of him at the Berghof and Wolfsschanze, but he was not really privy to areas that are more intimate in nature.
Johannes Hentschel the bunker engineer was a colleague and friend of Rochus, wish he had written his memoirs.
He ran a small business in Berlin, in complete anonimity after the war for many years.

[DaveL111]

Rauchus just died recently didn't he?

[robertmountfor]

No, hes in good health as far as I know..... I believe there were reports of bad health, but certainly not true.

[DaveL111]

Good it would be nice to meet him.

[Paulheald]

Hello Robert, I am fascinated with all the contacts that you had 20 years ago with so many senior members of Hitler's entourage. If I might be so bold as to suggest that you should really be thinking of committing the details of these interviews in the form of a book. As each year passes the strands of history become more blurred and distorted. Anyway, I am sure that many of those that monitor this thread would be delighted with any details that you migh wish to regurgitate, whether they be relevant to the Berghof or not. Thanks once again.

[robertmountfor]

Hello Robert, I am fascinated with all the contacts that you had 20 years ago with so many senior members of Hitler's entourage. If I might be so bold as to suggest that you should really be thinking of committing the details of these interviews in the form of a book. As each year passes the strands of history become more blurred and distorted. Anyway, I am sure that many of those that monitor this thread would be delighted with any details that you migh wish to regurgitate, whether they be relevant to the Berghof or not. Thanks once again.

Hello Paul, thankyou.
Well, it has always fascinated me to shake a hand of history.... I do think, however that there probably isnt anything new to add to what is already known, be it in biography or autobiography form.
One man who always had my attention, and who fascinated me was Otto Guensche.
He remained loyal to his boss all his life even under dreadful soviet interrogations the man would not tell them what they wanted to hear.
He never even comitted his career to paper, believing this to be a form of betrayal.
David Irving told me that this loyal and honourable man passed away in a terrible manner...found dead in his own sauna after three weeks. What an awful end.
He is survived by his son Kai Guensche.

[Annelie]

it has always fascinated me to shake a hand of history

What a lovely way to describe it.
I have always wanted to do what you have done but somehow I always back out fearing that
I would be invading their privacy yet at the same time wanting to look back at the history.

On your recommendation I have ordered the book you recommended. Look forward to reading it.

[robertmountfor]

it has always fascinated me to shake a hand of history

I think you will enjoy it Annellie!


What a lovely way to describe it.
I have always wanted to do what you have done but somehow I always back out fearing that
I would be invading their privacy yet at the same time wanting to look back at the history.

On your recommendation I have ordered the book you recommended. Look forward to reading it.

[sinatra1989]

Yes Misch is OK, I was in contact with him only last week.

[muller1945]

The only person in the inner circle i would have like to have met would be julius schaub, old fighter and by hitlers side for nearly 25 years. Ulric of england had his golden party badge for sale at some point.

[Adam Carr]

Loyalty is all very admirable. But loyalty to an evil man and an evil regime requires explanation, and I would have thoughtr calls for some retrospective remorse. On the whole, I find Stauffenberg's disloyalty more admirable than Guensche's loyalty.

[robertmountfor]

No remorse. Stauffenberg was a traitor plain and simple.

[robertmountfor]

The only person in the inner circle i would have like to have met would be julius schaub, old fighter and by hitlers side for nearly 25 years. Ulric of england had his golden party badge for sale at some point.

Yes I agree. He was a man who in many ways is an underated part of the story.
He certainly appears at his boss's side at many key moments, and from very early on.
His limp was seen as a subject for levity for some of the female staff.