Otto Günsche

Otto Günsche (24 September 1917 – 2 October 2003) was a German 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. Günsche was taken prisoner by soldiers of the Red Army in Berlin on 2 May 1945. He was held in various labour camps and prisons by the Soviet Union until 2 May 1956 and provided key testimony regarding Hitler's death.

Life and career

Otto Günsche 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, Günsche became a personal adjutant for Hitler. From August 1943 to 5 February 1944, Günsche 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 (Persönlicher Adjutant) to Hitler, Günsche was also a member of the Führerbegleitkommando which provided security 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 by use of a bomb at the Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg. The explosion burst Günsche's eardrums and caused him to receive a number of contusions.

With the end of Nazi Germany imminent, on 30 April 1945 Hitler tasked Günsche with ensuring the cremation of his body after his death. That afternoon, Günsche stood guard outside the room in the Führerbunker 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 Günsche right behind them. Günsche 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. Günsche 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, Günsche left the Führerbunker after midnight on 1 May. The next day, he was taken prisoner by Soviet Red Army troops that were encircling the city and flown to Moscow for interrogation by the NKVD.

Post-war and death

File:Монке и Гюнше.jpg

Günsche (right) with Wilhelm Mohnke, 1999

Before sentencing, Günsche was held in the NKVD special camp No. 48 for high-ranked POWs. He served his sentence in Sverdlovsk, transferred to Bautzen in East Germany in 1955, and released on 2 May 1956. During imprisonment, Günsche and Linge were primary sources for Operation Myth, the biography of Hitler which was prepared for Joseph Stalin. According to Soviet officers, Linge collaborated freely, while Günsche did not and reportedly even resorted to threats "to bring Linge round to his point of view". 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 (and published in 2005 as The Hitler Book).

As one of three witnesses to the immediate aftermath of Hitler's death (i.e. seeing the body before it was moved), Günsche was torturously interrogated by the Soviets, who focused on Hitler's method of death and potential escape using a body double. He was kept in solitary confinement by the Soviets and thus could not corroborate details with Linge. After his release, Günsche was questioned by the western Allies as to Hitler's manner of death, which included court testimony. Günsche provided some inconsistent details, according to one Soviet report he purportedly stated that he only saw Hitler's body after it had been moved. According to another Soviet statement Günsche said he entered the room behind Linge and clearly saw Hitler's body (purportedly in an armchair), but only learned from Linge that the cause of death was a gunshot. Additionally, Kempka, Hitler Youth leader Artur Axmann and Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge recalled that Günsche initially told them that Hitler shot himself through the mouth. Kempka stated that Günsche had made a hand gesture indicating this. Günsche denied making such statements or a gesture suggesting Hitler's manner of death. In June 1956, Günsche testified that Hitler shot himself in the right temple and that he saw a blood-puddle stain on the floor.

Historian Anton Joachimsthaler, who wrote a number of books about Hitler, cited Günsche's statements and court testimony in his exhaustive book on Hitler's death, first published in 1995. He also interviewed Günsche directly about the events and statements of others as to Hitler's death and aftermath. Joachimsthaler did conclude, based on the evidence, that Günsche was mistaken as to the position of where Hitler was sitting when first observed after death and criticized him and Linge for delegating the task of the actual burning of the corpses to SS officers Ewald Lindloff and Hans Reisser.

Günsche died of heart failure at his home in Lohmar, North Rhine-Westphalia, in 2003. He had three children. Günsche's body was cremated.

According to journalist Jean-Christophe Brisard and filmmaker Lana Parshina, as of 2017 the Soviet military file on Günsche, although declassified, remained closed to the public without the authorization of a family member.

See also

• Downfall (2004 film), in which he was portrayed by actor Götz Otto

Awards and decorations

• Wound Badge in Silver
• Infantry Assault Badge
• Iron Cross 2nd Class
• Iron Cross 1st Class