Rochus Misch

Rochus Misch (29 July 1917 – 5 September 2013) was a German Oberscharführer (sergeant) in the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).

He was badly wounded during the Polish campaign during the first month of World War II in Europe.

Misch was born on 29 July 1917 in Alt-Schalkowitz near Oppeln (Opole) in the Province of Silesia (now Stare Siołkowice, Poland).

His father, a construction worker, died of wounds sustained in World War I.

His widowed mother died of pneumonia when he was two and a half, and he grew up with his grandparents.

His older brother Bruno died following a swimming accident in 1922.

Over the objections of the school director, his grandfather took him out of school after eight years as he thought Rochus needed to learn a trade.

After several years, Misch moved to Hoyerswerda and became an apprentice with the firm of Schmüller & Model.

There he trained as a painter.

In 1935, after working as a journeyman painter, Misch attended the Masters' School for Fine Arts in Cologne.

After six months, he returned to Hoyerswerda to continue his training.

In 1937, Misch received a call-up notice for military service.

In Offenberg, he joined the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), the predecessor to the Waffen-SS, instead of the German Army as the SS-VT did not require Reichsarbeitsdienst (National Labour Service) time.

Along with eleven others, he was selected for Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).

Misch met Gerda, his wife-to-be, in July 1938.

In August 1939, he was promoted to the rank of SS-Rottenführer.

For the invasion of Poland in September 1939, his regiment was attached to the XIII Army Corps, a part of the 8th Army.

Near Warsaw on 24 September, he was one of four men selected by his company commander, then SS-Hauptsturmführer Wilhelm Mohnke, to negotiate the surrender of Polish troops during the Battle of Modlin.

He was picked because of his ability, although very limited, to speak Polish.

After the negotiations failed, the Germans headed back to their lines.

When they were about 80 metres from the fort, firing began.

Several rounds struck Misch, who fell down and lost consciousness.

Some German soldiers carried him to an aid station.

Later, he was transferred to two different hospitals.

Thereafter, he spent six weeks at a convalescent home.

For his actions, Misch was awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class.

As Misch was the last living member of his Lower Silesian family, Mohnke recommended him for the SS-Begleitkommando des Führers (Führer Escort Command; FBK).

This was made up of SS members, including men from the LSSAH, who were not serving on the front lines.

After recovering, from 1940 to April 1945, he served in the Führerbegleitkommando (Führer Escort Command; FBK) as a bodyguard, courier, and telephone operator for German dictator Adolf Hitler.

Misch was transferred to the FBK in early May 1940.

As a junior member of Hitler's permanent bodyguard, Misch travelled with Hitler throughout the war.

When not serving as bodyguards, Misch and the others in the unit served as telephone operators, couriers, orderlies, valets, and waiters.

When on duty, the FBK members were the only armed men Hitler allowed to be near him.

They never had to surrender their weapon and were never searched when they were with Hitler.

It did cause Misch some concern that they were armed only with Walther PPK 7.65 pistols.

They later married on New Year's Eve, 1942.

They had a daughter, Brigitta Jacob-Engelken, who, after the end of World War II, supported Jewish causes.

On 16 January 1945, following the Wehrmacht's defeat in the Battle of the Bulge, Misch and the rest of Hitler's personal staff moved into the Führerbunker and Vorbunker under the Reich Chancellery garden in Berlin.

His FBK commanding officer, Franz Schädle, appointed Misch to be the bunker telephone operator.

Misch was widely reported in the media as being the last surviving former occupant of the Führerbunker when he died in September 2013.