Interview with Hitler's bodyguard
With the acclaim and attention received by liver Hirschbiegel and Bernd Eichinger's movie "Downfall," which was nominated for a best foreign-language Oscar, about the last 12 days of Hitler's life in the Führerbunker in Berlin as the Red Army pounded Berlin into rubble, advancing relentlessly, Salon.com has published an interview with Rochus Misch, who served as one of Hitler's bodyguards from 1940-1945. With the death of Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge in 2002, Misch is the last surviving person to have spent those bizarre and horrible last days in the bunker.
Unlike Junge, Misch seems relatively unrepentant and reports good memories of working for Hitler. In any case, it's a fascinating piece of history.
Unlike Junge, Misch seems relatively unrepentant and reports good memories of working for Hitler. In any case, it's a fascinating piece of history.
I think Salon should be ashamed of themselves for giving this guy a platform. This isn't historically interesting: it's voyeurism. Worse, it's voyeurism by proxy and the proxy is a holocaust denier whose failure to accept basic historical facts makes him a good candidate for extreme skepticism with regard to anything he says.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to disagree with you on this one, I'm afraid. I think it's very useful to see the power that the Nazi regime holds over some people, even 60 years after its downfall. Here is a man who saw what Hitler's fanaticism did to Germany, spent the last days in the bunker in Berlin with Hitler as the Russians pounded the city into rubble, and saw how Hitler's defeat divided Germany, delivering half of it into the hands of his most hated enemies besides the Jews (the Soviets) for 45 years, and still he remembers Hitler fondly.
ReplyDeleteNo, I think it's very valuable to see the portrait of the few survivors like Misch. Some Germans who served Hitler were like Junge, who wrestled with self-recrimination after realizing what Hitler did to Germany and the world. Others were like Misch.
I wish I believed that the purpose or, for most readers, the effect of the article was even close to your own. The article is a tie-in with the movie, which Salon is only interested in because of the "humanizing Hitler" controversy and becuase we're still suckers for Hitlerania after all these years. The subject is not in any sense a "typical" German, but a personal associate/servant of Hitler himself, someone who felt privileged to be in his position (in other words, it's entirely possible that his views are highly atypical, but the article doesn't investigate that), and he holds interest as a witness only if the events he witnessed were interesting (which I don't personally find them, nor do I really understand any interesting historical value in pursuing the question).
ReplyDeleteThe guy's been interviewed by reputable archives and scholars: Salon's decision is hackery.
Rochus Misch ist einer der letzten Zeitzeugen mit Anstand, Würde, Charakter und Ehre!
ReplyDeleteIch glaube, daß es nur noch sehr wenige Menschen seines Schlages gibt. Otto Günsche ist tot, nun ist Rochus Misch der letzte Zeitzeuge, welcher objektiv über die Zeit von 1940 - 1945 berichten kann. Schön, daß es noch Menschen wie ihn gibt!
Kulturwart T.F.
In Berlin belästigte die sogenannte ANTIFA und Berliner Kommunisten mit Israel(!)-Fahne Rochus Misch bei Dreharbeiten in der Wilhelmstraße.
ReplyDeleteIch spreche solchen Linksextremisten meine Verachtung aus und ziehe meinen Hut voller Hochachtung und Respekt vor Rochus Misch!
Lang lebe Rochus Misch!
Karl Kuhn
Berlin