Hitler's bodyguard dead at 96

Hitler's bodyguard dead at 96. 1 hour ago .Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard, who was the last surviving witness of the Nazi dictator's final days in the bunker towards the end of World War II, has died, his agent said Friday. Rochus Misch died aged 96 in Berlin on Thursday after failing to recover from a heart attack, Michael Stehle, who owns the rights to a book written by Misch, told AFP. Misch was among those who joined the Nazi leader in his bunker where Hitler eventually committed suicide days before Germany's surrender. In a 2005 interview with AFP, Misch described how he had seen the Nazi leader and his wife Eva Braun dead in their bunker deep under the shattered city of Berlin. "Hitler was sitting at the table, slumped forward, and Eva Braun was lying next to him. I saw that with my own eyes," Misch told AFP. ..View gallery." Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is seen next to a car shortly after his release from Landsberg prison in 19 …Two days later, Misch, then aged 27, fled the bunker, where he had worked as a telephone operator, on May 2, 1945 as Soviet troops stormed the chancellery in Berlin. He was taken prisoner by Soviet forces and held captive until 1953. His 2008 book "The Last Witness" ("Der Letzte Zeuge") made it onto the bestseller list and brought Misch much attention. An English translation is due to be published next month, Stehle said. Misch trained as a house painter before joining the SS and, from 1940, was part of Hitler's escort. He returned to working as a painter after his captivity. He told news site Spiegel online in 2007 that at his first meeting with the dictator, he had thought: "He wasn't a monster, he wasn't an Uebermensch, he stood opposite me like a perfectly normal gentleman, and spoke kind words." Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is seen next to a car shortly after his release from Landsberg prison in 1924. Hitler's personal bodyguard, who was the last surviving witness of the Nazi dictator's final days in the bunker towards the end of World War II, has died, his agent said Friday. (AFP Photo/ A 92-year-old who served in the Waffen-SS, Adolf Hitler’s elite Nazi troops, goes on trial in Germany charged with having killed a Dutch resistance fighter at the end of World War Two. Sunita Rappai reports. Siert Bruins, a suspected Nazi war criminal, gestures before the start of his trial in the western German city of Hagen September 2, 2013. A 92-year-old who served in the Waffen-SS, Adolf Hitler's elite Nazi troops, went on trial on Monday on charges of having shot in the back and killed a Dutch resistance fighter at the end of World War Two. In an televised interview with broadcaster Das Erste, Bruins says he was present at the murder of Aldert Klaas Dijkema but says another soldier, now dead, shot him. The Hagen court already sentenced the Dutch-born accused, who acquired German citizenship while serving as a German security and border guard in the Netherlands during World War Two, to seven years in jail in 1980 for being accessory to the murder of two Jewish brothers in April 1945. (REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Hitler's bodyguard dead at 96 ...Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard, who was the last surviving witness of the Nazi dictator's final days in the bunker towards the end of World War II, has died, his agent said Friday. Rochus Misch died aged 96 in Berlin on Thursday after failing to recover from a heart attack, Michael Stehle, who owns the rights to a book written by Misch, told AFP. Misch was among those who joined the Nazi leader in his bunker where Hitler eventually committed suicide days before Germany's surrender. In a 2005 interview with AFP, Misch described how he had seen the Nazi leader and his wife Eva Braun dead in their bunker deep under the shattered city of Berlin. "Hitler was sitting at the table, slumped forward, and Eva Braun was lying next to him. I saw that with my own eyes," Misch told AFP. Two days later, Misch, then aged 27, fled the bunker, where he had worked as a telephone operator, on May 2, 1945 as Soviet troops stormed the chancellery in Berlin. He was taken prisoner by Soviet forces and held captive until 1953. His 2008 book "The Last Witness" ("Der Letzte Zeuge") made it onto the bestseller list and brought Misch much attention. An English translation is due to be published next month, Stehle said. Misch trained as a house painter before joining the SS and, from 1940, was part of Hitler's escort. He returned to working as a painter after his captivity. He told news site Spiegel online in 2007 that at his first meeting with the dictator, he had thought: "He wasn't a monster, he wasn't an Uebermensch, he stood opposite me like a perfectly normal gentleman, and spoke kind words." Hitler’s last remaining bodyguard dies aged 96 Rochus Misch, who was Adolf Hitler’s devoted bodyguard for the duration of World War Two, and witnessed the Fuhrer’s final days in his Berlin bunker has died at the age of 96, AP reports. In a 2008 memoir Misch said he remained proud to the end about his years with Hitler who he called affectionately “boss”. Misch decided to join the SS at the age of 20 and then joined the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, which was founded to provide personal protection to the Fuhrer. “It was anti-communist – against Stalin. I signed up for the war against Bolshevism, not for Adolf Hitler,” said Misch. He denied having any knowledge, during the war, of 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis. ========== ===================