Hitler's Last Bodyguard Dies; Was With The Fuhrer In Bunker
Rochus Misch, "Adolf Hitler's devoted bodyguard for most of World War II and the last remaining witness to the Nazi leader's final hours in his Berlin bunker," has died, The Associated Press reports.
Misch was 96. He died Thursday in Germany.
In a 2005 interview with the AP, Misch "stayed away from the central questions of guilt and responsibility, saying he knew nothing of the murder of 6 million Jews and that Hitler never brought up the Final Solution in his presence. 'That was never a topic,' he said emphatically. 'Never.' "
In 2009, he told the BBC that:
"I knew about Dachau camp and about concentration camps in general. ... But I had no idea of the scale. It wasn't part of our conversations. The Nuremberg Trial dealt with crimes committed by the Germans. But you must remember there was never a war when crimes weren't committed, and there never will be."