Johann Rattenhuber

Johann Rattenhuber
Johann Rattenhuber as an SS Brigadeführer
Born	30 April 1897 Munich, Germany
Died	30 June 1957 (aged 60) Munich, Germany
Buried at	Munich Ostfriedhof Plot 90—Row 7—Grave 25/26
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Allgemeine SS
Years of service	1933–1945
Rank	SS-Gruppenführer
Unit	13th Bavarian Infantry Regiment 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment Freikorps
Commands held	Reichssicherheitsdienst
Battles/wars	World War I World War II

Johann Rattenhuber (30 April 1897 – 30 June 1957), also known as Hans Rattenhuber, was a German police and SS general (Gruppenführer, i. e. Generalleutnant). Rattenhuber was the head of German dictator Adolf Hitler's personal Reichssicherheitsdienst (Reich Security Service; RSD) bodyguard from 1933 to 1945.

Rattenhuber was born in Munich, where he made a career as a police officer. During World War I he served in the 16th and 13th Bavarian Infantry Regiments. He later served in the Freikorps. On 15 March 1933 he was appointed head of one of Hitler's personal bodyguard units then known as the Führerschutzkommando (Führer protection command; FSK). His deputy was Peter Högl. Its original members were Bavarian criminal-police officers. They were charged with protecting the Führer only while he was inside the borders of Bavaria which was the area of their authority. In the spring of 1934, the Führerschutzkommando replaced the SS-Begleitkommando for Hitler's overall protection throughout Germany.

The FSK was officially renamed the Reichssicherheitsdienst (RSD) on 1 August 1935. The unit should not be confused with the Sicherheitsdienst or SD. However, the unit was technically on the staff of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler with the members wearing the uniform of the SS with the SD diamond on their lower left sleeve. His was a unit created to provide personal security to members of the top Nazi leadership. He was head of Hitler's bodyguard at the time of the unsuccessful July 20 plot to assassinate Hitler during the summer of 1944.

As RSD chief, Rattenhuber was responsible for securing Hitler's field headquarters. This included the Wolf's Lair which Hitler first used on 23 June 1941. Rattenhuber also traveled to Vinnytsia, Ukraine, as Hitler's Werwolf bunker was under construction to survey the area. In January 1942 he met with local SS-police leaders and civilian authorities, and ordered that the area be cleared of Jews prior to Hitler's planned arrival in summer 1942. On 10 January 1942, Rattenhuber's RSD units participated in the mass shooting of 227 Jews at Strizhavka, the actual grounds of the Werwolf site. Details of the execution were reported to Rattenhuber by his deputy, SS-Sturmbannführer Friedrich Schmidt. Additional massacres of Jews and POW laborers who worked on the construction of the Werwolf headquarters occurred on the eve of Hitler's arrival in July 1942. Rattenhuber authorized local SS-police forces to initiate and order these executions, which were carried out under the guise of "security measures."