Otto Günsche

Otto Günsche
Günsche as a SS-Untersturmführer
Born	(1917-09-24)24 September 1917 Jena, German Empire
Died	2 October 2003(2003-10-02) (aged 86) Lohmar, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1933–45
Rank	Sturmbannführer
Unit	SS Division Leibstandarte; Führerbegleitkommando
Battles/wars	World War II

Otto Günsche (24 September 1917 – 2 October 2003) was a mid-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a member of the SS Division Leibstandarte before he became Adolf Hitler's personal adjutant. Günsche was taken prisoner by soldiers of the Red Army in Berlin on 2 May 1945. After being held in various prisons and labour camps in the USSR, he was released from Bautzen Penitentiary on 2 May 1956.

Günsche was born in Jena in Thuringia. After leaving secondary school at 16 he volunteered for the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and joined the Nazi Party on 1 July 1934. He first met Adolf Hitler in 1936. He was Hitler's SS adjutant from 1940 to 1941. From 1 January 1941 to 30 April 1942, he attended the SS officer's academy. He then had front-line combat service as a Panzer Grenadier company commander with the LSSAH. On 12 January 1943, Günsche became a personal adjutant for Hitler. From August 1943 to 5 February 1944, Günsche fought on the Eastern Front and in France. In March 1944 he was again appointed a personal adjutant for Hitler. As a personal SS adjutant (Persönliche Adjutanten) to Hitler, Günsche was also a member of the Führerbegleitkommando which provided security protection for Hitler. During the war, one or two were always present with Hitler during the military situation conferences. He was present at the 20 July 1944 attempt to kill Hitler at the Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg. The bomb explosion burst Günsche's eardrums and caused him to receive a number of contusions.

As the end of the Third Reich became imminent, Günsche was tasked by Hitler with ensuring the cremation of his body after his death on 30 April 1945. He stood guard outside the room as Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide. Later, having ensured that the bodies were burnt using gasoline supplied by Hitler's chauffeur Erich Kempka, Günsche left the Führerbunker after midnight on 1 May. He was captured by Soviet troops encircling the city on 2 May 1945 and flown to Moscow for interrogation by the NKVD.