Rochus Misch dies at 96 !

[Herr Lyppe]

! What an entertaining thread. Oh the evils of being revisionist.

I'm also interested in what is so wrong with his record of events surrounding the Hitler's last days?

Evidently the Soviets made a film that was a reenactment of these events with all the original participants, including Misch, and would love to see it if anyone knows of it's existence.

Has anyone read the book yet?
I'd be interested to hear how much of his post-war experiences are included. Aside from that, I certainly look forward to reading it myself.

[Oberst Rudel]

Hi: someone knows where Rochus was buried? A friend of mine was now in Berlin and want to visit and honour the man, many thanks in advance, Oberst.

[BrianK]

So far there is nothing in this thread that tells me whether the book is worth buying.

[muzrub]

it was on the bbc night , along with the obligatory Auschwitz survivor stating that he must have known everything about the camps !(how would she know !"

I wonder who you respect more, the "obligatory Auschwitz survivor" or Rochus Misch?

[Terry OToole]

I wonder who you respect more, the "obligatory Auschwitz survivor" or Rochus Misch?

probably both ! my point was the news concerning the death of Misch had nothing to do with Auschwitz and the survivors opinion of what Misch knew was pure supposition ! so please wonder no more !

[BrianK]

Anybody read it yet?

So - has anybody read the book yet?

[pasoleati]

I might be able to find a review, would that help?

[pasoleati]

Here are some excerpts from a Finnish review of Misch's "Der letzte Zeuge. Ich war Hitler's Telefonist, Kurier und Leibwächter":

"A man with a rank of an SS-Oberscharführer cannot claim to be a one of major players of WW2. That does not claim this book's author, former SS-Oscha Rochus Misch. "I am an unremarkable man", Misch writes. However, he continues:"...but I have experiences something remarkable.""

"Misch could observe that Hitler's keen eye towards the men and women of his entourage could not be avoided. In his phenomenal memory Hitler had recorded what he saw and heard, and so to Misch's surprise he received congratulations for his wedding anniversary and his daughter's birthday from Hitler."

"If the reader fails to find revelations about grand strategies and politics from the book, he will be more than rewarded if his interests are on the everyday life of the core of the Third Reich. Descriptions of such in the movies and literature are so and so. Misch considers thatb only two books are reliable. One is the memoir of Nicolaus von Below. However, the well-reviewed film Der Untergang and its script representsb of collection of questionable material to Misch."

"As an unpolitical man Misch has not interjected any political hindsights, as is otherwise common in Germany. Thus his impression of Goebbels is that he was a sympathetic man, as Misch states couple of times."

"...about Feldmarschal Schörner Misch repeats the opinion which he heard from a Russian major while in capitivity. The opinion was that Germany might have pulled it off "if you had had a dozen Schörners." This view was apparently too much for the female editor of the book as she has found it her mission to mention in a footnote what has been written about Schöerner as "the bloodhound of all time."

"Here is how Misch describes his first impressions of Hitler:"I have not met a superhuman or a monster...As a private person Hitler is a normal, uncomplicated man, the most uncomplicated man I have ever met. When showing off to the public, he put on his Führer role and everything had to be exactly as per protocol, the set had to be perfect...In private Hitler was extremely modest."

"As Misch's text creates and impression that even national-Socialists had human characteristics, the publisher has added a foreword and afterword in which this kind of delusion is overthrown. So the reader can be sure that his soul is not harmed and stregthen his views of Hitler as The Devil and The Monster. Of copurse, the safest way is not the read the book at all."

"On the other hand, I would have gladly not read what Misch writes about his treatment is Soviet captivity. I have great distaste of concentration camp or American Tv films' brutalities, which for commercial reasons present basically the same what human waste enjoyed in Rome couple of millennia ago. I did read what Misch wrote, though he obviously tried to chill himself out, about his experiences in Bolshevik caves. I leave it at that, but I cannot help mentioning how I wonder that there are still historians who take at face value the "testimonies", which were obtained through Soviet treatment of prisoners."

Original excerpts from a review written by a Staff Colonel (Ret.) Sampo Ahto, Sotilasaikakauslehjti 11/2009 page 38-39.

[BrianK]

Interesting - thanks for posting it.

[pasoleati]

De nada. The translation is a bit rough but hopefully informative.

[BrianK]

I've been convinced that the book is worth buying - I'll look for it through the usual sources.

[BrianK]

Haven't found an English language copy - does anyone know if it is available, or has anyone read it in German or French or Italian?

[Obersalzberg]

I've been convinced that the book is worth buying - I'll look for it through the usual sources.

Convinced? Its a paperback.......not a Bentley.

[dmytro]

Hi: someone knows where Rochus was buried? A friend of mine was now in Berlin and want to visit and honour the man, many thanks in advance, Oberst.

Honour the man? For what reason can I ask, he was a very small cog at the epicentre of a very large war machine that destroyed most of Europe and directly or indirectly killed some 50 million people.
His only claim to fame is that he outlasted all other "Bunker Dwellers" in the final stages of the war and in the latter period of his life, dwelled in the limelight that it gave him, with all the "Groupies" which seem follow him.
In the end he was a member of an organisation deemed to be criminal and purely Nazi in nature, who wore the same uniforms and totenkopf insignia as those that murdered countless people. I'm sure that as a post-war civilian he was a very, very nice man, but to suddenly thrust him into some God-like personality is a bit silly.
His book I've not seen yet (English version) but I will search it out as I'm sure it will make entertaining reading. The problem with AUTObiographies, you put in the bits you want people to read, and have selective memory loss about the bits you don't want people to read, unlike independent biographies with full research

Maybe a bit controversial to some but that's reality

[pasoleati]

dmytro, Western juridical tradition is based on the principle of individual responsibility, not of collective responsibility. Hence mr. Misch was responsible for only his personal actions, not for the actions of anyone else. As for an "organization deemed criminal", since one of the "deemers" included a certain mr. Stalin, do you consider the verdict an objective one?

Destroyed most of Europe? Please, get real! You are apparently one of those who believe that Finland is guilty of slavery because Finns supplied tar to many slave carrying ships. Besides, war itself is not illegal even today.