Bodyguard - Athena

Hitler ’s
Bodyguard
a viewer’s guide

EpisodE 1
How HitlEr’s Bodyguard
workEd
Highlights
• From the early days, Hitler’s personal security involved concentric
circles: an eight-man SS Begleitkommando (Escort Command)
at the core, a regiment of elite SS troops (the Leibstandarte, or
“bodyguard,” SS Adolf Hitler) to protect his residences and offices,
and the Führerschutzkommando (Führer Protection Command),
which evolved into the Reichssicherheitsdienst (Reich Security
Service, or RSD), responsible for overall security and advance work.
• Besides encouraging rivalries among his various security services,
Hitler relied on irregular habits and unexpected schedule changes to
foil assassination attempts.
Question to Consider
The constant jockeying for favor among rival units might have
encouraged absolute loyalty to Hitler. But what risks did this
management style entail?
1

EpisodE 2
EpisodE 3
Early attEmpts on HitlEr’s lifE kill tHE nEw CHanCEllor!
Highlights
• Both the black-clad SS led by Heinrich Himmler and the brownshirted
SA (Sturmabteilung, or “storm detachment”) led by Ernst
Röhm had their roots in the street fighters recruited during Hitler’s
years as a political
rabble-rouser after
World War I.
• After the failed Beer
Hall Putsch in 1923,
Hitler intended to
use democracy to
further his ambitions
and learned the
importance of loyal
bodyguards.
• Emil Maurice’s
affair with Hitler’s
niece (and alleged
mistress) Angela “Geli” Raubal may have contributed to her
purported suicide, which nearly derailed Hitler’s political career.
Question to Consider
In your opinion, what drove the tensions within the Hitler-Röhm-
Himmler triangle, and how did each man’s motives affect the
development of the Nazi Party?
2
Highlights
• Death threats against Hitler after he became chancellor prompted a
crackdown on ultra-leftist forces within Germany.
• In the survival-of-the-fittest struggle between Himmler’s SS, Röhm’s
SA, and Hermann Göring’s Gestapo, Himmler invented assassination
conspiracies to curry Hitler’s favor.
Question to Consider
Why did Hitler fear a lone gunman most?
EpisodE 4
nigHt of tHE long knivEs
Highlights
• On June 30, 1934, Hitler arrested and eventually executed more than
85 of his political opponents, including Ernst Röhm.
• Although the SA devolved into a largely ceremonial unit under
Röhm’s successor, Viktor Lutze, disgruntled former SA members
actually increased the
pool of Hitler’s potential
assassins.
Question to Consider
Was the bloody purge
of June 30th inevitable,
or could it have been
avoided had Hitler not
called Röhm back from
Bolivia in 1930?
3

EpisodE 5
JEwisH and ÉmigrÉ
attEmpts to kill HitlEr
Highlights
• Many plots against Hitler originated with disaffected Germans in exile,
such as former Nazi Otto Strasser, who set up the opposition Schwarze
Front (Black Front) and later fled to Switzerland.
• In addition to lone Jewish gunmen, a Paris-based Jewish group may
have plotted to assassinate Hitler.
• Working with a British officer during the Spanish Civil War, Soviet
agents hatched a plot to kill Hitler that was later abandoned.
Question to Consider
What do you think of
the suggestion that
a Jewish emigration
organization offered
to spy on the Parisbased
conspirators in
exchange for looser
restrictions on the
number of German
Jews who could
relocate to Palestine?
4
EpisodE 6
kill HitlEr BEforE war starts
Highlights
• As Hitler moved to acquire Austria and the Sudetenland in
Czechoslovakia, British Col.
F. Noel Mason-Macfarlane
proposed assassinating
Hitler; ultimately, the British
government dismissed the
scheme as “unsportsmanlike.”
• Some German generals
considered shooting Hitler in
the run-up to war but backed
off for lack of clear support
from Britain and France.
Question to Consider
In your opinion, when—if ever—is assassination acceptable as a
political tool?
Highlights
• On the anniversary of the Beer
Hall Putsch, Johann Georg Elser
planted a bomb near the podium
where Hitler would speak;
when it exploded, however,
Hitler had already left.
• Desperate to prove British
involvement in the Elser
EpisodE 7
BomBs and paranoia
5

ombing, Nazi counterintelligence officers engineered a sting
to snatch British agents, which eventually exposed the British
intelligence network in Europe.
Question to Consider
Why did the normally cautious and paranoid Hitler venture into
the newly conquered Polish territory, trusting only local police for
security?
EpisodE 8
dangErous Car JournEys
Highlight
• An automobile fanatic, Hitler loved touring crowds in open-top
Mercedes-Benzes. Despite the cars’ heavy armor and other security
features, this habit
made him especially
vulnerable, and his
bodyguards knew it.
Question to Consider
How do the security
procedures in Hitler’s
motorcades compare
with those used for
world leaders today?
6
Highlight
• On several wartime flights,
Hitler narrowly avoided
capture or assassination—
largely by luck.
Question to Consider
How might Hitler have
reacted had he known of his
own officers’ attempts to kill
him in the air?
EpisodE 9
fligHts into dangEr
EpisodE 10
HitlEr’s dangErous
train JournEys
Highlights
• Polish Resistance fighters and the British Special Operations
Executive targeted Hitler’s heavily armored train, the Führer-
Sonderzug, in assassination plots.
• Some British strategists opposed killing Hitler—not only because
assassination would turn him into a martyr, but also because he
proved so inept at conducting the war.
Question to Consider
As explained in the program, Operation Foxley provoked a lively
debate within British intelligence over the real-world merits of
killing Hitler. In practical terms, would you have argued for or
against assassination?
7

EpisodE 11
attEmpts to kill HitlEr
at tHE wolf’s lair
Highlight
• Heavily camouflaged
and fortified, Hitler’s
eastern military
headquarters was
the site of at least
four failed or aborted
assassination
attempts—including
Claus von
Stauffenberg’s July
1944 bombing, from
which Hitler emerged
with minor injuries.
Question to Consider
How might history have changed if the July Plot had succeeded?
EpisodE 12
nEarly assassinatEd
at tHE BErgHof
Highlights
• A few would-be assassins targeted Hitler at his Alpine retreat, most
notably military aide Eberhard von Breitenbuch, who tried to bring a
pistol into a March 1944 conference but was denied admittance.
• Analyzing weaknesses in the Berghof’s defenses, the British Special
Operations Executive considered sending a sniper armed with a rifle
or a bazooka, ambushing Hitler’s car, or launching an airborne assault.
8
Question to Consider
Which of the options to assassinate Hitler at the Berghof do you
believe had the best chance of succeeding?
EpisodE 13
poison gas plot in tHE BunkEr
Highlights
• After the war, architect Albert Speer claimed to have hatched a plot
to kill Hitler and other Nazi leaders by flooding the Berlin bunker
with nerve gas through its
ventilation system.
• In the final stages of the war,
Heinrich Himmler made
contact with the Allies in a
last, desperate attempt to save
himself; his overtures were
rejected, and he eventually
committed suicide.
Question to Consider
Based on what you’ve seen in
the program, do you believe
Speer’s claims that he tried to
assassinate Hitler?
9

avEnuEs for furtHEr lEarning
Blood, Philip W. Hitler’s Bandit Hunters: The SS and the Nazi Occupation of Europe.
Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc., 2008.
Browder, George C. Hitler’s Enforcers: The Gestapo and the SS Security Service in the Nazi
Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Fischer, Klaus P. Nazi Germany: A New History. New York: The Continuum Publishing
Company, 1995.
Grunberger, Richard. Hitler’s SS. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1970.
Hoffmann, Peter. Hitler's Personal Security: Protecting the Führer, 1921-1945. Cambridge, Mass.:
MIT Press, 1979.
Hölne, Heinz Zollin. The Order of the Death’s Head: The Story of Hitler’s SS. Trans. Richard
Barry. London: Penguin Press, 2000.
O’Donnell, James P. The Bunker: The History of the Reich Chancellery Group. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1978.
Reitlinger, Gerald. The SS: Alibi of a Nation, 1922-1945. New York: Da Capo Press, 1989.
Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. New York:
Touchstone, 1959.
Sydnor, Charles W. Soldiers of Destruction: The SS Death’s Head Division, 1933-1945. Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977.
Time-Life Books, eds. The SS. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books Inc., 1988.
Wegner, Bernd. The Waffen-SS: Organization, Ideology, and Function. Trans. Ronald Webster.
New York: Basil Blackwell, 1990.
Weingartner, James J. Hitler’s Guard: The Story of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 1933-1945.
Nashville, Tenn.: Battery Classics, 1989.
Williamson, Gordon. The SS: Hitler’s Instrument of Terror. Osceola, Wis.: MBI Publishing
Company, 2004.
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wHo’s wHo among HitlEr’s Bodyguard
a brief guide to the men who protected Hitler
Johann “Hans” Baur—Hitler’s personal pilot and
commander of the Führer’s aircraft squadron. A
decorated World War I aviator, Baur joined the Nazi
party in the 1920s and first flew Hitler during the
national political campaign in 1932. He remained
Hitler’s pilot until the Führer’s final days. Shot while
fleeing the Berlin bunker, Baur remained a Russian prisoner until 1955.
Josef “Sepp” dietrich—Commander of the
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (1933-45), Hitler’s
bodyguard regiment. Born to peasant farmers, Dietrich
worked a series of menial jobs in the hotel industry
before enlisting in the Bavarian Army and fighting in
World War I. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and
quickly attracted attention for his organizational skills, loyalty to Hitler, and
physical toughness in dust-ups with Communists. Among his many services
to Hitler, he commanded the on-the-ground campaign that captured Ernst
Röhm and his followers during the Night of the Long Knives in 1934.
Bruno gesche—Commander of the eight-man SS
Begleitkommando, Hitler’s personal bodyguard (1934-
45). Gesche joined the Nazi Party in 1922 at the age
of 17. In street brawls with rival political gangs, he
proved adept with a rubber truncheon and pistol,
and Hitler counted him among his most trusted
protectors. Eventually, however, his habitual drunkenness caused his
demotion and exile to the Italian front, where he fought during the
waning days of the war.
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Kurt gildisch—Commander of the SS
Begleitkommando (1933-34). Gildisch’s background in
law enforcement made him an excellent candidate to
head Hitler’s personal bodyguard. He played a key role
in the Night of the Long Knives, personally executing
several government officials, including Erich Klausener,
Germany’s secretary of transport and president of Catholic Action, a
religious group that opposed Hitler. Himmler later relieved Gildisch of
his bodyguard command for habitual drinking.
Hermann göring—An early leader of the
Sturmabteilung (SA, the armed militia responsible
for protecting Nazi Party officials), commander of the
Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei, or Secret State Police),
and prominent Nazi minister. A decorated war veteran,
Göring brought military discipline and organization to
the fledgling SA militia after Hitler recruited him in 1923. When Hitler
took the office of chancellor in 1933, Göring joined his cabinet and became
minister of Prussia. He transformed the Prussian police force into the
Gestapo, which was absorbed into the RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt,
or Reich Security Central Office) under Himmler’s SS in 1939. As Germany’s
minister of aviation, Göring also commanded the Luftwaffe.
ulrich graf—Hitler’s first personal bodyguard (1920-
23) and a founding member and senior officer of the
Schutzstaffel (Protective Echelon, better known as
the SS). Trained as a butcher, Graf had already made a
name for himself as an amateur boxer when he joined
Hitler’s entourage in 1920. His fighting skills, loyalty,
and bravery never came into question. During the ill-conceived putsch in
1923, on Hitler’s march through Munich, Graf placed himself directly in the
police line of fire and took several shots intended for Hitler. He survived his
wounds and eventually rose in the ranks of the SS.
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Heinrich Himmler—Reichsführer-SS (1929-45), the
head of all security forces in Nazi Germany. An army
veteran and failed farmer, Himmler gravitated to Hitler
while still a student in Munich. He protected Hitler
during the Beer Hall Putsch, rose to deputy head of
the SS in 1927, and became its chief in 1929. Himmler
oversaw the SS’s evolution from bodyguard unit to secret state police and
combat force, responsible for assassinations, concentration camps, and
extermination programs.
Emil Maurice—Senior SS officer and longtime personal
friend of Hitler, best known as the first commander
(1920-21) of the Sturmabteilung and commander of
Hitler’s SA guard at scheduled public appearances
(1925-32). A watchmaker by trade and a convicted
embezzler, Maurice became friends with Hitler almost
immediately after World War I. His close personal relationship with the
Führer helped him survive many career crises, including his involvement
with Hitler’s niece and alleged mistress, Geli Raubal, and Himmler’s
suspicions of his Jewish heritage.
Johann rattenhuber—Head of the
Reichssicherheitsdienst (Reich Security Service, or
RSD), 1933-45. A former law enforcement officer
in Munich, Rattenhuber recruited fellow Bavarian
policemen to provide security for Hitler and other Nazi
leaders as the party rose to power. Although he headed
the RSD during Stauffenberg’s near-miss assassination attempt at the
Wolf’s Lair, Rattenhuber retained his position of authority afterward and
remained loyal to Hitler until the very end.
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Ernst röhm—A founder of the Sturmabteilung and
SA chief of staff (1931-34). An ex-commander in the
Bavarian infantry, Röhm is widely regarded as the man
most responsible for launching Hitler’s political career.
He publicly allied himself with Hitler in the 1923 Beer
Hall Putsch; afterward, he was exiled to Bolivia. In
1930, Hitler recalled Röhm to head the SA. But Röhm eventually became
a political rival of both Himmler and Göring, leading to his arrest in the
Night of the Long Knives in 1934 and his subsequent execution.
Julius Schreck—Hitler’s private chauffeur and
early member of the SA, the first commander of the
Stosstrupp (Assault Squad) Adolf Hitler (1923), and
the chief organizer of the SS as a Nazi headquarters
guard. In 1925, Schreck formed SS units in cities all over
Germany to protect Nazi Party meetings. His passing
resemblance to Hitler also allowed him to work as the Führer’s double.
He continued to serve as Hitler’s personal driver until poor health forced
him to resign. Schreck died in 1936 of meningitis.
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tHE anatomy of anarCHy
a thumbnail guide to Hitler’s security units
as Hitler’s Bodyguard explains, the Führer actively encouraged
rivalries and competition among his security services
and throughout his government. He thought that such an
environment made him safer. In fact, it created what former SS
officer and convicted war criminal Otto Ohlendorf famously called
“pluralistic anarchy,” a welter of groups vying for favor from the one man
unquestionably in charge. The list below sketches the role and evolution
of Hitler’s various security units.
Begleitkommando—Formed in 1932, the eight-man “escort command”
served as Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit, handpicked by Hitler himself.
gestapo—Short for Geheime Staatspolizei, or “secret state police,” the
Gestapo began as a rival to Heinrich Himmler’s SS. In 1933, Hermann
Göring formed it from Bavarian police units in order to collect political
intelligence in southern Germany. The following year, Himmler brought
the Gestapo under the wing of the SS. Eventually, it came under control of
the RSHA.
Leibstandarte SS adolf Hitler—Formed in 1933, the Leibstandarte
originally comprised a 120-man headquarters guard under the command
of Sepp Dietrich. It grew in strength and importance, however, and
evolved into Hitler’s personal army. Its members swore allegiance not to
Germany, but to Hitler, and the Führer employed them for executions,
enforcement, and even heavily armed combat. Leibstandarte personnel
rounded up Röhm and his followers during the Night of the Long Knives.
15

Sd (reichssicherheitsdienst)—A unit of the SS formed in 1935,
the Reich Security Service was responsible for Hitler’s overall
protection within Germany and at his military headquarters in the
conquered territories. It conducted security sweeps at restaurants,
speaking engagements, and rallies. The RSD grew out of the
Führerschutzkommando (Führer Protection Command), a group of
former Bavarian police officers responsible for Hitler’s security in his
south German homeland.
rSHa (reichssicherheitshauptamt)—Himmler formed the Reich
Security Central Office as an umbrella organization in 1939. The RSHA
incorporated the SD (internal security service), Gestapo (Secret State
Police), and Kripo (Kriminalpolizei, or Criminal Police).
Sa (Sturmabteilung)—Created in 1921 from an early bodyguard
unit euphemistically called the “Gymnastics and Sports Division,” the
“storm detachment” initially comprised illegally armed volunteers who
protected Hitler and other Nazi leaders at rallies. It later evolved into an
enormous armed militia—the Brownshirts—that gave its leader, Ernst
Röhm, a power base from which to threaten a putsch against Hitler
himself. Supplanted by the SS, the SA waned in importance after the
Night of the Long Knives.
Sd (Sicherheitsdienst)—Numbering 100,000 at its height, the SD
(Security Service) was the primary internal intelligence-gathering
arm of the SS and maintained a network of informants across the Nazi
empire. Himmler created the SD in 1931 as a largely independent SS unit.
However, it was absorbed into the RSHA in 1939.
Sipo—Fused with the SD during Reinhard Heydrich’s time at the RSHA,
the Sipo (Sicherheitspolizei, or Security Police) originally comprised
several units specializing in interior security. These included the Gestapo,
the Kripo, and the border protection forces.
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SS (Schutzstaffel)—From its beginnings as a security unit within the
SA, the SS (Protective Echelon) eventually supplanted the SA as the
most feared force in Nazi Germany. The SS assumed responsibility for
all internal security within the Third Reich, including protection of
Hitler and other officials, domestic spying, and law enforcement. Led by
Heinrich Himmler, it included almost 1 million combat soldiers (Waffen-
SS), 100,000 SD members, and 40,000 guards at 180 concentration camps
or forced-labor camps, plus millions of other personnel in various police
forces.
Booklet written and edited by Joseph D. Younger and Elizabeth Stocum. © 2009 Acorn Media Group Inc.
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