Bodyguard - Athena

avEnuEs for furtHEr lEarning
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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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