All language subtitles for H-B.01of13.How.Hitlers.Bodyguard.Worked.x264.AC3.MVGroup.org_track6_[eng]

Adolf Hitler caused the death
of 50 million people.

An entire nation
followed him to ruin.

He was hated by
those he persecuted

and even by some of
his own commanders,

yet, in 25 years,
no one managed to kill him.

Winston Churchill had
very few bodyguards,

whilst Hitler had thousands.

He needed them.

During his travels
across Europe,

there were over 40
attempts on his life.

Now, with access to captured
original SS records,

the producers of
"Churchill's Bodyguard"

can reveal for the first time,
in this new series,

how fate and a small number
of hand-picked bodyguards

helped this evil genius
to cheat death

on so many occasions.

[Crowd cheering ]

Why did no one manage
to kill Adolf Hitler?

Enough people wanted to,
but as this series shows,

it was not as simple
as it sounds.

Nevertheless,
protecting him was one of

the world's toughest jobs.

As Hitler moved from
rabble-rousing politician

to supreme ruler
of Nazi Germany,

he collected
a legion of enemies.

More than 40 serious plots
and assassination attempts

are known during
his political career.

Hundreds more threats were
recorded by the German police.

In contrast to Britain's
Winston Churchill,

who relied on one
main bodyguard,

Hitler's bodyguard
grew to thousands.

[Crowd cheering ]

But more did not
always mean better.

Hitler knew this,
and always relied on

a ruthless and fiercely loyal
inner core.

Hitler himself was no coward,

especially in his early years.

He served four years

on the Western Front
in World War I and won

the Iron Cross
First Class.

In the first years

of his political struggle,
he often waded into

bloody fist fights
with political opponents.

The men who fought
alongside him

in these early conflicts
would remain

at the very heart
of his security --

a personal bodyguard
that stayed with Hitler

for the rest of his life.

Men like Bruno Gesche,
a tough street-fighter,

never afraid to get
his hands dirty.

As Hitler fought his way to
become Chancellor of Germany,

unsophisticated old-timers like
Gesche seemed out of place among

the thousands of professional
police and paramilitary troops

who now ringed Hitler
in layers of security.

Hitler repaid Gesche's loyalty
by never abandoning him.

He rose to be Hitler's
closest bodyguard.

With a handful of the Fuhrer's
other oldest comrades,

he was an ever-present reminder

of those early,
risky days of struggle.

When Corporal Adolf Hitler
returned to Munich

in Bavaria
from front-line service

following Germany's
humiliating defeat in 1918,

he was 29 years old.

Like hundreds of thousands
of other veterans,

he was frustrated and angry,
convinced that they had been

stabbed in the back
by communists

and Jews at home.

[Man speaking German]

Translator: We were amazed.

The front-line troops
had not been beaten.

And we wondered
why the cease-fire

came so quickly.

And why we had to vacate all our
positions in such a hurry.

Because everywhere,
we stood on enemy territory.

Powell: These men were
a ready recruiting ground

for the extremist
political gangs

that seemed to
offer some hope

and a solution to
their troubles.

Communists,

socialists, and nationalists

fought pitched battles
on the streets.

At times,

Germany's new 'Weimar Republic'
seemed on the edge of civil war.

In these dangerous days,
Adolf Hitler quickly

seized the moment
and established himself

as a rabble-rousing
leader in Munich.

For protection, he did what
any other mobster would do --

he surrounded himself
with muscle.

Hard men who could battle rival
thugs and look out for Hitler

as he provoked crowds
with racist speeches.

They became known as
the Sturmabteilung, or SA --

brown-shirted bullyboys
who intimidated opponents

with fists, clubs,
and sometimes guns,

policing Nazi meetings

and breaking up
those of their rivals.

Arid within this paramilitary
gang was an inner core,

the first of Hitler's
personal bodyguards,

initially called
the Ordnertruppe,

or Stewards Troop,
and then Stosstrupp Hitler,

or Hitler Shock Troop.

The Shock Troops included men
like Rudolf Hess,

who was to become
Hitler's deputy,

Julius Schreck, who later became
Hitler's personal chauffeur,

Emil Maurice, who was to be
imprisoned with Hitler

and get to know some of his
leader's darkest secrets,

and Ulrich Graf,
a butcher by trade,

who soon came close to being
killed for his leader.

Among the hardest SA men
was Bruno Gesche.

Just 17 years old when
he joined in 1922

and too young to have
served in the war,

Gesche longed for
a life of action.

He was a natural brawler,
and his political activity

cost him a series of jobs.

He didn't care.

Just so long as he was marching
to the beat of Hitler's drum.

After attempting a coup in 1923,

Hitler was imprisoned
and his party banned.

But Gesche kept the faith

and re-joined a revived
Nazi party in June 1925.

He was now ambitious
to rise up

the party ranks,
and after a rally in 1927,

he moved across to join
a new elite section

of the SA.

This was the Schutzstaffel,
or SS,

Hitler's personal
protection squad,

which had been set up in 1925
when the Nazis were re-formed.

Whereas SA brownshirt membership
was numbered in its thousands,

the SS started with
less than 100 men,

and by the time Gesche joined,
it still had only 280.

Initially, SS men distinguished
themselves from the SA

by wearing black caps with
a skull-and-crossbones insignia

and a field-grey uniform.

But soon they were dressed
all in black,

with peaked caps
and polished boots --

the uniform which would
strike fear all across Europe.

The SS had stricter
entry requirements

than the general SA
and maintained

tighter discipline.

Although subordinate
to the SA,

its members acted like
the Nazi Party elite.

Released from prison,
Hitler realized

that armed revolution
was not the way to power.

He must become
a legitimate politician

and use democracy
to seize control.

This meant years of
political campaigning

as he chased the votes
he needed.

At first it was slow work,

for the Weimar Republic
stabilized

during the mid-1920s

and support for extremist
parties declined rapidly.

But the situation
was transformed

as unemployment and despair

overwhelmed Germany
in the aftermath

of the Wall Street Crash
of October 1929.

By 1932,
the Nazis were

the largest party
in the Reichstag,

with more than
37% of the vote.

Membership of the SA
exploded from 200,000

to 2,500,000.

And as it did so,
so the SS also expanded,

for it had acquired a leader

who had great plans for it.

In 1929, Hitler appointed
Heinrich Himmler

as Reichsfuhrer-SS.

This bespectacled 29-year-old,

a former clerk
and chicken farmer,

would bring a ruthless
ambition to his job

and make the SS the most feared
organization in Germany.

Gesche rose within
the blackshirt ranks

to become SS Sturmfuhrer.

Soon, this tough street fighter
would be one of

Hitler's most trusted
protectors.

But this would expose him
to the jealousy

and suspicion of Himmler,
his nominal boss,

a man who would
tolerate no rivals,

and in his efforts to
destroy any competition

would search out
their weaknesses.

As Gesche became one of Hitler's
most trusted protectors

and reveled in the status
this brought,

he became a victim to
his own inner demons --

among these,
a weakness for alcohol.

Himmler kept files
on the behavior

of the men closest to Hitler.

He watched and took notes.

And then, when those men
got out of control,

he would pounce
and eliminate them.

The story of this
bitter struggle

between Gesche and Himmler

lies at the very heart
of the chaos

that formed the substance
of Hitler's bodyguard.

And yet the Fuhrer himself
seemed unperturbed

by these rivalries
fought out all around him.

In fact, he relished it,
knowing that in this chaos

lay the key to his peculiar
kind of protection.

Berlin, February 1932 --

Bruno Gesche
is one of eight

chosen from a group of
outstanding young SS men

to form
the SS-Begleitkommando --

Hitler's close escort squad
which would work round the clock

protecting the Fuhrer
in three eight-hour shifts.

The appointment was a tremendous
honor for the 27-year-old,

but it did not
take long for Gesche

to fall foul
of his nominal boss.

Just eight months later,

when Hitler was speaking at
a Nazi Party rally,

Gesche was openly critical

about poor security.

This was the responsibility
of the SS,

and by implication,
any criticism was a public

criticism of Himmler.

The head of the SS
was furious

and had one of his minions
demand that Gesche be demoted

and removed from
the SS-Begleitkommando.

It was claimed that Gesche's
outspoken comments had brought

shame on the SS and demeaned
its professional image.

But Himmler did not
have his way.

Gesche was merely reprimanded.

It was a warning shot to Himmler

not to mess with Hitler's
valued companions.

Shortly afterwards,

salt was rubbed in
the Reichsfuhrer-SS's wounds

when he was obliged
to sign the contract

confirming Gesche's employment.

But, as far as
he was concerned,

this was just his
first round with Gesche.

In January 1933,
as leader of

what was still
the largest party

in the Reichstag,

Hitler was appointed
Chancellor of Germany.

As head of government,

Hitler could now call on
all the security apparatus

and police forces
of the Weimar Republic,

but as leader of
the ruling Nazi Party,

he continued to rely mainly on
his own security force,

and this bodyguard
expanded enormously.

At its core remained
the SS-Begleitkommando,

the eight-man escort squad

that protected Hitler
day and night.

Beyond that was Himmler's SS.

Only 280 men strong in 1929,

it had grown to 10,000
by the end of 1931.

And from these black-clad ranks

the new Chancellor
ordered the recruitment

on March 17, 1933
of a palace guard

which swiftly became known as
the Leibstandarte-SS.

Initially just 120 men
under the command of

a tough former army sergeant
and police officer,

Sepp Dietrich,
the Leibstandarte's role

was to guard
Hitler's residences

and offices,
form a human wall

around the Fuhrer
during public appearances,

and to provide muscle
for special security tasks.

Within a year,

the unit had grown to
almost 1,000 men

and was based at
the Lichterfelde Barracks.

Although nominally under
the control of Himmler,

Dietrich always
took his instructions

directly from Hitler.

To confuse matters,
just two days before

Hitler ordered the formation
of the Leibstandarte,

Himmler had authorized
the establishment

of a Fuhrer Protection Group,
the Fuhrerschutzkommando,

staffed by detectives of
the Bavarian State Police,

which Himmler had taken over
when the Nazis seized power.

In command was another
tough ex-soldier,

Bavarian police captain
Johann Rattenhuber.

That the existence

of two rival new
Fuhrer-protection units

could be confusing
was shown by an incident

in the spring of 1933.

Driving through Munich,
Hitler became aware

of a car following his own.

He told his driver
to increase the speed

of his supercharged Mercedes

so that the other car
could not keep up.

It turned out that the strange
car pursuing Hitler

was full of Fuhrerschutzkommando
bodyguards

who had not
thought of informing

the Fuhrer's
immediate entourage.

Hitler was furious.

He had always
been suspicious

of the civilian police,
particularly

the Bavarian force which had
come so close to killing him

during the Beer Hall Putsch
attempt.

Nevertheless, Himmler overcame
Hitler's prejudice.

The Fuhrerschutzkommando
became a separate agency,

the Reichssicherheitsdienst --
the Reich Security Service,

or RSD.

Himmler remained
in nominal control,

but, like Dietrich,
Rattenhuber usually

took his instructions
directly from Hitler.

Responsible for Hitler's
overall security,

the RSD followed up reports
of assassination plots,

kept key places

such as his
favorite restaurants,

under surveillance,
secured travel routes,

and checked personnel
and locations

before important
public appearances.

Staffed by trained
police detectives,

the RSD tended to look down on
the likes of Bruno Gesche

and his comrades in
Hitler's escort group.

They viewed them,
not unfairly,

as rather brutish thugs,
untrained in police techniques.

But Hitler was no
intellectual snob

and preferred the company
of his old companions.

Despite the new
layers of security

with which he was
now surrounded,

Hitler was cynical
about their effectiveness.

While talking to old colleagues
during the war,

he revealed his true feelings
about his own safety.

Man: "In the two
really dangerous attempts

made to assassinate me,

"I owed my life
not to the police,

but to pure chance."

Powell: The two occasions

he was thinking of were a bomb

at the commemoration of
the Munich Putsch attempt,

which only missed killing him
because he had left

12 minutes earlier than usual,
and the Swiss student

who stalked him across Germany
and was only stopped

by chance by a suspicious
railway official.

As Hitler went on to say --

Man: "The confessions
of the Swiss man interested me.

"They confirmed my conviction
that no one can avoid

"an assassin who is determined
to risk his own life

"in the execution
of his mission.

"I can see why 90% of
the past assassinations

"have been successful.

"The only preventative measure
one can take

"is to live irregularly --

"to walk, to drive,
and to travel

at irregular times
and unexpectedly."

Powell: Hitler
took this to heart,

much to the annoyance of his
personal security officers,

and constantly
changed his mind

at the last moment
about routes

and methods of travel.

Man: "Whenever I go
anywhere by car, I go off

"unexpectedly and without
warning the police.

"As soon as the police
get to hear that

"I am going somewhere,
they adopt emergency measures

"which attract
too much attention.

"One time,

"when I was driving from
Vienna to Pressburg,

"the police raised the alarm
along the entire route --

"an action which
was all the more dangerous

"because they did not
have the forces

"to guard the roads.

"On top of that,
the Gestapo plainclothes men

"dressed themselves in such

"an astonishing
collection of clothes --

"like hostler's capes --

that any moron could have
recognized them."

Powell: Hitler only valued
organized police protection

for public events, but even
then, he was fatalistic.

Man: "As there can be
no absolute security

"against fanatics,
I always make a point

"of standing upright
in my car.

"The world belongs to the brave.

"If some assassin
wishes to shoot me

"or blow me up with a bomb,

I am no safer sitting down
than standing up."

Powell: It was probably
because Hitler was

so cynical about the efforts
of his regiments

of security officers
and policemen

that he liked to keep familiar
faces close to him --

old bodyguards
such as Bruno Gesche.

But SS commander Himmler
wasn't happy with this

and never abandoned
his feud with Gesche.

As Himmler gained
almost unlimited power

within Nazi Germany,
he would come back to haunt him.

Soon Hitler's
number-one bodyguard

would need
his own protection,

and it would come
from his Führer.

In May 1934, Bruno Gesche

became commander of
Hitler's escort squad,

the SS-Begleitkommando.

Almost immediately, Himmler
attempted to seize control

of Hitler's
closest bodyguards.

They were incorporated into
the new Reich Security Service

for administrative purposes.

And then he suspended
their salaries

to show who was in charge.

But Gesche did not
take the bait

and avoided a direct
confrontation with Himmler

by going to Sepp Dietrich,

the no-nonsense commander
of the Leibstandarte.

Dietrich had a deep
dislike of Himmler

and later described his greed.

Man: "His appetite for power

"just could not be satisfied.

"On top of this,
he was a great hand

"at hoarding and scrounging.

"He received money
from everywhere

"and everybody.

Every SS leader had to pay him
a monthly donation."

Powell: Dietrich
was close to the Fuhrer

and insisted the money tap for
his bodyguard be turned back on.

Himmler could do
little but give in.

It was another humiliation
for which Gesche was responsible

and which would not
be forgotten or forgiven.

However, for the next
four years,

relations between the two men
simmered but did not

burst out again
into open confrontation.

Himmler concentrated on
establishing the SS

as the dominant power
within the Nazi state.

During 1936,
Himmler's control of

all German civilian
police was formalized

and the Gestapo spread
its secret surveillance web

over every aspect
of German life.

And as Hitler focused on
rebuilding Germany's strength

through a massive program
of public works,

such as the Autobahn network

and a massive
rearmament program,

his bodyguard
established a routine.

Everywhere he went,
he was accompanied

by men of
the Begleitkommando.

[Crowd cheering ]

And before a trip
or formal occasion,

the RSD would check the route,
the buildings along it,

and the place which Hitler
was to visit.

Local Gestapo and police

would be called in
as necessary.

As far as possible,

the streets or approaches
to a building

would be lined with
uniformed SS men,

every third man
facing the crowd.

There would be marksmen
on the roofs,

while plainclothes RSD men
or criminal police

mingled with the crowds.

The Fuhrer's motorcade was
preceded by a single pilot car

to warn the guards to stand-to.

Then, 50 meters behind,
came Hitler's car --

usually a gleaming open
six-seater Grosser Mercedes

or the massive six-wheel
Mercedes G-4.

Hitler always stood

or sat in the front
beside the driver

with a member of
the Begleitkommando

and an adjutant
right behind him.

Immediately following
were three cars

with the rest of
the Begleitkommando

and a detachment
of RSD men.

Then, after a 100-meter gap,

came the cars of
other Nazi Chieftains

or foreign guests.

By the beginning of 1938,
as Hitler started to put

his aggressive expansion plans
into action,

the responsibilities of
his bodyguard grew rapidly.

Hitler's first target

was his homeland, Austria.

After its government
had refused to buckle in

to Hitler's demands
and announced a referendum

on unification with Germany,

Hitler ordered
an invasion

on March 12th.

Complete surprise and the noisy
welcome given by local Nazis

made the assault bloodless

and apparently popular.

Hitler was eager to visit
his new conquest

and set off immediately
by air to Munich.

From there, he was driven across
the border to his birthplace

at Braunau in a convoy
of twelve cars,

all of them massive
six-wheel Mercedes-Benz.

Five of them were filled with
Begleitkommando and RSD men

commanded by Bruno Gesche.

[Crowd cheering ]

Cheering crowds greeted
him whenever he stopped,

but Gesche's bodyguards were
taking no chances.

They carried two
pistols each

and had 14 submachine guns
between them,

with over 2,500 rounds
of ammunition.

They were right
to be concerned.

Hitler's aggressive
foreign policy

was increasing
the number of enemies

lined up against him

happy to see him dead.

It was just as the pressures on
Hitler's bodyguard were growing

that Himmler tried again
to rein in the activities

of Hitler's SS escort.

At the end of 1937,

he had imposed
a strict new rule

on SS members.

If they were found guilty
of abusing alcohol,

they had to promise to abstain
from drink for 12 years

or resign.

Having obtained evidence that
Gesche's alcohol intake

was uncontrolled and dangerous
for the maintenance of his job,

Himmler felt convinced he could
nail the lanky bodyguard

once and for all.

On September 26, 1938,

Gesche was told to sign
a written statement

swearing not to touch spirits
for three years

or face expulsion
from the SS.

Gesche had no choice
but to agree.

It seemed a victory to Himmler,
but it was short-lived.

After just a few months,

such was the affection for
Gesche among his SS colleagues

and the influence
of the Fuhrer

that Himmler had to lift
the drinking ban.

It appeared that Hitler
did not mind

that the head of
his personal bodyguard

was drinking too much
while on duty.

In fact, this was not
the only weakness

of his number-one protector
that Hitler chose to ignore.

Gesche was slightly cross-eyed,

and Hitler would joke
it was a good thing

he did not sit directly
behind him in his car.

Otherwise, he might shoot Hitler
in the back by mistake.

But he was prepared
to take the risk.

With the countdown to war
in Europe accelerating

and with his own generals
showing considerable concern

about the path down which
he was leading Germany,

Hitler liked to be surrounded
by the company of trusted men.

World War II started well
for Adolf Hitler.

On September 1, 1939,

German armies crossed
the border into Poland

and rapidly overran

the western part
of the country.

Hitler was impatient to visit
his new conquests,

and just two days
into the campaign,

set off from Berlin by rail

to visit the battle front
in Poland.

The Begleitkommando and RSD

were now given
field-grey SS uniforms

with the insignia appropriate
to their military-police rank.

They would continue
to be responsible

for Hitler's close protection,

but wider security
now involved another

potentially competing group.

This was the army's
Fuhrer escort battalion,

or Fuhrer Begleit Battalion,

commanded by
Colonel Erwin Rommel.

Set up just before war began,

this new unit
took responsibility

for guarding Hitler's
military headquarters

and accompanying him

when he visited
front-line command posts.

When the train
reached Bad Polzin,

Hitler and his staff
transferred to a convoy

of grey-painted Mercedes.

All were open-topped,

with machine guns mounted on
the SS escort cars.

Escort battalion troops with
motorcycles and armored cars

preceded and backed up
the column.

The mood was very relaxed.

Hitler feared little,
thinking no one

would dare to attack him
with his troops

all round him.

His bodyguard chatted and took
photographs of each other.

But while out in
the countryside,

a shot rang out.

A Polish sniper killed
a German truck driver

as he was passing
close to Hitler's convoy.

The truck went out of control

and crashed into one of
Hitler's escort vehicles.

It was a close shave,
but nothing could deter

Hitler and his bodyguard.

Hours later,
he watched his troops

crossing the river Vistula

while Polish bombers dropped
their bombs just a mile away.

[Distant explosions]

Hitler was in a triumphant mood,

and Gesche and the overall
SS escort seemed to share it,

consequently
lowering their guard.

They were to get a rude wake-up
call just two months later.

[Crowd cheering ]

On November 8, 1939,
Hitler went to

the Bürgerbräu Beer Hall
in Munich

for one of the Nazi Party's
most sacred rituals --

the anniversary celebration

of the attempted Putsch
in 1923.

He began speaking
just after 8:00 PM,

earlier than usual,

because he had urgent business
to attend to in Berlin.

By 9:07 PM,

he left the hall.

His old comrades continued

to drink and reminisce.

[ Explosion ]

Just 12 minutes later,

a bomb exploded behind
the speaker's rostrum.

Eight people were killed
and 60 injured.

For Hitler, his escape was proof
of his divine mission,

but it was one of the nearest
misses of his career.

Dietrich and Himmler
also escaped the carnage,

but it was bad news
for the latter.

The RSD was responsible
for checking every location

before any Hitler event.

How on earth

had Himmler's men
missed the bomb?

How could they have missed
the man who planted it there?

It was a serious error

that had come within 12 minutes
of killing the Führer.

Himmler's henchmen did catch
the bomber, George Elser,

a 36-year-old cabinetmaker
and communist from Württemberg.

But his confession,
extracted by the Gestapo,

made uncomfortable reading
for Himmler.

Elser had been able to spend
30 nights in the beer hall

planting his time bomb.

It was a severe embarrassment
for Himmler and the RSD.

What was the point of spending
millions of Deutschmarks

on security if an assassin
could just walk in?

It confirmed
Hitler's cynicism

about his own
security measures.

Man: "In the two really
dangerous attempts

"made to assassinate me,

"I owed my life
not to the police

but to pure chance."

Powell: The attempt led to
a major review

of Hitler's security measures.

A 60-page report
recommended that

the SS Central Security Office,

the RSD, and the Gestapo
must work more closely together,

particularly on
surveillance of buildings

associated with Hitler.

Himmler was now so distracted

that he left Gesche alone
for the early part of the war.

Victory after victory
followed for Germany.

By early 1942,

Hitler was master of Europe,

with his conquering armies

advancing deep into
the Soviet Union.

Gesche shared in the euphoria.

As the Fuhrer strutted
on the Berghof terrace,

Gesche witnessed
the parade of grandees

who came to seek
his patronage.

Hitler did not touch alcohol,

preferring a glass
of apple juice,

but many of his senior
commanders and party officials

were tremendous drinkers.

This was fatal for Gesche --

when he drank,
he often got out of control.

In April 1942,
he went too far.

A report was soon
on Himmler's desk.

During a binge-drinking session,

Gesche had pulled out
his pistol

and threatened
another SS officer.

He was soon calmed down,
but this time,

Hitler could not prevent
his punishment.

Gesche was dismissed
from command

of Hitler's personal escort

and banned from drinking
for three years.

But far worse, he was sent
for basic army training.

At the age of 37,

this man who had
enjoyed the luxury

of Hitler's court
was to be sent

to the Eastern Front

to face the full fury
of fighting the Russians.

It must have seemed
like a death sentence.

For Gesche, it looked like
the end of the line.

For Himmler,
it seemed that at last

he had got his revenge.

The unit to which
Bruno Gesche was sent

after being sacked from command
of Hitler's escort group

was a Waffen-SS
Panzer division.

By mid-1942,

the original Leibstandarte-SS
guard regiment

had grown into an army
of more than 12 divisions.

Regarded as an elite force,

the Waffen-SS was often used
in the most critical

and dangerous sections
of the front.

Gesche was given
eight weeks' training

and then sent to a unit
fighting in southern Russia.

It was a severe challenge

for a 37-year-old with

no combat experience at all.

[Gunfire]

He arrived just in time

for the major
summer offensive --

Operation Blue.

By the end of July,
the Germans had

burst through the Red Army
and were approaching

their objective --
the oil fields

of the Caucasus.

But the speed of

the Panzers' advance
overstretched

their supply lines.

They shuddered to a halt
just outside Stalingrad.

Gesche fought well
during the offensive

and was evacuated
after being wounded.

Much to Himmler's surprise,
he was ordered to return

to Hitler's headquarters
in December 1942.

Years of easy living
in the SS escort

had not made him
too soft for battle,

and Hitler was pleased
with his performance.

He re-appointed Gesche commander
of his close escort,

but this was
largely symbolic.

Much of
the administrative burden

was undertaken by
the SS adjutants.

[Gunfire]

It was a lucky escape
for Gesche.

In November,

the Soviets unleashed
a ferocious counterattack

at Stalingrad that trapped
and then annihilated

thousands of German troops
in a desperate last stand.

Gesche could have been
among them.

Shortly after this disaster,
an order was issued

that no one who had served
in Hitler's headquarters

was to be allowed
to fight on the Eastern Front.

Their capture

and interrogation
by the Soviets

could seriously compromise
the Fuhrer's security.

By now, Hitler was spending
most of his time

at his main
military headquarters,

code-named the Wolfsschanze,
or Wolf's Lair,

near Rastenburg
in East Prussia.

Today, this is in Poland.

The remains of the massive
concrete buildings and bunkers

can still be seen
deep in the forest.

The Begleitkommando
and RSD still provided

the close protection
with a much-enlarged

Fuhrer protection battalion
of the Wehrmacht providing

the mass of sentries,
patrols,

and anti-aircraft units.

From the Wolfsschanze,

Gesche and his team would
accompany Hitler on his

occasional visits to
headquarters nearer the front

or to Berlin
or Berchtesgaden.

Usually these trips
were made by air,

despite the increasing
danger of interception

by Allied aircraft.

Gesche kept his head down

and avoided any conflict
with Himmler

for the whole of 1943

and most of 1944.

By then,
the war had turned

decisively against
Nazi Germany.

On the Eastern Front,

the debacle at Stalingrad
had been followed in July 1943

by a catastrophic defeat

near the city of Kursk.

From then on,

the German armies
were on the retreat.

By the middle of 1944,

the Red Army was pushing
across the border of Poland,

and by the end of August,

it was just a few miles
short of Warsaw.

Even worse for the Germans,

the long-awaited Second Front
had begun in June

with US, British,
and Canadian forces

crossing the English Channel

and establishing a bridgehead
in northern France.

By the end of August,
they had broken out,

and Paris had been liberated.

Gesche saw the Fuhrer
rapidly age before him.

No longer invigorated
with success,

Hitler shuffled around
his headquarters,

directing his frustration

not at the enemy,

but his own generals.

It was they who had let down
Hitler's great schemes.

It was they who were

conspiring against him.

And he was right.

Many generals wanted
an end to the war

while they could still negotiate
a deal with the Western Allies.

On July 20, 1944,
Hitler was studying battle maps

at the Wolfsschanze when,
in a carefully-planned

assassination attempt,
a bomb exploded

beneath the table.

Four officers were killed,

but Hitler survived.

"I am immortal!" he crowed.

He owed his life to the flimsy
construction of the building

and its open windows which
helped diffuse the blast.

Once again, luck had come
to Hitler's rescue.

Yet again, his security forces
had failed to intercept

the plotters and their bomb.

But the Fuhrer's good fortune

could not eradicate
the mood of deep depression

that descended on him
and his associates.

Their time was running out.

In December 1944,
Gesche took to drink again,

pulled a pistol,

and fired several shots
at a colleague.

This time,
Himmler personally wrote

the letter of condemnation.

Man: "You are known to me
as a notorious drunk

"from the year 1938,
as well as from reports

"in recent years and months.

"Since I cannot tolerate drunks
in the Fuhrerkorps,

"I demote you.

"Only based on your
long association

"will I allow you
to remain in the SS.

"I will give you the opportunity

"to serve in
the Dirlewanger Brigade,

"and by proving yourself
before the enemy,

"it might be possible that you
will be able to wipe out

"the shame you have brought
onto yourself

"and the entire SS.

"I expect you to abstain
from alcohol

"for the rest of your life,

"without any exceptions.

"Should your willpower be
already damaged by alcohol

"to the extent that you cannot
keep this pledge,

then I expect you to hand in
your resignation."

Powell: It was
a harsh punishment.

The Dirlewanger Brigade was
a penal unit full of criminals

expected to die fighting
in the front line.

It was Himmler's
final blow against

the bodyguard that had most
avoided his control.

With just weeks left
of his evil regime,

this may have given him
some grim satisfaction.

Gesche didn't
receive the letter

until January 1945,
and by then,

the Third Reich had only
four months left.

He probably toasted its arrival
with a stiff drink.

He could not be sent to
the Dirlewanger Brigade

because it was fighting
on the Eastern Front.

The risk that he might

fall into Soviet hands
was too great.

Instead, Gesche fought as part
of the 16th SS Division

in its long and bitter retreat

through Italy,
Slovenia, and Hungary.

No longer part of
Hitler's SS escort,

he did not share the final days
with his Fuhrer

in the bunker deep beneath
a devastated Berlin.

He did not have to make
a decision about

whether to end his own life

or face capture
by the Soviets

and almost certain execution
as a member of the SS.

Ironically,

Himmler had done him a favor,

removing him from almost
certain death in Berlin.

Instead, it was
the Reichsfuhrer-SS

who chose suicide when he was
captured by the British.

Despite being Hitler's
number-one bodyguard,

possibly the most dangerous
job in the world,

protecting a man
who had so many enemies

and had so many assassination
attempts against him,

Gesche survived it all.

He survived over a decade

of vendetta against Himmler,
the most lethal man

in the Third Reich,

and he had survived the war.

It was a remarkable
achievement.

That Hitler entrusted his most
personal security arrangements

to such an unstable character
was odd,

but typical of his affection

for those comrades who first
served him back in the 1920s.

It also revealed

how Hitler trusted to chaos --

or good luck --
as early attempts

on his life would soon show.

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