Johann Rattenhuber | |
|---|---|
 Rattenhuber in Soviet custody | |
| Born | 30 April 1897 |
| Died | 30 June 1957 (aged 60) |
| Resting place | MunichOstfriedhof |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Conviction | War crimes[citation needed] |
| Criminal penalty | 25 years; repatriated to East Germany in 1955 |
| SS career | |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Service |  SS |
| Rank | Gruppenführer |
| Commands | Reichssicherheitsdienst |
Johann Rattenhuber (30 April 1897 – 30 June 1957), also known asHans Rattenhuber, was a German police andSS general (Gruppenführer, i. e. Generalleutnant). Rattenhuber was the head of German dictatorAdolf Hitler's personalReichssicherheitsdienst (Reich Security Service; RSD) bodyguard from 1933 to 1945. In January 1942, Rattenhuber's RSD units participated in the mass shooting of 227 Jews at Strizhavka. After the war, he was released from aSoviet prison on 10 October 1955 and allowed to go toWest Germany. He died inMunich in 1957.
Rattenhuber was born inMunich, where he made a career as a police officer. DuringWorld War I he served in the 16th and 13th Bavarian Infantry Regiments. He later joined theFreikorps. On 15 March 1933 he was appointed head of one of Hitler's personalbodyguard units then known as theFührerschutzkommando (Führer protection command; FSK).[1] His deputy wasPeter Högl. Its original members wereBavarian criminal-police officers.[2] They were charged with protecting the Führer only while he was inside the borders of Bavaria which was the area of their authority.[3] In the spring of 1934, theFührerschutzkommando replaced theSS-Begleitkommando for Hitler's overall protection throughout Germany.[3]
The FSK was officially renamed theReichssicherheitsdienst (RSD) on 1 August 1935.[2]Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, gained full control over the RSD in October 1935. Although Himmler was officially named chief, Rattenhuber remained in command and took his orders for the most part from Hitler.[2] Himmler was given administrative control over the unit.[2] The RSD should not be confused with theSicherheitsdienst or SD. The RSD was technically on the staff of Himmler with the members wearing the uniform of the SS with the SD diamond on their lower left sleeve.[4]
On the outbreak ofWorld War II, the RSD had 200 men in its ranks.[5] Rattenhuber's unit provided personal security to members of the Nazi Party leadership and for top members of the Nazi government.[6] As for theSS-Begleitkommando, it was expanded and became known as theFührerbegleitkommando (Führer Escort Command; FBK). The FBK continued under separate command until April 1945 and remained responsible for Hitler's close personal protection.[7] The RSD and FBK worked together for security and personal protection during Hitler's trips and public events, but they operated as two groups and used separate vehicles. For those occasions, Rattenhuber would be in overall command and the FBK chief, at the time, would act as his deputy.[8]
Rattenhuber was responsible for securing Hitler's field headquarters.[6] This included theWolf's Lair(Wolfsschanze), which Hitler first used on 23 June 1941. Rattenhuber travelled toVinnytsia,Ukraine, as Hitler'sWerwolf bunker was under construction to survey the area. In January 1942 he met with local SS-police leaders and civilian authorities, and ordered that the area be cleared of Jews prior to Hitler's planned arrival in summer 1942. On 10 January 1942, Rattenhuber's RSD units participated in the mass shooting of 227 Jews at Strizhavka, the actual grounds of the Werwolf site. Details of the execution were reported to Rattenhuber by his deputy, SS-Sturmbannführer Friedrich Schmidt. Additional massacres of local Jews in the area and POW laborers who worked on the construction of the Werwolf headquarters occurred on the eve of Hitler's arrival in July 1942.[9]
In January 1945, Rattenhuber accompanied Hitler and his entourage into the bunker complex under theReich Chancellery garden in the central government sector ofBerlin. Rattenhuber was promoted in rank to SS-Gruppenführer on 24 February 1945.[10] On 28 April, when it was discovered that Heinrich Himmler was trying to negotiate a backdoor surrender to the WesternAllies via CountFolke Bernadotte, Rattenhuber became part of a military tribunal ordered by Hitler to court-martial Himmler's SS liaison officerHermann Fegelein. Fegelein, by that time wasEva Braun's brother-in-law.Wilhelm Mohnke presided over the tribunal which, in addition to Rattenhuber and Mohnke, included GeneralsHans Krebs andWilhelm Burgdorf. However, Fegelein was so drunk that he was crying, vomiting and unable to stand up; he even urinated on the floor. It was the opinion of the judges that he was in no condition to stand trial. Therefore, Mohnke closed the proceedings and turned Fegelein over to the RSD security squad.[11]
Rattenhuber was one of the group to whom Hitler announced that he intended to kill himself rather than be captured by theSoviet forces who wereoccupying Berlin. He later testified:
"About 10 o'clock at night [on 29 April] Hitler summoned me to his room... Hitler said: 'You have served me faithfully for many years. Tomorrow is your birthday and I want to congratulate you and thank you for your faithful service, because I shall not be able to do so tomorrow... I have taken the decision... I must leave this world...' I went over to Hitler and told him how necessary his survival was for Germany, that there was still a chance to try and escape from Berlin and save his life. 'What for?' Hitler argued. 'Everything is ruined..., and to flee means falling into the hands of the Russians'..."[12]
Rattenhuber was not present whenHitler killed himself on the afternoon of 30 April in theFührerbunker. He did not see Hitler's body until after it was wrapped in grey blankets and carried out of the office/sitting room where Hitler died. He was not one of those who took the body up the stairs and outside. Instead, Rattenhuber followedHeinz Linge,Otto Günsche, Peter Högl,Ewald Lindloff and several others outside and watched Hitler's body being burned.[13][14]
On 1 May, Rattenhuber led one of the ten groups escaping from the Reich Chancellery andFührerbunker.[15] Two of the other main groups were led by SS-BrigadeführerWilhelm Mohnke andWerner Naumann. Most, including Rattenhuber, were taken prisoner by the Soviets on the same day or the following day. Rattenhuber was taken toMoscow, where on 20 May he gave a description of the last days of Hitler and the Nazi leadership in the bunker complex. The text of this was kept in the Soviet archives until it was published by V. K. Vinogradov in theRussian edition ofHitler's Death: Russia's Last Great Secret from the Files of the KGB in 2000.[16]
In August 1951 he was charged by the SovietMinistry of State Security that "from the early days of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany in 1933 and until the defeat of the latter in 1945, being an SS-Gruppenführer, Police Lieutenant-General and the chief of the Reich Security Service, he ensured the personal security of Hitler and other Reich leaders". Rattenhuber was sentenced by the Court Martial of the Moscow Military District on 15 February 1952 to 25 years' imprisonment. By a decree of thePresidium of the Supreme Soviet of September 1955 he was released from prison on 10 October 1955 and handed over to theGerman Democratic Republic authorities, who allowed him to go toWest Germany in 1956.[17] Rattenhuber died inMunich in 1957.[18]
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