Hitler’s Bodyguard

Fremantle Media

Roadshow Entertainment

R4 DVD

This ten-hour television series would better be called “The Battle to be Hitler’s Bodyguard”. Not only does it document the attempts on Hitler’s life but it covers the infighting to control the bodyguards. Closeness to Hitler was power and many Nazis fought each other for that position of influence. As a result the “bodyguard” was really a group of paramilitary forces, each with its own area of responsibility and each fighting for more control over the othersl.

In the early days of the Nazi Party Hitler had a small group of eight bodyguards. As his importance grew in the German political system the SturmAbteilung, the SA “brownshirts”, was formed. Initially they were little more than street brawling thugs but they eventually grew into a fully armed body of men with semi-military training.

Heinrich Himmler in particular was power hungry. He was nominally the head of the Bavarian Police and was therefore based in Munich, well away from the power centre of Berlin. That didn’t stop him from plotting against Hitler’s friends and doing his best to undermine them from a safe distance. To combat the power of the SA Himmler formed the SS, an elite group whose initial mission was to provide close-in protection for Hitler. This marginalised the SA and they were restricted to larger-scale events like crowd control and transport safety. Other splinter groups were formed as the Party powerbrokers fought for influence, but none was as successful as Himmler’s next creation, the dreaded Gestapo. It was formed to fill a perceived intelligence niche and seek out and investigate threats against Hitler. It became a tool of Himmler for undermining others and disposing of anyone who challenged his own power. These were many, including some very high-profile victims.

That is not to say that Hitler was safer. The infighting and refusal to cooperate between groups led to many incidents where Hitler’s security was compromised. An example is given where Hitler was travelling between cities by train, supposedly a quick and low-key trip. The SA, eager to be seen to be active, searched the entire route for potential troublemakers, bombs, ambush points, whatever. This of course alerted the whole countryside to what was going on. Hitler also liked to take his part in parades standing up in his huge six-wheeled Mercedes. This put him higher than his escorting bodyguards and made him a prominent target.

Considering the number of groups determined to protect Hitler it is surprising that some attempts on his life so nearly succeeded. Each attempt was followed by bloodletting and assignment of blame but since so many incidents were the result of the lack of cooperation between units the situation did not really improve. Hitler himself seemed at first blasé or fatalistic about his safety but it is notable that by the end of the war he was showing signs of the strain of constantly being the world’s most hated man.

The largest group he had to fear was the Jewish population of Germany. Their opposition, however, was relatively small and fragmented as many of them left Germany. A Socialist, Otto Strasser, recruited disaffected Jews into his resistance organization in Switzerland. While technically a Nazi he put more faith in the Socialist philosophy. He was sacked from the Party. Both Strasser and Ernst Rohm, commander of the SA, saw the Nazi Party as a revolutionary party and criticised the luxurious living standards of the Party’s higher-ups.

The SA was unhappy with the leadership and was actually posing a threat to Hitler. In the “Night of the Long Knives” many dissidents were assassinated. Power now lay in the hands of Himmler’s Gestapo and SS and a new organization, Reynhard Heydrich’s Sicherheitsdienst (SD). The multiplicity of organizations made it very difficult for any organised assassination attempt within Germany. As a result the Berlin Olympics passed without incident although it would have been a perfect propaganda opportunity. With the Gestapo becoming more efficient Hitler now took the opportunity to sometimes send agents abroad on assassination missions. Such Jewish assassination attempts as there were turned out ineffectual, and gave Hitler an excuse for more anti-Jewish actions.

Enemies were growing outside Germany. The biggest was Stalin in Russia. When civil war broke out in Spain the two countries took opposite sides. The Russians found opportunities to kill Hitler but did not take advantage of them – the paranoid Stalin was still purging his own people. Starting a war with Germany by killing Hitler was not a good idea at this time.

Chapter 6 is called Kill Hitler Before War Starts. Enemies were growing inside Germany, this time from the Army who saw Hitler’s actions as suicidal for their country. Their armed forces were still rebuilding after the Versailles Treaty. The Army, headed by General Beck, and the Abwehr decided they would combine their resources and arrest Hitler if he ordered an invasion of Czechoslovakia. The Army would be needed to battle the SS. The plot would depend on France and Britain joining in and pinning down the rest of the Army. For the first time other countries were watching Hitler’s ambitions and wondering if it would be better to remove him sooner rather than later. The British Military Attache to Berlin actually worked out how to kill Hitler with a shot from a high powered rifle from the window of his apartment, He was told to drop the idea as it wouldn’t be sporting. Further, British Prime Minister Chamberlain actively sought a peace agreement with Hitler. This left the Army generals without support and the most promising attempt against Hitler collapsed. Remaining attempts were mostly based on a single man rather than a group.

Himmler’s RSD suffered a huge blow to its prestige when a bomb exploded in a Munich beer hall. Hitler had left the hall only twelve minutes earlier. Security coordination was tightened. As the countries fell before the German troops Hitler showed a liking for triumphal entries to captured countries. This drove his bodyguards to distraction but at least he tried to randomise his trips and methods of transport. This saved his life on a number of occasions. Overall, though, Hitler felt safer when travelling by plane. Each flight was escorted by Me109 fighters. With fewer people knowing his movements he felt safer. This meant that his personal pilot, Hans Bauer, also joined the ranks of his bodyguards.

Following the loss of General Paulus’ army at Stalingrad, when they were ordered to fight and die to the last man, resistance among the generals arose once more. At their rank they could bypass many of the security checks. One attempt at blowing up Hitler’s plane failed when the explosives failed to fire in the intense cold of the aircraft. A second attempt failed when Hitler, following his unpredictable urges, left before the bomb exploded. Both attempts were hushed up before the bodyguard forces suspected anything.

Hitler also travelled on a specially built train. These trips cause massive disruption due to the need for so many people to know the route and to check it. The train was loaded with bodyguard troops but they would be of little use if a bomb was laid under the tracks. At least railway tunnels provided convenient bomb shelters from aircraft attack. The Polish resistance made one attempt on the train, but blew up the wrong train while Hitler’s train waited on a siding.

Finally Britain’s SOE was given the opportunity to investigate Hitler’s assassination. Generally it was frowned on – senior planners regarded Hitler as strategically inept and more of an asset where he was. It was an unusual situation where Hitler’s increasing instability acted to protect him. If he was to be killed his train still appeared to be the most likely target. SOE investigated poisoning the fresh water on the train.

In the event they were put off when a disaffected German officer exploded a briefcase bomb at a conference with Hitler. Once again Hitler’s own generals were his biggest enemy and the hardest to guard against. Hitler escaped once again through sheer luck but it was a close thing. With Allied control of the air becoming stronger Hitler’s special train would now become increasingly dangerous to use. Following the failure of the Ardennes offensive he took his train back to Berlin, then never used it again.

One place where Hitler felt relatively safe was his mountain home in Bavaria, the Berghof. Although well protected it offered enough weaknesses that an assassination attempt may be practical. SOE examined a number of methods – a single gunman, bombing attacks, and a combined paratroop assault. Events once more overtook their plans and with Germany now falling to the advancing Allies Hitler returned to Berlin. He never left it after that.

Even in his bunker there were still plots against him. Albert Speer planned to use poison gas to kill everyone in the bunker and negotiate with the allies for peace. In a final betrayal even Himmler, the man in charge of Hitler’s bodyguards, was now working out how to kill Hitler and hopefully keep his life after Germany fell. Hitler’s final birthday in the bunker was a small affair - most of his loyal friends had plotted against him and were now dead.

In the end Hitler killed himself. It was ironic since he had survived over forty attempts on his life. His bodyguards had done their best to protect him but the biggest threat to his life turned out to be from his friends.

As you would expect of this type of documentary there are quite a few repeated film clips, but each of the thirteen chapters develops a particular theme and some repetition is inevitable. The amount of detail is high – even Hitler’s preference in parade cars is explained in terms of their defensive capacity. The series covers many of those little sidelights of history that you simply won’t see anywhere else. It is a worthy addition to the history of World War II.

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 6 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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