Adolf Hitler's bodyguard
Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, initiated World War II in Europe with the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and was central to the Holocaust.
Police and security forces available included the Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo), Ordnungspolizei (Orpo), Kriminalpolizei (Kripo), and Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo).
In addition, the Nazi intelligence organisation, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), investigated and performed security checks on people, including party members.
He believed in the widely held "Stab-in-the-back myth", that the German Army did not lose the war on the battlefield but on the home front due to the communists and Jews.
Security problems increased as Germany began its annexation of territory, "occupation" of countries and with the invasion of Poland, which initiated World War II in Europe.
It turned out that the car pursuing Hitler was full of RSD bodyguards, who had not thought to inform the Führer or any of his immediate entourage beforehand.
[48] As Hitler went from being a stateless street politician to supreme leader of Nazi Germany, the responsibilities of his bodyguard expanded enormously.
The bodyguard leaders in the Führer's inner circle eventually established a routine and by 1939 the roles were more clearly defined as to what duties each unit would undertake.
Before a trip or important public event, the RSD checked the route, the buildings along it, and the places which Hitler was to visit.
[54] The LSSAH guarded Hitler's private residences and offices, providing an outer ring of protection for the Führer and his visitors.
[57] They were assisted by the SD, which investigated and monitored people for subversive activities and passed the information gathered on to the Gestapo for action when needed.
[51] After the war started, the FBB provided wider security protection for Hitler when in residence at the Berghof, as he travelled by vehicle to front-line command posts and at military headquarters.
On 8 November 1939, Hitler went to the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall in Munich for the annual anniversary celebration of the attempted putsch of 1923.
About thirteen minutes later, a time bomb which had been concealed inside a pillar behind the speaker's rostrum exploded, killing eight and injuring sixty-three.
[63] The man behind the elaborate assassination attempt was Johann Georg Elser, a carpenter-cabinet maker from Baden-Württemberg who had supported the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (German Communist Party; KPD), but also felt Hitler was leading the country to war.
[64] After the beer hall closed, from August until the beginning of November, he worked carving out a concealed cavity in a section in a pillar.
[66] The event was an embarrassment for the security services and given the "sensitivity of the case" Himmler and Heydrich took personal charge of the investigation.
The plane took off with both Hitler and Brandt on board, but it arrived safely at the Wolf's Lair field headquarters in East Prussia.
The bomb most likely failed to detonate because the extremely low temperatures in the unheated luggage compartment of the plane prevented the fuse from operating properly.
This area housed the quarters of several Reich ministers, the HQ personnel, two messes, a communication centre, as well as the military barracks for the FBB.
[75][76] With Germany suffering major defeat on all fronts, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his ring of conspirators decided to eliminate Hitler and the Nazi leadership, establish a new government, and save the country from total destruction.
