Close Hitler Aide Dies

One of Adolph Hitler’s closest aides, Otto Günsche, who helped burn the German dictator's body, died at the age of 86 earlier this month, a relative confirmed on Monday. Günsche, an SS officer and a member of Hitler’s inner circle, spent the last hours of the Nazi leader's life with him on April 30, 1945 in a Berlin bunker before Hitler and his companion Eva Braun committed suicide. Günsche said in a recent interview that Hitler had personally ordered him to burn his body after his death. Born in 1917, Günsche joined the Wehrmacht and swiftly rose to rank of first lieutenant in the SS. He was with Hitler when he survived an assassination attempt in July 1944. After Hitler’s suicide, Günsche was captured by Red Army troops and spent years as a prisoner in war. After his release, Günsche lived quietly in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany, where he died on October 2 this year of a heart attack.