Rochus Misch He's gonna say the same thing over and over again. Name: Rochus Misch Born: 29 July 1917 Died 5 September 2013 (aged 96) Nicknames: The Telegram Guy,Rocky Portrayed by Heinrich Schmieder Height 1.85 m

“Marschall Schukow?!” ―Misch after being asked to telegraph Zhukov.

Rochus Misch (29 July 1917 – 5 September 2013) was an SS sergeant who was Hitler's personal bodyguard and responsible for the Führerbunker's communications system. Misch died on 5 September 2013 as the last witness of the Bunker events shown in Downfall.

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Role in Downfall

In Downfall, Hans Fritzsche - exasperated by the hopelessness of the situation and by Joseph Goebbels' refusal to allow a surrender - enters Misch's office and tells him to send a telegram to Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov. Misch asks "to Marshal Zhukov?" and then Wilhelm Burgdorf comes in and tries to shoot Fritzsche.

Misch later appears when Krebs and Burgdorf commit suicide. He was sitting at his desk when he heard two shots coming from a nearby room. He went over there and found Krebs' and Burgdorf's bodies. He took two napkins and laid them over their heads, covering the bullet holes in their heads.

He is last seen in the "Goebbels and Magda suicide" scene contemplating suicide, where before Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda leave the bunker, Goebbels tells him "I don't need you anymore. The game's over," then leaves the bunker to commit suicide.

Downfall parodies

Like in Downfall, Misch's role is mainly that of a radio operator. His most common appearances are in parodies using the Goebbels Rants Scene. It's a running joke that Hans Fritzsche constantly tries to get him to send illegal radio messages to people, only to be stopped by Wilhelm Burgdorf, such as in the scene pictured above, taken from "Goebbels doesn't like to be called Skeletor" by Hitler Rants Parodies, in which Fritzsche asks Misch to tell everyone about Goebbels horrible nickname.

Other popular names Misch likes to use in this scene may include, among others:

In A Valentine's Day Special by Gachaganger, he was told by Gachaganger to send a birthday greeting to Heinrich Schmieder, the late actor who portrayed Rochus Misch, and to play Sabaton's Bismarck but told Gachaganger that he might be copystriked, which Gachaganger agrees on. He also asked Gachaganger if he could be his Valentine partner. Since Valentine's Day is not just about dating, Misch is not portrayed as gay.

Trivia

The actor who portrayed Misch, Heinrich Schmieder, died in 2010. Meaning that the real-life Misch outlived his portrayer.﻿ Misch was stated to be terminally ill in 2010 at the age of 93, and gave what he assumed would be his last interview. He died on 5 September 2013. [1] Misch wrote a book about his experiences in the war titled The Last Witness ; he sold the movie rights to the book in 2010 but didn't expect to live to see it produced. It is tentatively scheduled for release in 2014. If it's in German... more fuel for the fire.

Despite appearing in many scenes throughout Downfall, Misch only has one line in the non-extended version of the movie, which is his reaction of "Marshall Zhukov?!" after being told to send a message to him. In the extended version, he only has one more line, where he gives Traudl the message about Göring that she gives to Bormann. Misch, however, has a much more prominent role in the earlier movie The Bunker, which covered the same events.

He had the lowest military rank in the Führerbunker.

The real-life Misch had been a vocal proponent for a controversial memorial to the Goebbels children. A particular push to have this memorial made occurred in 2005, a year after the film Downfall was released. Misch insisted that the children were innocent of their parents' crimes, and their parents ended up murdering them, just as the Nazi leadership had caused the deaths of millions of innocent German civilians.

the film was released. Misch insisted that the children were innocent of their parents' crimes, and their parents ended up murdering them, just as the Nazi leadership had caused the deaths of millions of innocent German civilians. The real-life Misch claimed to know the identity of Fegelein's killer although he refused to reveal his name.

He also claimed to hear the gunshot that killed the Führer, and that he even saw Hitler and Eva Braun's bodies. However, he did keep telling different versions of how it ended after the war.

Even towards the end of his life, Misch remained loyal to Hitler and even called him a wonderful boss despite all the wrongdoing Hitler did.

When Misch was asked about Downfall in a 2005 interview, he revealed that he had seen the film and goes on to call it "Americanized" while comparing what happened in the film to what happened in real life.

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