Bruno Gesche SS - Obersturmbannführer * * Bruno Gesche ( 5 November 1905 – 1980 ) was a Lieutenant Colonel of the SS in Nazi Germany , a member of Adolf Hitler ' s entourage , and the commander of Adolf Hitler ' s personal bodyguard ( SS - Begleitkommando des Führers ) for the periods June 1934 – April 1942 and December 1942 – December 1944 . Early career . Gesche ' s aspirations for a career in the German military were effectively dashed by the limitations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles on the post - World War I national defense force , the Reichswehr . Though thwarted at realizing his dream of a life of soldiering via the traditional path , Gesche channeled his enthusiasm toward opportunities created by what was then a fringe political opposition movement , the NSDAP , and specifically , its paramilitary wing , the Sturmabteilung , both of which he joined in 1922 . Although Gesche ' s association with the Nazi movement during its early years , including partaking in the thuggish ways employed by the SA brownshirts cost him his day job on more than one occasion , his status within the Nazi party as an Alte Kämpfer ( NSDAP Member No . 8592 ) proved to be a tremendous asset to him during the better part of the subsequent two and a half decades . In 1927 Gesche left the SA to join what was then its subordinate outfit , the Schutzstaffel ( SS Member No . 1093 ) . Gesche decided to join the SS after viewing a procession of its men at a Nazi party rally earlier that same year . Like the relative handful before him , and the hundreds of thousands that followed , the distinctive black uniforms of the SS , apparent discipline , and commitment to Nazi racial ideology , left an indelible mark on the young German during the tumult that was Weimar Germany . The SS , as in its earlier incarnations , the Stabswache and Stoßtrupp Adolf Hitler , functioned as the future Führer ' s bodyguard . SS - Begleitkommando des Führers . On February 29 , 1932 , with the advice of Reichsführer - SS , Heinrich Himmler , Hitler chose eight of a prospective twelve men from amongst the body of the SS membership , to serve as his exclusive personal bodyguard , the SS - Begleitkommando des Führers . One of the eight men handpicked by Hitler for the elite unit was Bruno Gesche . Not long after the unit ' s creation , Gesche managed to draw the ire of Reichsführer Himmler . To Himmler ' s consternation , Hitler ' s fondness for Gesche stemming from their days as old guard comrades would define Gesche ' s fate for practically the duration of the Third Reich ' s existence . Conflicts with Himmler . The first of many incidents between Gesche and Himmler arose as a result of criticism that the former levied against the security detail provided by another SS unit during a Hitler campaign speech in Selb on October 14 , 1932 . Himmler regarded this as an affront to him personally . Although Himmler requested that Gesche be immediately demoted and removed from the SS - Begleitkommando , Hitler ordered that Gesche receive no more than a reprimand . What Himmler failed to achieve with Gesche in 1932 , he succeeded at with Gesche ' s immediate superior , third commander of the SS - Begleitkommando , Kurt Gildisch . Gildisch was dismissed from his role as commander of the SS - Begleitkommando in 1934 , and eventually the SS entirely , as well as the Nazi party , in 1936 , for repeated instances of drunkenness . Gesche was selected by Hitler to succeed Gildisch as commander of the SS - Begleitkommando in June , 1934 . On another occasion , in 1935 , as part of his attempts at consolidating his authority over the various security apparatuses of the early Nazi state , Himmler ordered that salaries due to men of Hitler ' s personal bodyguard detail be withheld . Gesche responded by enlisting the help of the commander of Hitler ' s personal bodyguard regiment , Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler , Sepp Dietrich , who quickly managed to have Himmler ' s order reversed . Seizing on Gesche ' s frequent bouts of intoxication , Himmler enforced an SS requirement that had been established in 1937 , forbidding SS men from consuming alcohol in excess of the limits as set forth in the mandate . After accumulating evidence that Gesche was in violation , Himmler had Gesche sign a statement on September 26 , 1938 , promising to abstain from alcohol consumption of any kind for three years or else face expulsion from the SS . After a few months Himmler lifted the ban . Hitler ' s fondness for Gesche had again forced Himmler ' s hand . War years . Gesche once again opened the door for Himmler , when in early 1942 , after another session of heavy - drinking , he pulled his pistol and threatened a fellow SS officer . Although no shots were fired , after Himmler was informed of the events , even Gesche ' s close relationship with Hitler could not save him from the wrath of the Reichsführer - SS . Gesche was swiftly dismissed from his command of the SS - Begleitkommando , was again required to abstain from drinking for three years , and most importantly , at the age of 37 and with no prior combat experience , was ordered to the Eastern Front to join the Waffen - SS unit , 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking , in which he served with 1 . / SS - Panzer - Jäger - Abteilung 5 . The 5th SS , from the moment Gesche arrived in the summer of 1942 , engaged in bitter battles with Soviet forces for control of the oil - rich Caucasus . Before the collapse of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad , and the resulting retreat through the Caucasus by the remnants that had not surrendered , including his 5th SS Wiking Division , Gesche had been evacuated from the front in early October 1942 after being wounded in combat . Hitler was pleased with Gesche ' s performance , and ordered that upon recuperating , he return to command the SS - Begleitkommando . The fortuitous circumstances of Gesche ' s Caucasus experience led Hitler to decree that no man who had served in a bodyguard unit should be sent to the Eastern Front , for fear of capture by the Soviets . In December 1944 Gesche once again , and for the final time , tempted fate . In his strongly worded rebuke , soon after an incident that featured a drunken Gesche firing shots at a comrade , Himmler wrote : Gesche was reduced by nine grades , from a SS - Obersturmbannführer to SS - Unterscharführer . Assignment to the notorious SS penal unit , Dirlewanger , at that stage of the war , was for all practical purposes a death sentence . Although Hitler did not personally intervene on Gesche ' s behalf , other powerful allies in the SS did . SS - Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein and SS - Obergruppenführer Maximilian von Herff successfully argued that assignment to the Dirlewanger Brigade , which was currently operating on the Eastern Front , would be in contravention to the Hitler order forbidding such deployments . Although Gesche was spared certain death with the Dirlewanger , he never again rejoined the Begleitkommando . His days protecting Hitler were over . He was assigned to the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer - SS , 5 . / SS - Panzer - Grenadier - Regiment 35 , where he is said to have again fought well , ultimately surrendering to the Americans in Italy in 1945 . According to records housed at the Deutsche Dienststelle ( WASt ) , Bruno Gesche ' s last known date of internment by the Western Allies was March 22 , 1947 .