Miguel Ezquerra Miguel Ezquerra Sanchez ( January 10 , 1913 – October 29 , 1984 ) was a Spanish Falangist , soldier and volunteer member of the Waffen - SS . He fought in the Spanish Civil War and in the Second World War , in a battalion of the Blue Division or 250 . Infanterie - Division as it was known in the German Army . Biography . Ezquerra was a Falangist and enthusiastically signed up for military service on the Nationalist side after the military coup of 18 July 1936 . He fought on the fronts of Aragón , Madrid , Extremadura and Teruel , in the 7th " Bandera de Falange " . After the end of the war he was demobilised , and worked as a teacher . On hearing the news of the outbreak of the Second World War , he immediately visited the German embassy in Madrid , offering to enlist on the German side . His enthusiastic offer was noted , but tactfully declined . Later when Spain decided to send volunteers to assist German efforts on the Eastern front , he enrolled in the Blue Division . The Blue Division was ordered to the siege of Leningrad where it would eventually participate in the Battle of Krasny Bor . Later , after the Blue Division had been repatriated to Spain on April 2 , 1944 , he was determined to continue to fight . He secretly crossed the French border in April 1944 to enlist in the Wehrmacht , and he was eventually transferred into the Waffen - SS . As part of the 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division " Nordland " , and with the rank of Hauptsturmführer , Miguel Ezquerra helped defend Berlin against Soviet troops , commanding a unit formed by Spanish Fascists , who were among the last defenders of the bunker of Adolf Hitler . Miguel Ezquerra was author of the book " Berlin , a vida o muerte " ( " Berlin , to life or death " ) . Little is known about his later life . It is generally agreed that he was one of the most notable Spanish combatants in the Second World War . He received several decorations and awards , including the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross and had German nationality granted to him personally by Hitler . ( Cfr . Interview Review N . 339 , Madrid , November 1982 ) . Some historians , such as Kenneth W . Estes , question the assertions made by Ezquerra himself , as no evidence has ever been found to corroborate his claims about the role he played . While no one denies he was present in Germany , his real rank and participation in some events can be questioned . " Ezquerra , for example , claims to have been promoted from Lieutenant to Lieutenant - Colonel , orally , between his 1944 arrival in Stablack and final combat in Berlin . During this time , he allegedly served in the Army ' s special operations unit , the " Brandenburgers , " first fighting Maquis in and out of Paris , and then with his Spanish commando unit , fighting behind the American ( ! ) lines in the Battle of the Bulge . He claimed to have had personal contact with Hitler , who orally ( of course ) awarded him the Knight ' s Cross ; Himmler , Goebbels , and Berger ; and to have seen Martin Bormann and Axmann . In the last days of the war , his " Ezquerra Unit " — now absorbed into the Waffen - SS , ( although all his oral promotions had come from Army officers ) consisted of three companies of Spaniards , some " Doriot Milice " [ sic ] and more Spaniards from the Walloon Division " . Since 1995 , the remains of Ezquerra have rested next to those of his comrades in the Vault of the Blue Division , in cemetery of the Almudena ( 3rd Plateau , area A ) at Madrid .