Werner Grothmann Werner Grothmann ( 23 August 1915 – 26 February 2002 ) was a German SS - " Obersturmbannführer " ( lieutenant colonel ) in the Waffen - SS and " aide - de - camp " to " Reichsführer - SS " Heinrich Himmler from 1940 until Himmler ' s death in 1945 . Biography . Grothmann was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1915 . In his youth he studied economics and carved out a career as an accountant at a bank . In 1933 he joined the " Schutzstaffel " ( SS ) at 18 years old , and was assigned to the " Junkershule SS " . On 20 April 1936 , he was commissioned an SS - " Untersturmführer " ( second lieutenant ) and thereafter promoted to the rank of SS - " Obersturmführer " ( first lieutenant ) on 11 September 1938 . He was made the commander the " Deutsches SS Standarten " in Munich , Germany . At the beginning of the Second World War , he had already reached the rank of SS - " Hauptsturmführer " ( captain ) and was given command of " SS - Sturmbann Nº 13 " , a unit of the " SS Standarte Deutschland " . He was mobilized with his unit during the conquest of France and was wounded in combat in June 1940 . At the suggestion of Joachim Peiper , Grothmann was appointed second assistant to " Reichsführer - SS " Heinrich Himmler until July 1942 , when he was promoted to " aide - de - camp " to the leader of the SS . As Himmler ' s aide , Grothmann accompanied him on all field visits . In 1943 he was promoted to SS - " Sturmbannführer " ( major ) and then to SS - " Obersturmbannführer " ( lieutenant colonel ) . During the last few days of the war , Himmler , Grothmann and Heinz Macher traveled from Lübeck to Flensburg , where Himmler offered his services as second - in - command to the new interim government led by Karl Dönitz , successor to Adolf Hitler . Dönitz repeatedly rejected Himmler ' s overtures and initiated peace negotiations with the Allies . Himmler was formally dismissed from all his posts . Unwanted by his former colleagues and hunted by the Allies , Himmler attempted to go into hiding . He had not made extensive preparations for this , but he had equipped himself with a forged paybook under the name of Sergeant Heinrich Hitzinger of the Geheime Feldpolizei ( Secret Field Police ) , which was a mistake since members of this organization were sought after by the liberation forces . Grothmann and Macher were both dressed as army privates . Grothmann , Himmler , and Macher were stopped at a checkpoint on 21 May and detained . The three men were taken to an Allied barracks in Lüneburg on 23 May . During a routine interrogation , Himmler admitted who he was , and was then taken to the headquarters of the Second British Army . During an attempted medical examination , Himmler bit into a hidden cyanide pill and died . After Himmler ' s suicide , Grothmann and Macher were arrested . Grothmann was taken to a barracks at Lübeck , where he was extensively questioned . He denied any knowledge of Operation Reinhard . Then he was taken to an SS prison camp . Grothmann served as a prosecution witness against several SS officials , but during the trial of Karl Wolff he denied having any knowledge of the Final Solution . Grothmann was tried by a military tribunal in Hamburg and sentenced to 16 years in prison , but only served a few months before being released as not guilty . Grothmann remade his life as a businessman and granted a few interviews in the 1970s . In these interviews , he labeled Himmler as a person of cowardly nature . Werner Grothmann died at 86 years on 26 February 2002 .