Johannes Hentschel

Johannes Hentschel (10 May 1908 – 27 April 1982) was a German-Danish master electro-mechanic for German dictator Adolf Hitler's apartments in the Old Chancellery. He also served in the same capacity in Hitler's Führerbunker in 1945.

Biography

Born in Berlin on 10 May 1908. Hentschel was hired on 4 July 1934. During the last days of the Third Reich, he was responsible for the machine room in the Führerbunker and he stayed in the bunker after everyone else had either committed suicide or left, as the field hospital in the Reich Chancellery above needed power and water. He surrendered to the Red Army as they entered the bunker complex and was released on 4 April 1949. Hentschel died in 1982 in Achern, West Germany.^[1]

Portrayals

Oliver Stritzel was cast as Hentschel in Downfall (Der Untergang). However, in the theatrical release most of his scenes were cut and he only briefly appears restoring power to a failing generator, as well as in the epilogue which explains what happened to all the characters. In the extended version of the film, his performance is expanded. Hentschel tells Otto Günsche that he is staying in order to maintain the generators. Later, he goes to the surface and looks at the burnt remains of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, Joseph and Magda Goebbels. Returning to the bunker, he finds a group of female Soviet soldiers who ask where Hitler and Braun are, then ask to be taken to Eva's wardrobe. He asks them not to open the door to the Goebbels' room, which they do anyway and find the bodies of the Goebbels children.

Hentschel plays a much more significant role in the 1981 film The Bunker. Portrayed by Martin Jarvis, he is shown as an ordinary working man (invariably seen in overalls) who observes the disintegration of the Nazi leaders around him. Eventually he is left all alone and disillusioned in the bunker, after the departure of his friend Rochus Misch. Awaiting the arrival of the Russians, Hentschel hears the report of Hitler's "heroic" death on the radio, and throws the papers he's been reading at it.

Notes

References

• Joachimsthaler, Anton (1999) [1995]. The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth. Trans. Helmut Bögler. London: Brockhampton Press. ISBN 978-1-86019-902-8. 

• Johannes Hentschel (Character) at the Internet Movie Database

Final occupants of the Führerbunker by date of departure (1945) 20 April Hermann Göring Heinrich Himmler 21 April Robert Ley 22 April Karl Gebhardt Julius Schaub Christa Schroeder Johanna Wolf Eckhard Christian 23 April Albert Bormann Theodor Morell Hugo Blaschke Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer Joachim von Ribbentrop Albert Speer 24 April Walter Frentz 28 April Robert Ritter von Greim Hanna Reitsch Walter Wagner 29 April Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven Gerhard Boldt Rudolf Weiss Wilhelm Zander Heinz Lorenz Willy Johannmeyer 30 April Nicolaus von Below 1 May Wilhelm Mohnke Traudl Junge Gerda Christian Constanze Manziarly Else Krüger Otto Günsche Walther Hewel Ernst-Günther Schenck Hans-Erich Voss Johann Rattenhuber Peter Högl Werner Naumann Martin Bormann Heinz Linge Erich Kempka Hans Baur Georg Betz Ludwig Stumpfegger Artur Axmann Günther Schwägermann Ewald Lindloff Hans Reisser Armin D. Lehmann Josef Ochs Werner Schwiedel Heinz Krüger Heinrich Doose Gerhard Schach 2 May Rochus Misch Helmuth Weidling Hans Refior Theodor von Dufving Siegfried Knappe Still present on 2 May Erna Flegel Werner Haase Helmut Kunz Fritz Tornow Johannes Hentschel Liselotte Chervinska Committed suicide Alwin-Broder Albrecht Ernst-Robert Grawitz Adolf Hitler Eva Hitler (Eva Braun) Joseph Goebbels Magda Goebbels Franz Schädle Wilhelm Burgdorf Hans Krebs Executed Hermann Fegelein Killed Goebbels children Blondi Unknown Heinrich Müller