Ernst-Günther Schenck

Ernst-Günther Schenck (October 3 1904 – December 21, 1998) was a German doctor who joined the Sturmabteilung in 1933. Because of a chance encounter with Adolf Hitler during the closing days of World War II, his memoirs proved historically valuable. His accounts of this time period influenced both Joachim Fest and James P. O'Donnell's accounts of Hitler's end.

Wartime experiences
Schenck was born in Marburg. He trained as a doctor and joined the SS. During the war, Schenck was actively involved in the creation of a large herbal plantation in Dachau concentration camp, which contained over 200,000 medicinal plants, from which, among other things, vitamin supplements for the Waffen SS were manufactured. During the creation of this plantation in 1938 over 100 people died, according to recollections of prisoners. In 1940 he was appointed as inspector of nutrition for the Waffen SS. In 1943 Schenck developed a protein sausage, which was meant for the SS frontline troops. Prior to its adoption, it was tested on 370 prisoners, some of whom died. He was also associated with Erwin Liek's attempts to develop holistic methods to prevent cancer.

Towards the end of the war Schenck volunteered to work in an emergency casualty station located in the Reich Chancellery in April of 1945, near the Führerbunker. Although he was not trained as a surgeon and lacked the experience, as well as the supplies and instruments necessary to operate on battle victims, he nonetheless assisted approximately one hundred major surgeries.

During these surgeries, Schenck was aided by Dr. Werner Haase, who also served as one of Hitler's private physicians. Although Haase had much more surgical experience than Schenck, he was weakened by tuberculosis, and often had to lie down while trying in vain to give verbal advice to Schenck. Due to the combination of terrible conditions and his own inexperience, after the war, Schenck told O'Donnell that he was unable to track down a single German soldier he had operated on who had survived (he kept records of the operations).

During this time Schenck saw Hitler in person twice, for only a brief time - once when Hitler wanted to thank him for his emergency medical services, and once during the "reception" after Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun.

Post-war life
Prior to writing his memoirs, Schenck was interviewed by O'Donnell for his book, The Bunker, who recorded his memories of the last days of Hitler. In his own memoirs, Schenck stated that his only concern was to improve nutrition and fight hunger. However a report in 1963 condemned Schenk for "treating humans like objects, guinea pigs". In the Federal Republic of Germany Schenck was not allowed to continue his medical career.

Schenck died on December 21, 1998 in Aachen. He was portrayed by actor Christian Berkel in the 2004 film Downfall, which details the final ten days of the people in Hitler's Führerbunker and of the people near it in Berlin as the Red Army continues to close in on the city.

Der Untergang
Schenck's input was included in the film Downfall.