Wilhelm Hübner’s Moment of Fame.

Many years ago, I saw a film clip of Adolph Hitler decorating a group of Hitler youth outside the Reich’s Chancellery in Berlin on March 20, 1945, just 41 days before Hitler’s death. Hitler had stopped to talk with one boy. Hitler youth were supposed to be 15 but this kid looked to be about 12, since he was a head shorter than Hitler and Der Führer was only 5 foot 9. Hitler smiled and patted the youngster on the cheek. Over the years I’ve often wondered who that kid was and what happened to him. I recently found out that his name was Wilhelm Hübner and the reason why Hitler smiled at him was that he learned that Hübner had been decorated for serving as a messenger runner, which was the exact job Hitler had been decorated for with the Iron Cross First Class during WWI. I also learned that Hübner survived the war and was still alive 40 years later when he was interviewed for a documentary called The Fatal Attraction of Adolph Hitler.