The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Berlin - Otto Guensche, an aide to Adolf Hitler who burned the Nazi dictator's body in the final days of the Second World War to keep it from the advancing Soviets, has died, his family said Monday. He was 86. An SS officer and a member of Hitler's inner circle who spent the last hours with the Nazi leader in the Fuehrer bunker in Berlin before he and his companion Eva Braun committed suicide on April 30, 1945, Guensche lived quietly in West Germany after the war following several years in Soviet captivity. Guensche said in a recent AP interview that Hitler had personally ordered him to burn his body. Tikrit - Saddam Hussein has been hiding in his hometown of Tikrit and is believed to be exerting influence within the resistance that has been killing American soldiers at a rate of nearly one every two days, a U.S. officer said Monday. Vatican City - A frail Pope John Paul gave thanks Sunday for his 25-year pontificate and asked for continued help to carry on, opening a week of ceremonies surrounding his papal anniversary amid increasing concerns about his health. The 83-year-old John Paul has Parkinson's disease, and also has hip and knee ailments that make it nearly impossible for him to walk. He has appeared weaker in recent months. Reports say doctors were considering dialysis to prevent John Paul's kidneys from being overburdened by the Parkinson's medicine.
