Ernst-Robert Grawitz

Ernst-Robert Grawitz (8 June 1899 – 24 April 1945) was a German physician (and a SS-Reichsarzt) in Nazi Germany during World War II.

Background
Grawitz was born in Charlottenburg, in the western part of Berlin, Germany.

As Reichsphysician SS and Police, Grawitz advised Heinrich Himmler, commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS), on the use of gas chambers. Grawitz was also head of the German Red Cross. His wife, Ilse, was the daughter of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Siegfried Taubert.

Towards the end of World War II in Europe, Grawitz was a physician in Adolf Hitler's Führerbunker. When he heard that other officials were leaving Berlin in order to escape from advancing Soviet armies, Grawitz petitioned Hitler to allow him to leave; the request was refused. As the Soviets approached, a grenade exploded Grawitz' house, killing him, his wife and his children. It is assumed that it was suicide in an act that also killed his family.

It should be noted that Grawitz made no attemp to hide the fact that he wanted to commit suicide.


 * Saturday, April 21, 1945: Grawitz' secretary at the German Red Cross, Radke, is handing out 50 brass cylinders with cyanide capsules at the German Red Cross.


 * Sunday April 22, 1945: Grawitz and his SS-Adjutant are at the German Red Cross for lunch. ... Grawitz is described as a "flattering nervous wreck". (Cornelius Ryan, The Last Battle)

The Fat Doctor
Unlike the real-life Grawitz, Grawitz in the Downfall parody universe is morbidly overweight. This has made him a prompt target for hilarity by all untergangers. In the Downfall parody universe, Grawitz is Hitler's portly doctor who always seeks Hitler's favor and wants to be his go-to guy. However, the Führer is quite content with having Otto Günsche to fill that role. Grawitz makes countless pleas to Hitler for 'cool assignments', and this often leads Hitler to unleash a barrage of fat jokes. Among Untergangers, Grawitz is generally viewed as a tragic character.

Perhaps one of the most well know Grawitz' moments, is the Foot stomp of doom, by wilmolfc. This is like Hitler's pencil of doom, but it involves Grawitz blurting out targets then stomping his foot in anger. So far, two of these videos have been made. Another key feature of the stomp of doom, is the fact that the severity of the stomp progresses, starting with someone falling from a skateboard, ending with Grawitz unfairly blowing up the planet of Alderaan.

Suicide Scene
A slightly less common but still frequently used scene with Grawitz is the sequence in which he uses two grenades to blow up himself and his family. This scene is frequently included at the end of a parody centered around Grawitz, resulting in a running joke involving him blowing himself up for various bizarre reasons. This was humorously acknowledged in Grawitz the Pilot, where it is revealed that he considers blowing up his family to be a "daily ritual"', which makes him reluctant to fly HItler's new UFO (he still manages to use the UFO's weapons to blow up his family anyway).