Ulrich Graf was one of the earliest members of the circle around Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

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Graf was an amateur wrestler and a butcher's apprentice, and became Hitler's personal bodyguard from 1920 to 1923. He was present at the Beer Hall Putsch

Beer Hall Putsch

The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed attempt at revolution that occurred between the evening of 8 November and the early afternoon of 9 November 1923, when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff, and other heads of the Kampfbund unsuccessfully tried to seize power...

, where, with Rudolf Hess

Rudolf Hess

Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...

, he cleared Hitler's way to the platform. During the subsequent march through Munich, Hitler, Ludendorff, and their followers were blocked by about a hundred armed police outside the Feldhernhalle. Graf stepped forward and shouted "Don't shoot! His excellency Ludendorff is coming." There was nevertheless gunfire, and fourteen Nazis and four police officers were killed. (Two supporters had been killed earlier at the War Ministry). Graf shielded Hitler with his body, received several bullet wounds, and possibly saved Hitler's life. Graf recovered.

In 1936, Graf was elected to the Reichstag

Reichstag (German Empire)

The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....

. In 1937, he became an Oberführer

Oberführer

Oberführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party dating back to 1921. Translated as “Senior Leader”, an Oberführer was typically a Nazi Party member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographical region...

 in Himmler's SS, and on 20 April 1943, Hitler's birthday, became an SS Brigadeführer

Brigadeführer

SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....

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On Graf's birthday, 3 July 1943, he received a book from Himmler, Vogt Bartold: The Long Train to the East, signed by Himmler, thanking Graf for saving Hitler's life.

Graf survived the war and died in March 1950.