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Offering an insider's perspective on the final days of the Third Reich, the recollections of a woman who became Hitler's secretary in 1942 sheds new light on his day-to-day life, character, and habits.
In 1942 Germany, Traudl Junge was a young woman with dreams of becoming a ballerina when she was offered the chance of a lifetime. At the age of twenty-two she became private secretary to Adolf Hitler and served him for two and a half years, right up to the bitter end. Junge observed the intimate workings of Hitler’s administration, she typed correspondence and speeches, including Hitler’s public and private last will and testament; she ate her meals and spent evenings with him; and she was close enough to hear the bomb that was intended to assassinate Hitler in the Wolf’s Lair, close enough to smell the bitter almond odor of Eva Braun’s cyanide pill. In her intimate, detailed memoir, Junge invites readers to experience day-to-day life with the most horrible dictator of the twentieth century.
This report is based on findings from newly-declassified decades-old Army and CIA records released under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act of 1998. These records were processed and reviewed by the National Archives-led Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group. The report highlights materials opened under the Act, in addition to records that were previously opened but had not been mined by historians and researchers, including records from the Office of Strategic Services (a CIA predecessor), dossiers of the Army Staff's Intelligence Records of the Investigative Records Repository, State Dept. records, and files of the Navy Judge Advocate General. This is a print on demand report.
A compulsively readable account of Hitler's last days, written by one of the first Americans to enter Hitler's bunker after the fall of Berlin
'To have such an uncomplicated, unaffected witness present at some of the key defining moments of the 20th century was fortunate for historians...her testimony rings absolutely true, when other politically motivated accounts of the last days of Hitler do not' Andrew Roberts Traudl Junge was 22 years old and dreamt of a career as a ballerina, until the 'opportunity of her life' beckoned and she was appointed as Adolf Hitler's secretary. From 1942 until his death she was at his side in the bunker, typing his correspondence, his speeches and even his last private and political will and testament. It was only after the war that the horrible reality of Hitler's regime began to dawn on her, and she became racked with guilt for 'liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived.' Her journal, written in 1947, is a startling eyewitness account of Hitler's court during its final years, and of the building sense of doom as the war progressed.
“A rare and fascinating insight into Hitler’s inner circle.” —Roger Moorhouse, author of Killing Hitler As secretary to the Führer throughout the time of the Third Reich, Christa Schroeder was perfectly placed to observe the actions and behavior of Hitler, along with the most important figures surrounding him. Schroeder’s memoir delivers fascinating insights: she notes his bourgeois manners, his vehement abstemiousness, and his mood swings. Indeed, she was ostracized by Hitler for a number of months after she made the mistake of publicly contradicting him once too often. In addition to her portrayal of Hitler, there are illuminating anecdotes about Hitler’s closest colleagues. S...
Set against the backdrop of their own lives in 1930s Germany, Traudl Junge, Hitler's personal secretary and two other aides tell us about the final weeks, days and hours of Hitler, with the Goebbels family and their harrowing family suicide. Early in 1945, as Allied forces advanced across Germany towards Berlin, Hitler rejected his advisors' pleas for him to flee and instead withdrew into a heavily fortified bunker under the Chancellery with the select group of men and women who formed his personal retinue. What actually happened in the last days has been shrouded in mystery, and questions - not least whether Hitler actually died there - remain. This book, back in print for the first time in more than a decade, draws extensively on the original testimonials and manuscripts of Traudl Junge, Hitler's personal secretary for the entire war.
Examines the lives of eight women who were a part of the Nazi regime or played a role in its ascendency.
In 1942 Germany, Traudl Junge was a young woman with dreams of becoming a ballerina when she was offered the chance of a lifetime. At the age of twenty-two she became private secretary to Adolf Hitler and served him for two and a half years, right up to the bitter end. Junge observed the intimate workings of Hitler's administration, she typed correspondence and speeches, including Hitler's public and private last will and testament; she ate her meals and spent evenings with him; and she was close enough to hear the bomb that was intended to assassinate Hitler in the Wolf's Lair, close enough to smell the bitter almond odor of Eva Braun's cyanide pill. In her intimate, detailed memoir, Junge ...
Did Hitler perish in the bunker? Despite thousands of pages of evidence and years of investigation, the mystery of the Fuehrer's final hours has remained intriguing and puzzling--until now. After years of extensive research, an expert finally offers a defining account of what happened. He discounts false theories, interviews the witnesses, examines the clues, and arrives at the truth--exposing cover-ups and duplicity along the way. A fascinating read, as absorbing as a thriller, about the war's most famous death.