Eva Braun

180. Hitler, quoted in Speer, Inside the Third Reich, p. 92. See also Hamann, Hitlers Wien, pp. 536ff. The Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini, in contrast, did not share this attitude. He is quoted as having said the following: “I’m not married to Italy, after all, the way Hitler is with Germany.” See Rachele Mussolini, Mussolini ohne Maske: Erinnerungen, ed. Albert Zarca (Stuttgart, 1974).

181. “Der Fuhrer spricht zur deutschen Frauenschaft,” in Reden des Fuhrers am Parteitag der Ehre 1936, 4th ed. (Munich, 1936), p. 44.

182. Kurt Sontheimer, Antidemokratisches Denken in der Weimarer Republik: Die politischen Ideen des deutschen Nationalismus zwischen 1918 und 1933, 4th ed. (Munich, 1994), pp. 214ff.

183. Hitler, Monologe im Fuhrerhauptquartier 1941–1944, p. 230.

184. Speer, Inside the Third Reich, p. 92. Kershaw adopts this evaluation of Braun: “For prestige reasons, he kept her away from the public eye” (Hitler 1936–1945, p. 34).

185. “Besprechung zwischen Mr. Albrecht und Frl. Paula Hitler,” Berchtesgaden, May 26, 1945. See also Zdral, Die Hitlers, p. 207; Alfred Lapple, Paula Hitler—Die Schwester: Ein Leben in der Zeitenwende, 2nd ed. (Stegen am Ammersee, 2005), pp. 147ff.

186. Rudolf Hess to Ilse Prohl, Landsberg Castle, June 8, 1924, in Hess, Briefe 1908–1933, p. 332. Otto Dietrich, formerly Reich Press Chief and in Hitler’s innermost circle, remarked on Hitler’s “aversion to everything familial” (12 Jahre mit Hitler, p. 235). See also Hamann, Hitlers Wien, p. 516, which says that Hitler experienced inhibitions and fear of contact with women even in his early years. He apparently confided to Reinhold Hanisch, whom he knew from his time in the homeless shelter for men in Vienna, that he was afraid of the “possible consequences” of an intimate relationship.

187. Speer, Inside the Third Reich, pp. 86 and 92.

188. Speer, Albert Speer: Die Kransberg-Protokolle 1945, p. 119.

189. See Schroeder, Er war mein Chef, pp. 166f. Henry Picker, in contrast, claims that Braun was the “lady of the house” and “in charge of running the Berghof”; see Henry Picker, Hitlers Tischgesprache im Fuhrerhauptquartier: Entstehung, Struktur, Folgen des Nationalsozialismus (Berlin, 1997), pp. 352ff.

190. See Hanskarl von Hasselbach, “Hitler,” in Headquarters Military Intelligence Service Center, U.S. Army, APO 757, OI Special Report 36, “Adolf Hitler: A Composite Picture (2 April 1947),” F135/4, p. 6, in David Irving Collection, “Adolph Hitler 1944–1953,” vol. 4, IfZ Munich, p. 714. Albert Speer, on the other hand, emphasized that Eva Braun was “very shy and very modest” and “much maligned” by others’ backbiting (Sereny, Albert Speer, pp. 192f.). See also Spitzy, So haben wir das Reich verspielt, p. 129: Ribbentrop’s adjutant here describes Braun as “a child of the petit bourgeoisie,” with no “class.” An “educated, intelligent wife at Hitler’s side,” in contrast, would have been able to be a “moderating influence at his side.”

191. See Ian Kershaw, Hitlers Macht: Das Profil der NS-Herrschaft (Munich, 1992), pp. 31ff.

192. Ley, “Gedanken um den Fuhrer,” p. 22.

193. See Emmy Goring, An der Seite meines Mannes: Begebenheiten und Bekenntnisse, 4th ed. (Coburg, 1996), pp. 148f.

194. See Kube, Pour le merite und Hakenkreuz, pp. 71ff. and 202. See also Werner Maser, Hermann Goring: Hitlers januskopfiger Paladin; Die politische Biographie (Berlin, 2000); James Wyllie, The Warlord and the Renegade: The Story of Hermann and Albert Goering (Sutton, 2006).

195. Emmy Goring, An der Seite meines Mannes, p. 149.

196. On Hermann Goring’s declining significance, see Kube, Pour le merite und Hakenkreuz, p. 359. It is noteworthy that Goring applied for membership in the NSDAP for his wife in January 1939 (ibid., p. 203). The issue with Emmy Goring’s invitation of Eva Braun was certainly not the supposed “faux pas” of “inviting Eva Braun to tea together with the staff of the Berghof,” as Anna Maria Sigmund claims (Die Frauen der Nazis, p. 264).

197. See Speer, Albert Speer: Die Kransberg-Protokolle 1945, p. 119.

198. See Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, pp. 19f.; Fest, Die unbeantwortbaren Fragen, p. 240. See also Speer, Inside the Third Reich, pp. 100–101: he describes an “unbreakable wall” and writes that Hitler “was never completely relaxed and human” in others’ presence—not even with Eva Braun. Earlier, Speer claimed that Hitler tried to come across “as a good ‘paterfamilias’ ” in the private realm (Albert Speer: Die Kransberg-Protokolle 1945, p. 112).

199. Speer, Inside the Third Reich, pp. 92 and 123.

200. Speer, Albert Speer: Die Kransberg-Protokolle 1945, pp. 69ff., 112, and 118.

201. Seventh Army Interrogation Center, APO/758, May 26 1945, “Amann’s Control of German Press,” in David Irving Collection, “Adolph Hitler 1944–1953,” F 135/3, IfZ Munich, p. 490.

202. Walther Darre, Aufzeichnungen von 1945–1948, vol. 2, p. 369.

203. See “Biographical Report, Nurnberg, 26 October, 1945.” Office of U.S. Chief of Counsel APO 403, U.S. Army, Interrogation Division, in ZS 1452 (Franz Xaver Schwarz), IfZ Munich.

204. Interrogation of Reich Treasurer Schwarz, 21 July 1945, 1600 Hours, in ZS 1452 (Franz Xaver Schwarz), IfZ Munich. An interview record from the same day reports: “Hitler seemed to him [i.e., to Schwarz] an honest, intelligent man of great strength of character. He maintained that his relations with women were on a high plane. Stating that Hitler became a close friend of Eva Braun as early as 1931, he insisted that the relationship was purely platonic since Hitler had decided to forgo matrimony in the interest of his country; Eva Braun frequented the Schwarz household.”

205. Report on Historical Interrogations of German Prisoners of War and Detained Persons, 20 December 1945 (Lt. Col. Oron J. Hale), War Department Historical Commission, War Department Special Staff, Historical Division, in Fh 51, IfZ Munich.

206. “Besprechung zwischen Herrn Albrecht und Frl. Schroder, fruher Sekretarin von Hitler,” Berchtesgaden, May 22, 1945, p. 3, in MA 1298/10, Microfilm, Various Documents DJ-13 (David Irving), IfZ Munich.

207. Schroeder, Er war mein Chef, pp. 155f.

208. Hoffmann, “Mein Beruf,” pp. 22f.

209. Ibid., pp. 18ff. and 21f.

210. “Vernehmung des Julius Schaub am 12. 3. 1947 von 15.30 bis 16.00 durch Dr. Kempner,” pp. 6f., in ZS 137 (Julius Schaub), IfZ Munich. See also Julius Schaub, In Hitlers Schatten: Erinnerungen und Aufzeichnungen des Chefadjutanten 1925–1945, ed. Olaf Rose (Stegen am Ammersee, 2005), p. 278.

211. See Kershaw, The “Hitler Myth,” p. 121.

212. Karl Brandt stated in September 1945 that Schaub certainly had a “very exact picture” of “Hitler’s private life.” He described the adjutant as a petty and self-important schemer who spread “gossip of the pettiest kind” and often created conflicts in Hitler’s circle with his “sneaky dealings” and “dreaded deviousness.” Schaub influenced “Hitler’s judgment of people” and therefore “even men of high and dignified office very much paid court to him” (Karl Brandt, “Julius Schaub,” September 20, 1945, “Oberursel/Alaska,”, p. 71, in Kl. Erwerbungen 441–3 [copy], BA Koblenz). On Schaub’s role see also Angela Hermann, “Hitler und sein Stosstrupp in der ‘Reichskristallnacht,’ ” Vierteljahrshefte fur Zeitgeschichte 56 (2008), pp. 603–619.

213. Herta Schneider, “Aussage vom 23. Juni 1949, Offentliche Sitzung der Hauptkammer Munchen zur mundlichen Verhandlung in dem Verfahren gegen Herta Schneider, geb. Ostermayr,” in Denazification Court Records, box 1670, State Archives, Munich.

214. Heinrich Hoffmann, “Aussage vom 1. Juli 1949, Offentliche Sitzung der Hauptkammer Munchen zur mundlichen Verhandlung in dem Verfahren gegen Eva Hitler, geb. Braun,” in Denazification Court Records, box 718 (Eva Hitler, geb. Braun), State Archives, Munich. Braun’s sister, Ilse Fucke-Michels, stated that Eva Braun “worked in Herr Hoffmann’s sales office until 1945 and also took photographs for the love of it”; Eva Braun “earned a net