Christa Schroeder - He Was My Chief - The Memoirs of Adolf Hitler's Secretary

As previously mentioned, the first ‘suicide attempt’ by Eva Braun had had the desired effect, and she was now integrated into Hitler’s circle. Perhaps by now he had had enough of Geli’s mother and so used the campaign against Eva Braun instigated by his half-sister as an excuse to remove Frau Raubal from the Berg. It is suggested elsewhere [111] Jochen von Lang, Der Sekretär , Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1977, p. 122. that: ‘his half-sister Angela Raubal kept house for him for years in Munich and on the Obersalzberg. She was forced out when Bormann converted the Berghof. For a large house appropriate to a head of state, she was no longer adequate.’ No further commentary is necessary.

In 1936 Frau Raubal left Obersalzberg and, her heart weakened by all the excitement, she took the cure at Bad Nauheim, where she met and married Professor Hammitzsch of Dresden University. She rarely saw her half-brother again, and only officially on his birthdays, when she was forced to wait at the Hotel Kaiserhof like an outsider for one of the adjutants to convey her to the Reich Chancellery.

From now on Eva Braun’s position was apparently assured. This was noticeable at Haus Wachenfeld even if she did not appear at official functions. When Haus Wachenfeld was revamped into the Berghof in the summer of 1936, she moved into a room on the first floor of the annexe adjoining Hitler’s bedroom, while her sisters and friends who were always around her even had guest rooms at their disposal. She looked after their needs herself but her gratitude was tangible if one accepted them wholeheartedly. Her friendships with women were very variable and generally short-lived. Like all other females in Hitler’s circle she was ignorant of politics. In the presence of women Hitler avoided all political talk regarding ongoing or planned operations. Often one would hear Eva Braun complain: ‘I never know anything, everything is kept secret from me.’

In her appraisals, particularly of artistes, she lacked objectivity: if a face did not fit well with her that person’s good qualities were irrelevant, he or she had to go. Eva changed her clothing a couple of times daily, employed a hairdresser and always gave the impression of being well-groomed. Her wardrobe was always well-stocked with clothing ‘for materials testing’. She had two Scotch terriers, Stasi and Negus, which she often walked. She was keen on sport, practising frequently. She also had a bullfinch which she taught a popular song by whistling to the bird through pursed lips. She liked listening to gramophone records, particularly the tragic songs of Mimi Thoma, reading periodicals and crime novels, and kept up to date about the latest film releases, and so filled her time well.

All accounts which allege that Eva Braun was employed as a housekeeper and ran the Berghof outstandingly well have no foundation in fact. [112] See Picker, Hitlers Tischgespräche , third edition, p. 228. After Frau Raubal’s departure, Frau Endres, Herr and Frau Döhring and later the Mittelstrassers were the competent housekeepers. For special receptions, at which Eva Braun never appeared, house manager Kannenberg and his wife Freda would travel down from the Führer-apartment in Berlin to do the necessary in their expert, routine manner.

When Hermann Fegelein, [113] Herrmann Fegelein (b. 30.10.1906 Ansbach, d. 28.4.1945 Berlin). 10.4.1933 joined SS; 1935 founded SS Cavalry School at Munich; 1937 commander, SS Cavalry School; 30.1.1936 SS-Sturmbannführer; 1.3.1940 SS-Obersturmbannführer and commander, SS-Totenkopf-Reiterstandarte; 5.8.1941◦– end 1943 leader, SS-Cavalry-Brigade and commander, Kampfbrigade Fegelein ; 1.1.1944 Waffen-SS liaison officer to Hitler at FHQ; 3.6.1944 married Eva Braun’s sister Margarete at Salzburg; 21.6.1944 Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS; 25.4.1945 absented himself without leave from Reich Chancellery bunker; 27.4.1945 arrested by RSD at his flat in Berlin, executed by firing squad in Reich Chancellery gardens for desertion. Waffen-SS liaison officer to Hitler at FHQ, was on duty for the first time at the Berghof, he asked Marion Schönmann how he could arrange to be invited for lunch. That was at the beginning of 1944, when he arrived in Obersalzberg with Himmler. Marion introduced Fegelein to Eva Braun and he obtained his lunch invitation through her. After Fegelein had left the Berghof she confided to Marion Schönmann that Fegelein had made a big impression on her and added: ‘A few years ago the boss said that if I fell in love one day with another man, then I should let him know and he would release me.’ Now she said to Marion: ‘If I had known Fegelein ten years ago I would have asked the boss to let me go!’ But the problem was to be resolved in another way.

After the failure of various efforts to marry off her younger sister Greta to men in Hitler’s wider circle (e.g. to diplomat Hewel, adjutant Darges, minister Wagner), Eva Braun now matched her sister with Fegelein. He was a recognised heroic figure for women. Greta Braun was, as one would say today, sexy, and Fegelein might have been thinking of the advantages of one day being Hitler’s brother-in-law. Thus the marriage took place and was celebrated as a great occasion on the Obersalzberg and in the tea-house on the Kehlstein. Eva said: ‘I would like this marriage to be as wonderful as if it were my own!’ And so it was.

Eva expressed her gratitude thus: ‘I am so grateful to Fegelein for marrying my sister. Now I am somebody, I am the sister-in-law of Fegelein!’ Clearly she suffered from the anonymity to which she was condemned. She was never permitted to appear in public, but as Fegelein’s sister-in-law there was a basis for her presence in Hitler’s circle, and she could now be close to the man who had won her heart.

Against Hitler’s wishes Eva came to the Reich Chancellery in February 1945 and moved into her apartment next to Hitler’s private rooms. She expressed the wish for music but had no gramophone. I lent her mine which had been in the Voss-Strasse bunker. While Hitler was attending his military conferences we used to play records, drink champagne and quite often dance with off-duty officers. Hermann Fegelein was frequently amongst those who danced with Eva Braun. Today I can recall clearly the unforgettable scene. After a dance Fegelein would lift Eva chest high. At eye level they would gaze at each other full of tenderness and loving: Eva was obviously strongly attracted to Fegelein. I am convinced that her feelings for him went well beyond those feelings for a brother-in-law, but I do not believe anything went on between them. Upon her arrival in Berlin in February 1945 she said to me: ‘I have come because I owe the boss for everything wonderful in my life.’ In my opinion she remained faithful to him although undoubtedly she and Fegelein had to struggle against the overwhelming feelings that attracted them mutually. A tragedy, for at this time and place they were made for each other. The fact that Fegelein, after deserting his post at the Reich Chancellery in April 1945, rang Eva Braun there and urged her ‘to leave the Reich Chancellery and come to him’ supports my presumption and observations.

What thoughts must have assailed her when it became known that Fegelein had been found with another woman at his flat! [114] Upon his arrest on 27 April 1945 at his flat at Bleibtreu-Strasse 10–11 by RSD officer Peter Högl, a red-haired woman was found with Fegelein. She was allowed to escape on a pretext and her identity remains unknown. Her decision to die alongside Hitler was that much easier to take knowing that Fegelein was dead, shot by firing squad on Hitler’s order. The most amazing thing of all at this time was how normally things proceeded as the end of the Third Reich approached.