Traudl Junge - Hitler's Last Secretary - A Firsthand Account of Life with Hitler [aka Until the Final Hour]

She cannot find peace. The public ‘reappraisal of the past’ is gradually getting under way in Germany. As one of the last eyewitnesses to have been present at the final scenes in the Führer bunker in Berlin, Traudl Junge is invited to appear before the cameras several times. An unfortunate side effect is that Nazi fanatics and autograph hunters also keep seeking her out, wanting to shake the hand that was once shaken by ‘the Führer’. Traudl Junge does not want to be a public figure. She lives quietly, befriends and looks after a blind old lady, makes pottery and records audiocassettes for the blind. She reads whole books into the microphone.

Paradoxical as it may sound, Traudl Junge has radically distanced herself from National Socialism. She never felt she belonged to its system, and yet she shared part of the responsibility for it. She has not built up a façade, but has tried to be honest with her fellow human beings. The years of painful confrontation with herself did have a purpose: they matured her.

‘I withdrew and let the guilt feelings, the grief and sorrow eat into me. Suddenly I had become interesting as an eyewitness◦– which brought me into severe conflict with my guilt complexes. Because the conversations were never about the question of guilt, only about the historical facts. So I could describe them without having to justify myself. That was something that weighed on me even more◦– and gave me even more to think about. Today I mourn for two things: for the fate of those millions of people who were murdered by the National Socialists. And for the girl Traudl Humps who lacked the self-confidence and good sense to speak out against them at the right moment.’

The authors would like to thank their editor Ilka Heinemann, and also Jochen and Maria Maas. Without those three people this project would never have got off the ground.

Melissa Müller would like to thank André Heller for his wise advice, Christian Ude and Ursula Raff for their revealing memories of Traudl Junge, and Christian Brandstaütter, Barbara Bierach, Rüdiger Salat and Heinz-Werner Sondermann, the critical first readers, for their valuable suggestions and for asking the right questions.

Traudl Junge would like to thank the friends who are her substitute family wholeheartedly. They all know who they are.

Ach, River,

Adam, Lance Corporal,

Adenauer era,

Adjutancy Office,

Albers, Hans,

Albrecht, Alwin-Broder,

Allianz,

Allies,

Altötting,

America, see also Americans

Americans,

Ammersee,

Amsterdam,

Anhalt Station,

Annaberg, storming of the,

Antonescu, Ion, n

Arcisstrasse, Munich,

Arendt, Hannah,

Arent, Benno von,

Arkady (interpreter),

Army Group West,

Aryanization,

Aschau,

Atatürk (Mustafa Kemal Pasha),

Australia,

Austria, –

Axmann, Artur,

BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädel; League of German Girls),

Bad Nauheim,

Badenweiler March ,

Bald, Heinz,

Barer Strasse, Munich,

Bauerstrasse, Munich,

Baur, Hans,

Bavaria,

Bavarian Alps,

Bavarian Oberland,

Below, Maria von,

Below, Nicolaus von,

Berchtesgaden, see also Berghof, the

Berchtesgadener Land,

Berghof, the

preparations to move from Wolf’s Lair to,

journey to, –

Berghof, the— cont.

TJ’s memories of, –

brief mentions,

Berghofer, Father Josef,

Berlin

TJ’s sister works as dancer in,

TJ obtains job in,

TJ does typing test in, –

Hitler’s birthday presents sent to,

secrecy of Hitler’s visits to,

air raids over, –

situation after assassination attempt on Hitler,

TJ spends time with husband in,

Hitler and staff travel to,

Hitler’s headquarters in, –

Hitler recovers from operation in,

TJ visits home from,

TJ returns to,

TJ leaves for the Taunus from,

Hitler’s last months in, –

Russians advance on,

Russians in,

Hitler commits suicide in,

TJ escapes from Reich Chancellery in,

TJ hides in,

TJ imprisoned in,

TJ has room in,

TJ has work in,

TJ plans to leave,

TJ flees from,

brief mentions,

see also names of streets and buildings

Bernadotte, Count Folke,

Bircher-Benner, Maximilian Oskar,

Bismarck, Otto von,

Blaschke, Hugo,

Blondi (Hitler’s dog),

Bodenschatz, Karl,

Bogenhausen, Munich,

Bolshevism,

Boris III, King of Bulgaria,

Bormann, Albert

TJ obtains job in Berlin through influence of,

TJ meets,

and appointment of new secretary for Hitler,

at the Wolf’s Lair,

at the Berghof,

hostile relationship with brother,

biographical information, n

brief mentions,

Bormann (née Buch), Gerda,

Bormann, Martin

at the Wolf’s Lair,

on train journey to the Berghof,

at the Berghof,

model farm and garden,

hostile relationship with brother,

finds dog for Frau von Exner,

and Aryanization of Exner family,

in Berlin,

and escape attempt,

biographical information, n

brief mentions,

Böttcher, Friedel,

Brandt (née Rehborn), Anni,

Brandt, Karl,

Braun, Eva (later Eva Hitler) regarded as mistress at the Berghof,

dogs of,

appearance,

routine at the Berghof,

diet,

walking,

photographs Hitler,

and films,

criticizes Hoffmann,

has room in Hitler’s Munich apartment,

Hitler anxious about safety of,

and air raids,

Hitler admires qualities of,

Hitler’s reasons for not marrying,

anxious about Hitler’s health,

height,

prevented from skiing by Hitler,

and Fegelein,

tries to maintain relaxing atmosphere at the Berghof,

and assassination attempt on Hitler,

fails to persuade Hitler to return to the Berghof,

last months in Berlin,

and death of Fegelein,

marries Hitler,

death,

brief mentions,

Braun, Franziska,

Braun, Gretl,

Breitbrunn,

Brienner Strasse, Munich,

Britain, see also British, the; England

British, the,

‘Brown House’, Munich,

Brownshirts see SA

Brückner, Wilhelm, n

Brust, Willi,

Bucharest,

Buhle, Walther,

Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM; League of German Girls),

Bund Oberland (Oberland League),

Burgdorf, Wilhelm,

Busch, Wilhelm,

Charité Hospital, Berlin,

Christian, Eckhard,

Christian (née Daranowski), Gerda (‘Dara’)

marriage,

leaves job as Hitler’s secretary,

TJ meets,

appearance and personality,

Hitler’s attitude to,

returns to work as Hitler’s

secretary,

at the Wolf’s Lair,

in Berlin,

escapes,

biographical information,

brief mention,

Christianity,

Chuikov, Vassily I.,

Cold War,

Communists,

Condor planes,

Constance, Lake,

Cooper, Gary,

Cologne,

DAP (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; German Workers’ Party),

Dachau,

Daranowksi, Gerda see Christian (née Daranowski), Gerda (‘Dara’)

Darges, Friedrich ‘Fritz’,

Day of German Art,

Deutelmoser (café proprietor),

Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP; German Workers’ Party),

Deutsche Jäger, Der ( The German Huntsman ),

Deutscher Kampfbund (German Combat League),

Deutscher Schützen und Wanderbund (German Marksmen and Hikers’ League),

Dietl, Eduard, and

Dietrich, Frau,