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

Fritz Todt, b Pforzheim 4 September 1891, d Rastenburg 8 February 1942; 1923 joins the NSDAP, inspector general of the German roads network, is in charge of the building of the Reich autobahn and the West Wall, founds the ‘Organisation Todt’ (OT); 1940 appointed Reich Minister of Armaments and Ammunition. His successor was Albert Speer.

Heinrich Hoffmann, b Fürth 12 September 1885, d Munich 16 December 1957; works in his father’s photography business; 1908 sets up independently in Munich; 1920 joins the NSDAP, membership number 425; 1933 becomes a member of the German Reichstag; 1938 given the title of Professor by Hitler; 1945 interned by the US Army, released May 1950.

Traudl Junge means Margarete, known as ‘Grete’ or ‘Margret’ Speer, Albert Speer’s wife since 1928.

Nicolaus von Below, b Jargelin 20 September 1907, d Detmold 24 July 1983; air cadet at the German School of Commercial Aviation until 1929; 1933 commissioned as lieutenant; 1933–1936 in the Reich Air Ministry; 1936–1945 Luftwaffe adjutant to Hitler. With his wife is a member of Hitler’s close entourage at the Berghof. 1946–1948, interned by the British Army.

Wilhelm Brückner, b Baden-Baden 11 December 1884, d Herbstdorf, Chiemgau 18 August 1954; member of the civil defence (Freikorps Epp) until 1919; 1923 joins the NSDAP, regimental leader of the SA in Munich at the time of Hitler’s putsch; 1930 adjutant to Adolf Hitler, SA Obergruppenführer; 1936 member of the Reichstag; 1940 dismissed as chief adjutant; 1941 appointed to the Wehrmacht as lieutenant colonel; 1945–1948 interned by the US Army.

The dancer and actress Inga Ley, who committed suicide in 1942. She was the wife of Robert Ley, b Niederbreidenbach in the Rheinland 15 February 1890, d Nuremberg 25 October 1945 (suicide); studies chemistry in Münster; 1914 to 1918 fights in the First World War; 1923 gains a doctorate, first post with I.G. Farben; 1925 Gauleiter of the Rhineland; 1930 member of the Prussian Landtag; 1932 organization leader of the NSDAP; 10 May 1945 arrested in Salzburg. Hangs himself in his cell at Nuremberg.

Hermann Esser, b Röhrmoos 29 July 1900, d Dietramszell 7 February 1981; 1919 joined the DAP; 1920 leader-writer of the Völkischer Beobachter; 1923 propaganda chief of the NSDAP, notorious for his inflammatory anti-Semitic speeches; 1932 member of the Bavarian Landtag, sidelined for his political intrigues; 1935 writes the anti-Semitic Die jüdische Weltpest; 1945–1947 prisoner of the US Army; 1949 condemned to five years in a labour camp, released 1952.

Baldur von Schirach, b Berlin 9 May 1907, d Kröv, Mosel 8 August 1974; 1924 joins the NSDAP and SA; 1927 leader of the Nazi Student League; 1931 ‘Reich Youth Leader’; 1933–1940 ‘Youth Leader of the German Reich’; 1940–1945 Gauleiter and Reich governor of Vienna; 1946 condemned to 20 years’ imprisonment by the international military tribunal in Nuremberg for crimes against humanity.

Marion Schönmann, née Petzl, b Vienna 19 December 1899, d Munich 17 March 1981; met Hitler through Heinrich Hoffmann’s future wife Erna, a frequent guest at the Berghof in 1935–1944.

Albert Speer, b Mannheim 19 March 1905, d London 1 September 1981; studies architecture in Karlsruhe; 1927–1932 assistant to Heinrich Tessnow in Berlin; 1931 joins the NSDAP; 1933 organizes the May Party Rally; 1936 commissioned by Hitler to redesign Berlin; 1937 appointed to the Führer’s staff with responsibility for buildings and made Inspector General of Buildings for Berlin; 1942 Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition; 23 May 1945 arrested in Flensburg with the Dönitz government; 1946 condemned to 20 years’ imprisonment at Nuremberg; 1966 released.

Henriette von Schirach, née Hoffmann, b Munich 3 February 1913; 1930 joins the NSDAP, 1932 marries Baldur von Schirach; 1945 interned; 1980 publishes her book Anekdoten um Hitler. Geschichten aus einem halben Jahrhundert [Anecdotes of Hitler. Stories from Halfa Century].

Although Frau von Schirach was born in Munich, at this time she was indeed living with her husband, the Gauleiter and Reich Governor of Vienna, in the capital of Austria, then known in Germany as the ‘Ostmark’.

Josef ‘Sepp’ Dietrich, b Hawangen 25 May 1892, d Ludwigsburg 21 April 1966; 1910 completes training in the hotel trade; 1911 begins a military career, serves in the First World War, acting sergeant; 1919 sergeant with Wehrregiment 1 in Munich; 1920–1927 serves with Bavarian police and is a member of the Freikorps Oberland, takes part in Hitler’s putsch in Munich; 1928 joins the newly formed SS as Sturmbannführer and joins the NSDAP; 1929 promoted to SS Standartenführer and leader of SS Brigade Bayern; 1930 SS Oberführer, leader of SS Group Süd, member of the Reichstag; 1931 SS Gruppenführer, leader of SS Group Nord; 1933 leader of SS Special Commando in Berlin, builds up the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler; 1934 SS Obergruppenführer; 1935 Berlin city councillor; 1939 takes part in the Polish campaign; 1940–1943 takes part in the Western, Eastern and Balkan campaigns, commander of 1 stSS Panzer division LSSAH, general in the Waffen SS; 1944–1945 SS OberstGruppenführer and colonel general of the Waffen SS, commanding general of 1 stSS Panzer corps and supreme commander of the 5 thPanzer army, finally supreme commander of the 6 thPanzer army, sees action at the Eastern Front, the Western Front and then the Eastern Front again; 8 May 1945 captured in Austria by the US Army; 1946 condemned to life imprisonment; 1955 released; 1957–1959 imprisoned for complicity in the killings during the Röhm putsch of 1934. Holder of the 16 brilliants to the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with oakleaves and swords.

Jakob Werlin, b Andritz near Graz 10 May 1886, d Salzburg 23 September 1945; profession: businessman; 1921 director of the Benz & Co branch in Munich, in this capacity meets Hitler, to whom he sells several cars, a personal friend of Hitler; 1932 joins the NSDAP and the SS; 1943 SS-Obergruppenführer, ‘Inspector General of Motor Vehicles’; 1945–1949 interned by the US Army.

The actress Emmy Sonnemann, who married Hermann Göring on 10 April 1935. Hitler was a witness at their wedding.

Gerda Christian returned to Adolf Hitler’s employment in the middle of 1943.

The Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung (GDK), the ‘Great German Art Exhibition’, an exhibition also selling works of art held annually in the House of German Art between 1937 and 1944, to promote ‘new German art’◦– conservative works related to 19 th-century realism.

Gerhardine ‘Gerdy’ Troost, née Andersen, b Stuttgart 3 March 1904, meets Paul Ludwig Troost when she is 19 in her father’s woodworking studio; 1925 marries him; 1932 joins the NSDAP, continues to manage her husband’s architect’s office after his death in 1934; 1935 on the committee running the House of German Art; 1935 awarded the title of Professor by Hitler; 1938 artistic adviser to Bavarian Film Art Ltd; after 1945 settles in Schützing by the Chiemsee.◦– Paul Ludwig Troost, b Elberfeld 17 August 1878, d Munich 21 January 1934; studies architecture in Darmstadt; 1902 gains his doctorate and sets up as an independent architect in Munich; 1912 to 1929 interior designer of North German Lloyd; 1929 meets Adolf Hitler; 1932 draws up plans for the House of German Art, designs the Königlicher Platz (now the Königsplatz) with Party buildings, etc.