Hitler's Last Secretary: A Firsthand Account of Life with Hitler

by Traudl Junge

Book Overview

Called "a remarkable historical document" (Guardian) and "undoubtedly a primer on the so-called 'banality of evil'" (Publishers Weekly), an extraordinary window on a personality and period of history that continue to fascinate.

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1611453232
• ISBN13: 9781611453232
• Release Date: September 2011
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Horrible and complete BS service

Not a review about the book, but about the seller. The book listing clearly indicates that the book is written in English. But once it arrived it is written in German… I notified the company that they sent the wrong book and they told me they can’t/wont do anything and I should donate the book… be sure to check all your purchases because this website uses false advertising and descriptions to sell books in languages you don’t speak and then tells you that they refuse to send you the actual book you ordered or a book in the same language.

Excellent, private secretary's description of Hitler as an employer

At last a first hand description of daily working conditions and personal impressions of A. Hitler; as given by his young, personal secretary. Having worked for the leader of her country from ages 23-25, she writes her recollections 2 years later while all is fresh. She was not the active nazi; instead simply a young secretary who writes the observed and experienced details of traveling and working for an important man and his advisors. This book is free of the self-righteous interpretions of recent decades and hindsight.

Solving The Enigma of Hitler

I bought this book after having viewed The German-made movie The Downfall (German title Der Untergang). This movie is based in large part on the memoirs of Traudl Junge, the co author of this book. Co-Author is a bad term since large portions of her diary (written shortly after the war) are printed intact together with observations written by Melissa Muller. They complement each other. Junge has the ability of stepping into the 3rd person and examining herself in an objective manner. Melissa Muller goes into detail in the "Special Features" of the DvD on how she met Frau Junge (looked her up in the Munich phone book) and finally convinced her to put her diary into a book for posterity. Their collaberation lasted 3 years. I believe the resulting work is as important as Albert Speer's observations. As an aside I read that when the book was completed, Junge, who was dying of cancer, said something to the effect that "her work was done" and died a few days later. She gave the world an intimate look at the psychology of Hitler, who could be charming while at the same time indifferent to the deaths of millions. Muller deals with the phases of self reflection most Germans went through after the war. Perhaps telling - not only for Frau Junge - was at first denial. Junge said that, while not a Nazi, she took the Secretarial job offered by Hitler more out of curiousity. She worked in Hitler's inner circle for 3 years. Revealing is the observation of her husband, Hans, whom she met while in Hitler's employ. Hans noted that he "had to get out of here" - paraphrasing) "my own thoughts are overpowered by Hitler's" - he volunteered for the front and was killed in Normandy during D Day. By the late 60s or early 70s Traudl had a revelation - an epiphany - seeing the Munich memorial plaque commeration of Sophie Scholl - the young student killed by the Nazis for her anti Nazi views. Beyond that you will have to read the book. Hitler's general portrayel in the West of either a bumbling clown (Charlie Chaplin) or a raving lunatic does not explain how he could get control of a cultured nation of 65 million. This book will give you better understanding. I also recommend buying or renting The Downfall as a companion.

The "banality of evil" personified

For any reader interested in Adolf Hitler as a person, not just as the ranting and raving dictator, Traudl Junge's account is the best resource available. Junge (nee Humps) was one of Hitler's private secretaries from the tenth anniversary of Hitler's coming to power to the dramatic fall of the Nazi regime just two and one half years later. During much of this time, Junge's duties were primarily social. Junge accompanied Hitler for meals and relaxation almost daily. She observed him in a way very few people did and was one of a minute number of Hitler's companions who survived the war to tell her story. She wrote her memoirs in 1947 and they were later published in Voices From the Bunker. I have read that book about four times and this edition once. Her account is as fascinating now as it was the first time I read it. Voices From the Bunker is one of my all-time favorite books. If you already have Voices From the Bunker and are wondering if this book is worth owning, I would say it is only if you are interested in Junge beyond her experiences with Hitler. This book includes more background information on her pre-Hitler life (I had not read before that her father had taken part in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch) and a 30-page chapter written by Melissa Mueller in 2001 that follows Junge's post-war life chronologically. It would not be until the revisionist 1960s when people took an interest in her story. Otherwise, the bulk of the work is the same 1947 account in Voices. I've compared sections between the two books and, although they are not the same verbatim with a few minor details added or omitted, the account is basically the same. I like the way Voices is divided up better, with more chapters separating the story (i.e. The July Bomb Plot). It is more useful for looking up information than Until the Final Hour which is mostly one long chapter. Voices also includes accounts of Hitler's aides-de-camp Otto Guensche and pilot Hans Baur which this book does not offer. Until the Final Hour does have very interesting end notes with side tidbits and brief biographical information on many of the people Junge mentions. Junge died February 10, 2002, soon after the first German publication of her memoirs. Her memories were controversial in her homeland because her experiences with Hitler were pleasant. She knew him as a polite host and gentle father figure who showed compassion and human emotions (i.e. when he offered condolences to her after her husband died at the front). Only in brief snippets does she hint at the harsher side of the dictator. Hitler tries to hide his emotional explosions in meetings with his military officers. Frau von Schirach (wife of the head of the Hitler Youth) was no longer invited to be Hitler's guest after she voiced concern to him about trains full of deported Jews headed for Amsterdam (p. 88). Junge would finally become angry with Hitler when he gave up on the war and was accusatory to the end (Junge typed up his last demands a

Excellent!

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. It was nice to get the collapse of the Third Reich from the perspective of a woman who was there...trapped in the bunker below the Reichs Chancellery as Berlin was being surrounded by Russian troops. Mrs. Junge's memoirs paint the distinct picture of a dying empire....and her memoirs go hand in hand with Joachim Fest's outstanding volume INSIDE HITLER'S BUNKER. One thing that I noticed as I was reading through the book was the complete spell that Hitler held over Junge, even though she was never a part of the National Socialist party or claimed to be a Nazi sympathizer in any way. The sheer magnetism of Hitler's personality and charm sucked her in....and until he died...she was hooked. Another point that Mrs. Junge brought up was how she was pretty much sheltered within Hitler's inner circle. Until the fall of the Reich, she had no real idea of the atrocities that were being committed by the National Socialists. It brings to light the enormity of the German government and the full scope of the empire....and how one department could be doing something so horrible...and possibly another department not even knowing about it. By the end of the war, the National Socialist government had grown into a huge bureaucracy where one could actually do as they pleased, possibly without the big-wigs in power knowing it, if they were extremely careful about it. Not to say that the Holocaust never happened, it most certainly did!, but it is interesting just to observe how Mrs. Junge was probably just one of many who had no idea of what evils were done in the name of their government and their country. This book just further exposes the sad history of a great people who are seduced by an evil genius and the guilt they will have to live with for a long time to come for their being so manipulated.This book is a really excellent read. It reads quickly and the translation from the German is hardly noticeable. Ms. Muller's introduction and epilogue really help to put Mrs. Junge's memoirs in perspective. Also, it is interesting to see how Traudl Junge came into Hitler's service and what happened to her after it was over. So, go out and read this...it is great!

New Information--Even for those who think they've read all

What I like best about this book is that it gives new insight into the Nazi's that isn't found in other books. The author has nothing to hide (like Speer may have) and it is an incredible experience to read first hand what it was like being with Hitler socially and in the final days before his suicide.In most books about Hitler seems to be almost an inhuman supernatural monster. In this book he is shown more as an egomaniac surrounded by people who are ineffective at advising him. His coolness and evil are even more chilling when his portrait is fully drawn and he is not simple an evil caricature as in many biographies.The author shares how she was drawn in by Hitler and later felt betrayed. So many books about the Nazi rehash the same facts without a personal perspective. The author had lunch and dinner with Hitler almost every day for a year!This is a must read for anyone interested in this period of history.