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

While the life of Adolph Hitler has been well-documented in text and film, our understanding of his ultimate demise is heavily based on words and memory of Traudl Junge (nee Humps). HITLER’S LAST SECRETARY provides a fly-on-the-wall perspective that reveals one of history’s most notorious figures as being rather dull.I first saw Traudl Junge on several episodes of the “World at War” (the fabulous and comprehensive British documentary of the Second World War) and found her eyewitness account of Hitler’s last days quite memorable. As Hitler’s youngest secretary, she became a trusted member of his inner circle (he even dictated his last will and testament to her). From the peak of his power in 1942 to his cowardly demise underneath the ruins of Berlin, Junge saw Hitler in a variety of lights: relaxing atop the Eagle’s Nest, bantering with Nazi lapdogs, surviving an assassination attempt and his somewhat odd relationship with Eva Braun … she saw it all. While much of the book centers on her casual observances, Junge provides enough extraordinary details to make it all worth reading and I found it hard to put the book down once I started reading.Even though Junge wrote the book a few years after the war, I never sensed that absolution was her purpose in writing the book … she simply had a story worth telling. There are points in the book where hindsight comes into play, but most of her story is pretty straightforward. She makes no bones that Hitler’s charisma and power were hard to ignore and admits that working for him was a pleasant experience overall. Of course, one wonders to what extent she was aware of the atrocities being committed under her boss’ order. There are instances in the book where the Nazi’s pervasive attitude toward Jews is known/accepted (including one moment where a respected woman with Jewish lineage appears to have been “spared” by Hitler), but this is an issue that Junge opts not to indulge … the war is what takes front and center. The reader is left to judge whether Junge’s account was intentionally void of such particulars or that she simply wasn’t privy to certain matters. The individuals she is exposed to on a regular basis represent a “who’s who” of Nazi war criminals (Himmler, Boremann, Goebbels, etc.), so it is plausible to assume she was aware (to some degree) of Nazi atrocities.While the movie “Downfall” (which draws heavily from Junge’s experiences), portrays Hitler as a raging madman reaching the end of his rope, the book doesn’t deliver any of the movie’s intensity. In fact, much of the book details a different side of Hitler … less of a madman and more of a simple, boring and somewhat strange man. Junge’s interactions with Hitler are always described as being pleasant. She notes many of the man’s idiosyncrasies, including his hypochondria (requiring daily “injections”), his penchant for napping in front of guests, the affection he has for his dog (“Blondi”) and his oddly platonic relationship with Eva Braun. In fact, Junge speaks more negatively about Hitler’s bootlicking followers and confidents. Simply put, the book does not paint Hitler as the detestable person we know he proved to be. But, it is not difficult to believe that Junge’s experience with the man never led her to draw such a conclusion at the time as he was always kind and respectful toward her. While some may view her book as “humanizing” such a despicable figure, I have always felt the stereotypical depiction of ruthless dictators as a monstrous “supervillains” tends to inadvertently aggrandize these people and make them larger than life. Junge’s observations of Hitler do not portray him as anything special.HITLER’S LAST SECRETARY offers a smooth read, even though it mainly consists of one long chapter (one reason it was hard to put down). I found the details provided about Hitler and his inner circle quite fascinating: the interior of the Berghof retreat, Eva Braun’s clothes and demeanor, Hitler’s eating habits, his opinions on mundane topics (like his disdain for smoking) and frank commentary on those close to Hitler. Junge provides a much clearer image of the chaos that erupted deep within the bunker in the war’s final days, including Goebbels decision to poison his six children, Hitler/Eva Braun’s wedding ceremony, as well as their suicides and the subsequent disposal of her bodies (which she doesn’t witness first hand). Even though Junge’s own account ends with her emerging from the bunker, Melissa Muller provides an informative and interesting final chapter that picks up where Junge’s writing stopped. This final chapter serves as a biography of Traudl Junge from the war’s end through the 1990s.HITLER’S LAST SECRETARY is a worthy read as it offers a fascinating peek inside the machine responsible for mankind’s greatest tragedy. While some readers may question the author’s intent or be turned off by her unapologetic/straightforward approach to the subject matter, it is hard to ignore the historical significance of Traudl Junge’s observations.

This book written by the youngest secretary to Adolph Hitler reflects the isolation and the make believe existence of what really in essence was Hitler's Royal Court. It really became quite evident that Hitler surrounded himself with sycophants who were mere admirers and "yes men." Hitler conducted the war from essentially two locations that being the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia and the Hitler's compound named The Berghof in Obersalzberg of the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany. As described by Roger Moore in his seminal book The Wolf's Lair, we note that Hitler was isolated from the realities of the war and of the real sacrifices demanded by this monumental war which in the history of mankind was the bloodiest war of all. Hitler and his Court lived a pampered and protected existence which acted as a true oxymoron as to what was really transpiring around them at that time in history. In fact we see a young and naïve secretary seeing a kind and benevolent father like man who was revered by all Court members. Most of the Court was really ignorant of what really was happening. Only such men as Albert Speer and the visiting general officers were in the know of what was truly happening. Hitler's house staff and secretaries really were living a protected existence. Traudle Junge goes into detail as to the day to day existence of what life was like living with Hitler. She gives an ultimate detailed account of Hitler's last days in the Berlin bunker and what truly transpired in the last days of the Third Reich. What I found out that Hitler in his isolated life tried to direct a war in isolation and in reality "lost the realities of what truly was transpiring." His modus operandi was the complete opposite of what Winston Churchill's day to day life was. Churchill never isolated himself, in fact he was out and about, bombed out London, Tehran, Quebec Canada, Washington DC, Moscow etc. Churchill was out inspiring, conferring and visiting the troops. He never rested and never stayed in one place for too long. It makes one wonder why one man saw the war through rose colored glasses while the other man saw the realities of what was really happening. In this context it makes perfect sense of why the Allies won. I found this book as a true analysis of what Hitler's life during the war was all about. In this sense it is a great aid in understanding Hitler. However, the book was indeed poorly edited because the translation contained many grammatical and spelling errors. The content is of 5 Star quality and the editing is of 3 Star quality, hence the 4 Star rating.

This book gives the human side of the Hitler. When he was not shouting at Generals, he was an alright bloke. Telling jokes at his nightly tea parties. Play with his dog and conquering Europe. What more do you need.

It's basically the story of an ordinary woman who through a twist of fate become the personal secretary to one of the main figures of the 20th century - Adolf Hitler. It relates her time at the centre of Hitler's administration and how she survived the fall and end of the German Reich written in an detailed and very day quality.I would recommend this book as a different view of the internal workings of the German war machine, a ordinary view from an insider.

A dichotomy of hideous proportion.......a monster and a most considerate employer. His upbringing when young seemed to prevail ; having read of his earlier life. Stalin, another monster had a brutal childhood and his attitude to intimates would be in complete contrast to Hitler's.

Well worth the read. Interesting insight into the last days of Hitler and his inner circle....

Traudl ...loyal to Hitler to the end.She did not reveal what was in Hitlers last Will and Testement