Traudl Junge-Working For Evil, Part One

 I just recently finished reading the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's personal secretaries. I have to admit, the book fascinated me, as it was not so much about Hitler the military leader and German ruler, but rather it was more about Traudl Junge's personal observations about the Nazi nutcase's every day life, as well as comments about many of the other Nazi leaders. I also have a DVD of extensive interviews with her (all in German) done only about a year or so before she died in 2002. So this article is derived from both sources, although her book and her comments in the interviews are very consistent. I'm not sitting peering over her book or listening to her interviews again, so this is from memory, but none of this will end the world or destroy civilization. I thought maybe some of you might be interested in her book, which is available in an English language version, "Until The Last Hour," although I read the original German, "Bis zur letzten Stunde." Her interviews are also available on DVD with English subtitles ("Blindspot"). Traudl Junge did speak English, which she used in some appearances made for the British 1970s television documentary series, "The World at War."

Hitler had up to four "personal" secretaries; that is, they didn't deal with government or military matters, but rather his personal mail and things like taking dictation from him for his public speeches. This is from memory, so be advised, but one woman worked for him from before he took power until the end of the war. Two others came on during the 1930s, if I remember right, and one of those got married in 1942 and was given leave, prompting Hitler to hire another secretary to fill her place, and that turned out to be Traudl Humps (Humps was her maiden name, as she was not married until mid 1943), and then a few months later the married secretary returned from leave, giving him four personal secretaries. As Traudl noted in her interviews and writings, these secretaries did not sit outside Hitler's office and make appointments for him, take phone calls, or "boil (make) coffee" ("Kaffee kochen") [see note], as she put it, nor did they even have an office (at least when she joined him in late 1942). They were more or less "on call," and, since it was wartime, Hitler was usually in either his military headquarters in northeastern Germany, in the province of East Prussia, in the midst of the forest near the city of Rastenburg, or at his villa in the southern alpine region in Bavaria, above the town of Berchtesgaden, less than 20 miles from Salzburg. From the time Hitler launched his attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 until January 1945, Hitler was rarely in Berlin, and even when he did go there, it was usually only for a brief stay. Traudl believed Hitler had the secretaries not just for the limited work they did, but for companionship, and I think she was correct in this belief. His orderlies and adjutants filled a similar role. [Note: English "cook" and German "kochen" are from the same word and essentially mean the same thing, but the German version is broader, in that it also means "boil," which, in the 1940s and until somewhat later (special coffeemakers), you did to make coffee.]

So how did this woman become one of Hitler's secretaries? Traudl came from a Munich family where politics was never discussed, but she wanted to attend a dance school in Berlin and through a family friend who had connections to a Nazi bigwig, she landed a job as a secretary in the (Old) Reich's Chancellery building in Berlin during 1941. She said she never saw Hitler, nor had any other of the secretaries there seen him. This building had been renovated back in the 1800s to serve as the residence of the German chancellor, then Otto von Bismarck. In 1937/38, Hitler commissioned the building of a "new" chancellery building nearby, which opened in 1939. This then served as his residence and office building, while parts of his staff still used the old building. According to Traudl, she and the other secretaries basically handled "fan" mail and love letters sent to Hitler by adoring women. As noted above, when one of Hitler's actual personal secretaries married and went on leave, word went out that Hitler wanted a replacement for her and Traudl and several others were selected to be interviewed by, and to take dictation from, Hitler, in a trial to see whom he would hire. Hitler sent his lavish personal train to pick up the secretaries and transport them to his military headquarters. At this point in time Hitler's armies were locked in a major struggle with Soviet forces around the southern Russian city of Stalingrad, and the deteriorating German military situation there took up much of his time. Consequently, it took a few days for him to see the secretaries and they lived on his train during that time.

This is where it gets interesting. Traudl said her only images of Hitler, up to that time, were from newsreels where he was frequently shown with a serious expression and outstretched arm in the Nazi salute (called "Hitlergruss;" that is, "Hitler greeting"), often accompanied by speeches where he bellowed and rolled his "Rs" in a forceful manner. Finally the secretaries were called in to see Hitler and she said this "older" man (Hitler was then 53, but she was only 22, so I guess "older" applies), with a soft voice and kind manner came out to meet them. She was surprised that he was nothing like his public image. He treated them all very cordially and eventually he hired Traudl. Hitler was a "south German," being born and raised in Austria, and having lived in Munich for many years, and I wouldn't be surprised that he liked the idea of Traudl being from Munich and that may have given her an advantage over the others. She also said he was like a father figure to her, something that had been lacking in her life, as her father had died when she was just a baby. This all came to tie her to Hitler. While she had not aspired to this job, she said she couldn't bring herself to turn it down, and she thought she would be at the source and center of all the news. On this point she was very disappointed, as Hitler led a life dominated by his daily routines, including staying awake virtually all night, then sleeping until around noon. The security measures at the headquarters kept everyone out, except military officers and government or Nazi officials. She noted that many on Hitler's staff were just plain bored, as even the dinner conversations were often repetitions of previous such talks. She said the staff personnel were thus only subject to the world according to Hitler. She ended up marrying one of Hitler's SS adjutants, Hans Junge, in the summer of 1943. The man desperately wanted out of the daily routines, so much so, that he asked to be sent to the front. He was killed about a year later during the fighting in Normandy. 

More in Part Two, including the attempt on Hitler's life ...

Photo is from the paperback edition of "Bis zur letzten Stunde" (Until the Last Hour) by Traudl Junge, with cooperation from Melissa Müller, published in paperback in 2003 in German (there have been English language editions also), although there have been various printings since the original paperback. This is the 8th German paperback printing from 2011 from List Taschenbuch. 

WORD HISTORY:

Secret/(Secretary)-Secret traces back to Indo European "khrei," which had the notion of "to separate, to divide; thus also, to sift," as to sift particles separates them. This gave Indo European's Latin offspring "cerno," which meant "to separate, to divide;" thus also, "discern," from the notion of "separating items helps to distinguish between them." The "se" prefix traces to Indo European "se(d)," which was a pronoun, in this case indicating "by itself, apart from." The two parts produced Latin "secernere," meaning "to divide, to separate." Its participle form, "secretus," came to mean "set off to itself;" thus, "private, hidden." Old French, a Latin-based language, inherited a form of the word as "secret," and English borrowed it in the 1300s, initially also "secrette." Secretary is derived from Latin "secretus," as originally it meant "a person trusted with the secrets of another, usually an official;" thus, "a clerk or record keeper privy to an official's 'confidential' papers." Latin "secretus" then produced "secretarius," which was borrowed into English in the late 1300s. The meaning expanded to include "letter writing for an official," and then "to the head of government departments," a meaning still used in American English, but not, interestingly, in England (Britain), where such officials are typically called "ministers." Example: in America, "Secretary of State," but in Britain, "Foreign Minister."