Hitler Thought He Was A Genius Too

Well... recently we had Donald Trump declare himself to be "a very stable genius," so I thought I'd do a little piece on something Hitler had said.

Traudl Junge was one of Hitler's personal secretaries for the last two and one half years of his life. After the war, she wrote down the recollections of her time in that secretarial position, but then those actual recollections were not published until 2002 (2003, in English), after Viennese writer Melissa Müller* found Junge and did a series of video interviews with her. Müller published Junge's postwar notes in a book called, "Bis zur letzten Stunde" ("Until the Last Hour"). The notes were published without corrections to mistakes, and only with notations indicating illegible words or phrases, although Müller added extensive footnotes of her own to the back of the book to correct the errors, as well as to give a bit of background on the various people Junge mentioned, as many people on Hitler's staff and in his immediate circle were not generally known to the public. The video interviews, which largely parallel Junge's notes, were also released on DVD as, "Im Toten Winkel"("Blindspot," literally, "In the dead angle"), and with English subtitles. In her notes, as well as in the interview with Müller, Junge tells how Hitler had said that he hadn't married because he could not devote sufficient time to a wife, and that he did not want children of his own, as he believed, "offspring of geniuses have a difficult time in the world" ("Nachkommen von Genies haben es meist sehr schwer in der Welt"). And that these children were expected to be of the same caliber as their famous parent and that they wouldn't be excused for being just average. "Moreover, they are mostly Cretins" ("Außerdem werden es meistens Kretins;" that is, "idiots").** And Junge then comments about how she thought it odd that Hitler considered himself to be a genius, and that Hitler's statement made her flinch inside ("innerlich gezuckt"). It should be noted, by the time Traudl Junge, then known by her maiden name, Traudl Humps, went to work for Hitler, German cities were becoming ever greater targets of Allied air attacks. Wow, what a genius!

* Melissa Müller is the author of "Anne Frank: The Biography," first released in 1998.

** German text from, "Bis zur letzten Stunde," 2011 German paperback edition, by Traudl Junge in cooperation with Melissa Müller, List Taschenbuch

WORD HISTORY:
Genius-This word, related to Latin-derived "genus," and to "genealogy," a word tracing back to Greek, both words borrowed by English, goes back to Indo European "gen," which had the notion, "offspring, produce." This gave its Latin offspring the verb "gignere," meaning "to produce, to give birth to." This then produced the Latin noun "genius," which meant, "guardian spirit which accompanies and guides a person from the time of birth," but also, in some cases, "the intellect of a person."This was borrowed into English in the second half of the 1300s with the "guardian spirit" meaning, along with the secondary meaning of "intellect," but it wasn't until the 1600s that the "intellect" meaning became primary, with the added, "high intellectual capacity" meaning. German borrowed its form of the word, "Genie," from French in the 1700s.

One of Hitler's Cooks

There is an interesting story about one of Hitler's cooks that I only recall from the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's personal secretaries for about the last 2 1/2 years of his life, although I likely saw the name many years ago. The person I'm referring to is, Helene von Exner, who was known to her family, friends and acquaintances as, Marlene. She was a dietician from Vienna, and in 1943, she became Hitler's Diätköchin; that is, his dietary cook.

The general story is, the fanatical, furious Füher had persistent stomach problems, including gas. Now, as you know, gas leaves our bodies by two ways: one, by way of the mouth, when we belch, and secondly, by way of another opening, the word for which is often applied to Hitler himself... quite correctly. I don't believe there has ever truly been a diagnosis of Hitler's gastrointestinal problem, although irritable bowel syndrome has been suggested by some, if I remember right. Well during an early 1943 meeting between Hitler and Rumanian leader, Ion Antonescu, the Rumanian told Hitler about how his own gastrointestinal problems were successfully treated by a cook who had been recommended to him, Marlene von Exner, from Vienna. The fact that she was from Vienna likely gave Hitler more interest, as he had lived there for a few years prior to going Munich, not long before World War One. So Hitler hired von Exner to cook for him and he had a separate kitchen built for her, close to his living area at his heavily guarded military headquarters in northeastern Germany, near Rastenburg.

While some of the stories I've read about Hitler's vegetarianism conflict as to when he took up the practice, and even the extent to which he truly held to not eating meat,* von Exner fixed him frequent dishes of vegetables, mashed potatoes, soups and hard and soft boiled eggs. I distinctly recall Traudl Junge mentioning that Hitler often ate mashed potatoes with a fried egg on top, but whether this was a dish recommended by, and fixed by, von Exner for him, I'm not sure. I do remember reading that the cook put some bone marrow into Hitler's soups, although he supposedly didn't know about it.

Well, by early 1944, von Exner and one of Hitler's adjutants wanted to get married. This required an investigation into her background, as the racial laws of the Nazis were strict. It turned out that part of von Exner's family history was unclear, and that the Nazi investigation determined that she was likely part Jewish. This threw Hitler, who told her he would have to let her go, because he had to follow his own laws. He liked her very much and he gave her several months severance pay and told her he would see to it that she and her family were "aryanized;" that is, essentially having them certified as "aryans;" thus removing any record of their possible Jewish side. ** He told his henchman Martin Bormann to take care of the matter, and to see to it that von Exner and her family were not bothered.

It turned out, Bormann had made a play for von Exner (she was in her mid 20s), but she had rebuffed him, a situation not taken well by the man who was likely the second most powerful man in Germany, after Hitler. He dragged his feet on Hitler's order and von Exner's family suffered the consequences, as her brother, who was a doctor, was fired for being part Jewish, per Nazi law, and she and her sister were also excluded from university work (I "believe" this was at the University of Vienna). Von Exner wrote to her friend Traudl Junge, who saw Hitler on a daily basis. She related all that had happened and about the incident with Bormann likely playing a major role in her family not being cleared. Junge used her special typewriter, with large letters for Hitler to read easily, and wrote everything down for him, then gave him the letter. Indeed he became the furious Füher, and he angrily summoned Bormann, who came out of the meeting red-faced. It wasn't long and von Exner received her certificate. She survived the war, but little is really known about her, although, if my memory is right, Junge did have some postwar contact with her.

Just a couple of things: Hitler had other cooks during his rule, with the last being von Exner's replacement, Constanze Manziarly, who was from Innsbruck. Also, while I'm not sure how much verification has been done on this, Hitler "supposedly" had a group of women, 15 is the number mentioned, all from near his military headquarters, who were used as food testers (Vorkosterinnen). Each day they sampled his food to be certain there had been no poison added. "Supposedly" only one survived the war, but the 14 others didn't die from poisoning, but "supposedly" from Russian execution near the end of the war.

* I've read variously that Hitler took up vegetarianism a year or so before he was appointed chancellor, or right after his appointment, or in the mid 1930s, or in the late 1930s. If my memory is correct, one article or book claimed he didn't become a vegetarian until during the early part of the war.

** There were other such cases, with the most famous being of Luftwaffe Field Marshal Erhard Milch, who was half Jewish, but he was given a special certificate by Hitler.

WORD HISTORY: 
Marrow-This word, for the inside part of bones, goes back to Indo European "mozgho," which meant, "inner matter." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "mazga," meaning, "marrow, pith." This gave Old English "mearg," with the same meaning. This then became "marowe," before the modern version. Forms in the other Germanic languages: German "Mark" (it once was spelled "marg"), Low German Saxon "marg" (no longer used), Dutch "merg," West Frisian "moarch," Danish "marv," Norwegian "marg," Icelandic "mergur," Swedish "märg."

Trump Is Just Like Their Führer

Just like the original fanatical, furious Führer, Donald Trump is half nuts and half manipulator. He fears all sorts of things, mainly other human beings, which distorts his ... ah, judgment, but he knows what he's doing. Giving voice to concerns about trade, border security, crime and some other issues, doesn't bother me in the least. We need such discussions, but wanting to build walls to keep people out, using bigoted and racist descriptions of Mexicans, women and others, as well as disparaging veterans captured in the service of this country, and mocking a disabled man, is stoking the fears, bigotry and racism of people to his own perceived advantage. It isn't unifying, it is divisive. The same with using the grieving mother of one of those killed in Benghazi. A true leader would try to console this woman, not exploit her grief and stoke her anger. That's manipulation. I've never been much of a John McCain fan, but in 2008, he at least had the decency to set the record straight when a woman at one of his rallies said Barack Obama was "an Arab." That took guts. And some in the crowd did not like McCain for his comments, nor his asking them to tone down the rhetoric against then presidential candidate, Obama. You know Trump's bad, when his running mate, Mike Pence, himself a fanatical fascist, hiding his nastiness behind fundamentalist Christianity, looks more reasonable than Trump. 

Hitler too, knew what he was doing.* As he sought to gain power, Adolf Hitler was known for his fiery and provocative speeches given to cheering crowds, while he was protected by brown-shirted stormtroopers, who beat up and carted off any protesters. The thing is, "I'm not sure" that even Hitler yelled to his bullies to, "get him outta here," about protesters, or ever told his audiences, that a protester "would be carried out on a stretcher." No matter what Hitler brought about, even death and destruction to to his homeland, his faithful remained loyal to him.** Sound familiar? How about this Trump quote: "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone, and I wouldn't lose any voters. OK? It's like incredible."

* This is NOT meant as a comparison to Trump, so I'm putting it in this separate note, as even I don't think Trump has gone this far, although he seems to be trying hard to work toward similar hate. More troubling is that Trump knows his rhetoric has prompted avowed racists and bigots to endorse him and has "inspired" supporters at his rallies to confront and bully protesters:
 
While in some of his public speeches Hitler ranted against Jews, and some of his lines were dripping with venom, he watched his language, so as not to give away his real long term goal of mass murder. But such speeches by Hitler and other Nazi leaders stoked hatred, dehumanized minorities and began to prepare Germans for the ultimate hatred ... murder. Even later, while his killing machine murdered millions of innocent people, Hitler kept these events as quiet as possible (although rumors and stories circulated). Traudl Junge, one of his secretaries for the last couple years of his life, said the subject of Jews was never discussed in his private times, and she and the other secretaries saw him every day, even having lunch, dinner or tea with him. He knew what he was doing. After the war, much was made by Hitler apologists that he never knew about the death camps and executions, because there were no written orders from him to carry out these atrocities. It was all a bunch of nonsense. One case shows he knew exactly what was going on.  See next note

** Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge, cited one telling incident, which took place in 1943 at Hitler's villa, "the Berghof," above the town of Berchtesgaden. She admits that she only heard about it from others who were present in the dining room, including her husband, who was one of Hitler's personal aides. The Schirachs had been invited to the Berghof, at Henriette von Schirach's request, to see and dine with Hitler. The husband, Baldur, had been head of the Hitler Youth in the 1930s and then the Nazi Party leader of Vienna, and if you've seen any of the documentaries on the Nazi Hitler Youth, you've undoubtedly seen Baldur von Schirach in the films or still photos from that time. By the way, Schirach was under lots of American influence from both sides of his family, as his mother was an American and his paternal grandfather served in the Union army during the American Civil War, and Baldur grew up speaking both English and German. At the time of the dinner with Hitler, Henriette von Schirach had recently been in Amsterdam, where she had witnessed the brutal round up of Dutch Jewish women, who were then packed into railway cars and sent to the "east," which was another Nazi euphemism for "sending Jews to their death," as the extermination camps, designed to kill Jews and others as quickly as possible, were located primarily in Poland. "Auschwitz," the most infamous of all, was located there, as were others. Mrs. Schirach told Hitler the terrible things she had witnessed in Amsterdam, adding that people in Amsterdam felt these Jews would never be heard from again. She was under the impression that Hitler was unaware of such things, but upon mentioning the information to Hitler, the conversation at the dinner table stopped, Hitler momentarily went silent, then he told Mrs. Schirach not to get involved in matters that she didn't understand, adding that she was "too sentimental." Hitler abruptly arose from the table, left the room and did not return, nor did the Schirachs ever return to Hitler's company, as he never invited them back. Even here though, Mrs. Schirach apparently thought Hitler could not possibly know of what was happening, and she sought to inform him, only to be told to mind her own business by the fanatical, furious Führer. He knew what he was doing. 

WORD HISTORY:
Manipulation-This word, made up of three parts: "mani," "pul" and "ation," and meaning, "skilled use of the hands to work something, skilled direction of situations, the managing of other's emotions and mental state or faculty for a purpose either good or bad." The first part, related to "manual" and "manager," goes back to Indo European "man," which meant "hand." This gave Latin "manus," also meaning "hand." This then was combined with the second part to give Latin "manipulus," which literally meant "handful," and its derived form in Old French, a Latin-based language, "manipuler" which was used for, "take as many medicinal herbs are you can hold in your hand; take a handful of herbs (medication)." This was combined in French with the third part to form "manipulation," which was then borrowed into English in the first half of the 1700s, with the general meaning of using the hands, including "to mine for ore or minerals," in those times, of course," done "by hand." The second part of the word, distantly related to both "fill" and "full," ^ goes back to Indo European "pleh," which meant "to fill, to complete," and this gave Latin "pleo," also meaning, "to fill, to complete," the root of which, rendered as "pul," in Latin, then joined with the first part, as noted above. Finally, the Indo European suffix "te/tis," gave Latin "(a)tio," which became the third part of "manipulation." 

^ The connection goes back to Indo European, as both "fill" and "full" are from Germanic, which had its own form derived from Indo European

"Downfall," A Really Good Movie/Addendum

First published July 17, 2009; edited and updated November 30, 2014. The main article, "Downfall," A Really Good Movie, has also been updated.

I thought I’d add a few more things about "Downfall" ("Der Untergang"):

Director Oliver Hirschbiegel was born in the late 1950s, so well after Hitler’s death. He’s no apologist for Hitler or the Nazis, and in fact, he makes it clear in his “commentary,” he feels that Germans need to face this part of their history. He also says quite clearly that Hitler was not crazy, and knew what he was doing. He feels that the “crazy” argument is too convenient, but while I see where he’s coming from, I don’t completely agree with him, as Hitler was certainly “unstable,” and that’s putting it mildly, in my opinion, although I agree that he was cognizant of much of what he was doing. Hirschbiegel also feels that Hitler knew how to “act” in certain situations; that is, he knew how to perform; raging with anger one moment to intimidate others, then trying to get sympathy from these same people the next moment, with more subdued behavior. There may well be some truth to this, but still, the idea that Hitler was so rational is my biggest disagreement with Hirschbiegel, although perhaps our definitions are what really differ. Still, we have to remember that a highly cultured, educated nation of tens of millions followed Hitler to the gates of Hell, and committed terrible crimes for him.

Traudl Junge says in some of the interviews I’ve seen, that she and the other secretaries didn’t know about the military or political matters of Hitler, as they didn’t participate in typing such orders. She says they handled his correspondence in more personal matters. She also says they weren’t “stationed” in an office outside of Hitler’s, where they announced visitors to him, as he had military and Nazi Party personnel who handled that. She said they were basically free to do whatever they wanted, unless he had something scheduled for them, or if, of course, he sent for them. (See the main article about their lunch/dinner arrangements)

After the war, Hitler’s secretaries took criticism for some of their favorable remarks about him.* They mentioned how kind he was with them, how he protected them and how he gave them little gifts over the years. Perhaps out of naiveté they didn’t realize the “raw nerves” they rubbed with such comments, as millions had died or been traumatized by this SOB. Traudl Junge says she didn’t realize what a criminal Hitler was until after the war when she heard and saw things about what he had done. Her interviews show her to be highly remorseful and full of self blame for her own failure to recognize what he truly was. In one of the interviews, she does say that perhaps she was so close to him because he was like a father to her. She explains that her own father had died when she was a baby, but that her childhood friends always mentioned their fathers, and that she felt this gap in her life. When Hitler treated her so well and worried over her and the others, he became a father figure in her life.

I mentioned in my original article that what first caught my attention about the imminent release of this movie a few years ago, was about the actor who mastered Hitler’s south German accent, Bruno Ganz. At least 25 years ago, I met a lady who had been born during the war in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. She later came to Cleveland and became an American citizen. Now, some may know that Garmisch-Partenkirchen is famous for winter sports events, like skiing and sledding. It is in the Bavarian Alps, right near the border with Austria. Hitler was born in Braunau-am-Inn (Austria), right across the border from Bavaria (Germany), however, his family moved to Linz (Austria) where he actually grew up, and which he considered to be his home town. Later, he lived in Vienna for awhile, where he was rejected for art school, ** and then he crossed the border and lived in Munich, which is where he was, I believe, when what became World War One broke out, and he joined a Bavarian infantry regiment. All of these areas speak a broad south German dialect called “Bavarian,” which is based very much on “Upper German” ("Oberdeutsch"); that is, German from the “upper elevations.” There are variations in Bavarian depending upon where you are in Bavaria or Austria, just as we Americans talk about people having “a southern accent,” but not all Southerners speak exactly the same, as there are differences from state to state and even within the same state. As with many of us, some of our regional speech variances (accents, words and even expressions) can carry over to what could be considered the “standard” language; that is, what is taught in school, and in more modern times, what is frequently (but not always) spoken by announcers on radio or television. Anyway, the lady from Garmisch-Partenkirchen once told me that Hitler must have worked hard to overcome so much of his Bavarian accent for public speaking, as he did. (A word history is below)

* Hitler's cook, who was often with the secretaries, apparently died in Berlin (some survivors think perhaps by her own hand, as she had a cyanide capsule with her, or that she was killed during the last fighting in the city), as she, Traudl Junge and one other secretary remained with Hitler in his Berlin bunker until his death. If I remember right, Hitler's other two secretaries were at his villa above Berchtesgaden in Bavaria in the last weeks of the war.

** I recall some historians speculating that, if only he had made it into art school, the world may have been spared his later actions.

Photo is from the 2005 DVD release by Constantin Film and Sony Home Entertainment

Word History:
It-This goes back to Indo European "ke/ko," which meant "this." This gave Old Germanic "khi(t)," which is also the source of "he." In Old English it was "hit"and was the neuter form of third person "he." (the Germanic languages all had grammatical gender back then, something English later dropped).^ The softly pronounced "h" sound later died out. Dutch retained the "h," and has "het," German has "es (what is called a sound shift made "t" into High German "s"), but Low German has "et," as the sound shift didn't affect Low German, nor did it affect Frisian, and West Frisian has "it." The possessive form in English, "its," didn't really develop until the late 1700s! Before that, English speakers used "his" as the possessive form.

^ English now uses "he, she, it," with only the latter being grammatically neutral and generally used to refer to non human or non gender specific things (after all, we do often refer to a ship, boat or car as "she"). German, however, which still uses grammatical gender, has "er, sie, es," which mean "he, she, it," BUT they all can also mean "it," depending upon the noun they refer to. For instance, "Wagen" means "car" (or "wagon"), and it is a grammatically masculine noun, so the pronoun used when referring to "Wagen" is "er;" as in, "Der Wagen, er ist rot" ("The car, it is red"). Also, "Flasche" means "bottle" (really the same word as English "flask"), but it is a grammatically feminine noun, so: "Die Flasche, sie ist voll" ("The bottle, it is full").

"Downfall," A Really Good Movie

First published July 15, 2009; slightly edited and updated November 30, 2014. There is also a separate "Addendum" to this article, which I've also updated. The Word History updated, 2-4-16.

A few years ago, it must have been in 2003, I read an article or news story about the upcoming release of another historical movie dealing with Hitler’s end in Berlin in 1945. Two things caught my attention; one was that the movie was a German produced film. Now that may not sound too spectacular, but movies about Hitler almost always seem to be American or British produced, and most of the characters are played by American or British actors. This movie would have German-speaking actors portraying the characters who participated in this terrible era of German (and World) history. The second thing had to do with the German language, and, with my love affair with language, this was what REALLY caught my attention. The article made mention that the actor playing Hitler, Bruno Ganz, a man of whom I’d never heard, was credited with having mastered Hitler’s mannerisms so well, that he even got Hitler’s voice and south German accent down pat.* Well, I thought that was interesting, and while I can’t say what I did back in 2003, it is likely that within fifteen seconds of having finished reading the article, my mind had wandered onto something else, and I never went to see the movie when it was released.

Then in the spring of 2009 I came across a reference to this same movie when I was reading something about German dialects. I recalled the article I’d read prior to the film’s release, and I checked out the availability of the movie on DVD, and I found a very reasonably priced edition, complete with English subtitles, interviews with some of the actors, and an additional version with commentary from the director, Oliver Hirschbiegel. I also found that the picture had received several awards, and that it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. I was a bit perplexed, since if you have seen one movie about Hitler’s end, you have seen them all, because the ending is always the same; he kills himself (better late than never). I bought the movie, and I’m sure glad I did! What a movie!!! It spurred me to do some further research, and I also checked out a couple of other movies, actually I guess what you’d call documentaries, both with interviews of actual participants from Hitler’s bunker.

What impressed me about the movie, called “Downfall” in English, or “Der Untergang” in the original German (see the “word histories” at the end), was that it wasn’t just a war movie, or another movie about Hitler blowing his brains out. This movie had military action, including some gruesome scenes (so beware), but it delved into something that Germans have been reluctant to do since the war ended, and that is, why they followed Hitler. This same question has been asked by many, many historians, and to be quite honest, there isn’t any one answer. People followed Hitler to varying degrees, and for various reasons. The picture tries to deal with some of this, and I’d actually say, it gives an answer in part, that there wasn’t always clear logic involved in why so many individuals followed Hitler, especially in the last days of the war. If you’re interested in the movie, I won’t spoil everything for you, but I’ll give you an idea of what it covers, some general, some more specific, along with some further explanations that I derived from the other interviews I saw, and from the director’s commentary, which was REALLY great.

First, some criticism was leveled at the producers and director of the film for showing Hitler to be “human” in a couple of scenes: in one scene he hugs his dog and gives her a kiss on the head; then in one of the opening scenes, he treats the female secretarial applicants with respect and courtesy. I find this criticism to be faulty, because Hitler’s personality was part of what attracted people to him. Yes, he was a son-of-a-bitch (all due respect to his mother), and hopefully we all understand that, but like it or not, he was one of US, a human being, and try though we might, we can’t always completely disown evil people like Hitler, Stalin, or Saddam, no matter how uncomfortable their being humans makes us feel. Further, some criticism was given to the positive portrayal of other another participant, namely one doctor, who, after the war, was accused of having conducted experiments on concentration camp inmates, but the director, in his commentary, says that he could not find credible evidence to support the charge. In fact, at the very end of the “commentary version,” the director gives his opinions on each of the main historical participants, with a blunt, negative assessment of many.

This film, like the movie “Patton,” is based on real events (“Patton” being mainly from General Patton’s own writings and also those by General Omar Bradley), although some events are combined into one scene to keep the length and cost of the film within reason. Many sources by actual participants from those times were used in the script of "Downfall." After the war, many German military and political leaders who were actual witnesses to those last days in Berlin wrote about those events, and interestingly, one of his secretaries did not write a book about her time with Hitler until not long before she died from cancer, when she was in her 80s (see below). Almost all of the scenes are based upon fact, even at times with the same words that were spoken by the real historical figures included, and the director says that he only “created” one main character for the movie, a young boy, about 12, in the Hitler Youth, to represent the kids used by the Nazis to actively engage in the street fighting against the Russians in Berlin. I’ll take the director at his word, but the boy’s parents have brief scenes in the movie, and perhaps they were actually based upon real participants, and he just gave them this boy as their son. Further, just so you know, the entire movie is in German, there is even some Berlin dialect spoken, but the English subtitles are excellent, with very accurate translation.

The movie opens with a short clip of one of Hitler’s real secretaries in an interview given not long before she died, and shortly before the movie began filming. Her name was Traudl Junge. The movie covers a good deal about her experience in Berlin during the last ten days or so of the battle, and it is taken from her memoirs, compiled not long before she died (she died in 2002).** She also has an excellent clip at the end of the picture about her failure to try to find out about Hitler and the regime. She started working as one of Hitler’s personal secretaries when she was only 22 years old. He had four such secretaries, and in one of the other documentaries I saw, Traudl Junge mentions that when they were all with Hitler in his military headquarters, he would have lunch with two of his secretaries every day, and then dinner with the other two later in the evening. The secretaries were advised NOT to talk about military or political matters with Hitler, as he wanted to spend time away from those subjects, and in fact, the secretaries provided female companionship for Hitler at lunch, dinner and tea.

With the exception of the scene about Hitler’s meeting the secretarial applicants in late 1942, and his hiring of Traudl Junge at that time, the entire movie is set in war torn Berlin in April 1945, much of it in Hitler’s underground bunker, which was recreated in great detail for the movie (although above ground). Much of the movie was shot in Munich and, interestingly, St. Petersburg, Russia. I say “interestingly,” because the Germans were fighting the Russians in Berlin in 1945. The director says they chose St. Petersburg because parts of the city had been designed by German architects, and these areas are still quite similar to the Berlin of the Hitler era.

I mentioned the “fictional” boy fighting the Russians in the streets of Berlin, well, in one scene his father comes to the boy and his friends (including a girl of maybe 15) who are awaiting the Russian advance. The father, who has lost an arm in the war, tries desperately to convince the kids to go home, as the war is lost, and he doesn’t want them to be killed in such a hopeless cause, but they all stay.

There are several scenes of Hitler and his military personnel in conferences, and Hitler’s “delusional orders” to have them organize large scale attacks against the Russians in order to save Berlin. The generals know it is a bunch of nonsense, but while they complain, mainly behind Hitler’s back, they can’t bring themselves to do anything to stop the carnage. When one officer tries to convince them to act, they turn on him with angry words. When some try to get Hitler to evacuate civilians, he turns down the requests with statements like, “In a war like this, there are no civilians” ("In einem Krieg wie diesem gibt es keine Zivilisten"), and in another scene, when his orders for the destruction of Germany’s infrastructure are challenged for their likelihood of putting Germany back into the Middle Ages, he says something like, “I can't give consideration to the German people, they deserve to live like in the Middle Ages, as they’ve proven to be the weaker people” ... because they didn’t win the war. Talk about "survival of the fittest!" Further still, Nazi “execution squads” roam the streets of Berlin shooting or hanging people, even elderly men, whom they deem to be “deserters” (this is definitely based upon fact). The director says in his commentary that there was no real opportunity to deal with the concentration camp issue, so he “created” a scene where there is a pile of naked bodies to remind people of that horrendous tragedy. Further, and I’m repeating this, but the director says that most of the scenes are recreations of actual events that were written about by others present in Berlin and around Hitler, but that in a case or two, people met with Hitler in private, one-on-one, and that the only account is that of the “survivor,” who may not have accurately reported what was really said, but that they chose to use these accounts anyway.

This is a “deep” movie, as it is about many people trapped by their loyalty to a man who had seriously deteriorated, both physically and mentally. Even his irrationality can’t seem to shake them loose from him. In one scene, Hitler tells people gathered around, that he will not leave Berlin, thus bringing the reply from his long time mistress, Eva Braun, and also from Traudl Junge, that they will stay too. One of the other secretaries asks Traudl Junge later why she had said that, and she replies, “I don’t know why…honestly.” A sniffling Joseph Goebbels, the infamous Nazi propaganda minister, tells Junge that Hitler wants him to take his wife and family (six children) and leave Berlin, but that he won’t obey the Führer’s order.

Overall, this is a gloomy kind of movie, and the director says he put in a “created” ending, because “people need some hope” after watching this macabre part of history. You’ll have to watch the movie to learn of that ending. This is a movie well worth seeing. The performance by Swiss German actor Bruno Ganz as Hitler is just absolutely remarkable. No need to worry that you might like Hitler because he hugs his dog and treats his secretaries well, his actions throughout the movie, based on historical fact, will keep you hating him, perhaps even more so, as well you should. Anyone who likes Hitler because of his dog or his secretaries, already liked him in the first place, and there are probably a few more of them than we would like to believe exist. FIGHT FASCISM!

* I read that Ganz studied a recording of Hitler in a meeting with the President of Finland in 1942, where Hitler spoke calmly and in his every day voice. Ganz studied it for many days to perfect his impersonation of Hitler’s normal speaking voice, rather than the sound of his shrieking voice so often heard in many of his public speeches.

** Traudl Junge had made extensive notes about her time as one of Hitler's secretaries a couple of years after the war ended, while her memory of events was still pretty good. It was these notes that were used for the book she agreed to have published. The notes were illegible in a few places, and the book shows that. Her recollections were also off on some details, especially the chronology of events, but that was to be expected. Just imagine writing about a part of your life and trying to get every incident into proper sequence. The book left all of the errors intact, but then noted the correct information. In at least one of her interviews, she also made a couple of errors on names, referring to General Stülpnagel in France by a mangled version of his name, and also mispronouncing Field Marshal Schörner's name, but neither mistake was exactly earth shattering.

Photo is from the 2005 DVD release by Constantin Film and Sony Home Entertainment

Word Histories:
Under-This common word goes back to Indo European "ndhero," which meant "lower; thus also, below, under." The Old Germanic offshoot was "unther" or "under," with the same meaning, but also, "among." This gave the other Germanic languages forms of the word: Dutch “onder,” German “unter,” Low German Saxon "ünner," Frisian, Swedish, Danish & Norwegian “under,” and Icelandic "undir." The spelling has remained unchanged in English, as even in Old English it was "under."

Gang- This word seems to go back to Indo European "ghengh," which meant "to step, walk." The Old Germanic offshoot was "gangaz," which meant "go." Old English had the noun "gang," which meant a "passage, path, course;" that is, "a place where people 'go.' " Later in English, in the 1600s, it also took on the meaning "a group who goes together,” usually in reference to workmen, but then later still, this developed into “a group that goes together for purposes none too good;” thus our modern meaning "gang," as in members of a gang. Of course, "gangway," is a place where people go, walk. And "gang plank," is a place you don't want to go, if you're captured by pirates. German uses the word in many compounds, for example, "Eingang," literally "in passage, path;" that is, "an entrance," and "Ausgang," meaning literally "out passage, path;" that is "exit."

Traudl Junge, Working For Evil, Part Three/Final

In both her book and her interviews, Traudl Junge relates a number of anecdotes about life so close to Hitler, including his obsession with his female German Shepherd, Blondie. In her interviews she said that Hitler was detached from the ruin he was bringing to Germany, let alone to other nations, and that, when she once  mentioned to him about the destruction in Munich (she was from Munich) from air attacks, he just started spouting his usual slogans about how he would retaliate against his enemies once he regained the upper hand. She noted that, as far as she could recall, Hitler never saw a bombed out German city or area of a city, as he kept the curtains drawn in his private train and when he went to Berlin, the train would arrive in the darkness of night and the chauffeur would travel on streets with little or no damage. This is the sign of a man hiding from himself.

Traudl Junge spent much time telling of the final days of Hitler in his Berlin bunker, located well beneath the Reich Chancellery complex. His long time mistress, Eva Braun (pronounced like  "brown," not "brawn") joined him there. About a week before his death, Hitler told the women to get ready to leave Berlin, as a plane was going to take them to southern Germany. He admitted the war was lost. Two secretaries left, along with a number of other personnel, but Traudl Junge and one other secretary, Gerda Christian, as well as Eva Braun, chose to remain in Berlin. Traudl told of how during lulls in the fighting for Berlin, she, Eva and Gerda Christian would venture above ground and out into the garden part of the complex. They once came upon a fountain statue of a woman much to Eva's liking. Upon returning to the bunker, Eva told Hitler of the statue, and, with Soviet troops only a few blocks away, she asked if he would buy the statue for her if he won the war. Now, you've got to admit, that's pretty bizarre, BUT he answered her! He told her the statue was government property and that he couldn't just buy it and give it to her for her own private garden, but she asked if he would make this one exception just for her. These people were NUTS! 

Also along those same lines, as the war approached its end, some of the Nazi leaders still played cutthroat politics in an effort to grab more power. As the Soviets closed in, Hermann Göring, Hitler's designated successor, sent a telegram from southern Germany to Hitler stating that with Hitler surrounded in Berlin, and with the likelihood of his losing the ability to communicate orders to the military and to the nation, that if a reply to his telegram was not received from Hitler by that evening, he would assume Hitler no longer had the ability to communicate orders, and that he, Göring, would assume power as Hitler had specified several years before. The telegram was not anything unreasonable, and at first, according to Junge, Hitler too seemed to have accepted it as such. Then Martin Bormann convinced the fanatical, furious Führer that Göring's act was high treason. Hitler became violently upset and ordered Göring's arrest and possible execution.* Then came word from a British radio broadcast that Heinrich Himmler, the powerful head of the dreaded SS, and a murderous nutcase if there ever was one, had entered into negotiations with the Allies through a neutral party. Hitler had another serious temper tantrum, as the man he called "mein treuer Heinrich" (my true or loyal Heinrich) abandoned the fanatical, furious Führer too. He ordered Himmler's arrest and execution.** For good measure, Hitler ordered the arrest of Himmler's adjutant, Hermann Fegelein, who was Eva Braun's brother in law (he was married to her sister, Gretl, who was like 8 months pregnant at that time). Eva's brother in law notwithstanding, Fegelein was then executed. Even in the final days of his life, with the Russians just a block or two away, Hitler spread death over essentially meaningless things.

Junge noted, Hitler had told her he would never be captured alive, and in preparation for that situation, he had received cyanide capsules from Himmler. With Himmler's peace negotiations Hitler became suspicious that the poison Himmler had provided would not be sufficient to take his life; the fear being that Himmler might try to trade "a live Hitler" for his own safety, so Hitler had it tried out on his dog Blondie, and it was found to be potent, as the poor dog died immediately. Hitler married Eva Braun and he told Traudl Junge he wanted her to take some dictation from him. It was his last will and testament. Traudl said at first she thought something like, "Now we'll hear the real reasons for everything, the truth," but instead, Hitler spouted his usual nonsense, including blaming Jews for the war. Not long after she typed the dictated notes, Hitler and Eva committed suicide. Traudl Junge was part of a group that tried to get through the Soviet lines to the Western Allies. Some of the group were killed, others were captured, but Traudl got through, only to turn around and return to Berlin before getting to the Allies. I believe she said she hoped to be able to get a train to her parents in southern Germany. Instead, she ended up in Soviet captivity for about a year and a half.

Traudl eventually made it home and she worked at a number of jobs over the years, but she also learned what Hitler and the Nazis had done during their time in power. She said initially she felt no particular connection between her life and the terrible events that had transpired, that she had just been a secretary and had not known about the atrocities, but then one day in Munich, she saw the plaque commemorating Sophie Scholl for her resistance to the Nazis,*** and she realized that some Germans DID try to learn about what had been going on. For the rest of her life she had emotional troubles, as she struggled to deal with her role in the tragedies wrought by Hitler. Her guilt feelings got to the point they were not rational, as she even blamed herself for the initial Nazi persecution of German Jews in 1933, when she was only 12 or 13 years old. She said she took some consolation in the knowledge that millions of other Germans had been swayed by Hitler, but that it was just not enough to soothe her conscience. She died of cancer in 2002, age 81. As I've "preached" here at times, Traudl Junge came to realize, too late, that once you let fascists in, you don't get them back out easily, and that people from all walks of life can become susceptible to their hate and destructiveness. Stopping the advance of fascism starts with our own self evaluation and then the determination not to fall under the spell of simplistic solutions or hate filled slogans and rants by radio or television personalities trying to worm their way into our lives and minds. They lay the groundwork for fascist politicians to gain control. Traudl Junge's message was, "Pay attention to what's going on around you! Don't think it has nothing to do with you."   

* Martin Bormann was one of Hitler's closest and most powerful associates during the war, when his power grew tremendously. He controlled who got in to see Hitler and he saw all correspondence before it got to Hitler's desk. The German public knew little about Bormann, although he was almost always by Hitler's side from 1941 until the very end. With loads of captured Nazi documents available after the war, historians came to realize that the little known Bormann was one of the most powerful Nazi leaders, besides Hitler himself. For more on Bormann, see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/09/german-leaders-of-nazi-erabormann.html

** Himmler did not fall victim to his fanatical, furious Führer, but rather he was captured by the British awhile later. He committed suicide while in their custody. For more on Himmler, see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/10/german-leaders-of-nazi-erahimmler.html 

*** In early 1943, Sophie Scholl, her brother, Hans, and a friend, Christoph Probst, were arrested for distributing leaflets at the University of Munich urging Germans to resist the Nazis and the war. They were "tried" before a Nazi court and then beheaded. There are several memorials and honors to this young courageous German woman and to the other Germans who tried to fight evil, and who gave their lives doing so. A 2003 poll of Germans showed Sophie and Hans Scholl are viewed as some of the most important Germans in history, and another poll of Germans placed Sophie as one of the greatest women of the 20th Century. Germans have learned the lessons the hard way, others should pay heed to the German experience.

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: 

Turf-This word for "grass covered area" goes back to Indo European "darbh/dorbh," which meant "clump or tuft of grass." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "turb," which meant "grass covered surface/area." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "turf," with the same meaning. Some dialects had "torf" and "tyrf," but eventually English kept "turf" as the standard spelling. In post World War Two American English the word was used for "a neighborhood dominated by a gang;" that is, "their turf." Common in the other Germanic languages: Low German Saxon has "Torf/Törf," which means "peat" (soil with dead and decomposing plants, as the area of northern Germany and northern Europe had bogs/marshes, where such was common), standard German has "Torf," also meaning "peat," as the word came into standard German from Low German; Dutch and West Frisian have "turf" (peat), Danish "tørv"  (peat), Icelandic has "torf" (sod), Norwegian has the compound "gresstorv" (sod, turf) and Swedish has "torv" (turf, peat).

Traudl Junge, Working For Evil, Part Two

During her interviews, Traudl Junge was asked about how much Hitler and other Nazi leaders talked about Jews. She said the subject was really not discussed, at least not around her or the other secretaries, but it's important to remember a couple of things here. First, neither Traudl Junge nor the other secretaries were involved in Hitler's meetings with Nazi leaders, where the subject most certainly would have been discussed. Second, the Nazis talked in "code," if you will; that is, they used euphemisms about their plans or ongoing operations to murder German and other European Jews, and indeed other people too. Terms like "resettlement" and "final solution" were used in place of "shipping Jews off to be killed" or "extermination." They KNEW what they were doing was an abomination, otherwise, they wouldn't have tried to hide it. Traudl also mentioned how Hitler would tell subordinates to just follow his orders about whatever the subject, that he assumed all responsibility, as if, Traudl noted, "one person can assume the conscience of another." After the war, and really up to recent times, apologists for Hitler have noted that no written order, signed by Hitler, was ever found among the many tons of captured Nazi records ordering the extermination of Europe's Jews. Hitler was a psychopath, but that didn't make him unaware of his criminality. Somewhere deep inside that disturbed mind was the reality of wrongdoing on an incomprehensible scale.

Traudl did cite one telling incident, which took place in 1943 at Hitler's villa, "the Berghof," above the town of Berchtesgaden. She admits that she only heard about it from others who were present, including her husband, who was one of Hitler's personal aides. The Schirachs had been invited to the Berghof, at Henriette von Schirach's request, to see and dine with Hitler. The husband, Baldur, had been head of the Hitler Youth in the 1930s and then the Gauleiter (Nazi Party district leader) of Vienna, and if you've seen any of the documentaries on the Nazi Hitler Youth, you've undoubtedly seen Baldur von Schirach in the films or still photos from that time. By the way, Schirach was under lots of American influence from both sides of his family, as his mother was an American and his paternal grandfather served in the Union army during the American Civil War, and Baldur grew up speaking both English and German. At the time of the dinner with Hitler, Henriette von Schirach had recently been in Amsterdam, where she had witnessed the brutal round up of Dutch Jewish women, who were then packed into railway cars and sent to the "east," which was another Nazi euphemism for "sending Jews to their death," as the extermination camps, designed to kill Jews and others as quickly as possible, were located primarily in Poland. "Auschwitz," the most infamous of all, was located there, and others were too. Mrs. Schirach told Hitler the terrible things she had witnessed in Amsterdam, adding that people there felt these Jews would never be heard from again. She apparently was under the impression that Hitler was unaware of such things. The conversation at the dinner table stopped, Hitler momentarily went silent, then he told Mrs. Schirach not to get involved in matters that she didn't understand, adding that she was "too sentimental." Hitler abruptly arose from the table, left the room and did not return, nor did the Schirachs ever return to Hitler's company, as he never invited them back *

Traudl Junge also talked and wrote extensively about the plot to kill Hitler in July 1944, when a bomb was carried into a temporary conference room by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg inside his briefcase. She and the other secretaries had been out swimming in one of the nearby lakes and they returned to their rooms, located near to where Hitler was holding a major military conference. An explosion shook their building, but at first they thought a deer may have stepped on a landmine. They heard the commotion outside and were told that a bomb had exploded in the military meeting. Since initially they did not know if Hitler had been killed, they fretted about what would happen to them without Hitler. She mentioned how conditioned they had all been to Hitler's thoughts on everything and the idea that he might have been killed left them badly shaken. One of Hitler's aides finally told them Hitler had not been seriously injured and that they could even visit him, which they did. Traudl mentioned how funny he looked, as his hair was still standing on end from the blast and his trouser legs were in tatters. The more ominous thing, however, was that he took his survival as a sign he was  destined to fulfill his "mission," and she noted that she had often thought before this incident, that one day Hitler would say, "Alright, I can't win the war, so I'll make peace," but after he survived the bomb plot, she said he seemed more determined than ever to win or take everyone and everything down with him.

For more on the failed bomb plot against Hitler, see my article, "Heroes Against Hitler/Stauffenberg":

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/11/german-military-leadersheroes-against.html 

Next, the final part and the end in Berlin, but Traudl Junge finds herself.

* At the Nuremberg Trials in 1946, Baldur von Schirach was convicted of "crimes against humanity," primarily for transporting thousands of Viennese Jews "to the east," and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He served the entire sentence and was released in 1966  He "claimed" he didn't know about the extermination camps, and that he thought Jews were being sent to live in ghettos in eastern Europe, which was criminal enough. It "may" have been an act of "denial," rather than of actually "not knowing" (there is a difference), but I must admit, I've never read all that extensively about von Schirach to give a firm opinion, but it seems rather difficult to believe he didn't at least hear the rumors that circulated about the mass killings, just as his wife saw the mistreatment and heard opinions offered in Amsterdam. Of course, even if he did firmly know about the atrocities, it is unlikely he could have done anything, because once such a criminal regime is allowed into power, it is very difficult to remove it. The key is to keep such people out of power and marginalized at the fringes of the political system, as there will always be extremists, but when they come to be accepted as just politicians and anything like mainstream, this is the beginning of accepting them into governing positions. Von Schirach denounced Hitler as a mass murderer during his trial, and after his release from prison he did speak against Hitler and Nazism, but that's scant consolation to those whose loved ones suffered and died.

 

More in Part Three, the final part, and the end in Berlin ...

 

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:

Team-This word goes back to Indo European "deuk," which meant "pull" and by extension "lead" (for example, a leader pulls people in his/her direction on issues). This gave its Old Germanic offspring "taugjanan," with the same meaning (it is also the ancient ancestor of "tow," as in "pull something," and "tug"). This then produced Germanic "taumaz," meaning "something that pulls," which came to be associated with animals that pulled carts/wagons, or with the reins used to equip animals for such. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "team," but pronounced in two distinct syllables, "te-am." which meant "animals harnessed together to pull a wagon or cart," and this later became "teme/tem," before the modern version. Later, the notion of animals working together to pull a wagon brought the extended meaning, "people working together toward a common objective," which also came to be applied to players of sporting events. The verb form developed from the noun in the 1500s, although it is sparsely used in American English, and then often as "team up with." Dutch, West Frisian and German all borrowed "team" directly from English, with the meaning "group working together and sports team." The other Germanic languages have: German has "Zaum" (the "Z" is pronounced "ts"), which means "bridle gear for animals," Low German Saxon and Dutch have "Toom," with that same meaning; West Frisian has "team" (also = bridle), Danish and Norwegian have "tømme" (rein), Icelandic "taumur" (=bridle/rein), Swedish has "töm" (rein).

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." 

Hitler The Jew?

Recently, DNA samples were gathered from some of Hitler's relatives, only to give some credibility to what many had suspected about Hitler for quite some time, that he was part Jewish, and that he certainly was not pure "Aryan." Understand, this is not conclusive, but some of the family genetic matter traces back to Berber people from North Africa. Berbers are a people historically, and to this day, mainly located in Morocco, Algeria, Libya or Tunisia. This genetic material also is fairly common in European Jews, and many Jews went to Europe via North Africa centuries ago.

Hitler's father was illegitimate, being born to an unwed mother whose family name was Schicklgruber.* Hitler's father, Alois, went by "Alois Schicklgruber" well into adulthood, as his mother supposedly never revealed to anyone who her son's father was. She later married a "Hitler," also spelled "Hiedler," and I believe I've even seen the spelling "Hüttler." Many people in those times did not have much education, so it is my understanding that spelling variations were quite common, and don't forget those German dialects with different pronunciations I mention so often here. A word can be pronounced a particular way in one town, and somewhat, to very, differently just a village or two away. Many German dialects never had, and still do not have, "standardized" spellings, either. Anyway, I guess it is safe to say that we still don't know for sure who Hitler's grandfather was. Many stories surfaced over the years, even before Hitler gained power, but whether any of these stories is true, or whether they were just done to discredit him is another matter. While we now see Hitler as having been a powerful, ruthless dictator, we have to remember he started out in that often less than honest profession of "politics." Lots of potentially damaging stories circulate about virtually all politicians, but how much of the information is true or false is the question, not that I'm expecting a roaring tide to come forth seeking "fairness" to Hitler.

I haven't kept up on all of the stories about Hitler and other Nazi leaders for quite some time, so you might want to double check my information, and it is extremely difficult to sort out fact from fiction on such a nefarious figure as Hitler, but I recall that it was said a while back, that Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking officer in the SS, especially in the department dealing with "intelligence" matters; that is, elements that initially gathered information on German citizens, including German Jews, and then later on citizens in occupied areas of Europe; the best known being the Gestapo,** allegedly found out information about Hitler's ancestry, which he kept in a highly secret file available only to him. The rumor was that the info showed Hitler to be part Jewish, otherwise, why would Heydrich have kept it so secret, or so the rumor went. Whether any such info was uncovered in captured SS records, I don't know for certain, but I doubt it, as it certainly would have been major news, especially now with this DNA testing of Hitler's relatives.*** Rumors had surfaced that Hitler's actual grandfather had been Jewish, and that his grandmother had worked for a Jewish family named Frankenberg, whose (then) teenage son was "supposedly" the father of her child. "Supposedly" the rumors about Hitler's ancestry troubled him so much, that he asked one of his close Nazi advisers, Hans Frank, to delve into his ancestry and report the findings to him. "Supposedly" Frank gave an "all clear," thus easing Hitler's mind.****

Of course, if the Jewish ancestry can be proven to be true, this would be the most tragic of ironies; Hitler the hate-filled murderer of so many Jews, a part Jew himself. Traudl Junge, one of his personal secretaries, said in an interview not long before she died (she was in her 80s), that if she could have still asked Hitler one question, it would have been if he would have gassed himself, if he had found out he was part Jewish.

* If I remember correctly, William L. Shirer, a correspondent for CBS in Germany during much of the time of Hitler's rise and prewar rule, speculated humorously in his book "The Rise and Fall Of The Third Reich," that he doubted Adolf Hitler could have become ruler of Germany if his father had not changed the family name from Schicklgruber, because he couldn't imagine Germans screaming "Heil Schicklgruber!!!" In one of those short "Three Stooges' " films from during the war, a picture of Hitler is shown, and I believe it is Moe who screams, "Yikes, it's Schicklgruber!"

** The word "Gestapo" was created by lumping abbreviations together to form the word; in this case, Geheime Staats Polizei, or "Secret State Police." The organization became so well known for its terror tactics, that I imagine any survivors from those times still shudder at the mere mention of the word.

*** During the course of the war, especially in its waning days, and thereafter, literally tons and tons of Nazi military and government documents were captured by the Allies and the Soviet Union. Those records captured by the Western Allies were microfilmed and are available in the U.S. Archives in Washington, D.C. I believe the original records were eventually returned to the then "West" German government. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the records they captured from the Nazis have become available, and historians are still "mining" information from those records. It is my understanding, however, that there are still records and artifacts (including some of Hitler's blood, for a possible DNA sample) in Russian possession that are highly classified and unavailable to the public. Since the Russians were the ones who captured Berlin, they must have made a major haul on German documents; after all, Berlin was the capital.

**** I don't recall everything on this, but "supposedly" there were no Jews living in the town where Hitler's grandmother resided at that time, thus "supposedly" debunking the rumor. Of course, there were no DNA tests back then, and so "evidence" had to be circumstantial, just as genealogists have done to this day, unless, more recently, DNA samples are available and the person/people are willing to pay for such testing. If all of the recent tests prove to be true about Hitler himself, it makes me wonder how many other Nazi leaders may have had Jewish ancestry or other ancestry so incompatible with Nazi "nonsense"...I mean, ideology; then again, I believe I'll stand by my original word.

WORD HISTORY:
Blood-This word seems to go back to the Indo European root "bhel" (with the concept of "bloom, come forth") and the derived form "bhlo," which meant "gush, spurt, burst out" (again, the base notion of "come forth" is present). The Old Germanic offshoot was "blodam," which then gave Old English/Anglo-Saxon "blod," which seems to have had a long "o" sound before later softening and the eventual "oo" was used in spelling. It is very common in the other Germanic languages: German has "Blut," Low Saxon German has "bloot," Letzeburgisch (a German dialect spoken primarily in Luxembourg) has "blutt," Kölsch (the dialect of Cologne) has "bloohdt," Dutch and Frisian have "bloed," Danish, Swedish and Norwegian all have "blod," and Icelandic has "blóð."