Eva Braun during the war
In June 1944, just days before the Allies invaded at Normandy and the Russians launched a new offensive, Gretl Braun married an SS officer who was a liaison between Hitler’s and Himmler’s staffs. This opened the door for Eva to attend some official functions as his sister-in-law (before Hitler died in 1945 he had Gretl’s husband shot for treason). As it was increasingly evident that the war would end badly for the Germans several of Eva’s friends suggested that she flee, which she refused, indicating that it was her desire to stay with Hitler until the end.
Hitler and Braun shared a love of dogs, though he preferred German Shepherds and she terriers. She kept her dogs out of the reach of Hitler’s favorite dog, named Blondi, when they were at Berchtesgaden. Blondi eventually became the test case for the potency of the cyanide capsules which both Hitler and Braun would take in the bunker. Braun’s terriers and puppies which Blondi had delivered not long before being fed the cyanide were shot after Hitler and Braun were dead.
Braun was in Munich at the beginning of April 1945, and as the Russian army closed on Berlin she traveled to the capital to join Hitler in the bunker under the Chancellery. Hitler made out his will, in which he left the sum of 12,000 Reichsmarks to Eva, to be paid annually. By the third week of April it was clear that the capture of the bunker was but a matter of days. Eva was offered the means of escaping to either the Americans or the British, both of which she refused. Sometime during the night of April 28-29 1945, she and Adolf Hitler were married and though she remains known to history as Eva Braun, she became officially Eva Hitler. She signed the marriage certificate in that name.
The next morning Braun and Hitler retired together, alone in their shared study in the bunker which separated their sleeping rooms. That afternoon the staff heard the sound of a single gunshot, and upon entering the room found both bodies. Braun had died of cyanide poisoning and Hitler had been shot in the temple. The bodies were removed to the chancellery garden and burned, but apparently only partially, since the Soviets claimed to have recovered the charred remains and identified Hitler through them. The claims have been disputed ever since.
Adolf Hitler claimed a strange hold over the German people, and his ability to mesmerize huge crowds evidently extended to individuals on a personal level as well. Several women under his spell committed or attempted to commit suicide either because of his attentions or his inattentions. Hitler’s hold over the women which were a part of his inner circle, both as a rising politician and as history’s greatest war criminal, is yet another mystery about him which remains to be solved. Even some aware of the monstrosity of the crimes committed in his name condemned the crimes, yet absolved the man.
Where do we get this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Leni Riefenstahl: the Fallen Film Goddess”, by Glenn Infield, 1976
“Berlin: The Downfall, 1945”, by Antony Beevor, 2002
“The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”, by William L. Shirer, 1960
“Uneven Romance”, Time Magazine, June 29, 1959
“Did Unity Mitford have Adolf Hitler’s love child?”, by Fran Yeoman, The Times (London) May 18, 2008
“Eva Braun”, by N.E. Gun, 1968
“Hitler links: A Wagner and not proud of it”, by Michael Church, The Independent, April 8, 2008