In 1930, a young woman from Munich answered an ad for a secretarial job at Adolph Hitler’s headquarters. By 1933, Christa Schroeder was his personal secretary, a loyal and dedicated servant who begged him not to expel her from Germany in 1945, as the Allies closed in, but to stay and die with her Führer. Hitler refused, and Schroeder — now dead — wrote “He Was My Chief: The Memoirs of Adolph Hitler’s Secretary,” an alternately adoring, clinical, fascinating and creepy take on one of history’s most evil men . . .
Hitler on his family
He spoke of his mother, to whom he was very attached, and of his father’s violence:
I never loved my father, [he used to say,] but feared him. He was prone to rages and would resort to violence. My poor mother would always be afraid for me. When I read Karl May once that it was a sign of bravery to hide one’s pain, I decided that when he beat me next time I would make no sound. When it happened — I knew my mother was standing anxiously at the door — I counted every stroke out loud. Mother thought I had gone mad when I reported to her with a beaming smile, “Thirty-two strokes father gave me!” From that day I never needed to repeat the experiment, for my father never beat me again.
On personal style and hygiene
I do not know whether his teeth were ever very attractive, but by 1945 they were yellow and he had bad breath. He should have grown a beard to hide his mouth. During the years of his friendship with Ada Klein he told her, “Many people say I should shave off the moustache, but that is impossible. Imagine my face without a moustache!”
Hitler the animal-lover
He was sincerely opposed to meat-eating. Once I discussed this with Ada Klein. [In 1926] Hitler remarked to Ada: “The human is an evil animal of prey. Two small innocent animals were deprived of life to provide a glutton with a gourmet dish. I believe I shall become a vegetarian one day.” He actually did convert and never tired of holding forth from time to time during meals on the brutal methods of slaughter.
On Japan
Hitler would often speak about the Japanese. “I am accused of sympathizing with the Japanese,” he said, “but what does sympathizing mean? The Japanese are yellow-skinned and slit-eyed, but they are fighting against Britain and the United States and that makes them useful to Germany. One has to think of the time centuries ahead when we shall have to settle the score with the yellow race.”
Hitler and sex
For Hitler, gratification came from the ecstasy of the masses. He was erotic with the women by whom he surrounded himself, but never sexual. “My lover is Germany,” he emphasized frequently. Hitler appears to have kept his love life platonic throughout. Even his relationship with Eva Braun was a façade. He went out with her, but when he began to find less time for her while electioneering she made some sly suicide attempts. Eva Braun’s calculations worked out: Hitler drew her increasingly into his life. This protected him against future suicide attempts and was also a shield against all his other ardent female admirers.
Watching his weight
He would always proclaim a diet by declaring, “I have to eat less, I am putting on fat, I must lose it!” His iron will would bring about the hoped-for result, and then he would announce: “So, I am back to my old weight, I have lost seven kilos in the last fourteen days!” Battling his tendency to corpulence was spurred less by vanity than his awareness of people’s disapproval of well-fed orators, and most of all his fear of being ridiculed, both of which kept him on the path of moderation. One saw that same fear of ridicule was the reason for his decision not to wear leather shorts, the so-called “shorts regalia” of Bavaria, or be seen in bathing trunks. To his mind such articles of apparel were inappropriate for heads of state.
On smoking
He would start out with special reference to narrowing of the arteries caused by smoking. How awful a smoker’s stomach must look. Smokers lacked consideration for others, forcing them to breathe in polluted air. He had really toyed with the idea of outlawing smoking anywhere in Germany.
Hitler in his bunker
At six in the morning, when Hitler received us after the nightly situation conference, he would usually be lying exhausted on the little sofa. He was almost permanently emotional, and his talk was increasingly the monotonous repetition of the same stories. He no longer discussed the Church, racial problems, economic and political questions. He, who had always been so passionately interested in all matters of science, zoology, botany and human development spoke out in the latter months only on dog training, nutrition, and the stupidity and degeneration of the world.
Hitler on drugs
As soon as Hitler reported any discomfort, Dr. Morell would be on the spot with his injections. Any cold, even amongst Hitler’s close staff, was suppressed before it developed. Hitler had “no time to be ill,” he reported over and over, and Morell based his treatment on that dictum. He began with harmless glucose, vitamin and hormone injections. Then he went over to “Vitamultin,” a wonder drug he had produced in his own pharmaceutical laboratory, available in ampoules and gold-wrapped tablet form. Hitler became increasingly dependent on the drug until one day it no longer had the desired effect and Morell had to look for something stronger.
In the autumn of 1944 when Dara and I took tea alone with Hitler, we found him in a strikingly relaxed mood. During a murmured conversation he suddenly threw open his arms and spoke ecstatically of “how lovely it is when two people are in love.” Dara and I were astonished.
Afterwards we sought out Dr. Morell in his hut and asked why the boss was behaving so strangely. Morell looked at us over his glasses and gave us a sly smile: “So you’ve noticed? Yes, I am giving him hormone injections from bulls’ testicles, that should pep him up!”
In denial over losing the war
On Hitler’s fifty-sixth birthday on April 20, 1945, Berlin was surrounded, and the first Russian tanks reached the outskirts.
That evening during the bombing raid just before 2200 [hours] Johanna and I were summoned by Hitler. He received us in his room looking tired, pale and listless. The situation over the last four days had changed considerably, he told us. On April 16 at lunch when I asked him whether we would remain in Berlin he had replied almost involuntarily: “Of course we shall remain in Berlin. You need have no fear!” However I could not imagine how Germany could carry on when our forces were being sandwiched ever more firmly between the Americans and the Russians. “Remain calm,” he went on in annoyance, “Berlin will remain German, we just have to gain time!”
Excerpted from “He Was My Chief: The Memoirs of Adolf Hitler’s Secretary” (Frontline Books), by Christa Schroeder. Pre-order at casematepublishing.com