There are many legends and false rumors around Ewa Braun. Her romance with Adolf Hitler remains one of the most mysterious relationships in history. What connected the leader of the Third Reich with a young photographer's assistant and how did they survive together until his death?
Ewa Braun was born in Munich in 1912. She was one of 3 daughters in a very religious family. This settled the matter of her education - she was sent to a female Catholic high school. She was reportedly a gifted student, but lazy enough that it blocked her path to college. In her many teens she wanted to go to work, but her parents decided to send her to a convent school. This one turned out to be a total misunderstanding.
Hitler's future lover left her after 9 months and at the age of 17 began working at Henrich Hoffman's photo studio.
"Fräulein Ewa" on a silver tray
Her new employer was already then the official photographer of the NSDAP chief Adolf Hitler, who was climbing up the career ladder. In total, he made over 2 million of his photos! And it was in his photo shop that the future dictator and his wife saw each other for the first time. Hoffman introduced his helper as "our little Fräulein Eve" . His famous client used to be called "Herr Wolf". Interestingly, the girl did not know who the man she had just met was. She was not interested in politics at all, which was also important in her later life.
Heinrich Hoffman, it was in his photographic studio that Hitler met the young Ewa Braun.
The photographer planned from the beginning that he would "bind" a female employee with a promising politician. In this way he wanted to buy himself into Hitler's favors. It was said that he wanted to pass it to the Führer "on a silver plate". However, neither he nor she knew then about the existence of another woman who played a very important role in the dictator's life.
The woman was Geli Raubal, daughter of Hitler's half-sister Angela and her husband Leo Raubal. She was born in 1908. In 1927, she moved to her uncle's house in Berghof with her mother. During this time, "Uncle Adi," as she called him, developed an unhealthy obsession with her niece. He even confessed to Hoffman once:
I love Gela and could marry her. But I prefer to stay single. However, I will retain the right to choose her circle of friends until she finds a suitable man for myself.
Over time, the Nazi leader increasingly controlled a young relative. He had more opportunities to do so because in October 1929, when she began her medical studies in Munich, she moved to his apartment on Prinzregentenstrasse. For example, he forbade her to meet his close associate and driver, Emil Maurice. He just fired the prospective fiancé. He also persuaded Geli to give up her medical studies and start learning singing. Until the opportunity arose to develop the girl's talent in Vienna, her jealous uncle refused to allow her to leave, suspecting her of an affair.
The publication of this article was inspired by the book "Confession of Ewa Braun. In Hitler's shadow ”(Bellona 2018).
Not surprisingly, the close relationship between Hitler and his niece soon led to rumors and suspicions about their alleged romance. The more so that the girl allegedly confided in Wilhelm Stocker, the guardian of the house, that her mother's brother forced her to have sexual intercourse:
She admitted to me that sometimes when they were alone in her room Hitler made her do sick things, but when I asked her why she wouldn't just refuse him, she shrugged and said she did not want to lose him to some woman who would do as he told her.
The unhealthy arrangement ended abruptly on September 18, 1931. Geli was found in her room with a gunshot wound. Hitler was in Nuremberg at the time of her suicide. It was only this tragic event that made him pay more attention to his photographer's assistant.
The beginning of love and the dramatic lack of a lover
Only after Gela's death was she first invited to the residence of the future leader of the Third Reich. Even then, she was obsessively in love with him. She tried in every way to get his attention. She sent him notes and constantly appeared in his surroundings. However, she was never adored like her deceased niece. She had to solicit her lover's attention, and she felt constantly lacking it.
It was only after the suicide of Geli Raubal (pictured) that Ewa Braun was invited to Hitler's residence.
Insufficient attention from the object of her sighs drove the woman to real desperation. On November 1, 1932, looking forward to a call from Hitler, she tried to kill herself by shooting herself with a revolver in the neck. The latter, afraid of a scandal during the ongoing election campaign, began to take more care of his partner . It didn't take long, however. After the Nazis came to power, the situation returned to normal. The NSDAP leader, busy with politics, did not have much time for his beloved, and she still expected much more from him.
Ewa was planning to start a family. Unfortunately, the dictator was going to devote himself entirely to politics:"The offspring of geniuses often have a hard life," he reportedly told his secretary. A girl in love could therefore only count on the status of ... the official mistress of the Führer. Dissatisfaction with this state of affairs led her to a second suicide attempt. On May 28, 1935, she overdosed on sleeping pills. We managed to save her again. Again, the threat of her death worked.
Following another desperate step of his partner, Hitler bought her a house in Munich, and in his residence Berghof allocated a special apartment. She was also "employed" there as a secretary. Despite these gestures, the woman was well aware of her position and lost any hope of improving the situation. She believed that in the hierarchy of relationships that mattered to Hitler, she was much lower than Geli used to be, and even lower than the chief's dog, Blondi.
Eve was well aware that she would never be the most important thing for Hitler.
This arrangement was convenient for the chancellor. It suited him that Ewa was completely not interested in politics and did not interfere with his professional life, but preferred to engage in photography and reading magazines. For this reason, although many people around the Führer knew about her, she was not invited to the official celebrations. It was hardly mentioned at all. And when an important guest came to Berghof ... she was hidden.
War and my wife's new signature
The isolation of the German leader's mistress from the world was so complete that even when World War II began, it did not know much about its course. At that time, she spent most of her time in Germany, flying to Italy and France on a specially designed plane. It wasn't until the beginning of 1945 that she left Berghof and moved to Berlin to be closer to Hitler. Her appearance in the bunker in March was almost a shock: was taken as a sign that the defeat of the Third Reich was imminently imminent . Ewa herself was probably still not fully aware of the seriousness of the situation. On April 20, she organized an underground birthday dance for her partner, which later turned into an alcohol-sex orgy.
Nine days later, her long-standing dream of becoming the spouse of Adolf came true. On April 29, 1945, they got married. When the bride confirmed her marriage certificate, she began her signature with the letter "B" which she crossed out. Eventually, she wrote:"Ewa Hitler nee Braun."
Ewa Braun and Adolf Hitler in the photo taken in June 1942.
The marriage, however, did not last long. On April 30, the newlyweds said goodbye to all those who were still present in the bunker and locked themselves in a small room. Hitler shot himself in the mouth and Eve swallowed cyanide . Moments later, the Führer's adjutant carried their bodies to the garden, poured gasoline over them and burned them.
Braun's whole life was full of misfortunes and unfulfilled ambitions. She did not feel appreciated by her lover to whom she had devoted her entire life. And when she achieved her goal and became his wife, she couldn't even celebrate it. The only thing left for her is death at the side of her beloved man.
Inspiration:
The publication of this article was inspired by the book "Confession of Ewa Braun. In the shadow of Hitler "(Bellona 2018), describing the fate of a woman who spent her entire adult life with a monster in a fictional form.
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