Product Details

• Actors: Traudl Junge
• Directors: Othmar Schmiderer, André Heller
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: German (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 28, 2003
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000CABBT
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,821 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

Traudl Junge started working for Hitler in 1942 when she was twenty-two years old. She took dictation and typed his private communiqués, and was one of the few people to survive the final days in the Berlin bunker. After the war, she kept herself and her story out of sight until two Austrian filmmakers, André Heller and Othmar Schmiderer, interviewed her two years ago, shortly before her death. The film is just Frau Junge and the camera, unadorned with newsreel footage, still photography, or even a fade. The starkness is deliberate: there's nothing to cushion us from taking the measure of this dignified, carefully spoken old woman who worked next to Hitler, admiring him as a father figure while remaining unaware of the concentration camps. In German. -Michael Agger
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Product Description

An interview with Traudl Junge, one of Adolf Hitler’s private secretaries from 1942 through the collapse of the Nazi regime, in which she tells it all. 2003 National Theatrical Release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

162 of 171 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insight Into Hitler's Character & Last Days of Nazi Power, November 5, 2003

By 

mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary (DVD)

"Blind Spot" is an interview with Traudl Junge who, as a young woman, worked as one of Adolph Hitler's secretaries, living alongside Hitler and other prominent members of the 3rd Reich between 1942 and 1945. Before Frau Junge died, at the age of 81, she gave this interview to filmmakers André Heller and Othmar Schmiderer in which she recounts her experiences with and her impressions of Adolph Hitler and the last days of the Reich. Frau Junge (née Humps) was entirely unsophisticated in political matters and an aspiring dancer when she took a job as a secretary in the Chancellery in Berlin. At her well-connected brother-in-law's urging, and in spite of her initial disinterest, she applied for and got a better position taking dictation for the Führer himself. Hitler was kindly and protective toward her, and she liked him. Her close proximity to him gave her firsthand knowledge of Hitler's health, his ideals, his private manners and personal habits, his paranoia, and the attempts on his life, which she describes as best she can in "Blind Spot". Perhaps understandably, Frau Junge had considered her position close to the Führer and his generals as an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the War and of Nazi policies, as she would be so near their source. Not until later did she realize that, being privy to Hitler's inner circle, she was actually in a "blind spot", sheltered more than anyone from what was going on in Germany. Frau Junge's description of the activity within the Chancellory in Berlin during the last few weeks of the War constitutes at least half of the film. Her account of the bizarre events of April 1945 is truly gripping. The audience can sense the panic and hopelessness that permeated the Chancellory as the Nazi empire came crumbling down. Frau Junge's description of the harrowing political and emotional roller-coaster that impending defeat set in motion is striking.

Blind Spot" is not a good film cinematographically. It consists only of interview footage, apparently taken in a living room or den, with an occasional glimpse of Frau Junge watching her own interview, which is awkward. But the film's content is revealing and provocative, a must-see for any student of World War II or for anyone curious to understand the character of Adolph Hitler. Traudl Junge's attitude toward her own role in the Nazi regime raises an interesting question. Frau Junge was not a member of the Nazi party, nor did she do anything to harm anyone. She took dictation. After the war, she felt no guilt about working for Adolph Hitler, and no one seemed to hold it against her. It wasn't until much later, when she realized that other young Germans had not all been so ignorant of Nazi policies and that many had died trying to fight them, that Frau Junge began to feel guilty for what she had not known and eventually fell into a serious depression. At the age of 81, she still seems preoccupied by feelings of guilt for having liked a man who caused so much suffering. This begs the question: To what degree are individuals responsible for the consequences of their ignorance and/or stupidity? In this Information Age, are we all obligated to understand the things we do and say, particularly if those things affect others? Are we to be condemned for the consequences of our ignorance if they are bad? If the answer is "yes", I fear that all of humanity would be damned. Perhaps the answer is, "It depends." Traudl Junge is no longer as naive as she was as Hitler's secretary. In "Blind Spot" she articulates real understanding that she has gained of how and why Adolph Hitler "manipulated the conscience" of an entire nation. Her insights are important and interesting. But I found the questions of guilt and ignorance that her experience raises to be the most relevant and provocative aspect of her story. In German with a choice of English, French, or Spanish subtitles. There are no bonus features on the DVD.

73 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important film, December 27, 2003

By 

Peccator (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary (DVD)

I would have given this film four stars (the quality suffers, not the content), but I feel Norm's review diminishes the importance of the film. If you are at once creative and analytical, you'll find a rich depth. In the film, Frau Junge doesn't excuse herself; in fact, I think she is too hard on herself. And though she doesn't put on a Hollywood penance performance, she does maintain her dignity, having been troubled for the better part of a life. Her brutal honesty can be seen in a poignant moment when she makes a comparison between herself and Sophie Scholl, who was the same age as Junge.

Although the film appears to have been shot and edited by first year film students, the film is important in that it portrays a slice of history firsthand. Frau Junge is clearly intelligent and remarkably clear about her experience. It is simply amazing how much detail she remembers, and after so much time! It's also obvious that this experience colored and directed the remainder of her life.

I wish the film was longer. I'm no history buff, but the Junge's recollections kept me glued to the set, pausing on the subtitles. The tragedy of Junge's life is that she separated herself from her feelings and repressed her experience, when she could have found some therapy by writing a detailed first-hand historical account. I think it would have come natural, her mind being wonderfully linear and her articulation of events easy to follow.

It will bother some people that Frau Junge's personal portrayal of Hitler, while unsympathetic, often countermands the megalomaniacal historical portrayal. But the reality of this film is that it is not about Hitler--it's an intimate portrait about a woman named Traudl Junge who was fated to a time and to a place.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No Excuses!, January 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary (DVD)

Frau Junge makes no excuses for her naivete and, in fact, blames herself for not seeking out the truth. She speaks of Hitler's days in the bunker with painful candor and apologizes after recalling his love for his dog (which he later tests his poison capsules on) which she thinks is, in the greater picture, a frivolous memory. She also recalls an attempt on Hitler's life, his last-minute marriage to Eva Braun and the announcement that Hitler's body had been burned per his last wish. Nobody else who was with Hitler on his last day has ever spoken out and this is a fascinating, historical and important testimony.