HE WAS MY CHIEF: The Memoirs of Adolf Hitler's Secretary [Hardcover]

Christa Schroeder (Author), Roger Moorhouse (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2009

A rare and fascinating insight into Hitler's inner circle - Roger Moorhouse, author of Killing Hitler

The last unpublished work by a Nazi of any significance - The Sunday Telegraph

As secretary to the Fuhrer throughout the time of the Third Reich, Christa Schroeder was perfectly placed to observe the actions and behavior of Hitler, along with the most important figures surrounding him.

Schroeder's memoir does not fail to deliver fascinating insights: she notes his bourgeois manners, his vehement abstemiousness and his mood swings. Indeed, she was ostracized by Hitler for a number of months after she made the mistake of publicly contradicting him once too often.

In addition to her portrayal of Hitler, there are illuminating anecdotes about Hitler's closest colleagues. She recalls, for instance, that the relationship between Martin Bormann and his brother Albert (who was on Hitler's personal staff) was so bad that the two would only communicate with one another via their respective adjutants - even if they were in the same room. There is also light shed on the peculiar personal life and insanity of Reichsminister Walther Darre'.

Schroeder claims to have known nothing of the horrors of the Nazi regime. There is nothing of the sense of perspective or the mea culpa that one finds in the memoirs of Hitler's other secretary, Traudl Junge - who concluded 'we should have known'. Rather the tone that pervades Schroeder's memoir is one of bitterness. This is, without any doubt, one of the most important primary sources from the pre-war and wartime period.

Christa Schroeder was Hitler's personal secretary for twelve years in total. She worked as his secretary until his suicide in April 1945, living at the Wolfsschanze near Rastenburg. Her memoir Er War Mein Chef was first published in 1985, a year after her death in Munich, aged 76.

REVIEWS

"It is utterly compelling... She makes you understand, better than anyone else I have read, exactly what it was like to be around the table in Hitler's dining room... As with so many memoirs by servants, the view from below proves far more revealing than the view from above or beyond."Mail on Sunday (Craig Brown) - May 2009

"These are the memoirs of one of Hitler's secretaries and no one could be closer to the man than her. She describes all the great events of the Second World War from the perspective of his headquarters, including the invasions of Poland, France and Russia. Intriguing eye-witness material makes the book a fascinating insight into the dictator and his regime."Military Illustrated - May 2009

"An alternately adoring, clinical, fascinating and creepy take on one of history's most evil men."The New York Post - May 2009

"A rare and fascinating insight into Hitler's inner circle."Roger Moorhouse author of Killing Hitler

"Christa Schroeder's memoir of the 12 years she spent working for the Fuhrer gives a unique insight into his intelligence, temper and his personal quirks."The Week Magazine - May 2009

"Christa Schroeder provides a rare, fascinating insight into Hitler and his household."The Sunday Telegraph

"Intriguing, eye witness material...a fascinating insight into the dictator and his regime."Military Illustrated, 06/2009

"compelling memoir... does not fail to deliver fascinating insights into the course of military and political events, the workings of Hitler's inner circle, and crucially into Hitler's personality and of those closest to him. Without any doubt, one of the most important primary sources from the pre-war and wartime period." Sirreadalot.org, 11/2009

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Frontline Books (July 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848325363
• ISBN-13: 978-1848325364
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( H ) > Hitler, Adolf

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hitler's Secretary Speaks, July 24, 2009

By 

Stephen Leary (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: HE WAS MY CHIEF: The Memoirs of Adolf Hitler's Secretary (Hardcover)

Christa Schroeder was Adolf Hitler's secretary from 1933 until his death in 1945. As someone with an insider's intimate knowledge of Hitler, she witnessed and recounts many fascinating personal anecdotes about him and other leaders of the Third Reich, often correcting previously published accounts of what really happened in those days. It all started when she answered a tiny ad in a newspaper for a secretarial position.

The narrative sometimes reads like something out of a tabloid with many "gossipy" comments about Hitler's personal foibles: he had yellow teeth and bad breath and should have grown a beard to hide his mouth, he avoided personal contact with money, his long discourses on the evils of smoking, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the "lies" of Christianity, his racial theories, architecture, science, and anything and everything else.

Hitler memorized many pages from books he had read. Schroeder recounts how he recited Schopenhauer as if they were his own words and she recognized the passage, calling it to his attention. "Don't forget all knowledge comes from others and every person only contributes a minute piece to the whole," he responded. Because of his memory, Hitler was able to convince people he had actually been to places and seen things himself that he had only read about. In his youth in Vienna he had read all 500 books in the city reference library.

Many have remarked on Hitler's ability to keep his arm extended for hours in the Nazi salute, and he explained to Schroeder that he had "done daily training with an expander" but a "strong will" was needed as well.

Hitler had a premonition the day before the Stauffenberg assassination attempt, believing "there is something afoot" and no one could carry on his duties, therefore nothing must happen to him. The afternoon after the bomb detonated, Hitler told Schroeder, "The heavy table leg diverted the explosion. Haven't I always anticipated that happening? I told you yesterday, don't you remember?"

Schroeder says Hitler was "erotic" with women, but never sexual. "My lover is Germany," he often said. She mentions the controversy whether Hitler had only one testicle, believing it was probably true (apparently a doctor has come forward just last year claiming Hitler was wounded during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and indeed lost one). His great love in life was not Eva Braun at all, but Geli Raubal, his niece, although still, they never had sex. She was the only woman he would have married. Schroeder details the events surrounding Raubal's suicide and the controversy over Hitler's culpability. This was the event that caused him to convert to vegetarianism. Eva Braun faked suicide attempts to gain a prominent position at Hitler's side, as he couldn't afford another female suicide so close to him during his rise to power.

Schroeder's concerns about Hitler and the war are expressed indirectly and are implicit in the narrative. The only indirect reference to the Holocaust is a heated exchange between Hitler and a friend in 1943 about a deportation of Jewish women in Amsterdam. "What does it matter to you what happens to female Jews?" he said to the woman. Every day, thousands of his men fall while "the inferior" survive--the "balance" in Europe was being undermined. "What will become of Europe in one hundred, one thousand years? I am committed by duty to my people alone, to nobody else!"

Schroeder, who died in 1985, was interned for three years after 1945 as a "war criminal of the first order." She complains, "Whether my guilt was as great as my expiation is something I do not know to this day." First published in German in 1985, it seems incredible that such a valuable first-hand account of the rise and fall of the Third Reich should not have been translated into English until now. Recommended for all with a keen interest in one of the most important events in modern history.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Third Reich, December 6, 2009

By 

John L. Dunn (Norwich, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HE WAS MY CHIEF: The Memoirs of Adolf Hitler's Secretary (Hardcover)

This an excellent translation of the memoirs of Adolph Hitler's long time secretary, Christa Schröder. It is part of a three book series giving intimate views of Hitler, the person. It is helpful to be familiar with the general history of the Third Reich before reading any of them. The second book in the series is "With Hitler to the End" by Hitler's valet Heintz Linge. I look forward the publication of the third book in 2010, "I was Hitler's Chauffeur" by Erich Kemka. I believe these three books, taken together, will be the best available information of the "human being", Adolph Hitler. The books have contemporary black and white photos and a color picture on the dust jacket. They are uniformly and nicely bound. They will make a fine addition to anyone's library. A must for Hitler scholars.

26 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Look into History, July 28, 2009

By 

Mr. Allnut "Charlie" (United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: HE WAS MY CHIEF: The Memoirs of Adolf Hitler's Secretary (Hardcover)

Have had the book for 2 days and cannot put it down, filling free time with reading. Much of the book comes in the form of correspondence and notes sent to friends, thus it creates the feeling that you are actually hearing the story from someone close to you. The books chit chatty form makes history more intimate.

Many people may find the book shocking. Mainstream history has always portrayed Hitler as the devil incarnate. He Was My Chief demonstrates that he was simply a man.

Although I am only half way through the book, something struck me fairly quickly. Schroeder discusses the isolation of being with Hitler. She longs to be with normal people, to mingle with outsiders. She even expresses that Hitler himself has some of the same longings.

It is becoming apparent that this isolation is breeding the strange form of insanity that affected Hitler and many of those in his inner circle. There is an evil sickening stew brewing as Hitler is more and more encircled by the bad, ejecting any officers and confidants that may have brought any moral fiber to the table. As manipulative as Hitler was, he was also easily manipulated.

Is today any different for our leaders? They are elected to office in the Senate, House or Presidency then isolated from mainstream America, living in ivory towers and traveling in protected packs. They lack an association with "normal" people, an association with the real world. They are surrounded by lobbyists and yes men. This has made me think that the isolation insanity that controlled Hitler may still be common today.

To many people in America today, it appears that Washington has developed it's own form of evil stew.

Fascinating.