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Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary

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For people who haven't read much about Hitler, this will be an interesting book. Traudl Junge was one of his secretaries from 1942 until his death three years later. She never knew him as well as Schroeder, Wolf or Gerda Christian, his other secretaries, and this is because she arrived so late on the scene. Hitler had deteriorated physically and mentally by 1942, so she was never privy to the full range of his charisma; she saw him in the period of his marked decline.

For those who think Hitler behaved as "movie Hitlers" act, then you'll be shocked to see that in private, he was a charming, fatherly fellow, at least to his inner circle. Hitler's dark, maniacal side was reserved for Himmler, Bormann and others. Junge grew attached to Hitler and enjoyed his company, even the interminable nightly monologues.

This entire book was previously published in 1989 and was called "Voices from the Bunker." Junge died in 2003 and this has been rushed out because of her recent demise. If you're well-versed in Hitler, there is nothing new here, Junge was interviewed exhaustively for years before her death. I was able to meet her, in Munich, twenty years ago, and she was a reserved, rather withdrawn woman, oppressed with guilt because she had served a mass murderer. I think anyone with an interest in Hitler will enjoy the book, but don't expect any new or revealing material.

For any reader interested in Adolf Hitler as a person, not just as the ranting and raving dictator, Traudl Junge's account is the best resource available. Junge (nee Humps) was one of Hitler's private secretaries from the tenth anniversary of Hitler's coming to power to the dramatic fall of the Nazi regime just two and one half years later. During much of this time, Junge's duties were primarily social. Junge accompanied Hitler for meals and relaxation almost daily. She observed him in a way very few people did and was one of a minute number of Hitler's companions who survived the war to tell her story. She wrote her memoirs in 1947 and they were later published in Voices From the Bunker. I have read that book about four times and this edition once. Her account is as fascinating now as it was the first time I read it. Voices From the Bunker is one of my all-time favorite books.

If you already have Voices From the Bunker and are wondering if this book is worth owning, I would say it is only if you are interested in Junge beyond her experiences with Hitler. This book includes more background information on her pre-Hitler life (I had not read before that her father had taken part in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch) and a 30-page chapter written by Melissa Mueller in 2001 that follows Junge's post-war life chronologically. It would not be until the revisionist 1960s when people took an interest in her story. Otherwise, the bulk of the work is the same 1947 account in Voices. I've compared sections between the two books and, although they are not the same verbatim with a few minor details added or omitted, the account is basically the same. I like the way Voices is divided up better, with more chapters separating the story (i.e. The July Bomb Plot). It is more useful for looking up information than Until the Final Hour which is mostly one long chapter. Voices also includes accounts of Hitler's aides-de-camp Otto Guensche and pilot Hans Baur which this book does not offer. Until the Final Hour does have very interesting end notes with side tidbits and brief biographical information on many of the people Junge mentions.

Junge died February 10, 2002, soon after the first German publication of her memoirs. Her memories were controversial in her homeland because her experiences with Hitler were pleasant. She knew him as a polite host and gentle father figure who showed compassion and human emotions (i.e. when he offered condolences to her after her husband died at the front). Only in brief snippets does she hint at the harsher side of the dictator. Hitler tries to hide his emotional explosions in meetings with his military officers. Frau von Schirach (wife of the head of the Hitler Youth) was no longer invited to be Hitler's guest after she voiced concern to him about trains full of deported Jews headed for Amsterdam (p. 88). Junge would finally become angry with Hitler when he gave up on the war and was accusatory to the end (Junge typed up his last demands and will). She, of course, kept such feelings of disappointment to herself. Her viewpoint is, admittedly, from an isolated world with one set of beliefs and a "puppet master" who controlled the day-to-day lives and thoughts of those around him. She describes Hitler's demeanor and routine at the Wolf's Lair (Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia), at the Berghof (his mountain retreat), and finally in the bunker as Berlin was being surrounded. She offers a unique perspective on many aspects of the dictator's life: his dietary habits, the attention he gave to his dog Blondi, his outlook on the war, his after-dinner small talk with such intimates as Eva Braun and important visitors like Albert Speer, Josef Goebbels, etc. Her account of the final days in the bunker with the Russian army drawing near is very moving. You almost feel like you were there.

I was suitably impressed by Junge's book about her life with Hitler during the war. I had read many books about Hitler and knew quite well about his rants and rages. This book showed a completely different side of Hitler.

Junge states that most of her time spent with Hitler was in the company of himself and the other secretaries. As a result, she indicated that he came across as a fatherly-type human; or a wise old uncle, so to speak. She talked about how boring life could be when there was no work and how she came to enjoy the nightly monologues by Hitler.

I was surprised to read how much guilt she felt during the post-war years for being a secretary to Hitler. However, I felt that this was due to today's morality looking back on yesterday's history.

Nevertheless, if you have read many of the typical war books about Hitler, you will be quite surprised to read this behind the scenes look at a different side of the man.

The book was good; a pleasant read; but not an absolute page turner. I did enjoy the book a great deal.

I bought this book after having viewed The German-made movie The Downfall (German title Der Untergang). This movie is based in large part on the memoirs of Traudl Junge, the co author of this book.

Co-Author is a bad term since large portions of her diary (written shortly after the war) are printed intact together with observations written by Melissa Muller.

They complement each other. Junge has the ability of stepping into the 3rd person and examining herself in an objective manner.

Melissa Muller goes into detail in the "Special Features" of the DvD on how she met Frau Junge (looked her up in the Munich phone book) and finally convinced her to put her diary into a book for posterity. Their collaberation lasted 3 years. I believe the resulting work is as important as Albert Speer's observations.

As an aside I read that when the book was completed, Junge, who was dying of cancer, said something to the effect that "her work was done" and died a few days later. She gave the world an intimate look at the psychology of Hitler, who could be charming while at the same time indifferent to the deaths of millions.

Muller deals with the phases of self reflection most Germans went through after the war. Perhaps telling - not only for Frau Junge - was at first denial. Junge said that, while not a Nazi, she took the Secretarial job offered by Hitler more out of curiousity. She worked in Hitler's inner circle for 3 years.

Revealing is the observation of her husband, Hans, whom she met while in Hitler's employ.

Hans noted that he "had to get out of here" - paraphrasing) "my own thoughts are overpowered by Hitler's" - he volunteered for the front and was killed in Normandy during D Day.

By the late 60s or early 70s Traudl had a revelation - an epiphany - seeing the Munich memorial plaque commeration of Sophie Scholl - the young student killed by the Nazis for her anti Nazi views. Beyond that you will have to read the book.

Hitler's general portrayel in the West of either a bumbling clown (Charlie Chaplin) or a raving lunatic does not explain how he could get control of a cultured nation of 65 million.

This book will give you better understanding. I also recommend buying or renting The Downfall as a companion.

What I like best about this book is that it gives new insight into the Nazi's that isn't found in other books. The author has nothing to hide (like Speer may have) and it is an incredible experience to read first hand what it was like being with Hitler socially and in the final days before his suicide.

In most books about Hitler seems to be almost an inhuman supernatural monster. In this book he is shown more as an egomaniac surrounded by people who are ineffective at advising him. His coolness and evil are even more chilling when his portrait is fully drawn and he is not simple an evil caricature as in many biographies.

The author shares how she was drawn in by Hitler and later felt betrayed.

So many books about the Nazi rehash the same facts without a personal perspective. The author had lunch and dinner with Hitler almost every day for a year!

This is a must read for anyone interested in this period of history.

Traudl Junge is one of those historical figures that future generations will be grateful for, that she took the time to finally publish her meoirs literally at the end of her life...she died 2 months after publication.

But, to get a real sense of history, read the footnotes in the last pages of the book. It is a "who's who" of characters major and minor, and brings new light to many things that people have wondered about...what was Hitler like when he was with friends; was it common knowledge that the infamous Dr. Morrell (Hitler's overweight, in poor health himself, personal physician) was injection drug and vitamin cocktails into the Fuehrer's bloodstream; was the staff ignorant, or in denial, of the atrocities that Hitler was performing all over Europe, while treating Traudl Junge as a favorite niece, fretting over her welfare, loneliness, and well being; and, most of all, was he seen as the insane person at that time, that history has proved him to be.

Miss Junge's description of life at Obersalzburg, in the Wolf's Lair, and at the Eagle's Nest is well done; the book is unlike most histories written about the time, as it is written from the inside, looking inside, rather than through the telescope of history. It ranks up there with Albert Speer's book, written from the same point of view...seeing things happen from the inside, not being able to do anything about it at the time, then writing the book after the fact, when emotions are not so charged.

One of the most fasciating aspects that I will always remember, is the dilemma the remaining people in the bunker had, as to how to address Eva Braun. "You may safely call me Frau Hitler," she told Traudl.

If anything, the book reinforces the paradoxes of Hitler that Hitler will forever analyze: genius or insane man; kindly grandfather figure, yet mass murderer; a genuine fondness for animals and children, yet could order the Hitler Youth into battle in the last days of his life; and a man obsessed with detail to the point of micro-manager, yet in the final days of the war, gave up hope for not only his survival, but that of Germany.

I think that Traudl Junge has earned a position of respect in the ages; she did her job, but was not involved in any of the atrocities that Hitler manufactured in the madness of his mind.
She understood Hitler in a way few people did, yet managed to survive his wrath. That, in itself, is a way to earn a place in History.

Trauld Junge was a very clever and strong woman but obviously she never indulged herself in asking many questions about the Nazis during her lifetime as secretary of Hitler. Such blindness is confusing but it explains very well why the Nazis succeeded so well in enthralling millions of Germans like Frau Junge. Having said that her "Memoirs" are full of interesting details about how was life close to the Führer. And to tell the truth it was not bad at all although a bit boring notably in the social life at the Berghof. This book makes Hitler almost sympathetic to the reader. It is only at the end that Frau Jung realized what sort of monster Hitler and his henchmen were. This late consciousness of a harsh reality will haunt her for the rest of her life and it will prevent her to be ever again a happy woman. But for the curious reader, this book offers tons of juicy and well observed details and anecodtes and gives a very credible painting of the life within the heart of the Nazi establishment. Fascisnating.

Firstly let's be VERY clear about one thing here, my feelings about Hitler are based on the fact that if he had succeeded and invaded the UK in the 1940s then my wonderful family would have in all probability would have ended up in the Gas Chambers for on my mother's side there is Jewish blood and on my father's we are Indian and the mixing of races was totally frowned upon by the Third Reich.

So my feelings about Hitler are very anti in the extreme, you don't even want to know what I think about David Irving and other apologists for the Holocaust however to my complete and utter surprise I found myself respecting and even liking Traudl Junge, I saw the film Blind Spot before I read this book and I want to learn more about Hitler's last secretary.

People have complained in some of the reviews that Traudl tried to explain her ignorance about the Final Solution on her youth, however I have both read this book and seen the documentary Blind Spot and not once did she do that, she admitted she was young and foolish but she did face up to the fact that she had been so blind about Hitler's failings which is more than a lot of other people have ever done since the end of the war.

This book actually compliments Blind Spot; it fills in the gaps and expands on a very good documentary and along with the film "Down Fall" which I think does do Traudl Junge justice, I do think she was not a bad person, just misguided and foolish and who in the end had the courage to admit her mistakes and try to make amends by letting history document her part in an era we must never forget.

The book chronicles Traudl's childhood and how she ended up as Hitler's secretary by sheer fluke, she might have not been the most intelligent girl available for the job but I think it is unfair to say that she was taken on because she was a brainless bimbo, far from it, for if she had been brainless she would not have faced up to the fact at a later time in her life that evil is banal and even a person who is basically "good" can be ensnared before they even know it.

I think in order for a person to get a good understanding of Traudl Junge, you have to read this book and it is a fascinating read from beginning to end, watch the documentary Blind Spot, and then see the film Down Fall, in that order.

I am not defending Traudl Junge; she was foolish, she followed a brutal and corrupt system blindly and fell into the trap of being banal, just like millions of other people did, but unlike millions of other people she faced up to her part in the Third Reich and this book is her story, unsentimental and told from her perspective, you cannot help but feel a modicum of compassion for a foolish young woman who would have to live for the rest of her life with the knowledge that she was secretary to a man who helped put together the final solution along with God knows how many other atrocities that have got lost in the annals of history.

Traudl Junge's recollection of her services to Adolf Hitler as one of his personal secretaries from 1942-45 proves to be relatively honest and entertaining. While I have read some of her views on Hitler scattered around in many books on Hitler and his inner circle, this volume was the first time all of her perception can be found. It pretty clear by Junge's recollection that Hitler had two totally different personality types. One personality type can be classically called the "Fuhrer" personality and the other one can be regarded as a more "private man" personality. It pretty obviously that Junge mainly dealt with the "private man" instead of the manaical Fuhrer.

The author and the her editor appears to go out of their way to paint Junge as a naive and clueless young woman. Many of the reviewers also painted her in the same light. But it seem like this train of thought lies in the perception of hindsight and afterthought. Its appears very clearly that Junge, like so many of her fellow Germans (military and civilian alike) spent much the war with blinders on. Its hard to condemned some one like Junge for working for Hitler. Whether we like it or not, Hitler was the legitimate head of the German government and even if Hitler turned out to be the greatest war criminal of all times, I don't think Junge was in the position to judge Hitler or even second guess him during the time of her employment.

From her narrative, it pretty easy to see Junge as a woman who was charmed by Hitler's softer side and her desire to do a good job for a good boss and at the same time, trying to fit into the world she ended up in. Since all this was written back in 1947 while her memories remains fresh and her feeling haven't been compromise by the collective German guilt complex, I would say that what she wrote proves to be a rather honest, true to her conviction of her services to Hitler. Her views on Hitler does show a side of Hitler that should probably frighten any sane historian. A man appears to be truly human in Junge's eyes when most of the world see him as some sort of inhuman monster of alien cruelty.

If there was any weakness to the book, I think Junge didn't go far enough in her recollections regarding many members of Hitler's inner circle. Her descriptions appears too generic. It would have been nice if she could have gotten into bit more detail about her Soviet captivity.

I believe that this should be a mandatory reading material for any one interested in Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. It paints an unusual portrait of Hitler in full account and even if you have read some of Junge's recollections in other books, this book put it all into a singular focus.

A work that is as equally disturbing as it is enlightening. Junge takes a much debated, written about subject and turns it on its head. It is difficult, even long after the reading, to reconcile that Hitler cared about his dog having puppies, had a fatherly hand in Junge's marriage, even that he paced back and forth nervously as he waited to hear from Eva Braun when Munich was bombed. How does one reconcile the evil of Hitler with the humanity of Hitler? An amazing and necessary read.