With Hitler to the End: the Memoir of Hitler's Valet - Hardcover

Heinz Linge

3.99

609 ratings by Goodreads

9781848325449: With Hitler to the End: the Memoir of Hitler's Valet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848325444 ISBN 13: 9781848325449

Publisher: Frontline Books, 2009

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Heinz Linge worked with Adolf Hitler for a ten-year period from 1935 until the Fuhrer s death in the Berlin bunker in May 1945. He was one of the last to leave the bunker and was responsible for guarding the door while Hitler killed himself. During his years of service, Linge was responsible for all aspects of Hitler s household and was constantly by his side. He claims that only Eva Braun stood closer to Hitler over these years.Here, Linge recounts the daily routine in Hitler s household: his eating habits, his foibles, his preferences, his sense of humor, and his private life with Eva Braun. In fact, Linge believed Hitler s closest companion was his dog Blondi. After the war Linge said in an interview, It was easier for him to sign a death warrant for an officer on the front than to swallow bad news about the health of his dog. Linge also charts the changes in Hitler s character during their time together and his fading health during the last years of the war. During his last days, Hitler s right eye began to hurt intensely and Linge was responsible for administering cocaine drops to kill the pain. In a number of instances such as with the Stauffenberg bomb plot of July 1944 Linge gives an excellent eyewitness account of events. He also gives thumbnail profiles of the prominent members of Hitler s court: Hess, Speer, Bormann and Ribbentrop amongst them.Though Linge held an SS rank, he claims not to have been a Nazi Party member. His profile of one of history s worst demons is not blindly uncritical, but it is nonetheless affectionate. The Hitler that emerges is a multi-faceted individual: unpredictable and demanding, but not of an otherwise unpleasant nature.

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About the Author:

Heinz Linge was born in Bremen, Germany in March 1913. He worked as Hitler’s valet until the F�hrer shot himself in 1945. He was arrested by the Red Army, which interrogated him about the circumstances of Hitler’s death. Linge was released from Soviet captivity in 1955. He died in Bremen in March 1980.

Roger Moorhouse is a leading expert on the Third Reich and is the author of Killing Hitler: The Third Reich and the Plots against the F�hrer.

Review:

The scariest thing about [With Hitler to the End is its] showing that Hitler could be quite charming a seemingly regular guy, or at least as regular as anyone who killed millions could ever be. Of interest to anyone seeking more insight into the everyday life of one of history's monsters.--Ed Goedeken

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