Until the Final Hour : Hitler's Last Secretary

About this book

To have such an uncomplicated unaffected witness present at some of the key defining moments of the 20th century was fortunate for historians. Frau Junges book has sold 100 000 copies in Germany and it is easy to see why: her testimony rings absolutely true when other politically motivated accounts of the last days of Hitler do not Andrew Roberts Evening Standard Traudl Junge was 22 years old and dreamt of a career as a ballerina until the opportunity of her life beckoned and she was appointed as Adolf Hitlers secretary. From 1942 until his death she was at his side in the bunker typing his correspondence his speeches and even his last private and political will and testament. It was only after the war that the horrible reality of Hitlers regime began to dawn on her and she became racked with guilt for liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived. Her journal written in 1947 is a startling eyewitness account of Hitlers court during its final years and of the building sense of doom as the war progressed.