Research Catalog

Title

With Hitler to the end : the memoirs of Adolf Hitler's valet / Heinz Linge ; introduction by Roger Moorhouse ; translation by Geoffrey Brooks.

Author

Linge, Heinz, 1913-1980

Publication

London : Frontline Books ; New York, NY : Skyhorse Pub., 2009.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Brooks, Geoffrey

Description

xv, 224 p. : ill.; 23 cm.

Summary

"Heinz Linge worked with Adolf Hitler for a ten-year period from 1935 until the Führer'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."--Publisher's website.

Uniform Title

Bis zum Untergang. English

Alternative Title

Bis zum Untergang.

Subject

• Linge, Heinz, 1913-1980
• Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945
• Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945 > Friends and associates
• Geschichte 1935-1945
• 1933-1945
• Valets > Germany > Biography
• Nazis > Biography
• Germany > Politics and government > 1933-1945

Genre/Form

• Biographies
• Autobiographie 1935-1945.
• Erlebnisbericht.

Note

• Translation of: Biz zum Untergang. München : Herbig, 1980.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

I join Hitler's staff : Elser, the admired assassin -- Hitler the architect -- Hitler on diet and the evils of smoking -- Evan Braun, the question of sexual morality, and equestrian pursuits -- The Berghof -- The Reich Chancellery, Bayreuth, the aristocracy, and protocol -- Hitler's speeches and the problem of Göring -- Goebbels : the giant in a dwarf's body -- Himmler and Bormann -- Mess's mysterious mission : was Hitler behind it? -- Other leading personalities and the eternal stomach problem -- Resolving the Polish question : September 1939 -- The phoney war -- The invasion in the West, 1940 -- The assassination attempt of 1944 and its aftermath -- 1945 : the last months of the Third Reich : reflections on Russia -- Hitler's suicide -- I flee the Reich Chancellery : Russian captivity.

ISBN

• 9781848325449 (hardcover : alk. paper : Frontline ed.)
• 1848325444 (hardcover : alk. paper : Frontline ed.)
• 9781602398047 (hardcover : alk. paper : Skyhorse ed.) :
• 1602398046 (hardcover : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2009015869

OCLC

• 318420253
• SCSB-12580996

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library