Synopses & Reviews
Heinz Linge worked with Adolf Hitler for a ten-year period from 1935 until the Fand#252;hrerand#8217;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 Hitlerand#8217;s household and was constantly by his side.
Here, Linge recounts the daily routine in Hitlerand#8217;s household: his eating habits, his foibles, his preferences, his sense of humor, and his private life with Eva Braun. After the war Linge said in an interview, and#147;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.and#8221; Linge also charts the changes in Hitlerand#8217;s character during their time together and his fading health during the last years of the war. During his last days, Hitlerand#8217;s right eye began to hurt intensely and Linge was responsible for administering cocaine drops to kill the pain. In a number of instancesand#151;such as with the Stauffenberg bomb plot of July 1944and#151;Linge gives an excellent eyewitness account of events. He also gives thumbnail profiles of the prominent members of Hitlerand#8217;s and#147;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 historyand#8217;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.
About the Author
Heinz Linge was born in Bremen, Germany in March 1913. He worked as Hitlerand#8217;s valet until the Fand#252;hrer shot himself in 1945. He was arrested by the Red Army, which interrogated him about the circumstances of Hitlerand#8217;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 Fand#252;hrer.