Seeing that Schaub and Albert Bormann were only interested in their own futures and on getting away from Hintersee at the earliest opportunity, I remonstrated furiously: ‘It is a scandal for you to look after yourselves and leave us to our fate.’ This hurt Albert Bormann and upset him very much, for he was a soft and sensitive man. He said only that he could not carry on his life with his surname. Schaub and he then disappeared quickly, leaving me alone. Augst, the employee in Albert Bormann’s Chancellery responsible for arranging lodgings in the Pension Post, and who in earlier timers had been very friendly and forthcoming, now made it plain that he was extremely displeased to see me and said: ‘What, now you are coming along too? There are no more single rooms, all that has stopped!’
Here too the sudden change in attitude and tone. Along with Frau von Puttkamer, wife of the naval adjutant, her children and mother, Frau Dönitz, wife of Admiral Dönitz, with her sister Frau Linge, wife of Hitler’s manservant, and children, a remarkable community had developed. It also included Schaub’s female friend Hilde Marzelewski, a dancer from the Berlin ‘Metropol’ and Erich Kempka’s ex-wife, whom he had divorced on Hitler’s orders for her having been a prostitute before the marriage. Kempka had rented for her an apartment on the Kurfürstendamm and subsequently remained in touch with her, and in due course she had filtered down to Pension Post at Hintersee. She was responsible for causing some very unpleasant scenes there.
My stay became daily more unpleasant. Although the hotelier had been paid to place the establishment at our disposal and supply food, alcohol and cigarettes, the food suddenly vanished. No explanation was forthcoming although the hotelier had definitely had it in his possession. Food grew increasingly scarce and none was on sale at Hintersee. Our daily fare was mushy peas. Meanwhile the Americans had arrived at Berchtesgaden and the Pension Post had been evacuated to house a company of US troops. At Hintersee we all crowded together in the smaller annexe. There was always an excited situation whenever one of the SS-Begleitkommando leaders appeared from hiding in the mountain refuges. They were a thorn in the side of the new hotelier, who made it unmistakeably plain every day that he wanted us all gone. The atmosphere became daily more threatening and worrisome.
We had heard that Gaullists and negroes were looting and robbing in the Berchtesgaden area. One day two armed Gaullists burst into our room. They rummaged around, opened all drawers without a word and finally decided on two small paintings I had brought from the Berghof and hung on the wall. They also relieved our baggage of two small radios, but failed to look under the bed where I had stowed the trunks I packed at the Berghof, thus leaving something for the Americans to loot later. Next morning, 22 May 1945 towards 0700, there was a knock on my door. A CIC man said he was looking for Albert Bormann and Fräulein Fusser. The former was hiding out in the Berchtesgaden area under the name Roth. This they knew. Then he asked: ‘And who are you?’ Undoubtedly the hotelier had already told him. It gave me a nasty feeling of apprehension.[144]
That same afternoon another CIC officer came for me. When his female assistant went through my handbag, removing all the contents, I became enraged, at which the officer told me: ‘You will have to get used to that kind of thing.’ After my first interrogation by Mr Albrecht,[145] this officer told me in good German: ‘You are a wanted person. But at least you talk naturally, whereas the Gauleiters and ministers captured to date speak in newspaper phraseology. I shall consider whether to spare you or tell the fourteen journalists in the next room about you.’ That day he still felt sympathy for me, but after a few days journalists from the periodicals Time and Life showed up, amongst them the well-known Jack Fleischer. Following the interrogations I made plans for the future with Ilse Lindhoff, with whom I shared a room (she had been secretary to Hauptmann Wiedemann, Hitler’s former adjutant, and had married one of the SS-Begleitkommando officers). If we were to be persuaded into ‘collaborating’ I wanted to find a room for us both in Berchtesgaden to get away from the awful conditions at Hintersee. At that time it was not permitted to stray further than six kilometres. Ilse suggested we could buy a horse and cart and head for Lüneburg Heath where her in-laws lived. It was a nice plan, but nothing came of it.
On 28 May 1945 I was bundled into a jeep by two American soldiers together with my two cases and an Erica typewriter. At the CIC offices in Berchtesgaden some of the former FHQ stenotyists were transcribing my shorthand notebooks. The material was innocuous, short letters accompanying a gift of bacon from Hitler to his sisters. He had advised them: ‘under no circumstances to eat the bacon raw!’ I realised that years of internment might now lie ahead.
Appendix
The following is an extract from the interrogation protocol of Fräulein Schroeder held at Berchtesgaden on 22 May 1945 and conducted by Erich Albrecht, an officer of the US Counter-Intelligence Corps. (The original version can be seen on microfilm at the University of Pennsylvania, Charles Patterson Van Pelt Librar y, 46M-11FU, US Army 101st Airborne Division.)
Mr Albrecht: When did your employment with Hitler begin?
Schroeder: I was available permanently for him from 1933. Previous to that I worked for him when needed. Fräulein Wolf was with him from 1929. A Fräulein Daranowski came additionally in 1938.
Mr Albrecht: In the last years of the war what was an average workday?
Schroeder: We had no set hours. We were always on call. Hitler was very much a night person and generally did not start work until the evening. Basically we sat up all night. It was really the opposite of normal. At the end in Berlin we would get to bed around eight in the morning. We would start off with the situation conferences which were held at night. After the night conference Hitler would always take tea with his intimate circle. This was composed of his female secretaries, Frau Christian, Fräulein Wolf, Frau Junge then a doctor, either Dr Morell or another one◦– at the end Dr Morell did not attend because his health was not up to it◦– plus a personal adjutant, usually Gruppenführer Albert Bormann. Hitler used these sessions to relax. Politics was not discussed at tea. Therefore Hitler never invited officers with whom he had to work, for otherwise the conversation would always come round to military business. He wanted to get his mind off the battle maps. He often used to say that ‘in his mind’s eye he could only see maps’. Earlier on, tea used to finish sometime between five and seven in the morning. Then he would go to bed if he didn’t have reports to read. Hitler would usually get up at eleven. He did not sleep much. He would take breakfast, then Herr Schaub would come with the air raid reports and inform him which officers had been told to attend the conferences.
144
From the CIC report it would appear that the informant was another guest. The person also informed the Americans about Erich Kempka, who was then arrested at Hintersee on 18 June 1945.
145
Lt Erich Albrecht was a German who had once worked at the Reich Ministry of Economics. He had emigrated to the United States as a Mormon.