Mr Albrecht: Whom was Hitler considering as his successor?
Schroeder: Not Göring or Himmler. After Hess went, Göring was automatically next. But Hitler didn’t think he was capable. Once I argued with him when he told me he had no successor. He said that the first one, Hess, had gone mad. The second, Göring, had lost the confidence of the people, and the Party did not want the third, Himmler. When I told him that Himmler was being mentioned a lot amongst the people he got very upset. He said that Himmler had no ear for music. When I protested that in these times it was not so important, able people could be drafted in to handle the area of the arts, Hitler would not have it. He said it was not so easy to get capable people, otherwise he would have done so. From that I inferred that in Hitler’s view none of those envisaged could be considered his successor.
Mr Albrecht: Which other people came under consideration?
Schroeder: Nobody. He got very indignant at my assertion that Himmler’s name was being bandied a lot amongst the common people. He said◦– something out of character for him◦– ‘whatever possessed you to say something like that?’ It hurt his pride that we who knew him and Himmler should put him on a par with Himmler. He went out that midday offended and said: ‘Keep people busy thinking about who my successor should be.’ On 20 July 1944 I did not expect to be invited to dine after the attempt. To my surprise I was sent for at 1500 hours. I was amazed at how fresh and lively Hitler looked when he came up to me. He told me how his manservants had reacted to the attempt. Linge had raged, Arndt had wept. Then he said, ‘Believe me, this is the turning point for Germany, now it will be all downhill again: I am pleased that the filthy swine have unmasked themselves.’ On 20 July 1944 I told him that he could not possibly receive the Duce. He replied: ‘On the contrar y, I must receive him, for what would the world press write if I didn’t?’ Shortly after lunch he left the camp to greet Mussolini. Finally at the end of September 1944 Hitler had to confine himself to bed on account of the bomb plot of 20 July 1944.
Index
Adlerhorst (FHQ)
Aga Khan
Ahrens, Karl
Albrecht, Alwin-Broder
Albrecht, Erich
Alexandria
Alkonic, Lav
Altaussee
Amann, Max
Anders, Peter
Antonescu, Ion
Arden, Elizabeth
Ardennes
Arent, Benno von
Arndt, Wilhelm
Augsburg
Augst (Chancellery employee)
Austria; Anschluss
Bad Gastein
Bad Godesberg
Bad Nauheim
Bad Wiessee
Baden-Baden
Bahls, Ernst
Baur, Hans
Bayreuth
Bechstein, Carl
Bechstein, Frau
Beer Hall putsch
Beethoven, Ludwig von
Belgium
Below, Maria von
Below, Nicolaus von
Benrath, Karl
Berchtesgaden
Berghof (FHQ): Allied bombing; as alpine redoubt; art collection; bunkers; conversion of Haus Wachenfeld; destruction of documents; dining room; Eva Braun’s rooms; Eva Braun’s status; food preparation; Geli Raubal’s room; Great Hall; Hitler dictates speeches; Hitler’s art collection; Hitler’s rooms; Hitler’s secretaries; the Kannenbergs; looting; manservants; meals; morning silence; as north-facing; prominent visitors; in ruins; Sophie Stork as frequent visitor; surrounded by armed SS; terrace; see also Obersalzberg
Berlin: Alois Hitler’s restaurant; Congress Hall; Deutsche Oper; entertaining actresses and dancers; Eva Braun’s apartment; Hitler unable to shop; Hitler’s birthday; Hitler’s postwar plans; HQ moved to; RAF bombing; Reichstag; Russian gunfire; Staaken airfield; Tempelhof airport
Berlin, Führer-bunker (FHQ): and air raids; entrance to; Eva Braun and Hitler’s death; Manziarly as cook; meals; secretaries’ departure
Berlin, Reich Chancellery: Brückner’s office; dining area; Eva Braun moves in; Hacha meeting; Hitler’s flat; Hitler’s study; length of hall; meals; Radziwill Palace; receptions; Schroeder’s apartment; secretaries at; situation conferences
Bircher-Benner, Maximilian
Bischofswiesen
Bismarck, Otto von
Blaschke, Dr Hugo
Blüthgen (Berghof cook)
Bolivia
Bordone, Paris
Bormann, Albert
Bormann, Martin: character and career; constructs Kehlstein; converts Berghof; a dog for von Exner; estranged from his brother; farm on the Obersalzberg; and Hess’s flight; and Hitler’s table talks; Hoffmann order; meals at the Berghof; music at the Berghof; orders silence at the Berghof; relationship with Hitler; Schroeder’s departure from Führer-bunker; his secretary
Börnersdorf
Boulogne
Brahms, Johannes
Brandt, Anni (‘Rehlein’)
Brandt, Dr Karl
Brauchitsch, Walther von
Braun, Eva: arranges film shows; aversion to Göring; Berlin apartment; character; death; her dogs; and Fegelein; Hitler’s compliments; as Hitler’s eyes; letter to her sister; meals at the Berghof; on the Obersalzberg; relationship with Hitler; rooms at the Berghof; and Sigrid von Laffert; Sophie Stork’s coffee service; status at the Berghof; suicide attempts; works for Hoffmann
Braun, Franziska
Braun, Margarete (‘Greta’)
Bruckmann, Frau
Bruckner, Anton
Brückner, Wilhelm (‘Owambo’): on breakfast; describes Schroeder; as disorganised; road accident; sacked by Hitler; Schroeder works for; Schroeder’s fondness for; snores at opera; visits Schroeder in hospital
Bruly de Pêsche (FHQ)
Brussels
Buch, Gerda
Buch, Walter
Budapest
Bügge, Fräulein
Calais
Chiemsee
China
Christian, Gerda, see Daranowski, Gerda
Churchill, Winston
Crimea
Czechoslovakia
Dachs, Frau
Danzig
Daranowski, Gerda (‘Dara’)
Darges, Friedrich
Defregger, Franz von
Degano, Alois
Dietl, Eduard
Dietrich, Otto
Dietrich, Sepp
Dirksen, Viktoria von
Döberitz
Döhring, Herr and Frau
Dönitz, Frau
Doose, Heinrich
Dresden
Drexler, Anton
Dunaburg
Dunkirk
Eckart, Dietrich
Endres, Frau
Engel, Gerhard
England
Epps sisters
Ertl (Berghof police officer)
Essen
Esser, Hermann
Exner, Helene Maria (‘Marlene’) von
Fegelein, Hermann
Fegelein, Margarete, see Braun, Margarete
Felsennest (FHQ)
Feuerbach, Anselm
Fick, Roderich
Fiehler, Karl
First World War
Fleischner, Jack
Florence
Forster, Albert
France
Frederick◦I (‘Barbarossa’), Emperor
Frederick◦II (‘the Great’), King of Prussia
Frentz, Walter
Frey, Herta
Frick, Wilhelm
Frobenius, Fräulein
Funk, Walter
Fürtheimer (imaginary Jew)
Fusser, Fräulein
Gahr, Otto
Gandhi, Mahatma
Garmisch
George, Heinrich
Gesche, Bruno
Giesing, Dr Erwin
Giesler, Hermann
Goebbels, Josef: diatribe against von Schirach; marriage to Magda; recommends Kannenbergs to Hitler; retort to Otto Dietrich; Röhm putsch