Revealed: secret of Hitler's slippers

Scotland on Sunday ^ | February 13, 2005 | MURDO MACLEOD

[MadIvan]

HE PLUNGED Europe into an orgy of destruction, but his bedside reading was by a popular children’s author. He carried his luggage in a vast train of exquisite crocodile-skin suitcases, but would not sleep under a continental quilt.

Fascinating new insights have emerged into the private life of Adolf Hitler from his former chambermaid, who has admitted that she used to stand in his slippers while cleaning his room.

And the maid, who doubled as a minder for Eva Braun, has also said that the Führer’s mistress was sidelined by the wives of the Nazi leader’s henchmen.

Anna Plaim, who came from the Austrian village of Loosdorf, 50 miles from Vienna, was 20 years old when she was employed as a chambermaid for Hitler in 1941.

In a book to be published this April, she describes how she worked at the Berghof, Hitler’s mountain retreat in the Bavarian Alps.

Perched on the mountainside at well above 5,000ft, Hitler used the residence to impress foreign dignitaries and to dream of a glorious future for the Reich. He met Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, at the Berghof in 1938 and is believed to have planned the 1941 invasion of Russia there.

Plaim has described in the book, Bei Hitlers (At the Hitlers), how the Führer slept in a Spartan bedroom.

She said: "I recall it as being a very simple bed. Even then it surprised me that the Führer did not even have a proper down quilt over his bed. He just made do with a blanket and covering. Eva Braun, on the other hand, did have a big thick down quilt.

"In front of the bed were his slippers, [UK size 10], which by the way I slipped into myself. I can’t tell you why exactly, but I had this desire to stand in the Führer’s slippers."

In contrast to the austere bed coverings, Hitler had a luggage collection which would not look out of place in the swankiest international hotel.

Plaim said: "There was this huge cupboard filled with the most exquisite cases. They were mostly made from crocodile skin leather. They were in a huge pile almost to the ceiling."

While even the world’s dictators need their slippers and their luggage, Hitler’s choice of reading material has raised eyebrows among experts in German literature.

The book on his bedside table was written by the 19th century author Wilhelm Busch, who is most famous for his satirical illustrated children’s stories.

His most famous work is Max und Moritz, written in 1865, which features the naughty deeds of two young pranksters.

Paul Bishop, Professor of German at Glasgow University, said: "This author is a very strange choice for Adolf Hitler. It’s odd to think that he had an author most known for children’s books as his bedside reading. He was a very strange man, of course."

Eva Lehr, the assistant librarian of the Glasgow branch of the Goethe Institut, the German cultural centre, said: "If anything, this makes Hitler even more incomprehensible for me. It seems quite a contradiction that a man who did such things had books by a children’s author."

Bei Hitlers, which is being published to tie in with the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, is part of a series of books and films in Germany which have attempted to ‘humanise’ the dictator and the Third Reich. A recent film, Der Untergang (The Collapse), portrayed the ageing and disillusioned Hitler as a broken man.

The film sparked a national debate in Germany when it was released last summer about whether it was fitting for a German film to portray Hitler as anything other than a monster.

But a Jewish historian said that the humanisation of the Nazis would help to communicate the reality of the Nazi terror.

Dr Nathan Abrams, a modern history lecturer at Aberdeen University, said: "As a Jewish historian, I’m personally in favour of anything which humanises the history of the Third Reich because it demystifies what happened. There’s this notion that the Nazis were some kind of inhuman personification of evil, but the fact is that the atrocities of the Holocaust were carried out by very ordinary people. In some ways, the more we realise that these were people like us, who wore slippers and read all kinds of books, the better we can be aware of the whole horrific reality."

Plaim’s account of life at the Berghof adds weight to the suggestion that Hitler did have a sexual relationship with Eva Braun, even though the two slept in separate rooms.

Some have claimed that Hitler shunned women, and may have been homosexual.

But Plaim added that Braun was sidelined at the Berghof: "Whenever Gerda Bormann, the wife of [Nazi Party chief] Martin Bormann, was there, then she was more important. The same applied to Emmy Göring, the wife of [Luftwaffe chief] Hermann Göring. Frau Göring was the First Lady of the Reich. "

Plaim admits having been a fan of Hitler at the time, but the adoration turned to loathing after the war when she learned of the horrors of the Reich and visited Auschwitz.

She said: "As soon as visits to Auschwitz were possible I went there with my husband Karl. I can still see the huge glass windows with the piles of dentures, the masses of hair and mountains of spectacles. On one suitcase I saw the address of a Jew from St Pölten, just a short distance from where I came from.

"After that visit I was completely shattered. I can no longer even understand my enthusiasm for Hitler. I don’t know. I can’t now understand why so many people were so gripped by him."

Bei Hitlers will be published this April by Droemer/Knaur (Munich) in German. Plans for any English edition have yet to be decided.

[cyncooper]

Actually, no. The striking thing about the nazis is how childish their behavior was; I mean, "death to our enemies", "we can beat anybody" and especially "no girls allowed!" are the mindsets of an eight-year-old.

Howard Dean

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for..."

And the MSM kind of smirks with agreement and the societal reaction is not one of shunning the speaker of such sentiments, rather a large faction approves.

[MHT]

As we learn more about the mental make-up of psychopaths like Hitler, the connection to childhood fantasy and play seems to becoming more pronounced. John Wayne Gacy was apparently quite good at his clown routine. Now we find out that Hitler read children's books.

This pattern does not bode well for Michael Jackson, who also seems to have a problem separately adult activity from childhood "innocence".

[Bald Eagle777]

Whoa, stay there donkey...

Did he really say he "hated" Republicans?

[cyncooper]

Click the link I provided and note there are quotation marks. In addition I heard the tape (on Fox, of course, where they had the decency to raise an eyebrow over the questionable aspect of this type of rhetoric in the public square).

[cyncooper]

Oh, and yesterday or the day before I heard a clip of him saying how Catholics should be democrats as Republicans are against everything the Catholic Church stands for or something like that. Note, the previous was a paraphrase as I haven't looked for the quote.

I think I shall. It gave me a chill. In my wildest dreams I cannot imagine a mainstream major political figure on the right getting away with such divisive hate speech, but the incremental hate against Republicans that's been going on for years that some of us have been assured we're just imagining is bearing its fruit.

[Bald Eagle777]

Catholics and Protestants have more in common than meets the eye. It's time to agree on the Major principles of the Faith and ditch the false dichotomies that politicians vet for their own selfish gain. Hating Republicans is not civilized and is not appreciated. As much as true Conservatives can not stand left wing/Marxist/liberal/"PC" schemes, you can't let the philosophical disagreement boil over into hate. Dean does not have to seem to have that moral qualification or self-control.

Dean owes a lot of good, hard working people an apology and then he should gracefully exit public life and work quietly somewhere for the rest of his life, where he will not cause any further damage.

[bonfire]

Very interesting. Tell us more!

[ruoflaw]

I read about hitler giving those speeches...he had to have extra thick underwear in the front and it wasn't because of a weak bladder

[AnAmericanMother]

Thanks for the link.

[Cacique]

If you have not seen Leni Riefenstahl's film "Triumph of the Will" then I suggest renting it. You will get the general idea. As for the small screen being intimate, that is true if you are sitting at a desk in the whitehouse and giving an address to the nation. However, I still feel that TV is still useful for oratory. It depends where it is given. That's why it works so well in churches or even large rallies. Martin Luther King's speech at the Washington monument was done in the television age. The setting made it even more effective. I would place him up there among the top ten orators of the 20th century.

Tony Blair is most effective when he is in parliament, which is a church like setting.

I think that a great orator could very well manipulate television and use it to great advantage. Great orators studied other orators. Hitler studied Mussolini, Mussolini of course had Cicero. Perón was military attaché to Italy and got to see Il Duce up close. Nasser studied Perón's success and copied it.

There are no great model's to play off of and copy today. Also the skill or oratory and debate is not taught as much as it once was even in law school, though it is a skill that lawyer's should excel at.

[ruoflaw]

could you name your top ten?

[Cacique]

An interesting proposition. I have quite a few candidates. Certainly the top four would be there. Hitler, mussolini, Perón and Churchill. I would place ML King as a tie for 5th with Nasser. Malcolm X would certainly make the list. I would certainly place Bishop Fulton Sheen on the list. Tony Blair is in the cusp so he belongs to both centuries. Barry Goldwater definitely on the list. Off the top of my head I can't think of any other names. FDR was good but not in the top ten. I think Reagan was a much more effective speaker than FDR in my opinion. Oratory is different from merely delivering speeches, that's one thing you need to keep in mind. Notice that Malcolm X, MLK and Sheen all come from religious backgrounds where oratorical skill is still highly prized.

Incidentally, I got to see Zell Miller at CPAC last year and he gave one of the best speeches in person that I have seen. Certainly a great orator as opposed to merely delivering a speech.

I was told that when I was 2 I was at the Plaza de Mayo when Perón gave one of his presentations. Probably true since Perón's private secretary was also my godfather. I have his collected speeches and have seen films of his speeches as well.

Other speakers that I have personally seen who gave great speeches I would have to include Cuomo the senior as well.

Another point about great oratory is that it is off the cuff most of the time. Great orators do not read from prepared speeches. They memorize the main points of their presentation and feed off the audience on when, where and what to inject. That is why they are so effective. Perón never read any of his speeches, he made it up along the way. Though reading them you get the impression that he sat down and carefully constructed them. Mussolini as I understand was the same way and Hitler occasionally used notes with main points but made it up along the way as well and rehearsed his presentations.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Walter STein, Churchill's expert on Adolf, clued him in to the nature of Hitler's evil. He was possessed willingly by Satanic powers.

[P_A_I]

Walter STein, Churchill's expert on Adolf, clued him in to the nature of Hitler's evil. He was possessed willingly by Satanic powers.

113 justshutupandtakeit


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Walter Stein clued Churchill in to the nature of Hitler's evil? Are you sure? Wasn't old Winston a pretty good judge of character on his own?

And Hitler was possessed willingly by Satanic powers? -- How could you possibly know?
-- Is it God or the Devil that tells you these things?

[Cacique]

Just out of curiosity. What does the P A I stand for?

[P_A_I]

Just my initials.

[okie01]

I believe the term Speer used was the “banality” of evil

I believe you are right. It was "banality". I was searching for it and, at least, I came close...

[justshutupandtakeit]

Stein was going to be impressed into the Nazi's Occult Bureau so he fled Germany and became an adviser on these matters to Churchill. He actually knew Hitler during the Vienna flophouse days.

Churchill was an expert on political matters but not the occult origins and motivations of the Nazis. And I am not referring to character which WC was, as you mentioned, in no need of assistance to assess.

There are many references to this possession if you care to look.

[Clemenza]

I always though Cuomo was an overrated speaker. Between his nasal Queens accent and his mispronunciations, he was far from a great communicator.

I always though Nixon was an underrated speaker, though definately not in the top ten.