Previously mentioned here: http://www.ww2forums.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=18;t=000107#000000 BLIND SPOT: HITLER'S SECRETARY 2002 AUSTRIA 90 MIN COLOR 35 MM DIRECTORS: André Heller, Othmar Schmiderer GENRE: Documentary In German with English subtitles U.S. RELEASE: January 24, 2003 Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary It was Heller's and our good fortune, that Traudl Junge, who some 60 years ago worked as one of three private secretaries serving Hitler, has an extraordinary ability to communicate to others what it was like to be one of the minions who had unparalleled access to the Führer. It is her mesmerizing narrative that turns BLIND SPOT/IM TOTEN WINKEL into much more than your average talking-heads documentary. Junge is a riveting presence as she takes you from when she was hired to be one of Hitler's secretaries in 1942 to the bizarre horror of what it was like during the final days in Hitler's bunker in Berlin in 1945. Despite certain unusual aspects of her star association, Junge and her fellow secretaries rarely had face-to-face contact with their notorious boss. She seems genuinely not to have been aware of the historical significance of her employment at the time she was working for Hitler in Berlin, at the Wolf's Lair (in East Prussia), on his official train, and at the Obersalzburg complex in Bavaria. But it was Junge whom Hitler selected to join him and his retinue in his Berlin bunker and to whom he dictated his last will and testament prior to his suicide in 1945.
Indeed - Traudl Junge is featured a lot in the final parts of the famous 'World At War' documentary series from the early '70s. And much of her experience can be read in Pierre Galante's book 'Last Witnesses In The Bunker'
Just a while ago noticed this: 13. Februar 2002, 16:55 Traudl Junge Hitlers Sekretärin tot. http://www.fpp.co.uk/Hitler/docs/adjutants/Junge_tot.html --------- FRom the CNN.com Europe BERLIN, Germany -- The woman who was by Adolf Hitler's side throughout his wartime leadership and was privy to his last days has died. Traudl Junge was the Fuehrer's secretary from 1943 to 1945 and took down his last will and testament. She spent more time in his company than most, remaining on call around the clock. She died on Monday in a Munich hospital just hours after a documentary on her life had been screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. She was 81 and had been suffering from cancer. Austrian director Andre Heller, who culled 10 hours of interviews for the 90-minute documentary, said Junge agreed to speak out because she knew she did not have long to live. Heller said Junge told him: "I have finally let go of my story. Now I feel the world is letting go of me." Her death also comes days after the publication of her memoirs, In the Final Hours, drawn from notes she compiled in 1946. She has said: "I admit, I was fascinated by Adolf Hitler. "He was a pleasant boss and a fatherly friend. I deliberately ignored all the warning voices inside me and enjoyed the time by his side almost until the bitter end. "It wasn't what he said, but the way he said things and how he did things." In the documentary -- Blind Spot -- Junge said she applied for the job as one of Hitler's secretaries at the age of 22 because she was taken with his magnetic power. It was during Junge's years serving Hitler that most of the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust died, although she said she never heard Jews discussed. She said it was only after the war, when she learned what many already knew about the Holocaust, that she felt wracked with guilt for having liked the "greatest criminal who ever lived." The Simon Wiesenthal Center has criticised the screening of the film, calling Junge's recollections "sheer fantasy" and "revisionism" and saying that everyone who was close to Hitler heard him "rant and rave about the Jews." ----------- R.I.P Traudl Junge
Sorry to find out about her death... I watched that documentary some day and I loved it. She seemed such a lovely woman. And I do not blame her for liking Hitler. The man was charming and particulary good in making women like him. He was one of the two guys at that time in the world who still kissed ladies' hands... (The other one was Goebbels...)
