Hitler's Spy Princess: The Extraordinary Life of Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe

by Martha Schad, Angus McGeoch (Translator)

Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe (1891-1972) was an unofficial go-between at the highest level of international politics, conveying secret messages and setting up meetings involving Hitler, Goering, Lord Halifax, Lord Rothermere, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and, later, US Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Yet her origins were far from aristocratic. The illegitimate daughter of a Jewish woman from Prague and a Jewish moneylender, Stephanie always claimed to be of pure Aryan descent. A shameless social climber, she had a child by the Emperor¦s son-in-law and acquired her title by marriage to another Austro-Hungarian prince. Employed by Lord Rothermere, her most important assignment was to bring Rothermere and Adolf Hitler together. Hitler awarded her the Gold Medal of the Nazi Party, a unique honor for any woman, let alone one generally known to be Jewish. Divorced since 1920, Stephanie had conducted a string of affaires with rich and influential men. In 1937 she began an intense relationship with Fritz Wiedemann, Hitler's adjutant. When Hitler learned of this he dispatched Wiedemann to the post of Consul-General in San Francisco, where Stephanie joined him in 1939. In 1941, she managed to avoid being deported as a spy by seducing the head of the US immigration authority. After the war, Stephanie began a completely new career as a journalist for several publications including Axel Springer's Stern magazine, for whom she secured the Kennedy and Johnson interviews.

Genres: Biography, History, World War II

234 pages, Hardcover

First published March 29, 2012

Reviews

[Missie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the story of a woman who wanted to climb the social and political ladders of the world. It didn't matter how she did it nor who she slept with to get there. She was a con artist and I was surprised by how many men she was able to make do her bidding. She did not appear to have any loyalities to anyone other than herself.

The text read like a history book and I would find myself day dream at times and have to re-read pages.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by this book. The "Extraordinary" on the front page perked me up that it was going to be a fascinating read but it most certainly was not. The author seemed to forget that she was talking about Stephanie half the time and was distracted by other people and there was too many of them so I didn't know who anyone was. It spent too much time on the thirties then bypassed everything afterwards so six years in an Internment camp or something went by in a flash. And I got the sense that the author didn't like her. Called her melodramatic and worming her way into things it really turned me off to it. Not impressed.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Historical Non-Fiction is not my bag. Who knew. Hardest book I've ever had to read. What I did draw from this book is that it is women like Princess Hohenlohe who gave women a bad name; and if a man was involved she generally got what she wanted and always managed to land on her feet, even after spending 4 years in a US concentration camp. She most certainly lived a long and fruitful life and didn't have to really earn a living for most of it. 1/5 🌟- never been more happy to have a book completed!!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history

The Princess knew a lot of people and lived in complex times, especially between the two world wars. The book does a good job reporting situations she was in. But it gave me no sense of who she was, why she acted the way she did, why men were so taken with her.

Also, no photos in the Kindle edition, though apparently the print edition has them. The publisher and Amazon need to warn buyers when that's the case. It's really irritating.

[Romana Hladká · Rating 3 out of 5]

Už jsem toho slyšela spoustu o Hitlerovi a lidech, kteří s ním měli něco společného a pomáhali mu s tím, co tady v Evropě páchal. Ale jméno Stephanie von Hohenlohe jsem slyšela poprvé a samozřejmě jsem byla zvědavá, co byla tato žena zač. A že jsem chvílemi vážně koukala...

Stephanie byla bezesporu cílevědomá žena. Věděla, kam a ke komu se chce dostat a prošla ložnicemi mnoha významných mužů své doby. Okouzlila téměř každého, s kým se setkala. A tak není překvapením, že se jedním z jejích ctitelů stal i samotný Adolf Hitler, se kterým ale překvapivě neměla ani žádný intimní vztah. Byla pro něj mnohem důležitější – stala se pro něj cenným zdrojem informací a kontaktů, a to zejména v Anglii. Jenže i Stephanie čekal pád, a to v podobě zatčení, které na ni čekalo za oceánem. Jenže ona se se sílou sobě vlastní opět vzchopila a dokázala, že konec Německa rozhodně není i jejím koncem.

Biografie jsou cenným zdrojem informací, na které byste jinak třeba ani nenarazili. Jejich jediný problém je ale v tom, že jsou plné faktů, ale už ne toho, co si dané osoby myslely nebo co cítili, když dělali to, co dělali. Já osobně (asi jako většina z vás) rozhodně nejsem Hitlerova fanynka a můžu si jenom domýšlet, co Stephanie von Hohenlohe vedlo k tomu, aby byla jeho přítelkyní a v podstatě pravou rukou. Třeba tohle by mě rozhodně zajímalo, jenže v knize to nenajdete. Samotný kněžnin příběh je čtivý, plyne rychle a kromě událostí z jejího života v něm najdete i spoustu informací, které se vážou k době, ve které žila, například přepisy dopisů samotného Hitlera. Rozhodně jde o zajímavou biografii, která ale asi není jen tak pro každého, a to hlavně díky osobnosti kněžny a jejích společníků a chvílím, kdy informace byly tak obsáhlé, že jim člověk chvílemi přestával věnovat pozornost. To se ale může stát u každé biografie.