Hitler's Women

by Guido Knopp

Of course I love my husband, but my love for Hitler is stronger, wrote Magda Goebbels, the socialite wife of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and super-mom of the Third Reich. An unprecedented look at the women of Hitler's inner circle, Hitler's Women presents six chilling portraits of the leading women in Hitler's life and the role they played in the Nazi regime. Here are the lives of Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress, whose lifelong dream of marrying the Fuehrer was fulfilled shortly before they committed suicide; Magda Goebbels, who married her husband to be close to Hitler; Richard Wagner's daughter-in-law Winifred, who refused two proposals of marriage from Hitler; Leni Refenstahl, the brilliant filmmaker who became the Nazis' propagandist; diva Zarah Leander, who denied ever being a Nazi but made a fortune in films for the fatherland; and screen goddess Marlene Dietrich, who left Germany and fought Hitler with all means at her disposal. The lives of these women illuminate how the Nazis envisaged German womanhood--loyal, stylish, talented and maternal--and show that it is often a short step from collaboration to dissent, from conformity to resistance. Award-winning German journalist Guido Knopp mines diaries, letters, unpublished photographs and interviews with friends to create an absorbing, intimate look into a dark part of history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Biography, Historical, German Literature, Germany

352 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Guido Knopp is a German journalist and author. He is well known in Germany, mainly because he has produced a great number of TV documentaries, predominantly about the Nazi era, but also about other topics, such as Stalinism.

Reviews

[Mick Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book looks at the lives of six women with exception of one,got embroiled with Adolf hitler.i got the profound feeling that all bar miss Dietrich were happy to receive his patronage,then once war had ended tried to back pedal and not me.the polar opposite of the me too.not bad but a tad dry in places.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fine volume by Guido Knopp, with biographies of six women whose lives were shaped by the Nazi perversity. This is a much more eclectic collection than Knopp's previous books, as none of his subjects here held any position in the Nazi party or state.
Eva Braun. Hitler's companion remains an oddity, almost an non-entity in some respects. Beyond shallow pursuits, she was completely obsessed with Hitler, even though he often ignored her and forced her into obscurity to preserve his self-image as the solitary Fuhrer.
Magda Goebbels was the true believer, fanatic, and enabler. She lent class and social respectability to Hitler and to husband, Josef Goebbels.
Leni Riefenstahl was remarkable women, and might be remembered as great figure in film history except for her opportunistic role as the auteur of Nazi film. She was more than willing to use her connections to Hitler and Goebbels to make her films, even to the point of using concentration camp prisoners as extras.
British-born Winifred Wagner was another opportunist, more puzzling for her willingness (even years after the war) to separate the charming sponsor of her music festival with the ruthless dictator.
Zarah Leander is another strange personality. Swedish-born and with limited contact with Hitler, she was willing to sing and act in German films. Knopp paints her as the most mercenary, a woman mainly interested in money and who bolted once the war turned against Germany.
Marlene Dietrich is Knopp's heroine. Repelled by Hitler and the Nazis, she refused several offers to return to her native country. Instead she aided refugees and threw herself into work for America's war effort, selling war bonds, serving with the USO, and entertaining front-line troops.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book features a somewhat different approach to looking at the Nazi regime, through the prominent women that aided and abetted it - or opposed it. The dark historical period prompts an understandable emotional reaction, but the text is a little too reactive in its commentary for an objective history book. Still, it was an interesting read and provided some fascinating insights.

[minnajee · Rating 2 out of 5]

27.8.2007
Knopp, Guido: Hitlerin naiset ja Marlene (Hitlers Frauen und Marlene, 2005)
8
- Kuus pienoiselämänkertaa Hitlerin naisista: Eva Braun, Madga Goebbels, Winifred Wagner, Zarah Leander ja... olikos niitä viel muit ku vastustaja Marlene Dietrich? Ihan mielenkiintosta luettavaa ja uutta tietoakin.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book it was easy to read and the topic was most interesting. This book contains narratives of the live's of women while the Nazis were in power and the seemly harmless (albeit naive} choices they made that further helped create a society that allowed the holocaust to happen.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to further my understanding of Hitler and the German nation of the time, in particular those people who assisted him in his awful vision.