At the Heart of the Reich: The Secret Diary of Hitler's Army Adjutant

by Gerhard Engel, Geoffrey Brooks (Translator), Hildegard von Kotze (Introduction)

Major Gerhard Engel was Hitler's Army Adjutant from March 1938 to March 1943. Remarkably, this atmospheric account from a member of Hitler's closest circle has never been published in English before. During his years with Hitler, Engel kept the diary in the form of six notebooks. After the war, he added material to shed further light on certain events, military and political decisions and Hitler's attitude to particular problems. His diary covers the decision-making process behind crucial military actions, including the annexation of Austria, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the war against Russia. He also addresses the intrigue within Hitler's inner circle and his casual conversations with Halder, Guderian and Brauchitsch, among others. Engel was responsible for certain racial issues and his conversations with Hitler shed important light on the Fnhrer's core beliefs. The diary includes the statement made by Hitler in 1941, µI am now as before a Catholic.' Engel also details his views on German Jews and, in particular, he dwells on the extent to which they served in the Wehrmacht. He also addresses the deportation of Jews from Salonika and Hitler's order to Himmler to select a destination, the details of which Hitler was apparently unconcerned with. The final part of the diary is mostly devoted with the war against Russia. Engel's reports confirm that the master plan was to take Leningrad and Rostov in 1941, then close pincers behind Moscow in 1942. The plan was frustrated by senior army commanders' lack of enthusiasm and Hitler's failure to exert firm leadership in the first two months of the offensive. Engel depicts Hitler as a vacillating, contrary man. It is not unlikely that this betrayed itself to his generals and gave them the encouragement they needed to argue their plan to rush Moscow, which ultimately contributed to the defeat of the Third Reich.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Politics, Military Fiction, German Literature

192 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2006

Reviews

[Kathy Heare Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful documentation on Hitler, his mind, and his war told through one of his aides. It reads like a diary with dates and locations, along with maps, and charts of military leaders. There are over fifty pages of notes correlating with the daily entries.

I won an advanced reading copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. I am paying it forward by passing this book along to my son who I think will appreciate its contents.

[emilio squillante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb peek over the F shoulders.

[Themistocles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

I would have expected something much more insightful and interesting from someone who was at Hitler's side for a number of years. Instead the same themes are repeated over and over again, and basically the only things one learns (?) about him are:

-his distrust towards the army (no kidding)
-his wait-and-see attitude towards the church
-he had much more to do about fixing problems with officers marrying prostitutes than you'd ever think.

I mean, really, there's not a single entry about the invasion of France or the Soviet Union (literally!), but there are pages after pages describing some officer's marriage issues.

It only gets somewhat interesting towards the Stalingrad defeat (the war pretty much isn't happening up to then), but right then Engel goes into active front duty and the diary ends. Neat.

There are some 500 (really) footnotes over the pages, the most dry footnotes I've ever seen, some of them referencing other footnotes (from a couple of paragraphs back), many bibliographical but not always helpful (for instance, on the topic of promotions after the victory in the West the reference is... the Völkischer Beobachter??) and very few serve to flesh the story out and give some background.

Very disappointed...

[JW · Rating 4 out of 5]

A combination diary and memoir: in addition to his contemporary record, Engel included postwar comments. Engel was an army man and resented Hitler’s criticisms of the generals for being too conservative and timid. Quotes Hitler as saying that the generals did not have to be National Socialists, but they did need to be aggressive fighters. Thus, aside from its listing of who said what at this conference, the book is a record of the continual culture clash between Hitler and his military.
What’s most interesting is the record of Hitler’s occasional thoughts on art and religion. He acted as a break on the anti-Christian efforts of Bormann and Himmler. Hitler had a comparatively more relaxed view on marriage than was Wehrmacht policy.
The Kindle version has its share of typos.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting look at Hitler's decision-making

Engel's notes on his time as adjutant are interesting. They show how varied opinions were about war decisions around Hitler, how indecisive he could be, and how poorly he communicated at times. Lots of personalities, points of view, and irritation in his circle.

It's not a fun read, fairly dry. Good choice for anyone familiar with the history of World War II, especially regarding the Nazis.

[Stuart Miller]

I somehow thought this was a historical/biographical account of Gerhard Engel's years working on Hitler's staff. Instead, it is Engel's actual diary--a format that I do not enjoy reading as I am not a professional historian. Obviously only for the serious researcher.

[Richard Day · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I wasn't overly impressed. I consider myself a student of military history. I thought this would give me an insight into the behind the scenes goings on of Hitler and his inner circle. There were some, but not enough to have made reading this feel worthwhile. I was also disappointed by the lack of historical analysis, which reduces the utility of this book to amateur historians.

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marginally interesting - not a lot of detail - no content about important events like Pearl Harbor or the assassination of Heydrich. You would think that these events would show up in Hitler's words. Also since the "diary" was edited post war, the author paints himself in a very positive light. Cannot recommend. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the personal diary of Gerhard Engel, who was Adolf Hitler's Adjutant from 1938 to 1943. He includes a lot of the conversations and thought processes that were behind some of the most notable decisions that were made by Hitler and the Nazi regime. He talks about Hitler's personal qualities and his thoughts about the Jewish people. I think these personal memoirs from Nazis are so important to read. I thought this was an interesting book.