Traudl Junge

Germany state institutions 1920–2002 ○ Died of cancer

Hitler's last secretary, who took down his testament and in old age bore witness to those years

Passing a plaque to Sophie Scholl in Munich, she saw that Scholl was born the year she was and executed the year she entered Hitler's service: "at that moment, I really realised that it was no excuse that I had been so young."

Born in Munich, she wanted to be a dancer but trained as a secretary, and in December 1942, aged 22, became Hitler's private secretary, working at the Wolf's Lair, the Berghof and in Berlin. In 1943 she married Hans Hermann Junge, a Waffen-SS officer serving as Hitler's valet; he was killed in Normandy in 1944. In April 1945 she stayed in the Führerbunker and took down Hitler's political and private testaments, then left the bunker after his suicide. Arrested by the Soviets in June and interrogated, she was later classed as a mere follower (Mitläuferin) and went unpunished. She worked as a secretary and journalist after the war. The memoir she wrote in 1947 was published only in 2002, together with the documentary Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary; both became sources for the film Downfall, in which she is the audience's guide. She died of cancer in Munich in 2002.

Also known as: Gertraud Junge · Traudl Humps · Gerda Alt