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sweetm917's review against another edition
1.0
I found that this book was more of a biography on Hitler than it was on Eva.
ajreader's review against another edition
3.0
Read my full thoughts over at a Read.Write.Repeat.
Learning about more about Braun only peaked my interest. There is so much we do not know, and will never know, about this woman. She is a historical enigma whose true motivations, beliefs, and knowledge of Hitler's actions will never be fully known. Gortemaker works well with the information available, but there are just so many missing pieces.
Learning about more about Braun only peaked my interest. There is so much we do not know, and will never know, about this woman. She is a historical enigma whose true motivations, beliefs, and knowledge of Hitler's actions will never be fully known. Gortemaker works well with the information available, but there are just so many missing pieces.
emnatkinson1's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very interesting read.
It provided a lot of information but I feel that it gave more information about Hitler’s inner circle in general rather than actually being about Eva Braun.
While there definitely was some interesting sections about her life - the majority of the book was about the inner circle at places like The Bergdorf/ Wolfslair.
While it was very detailed and interesting - a little misled as it wasn’t much about Eva Braun herself. Probably because the information just isn’t there.
It provided a lot of information but I feel that it gave more information about Hitler’s inner circle in general rather than actually being about Eva Braun.
While there definitely was some interesting sections about her life - the majority of the book was about the inner circle at places like The Bergdorf/ Wolfslair.
While it was very detailed and interesting - a little misled as it wasn’t much about Eva Braun herself. Probably because the information just isn’t there.
kimbobo's review against another edition
4.0
I came to this book with a very realistic expectation of it: that is, that most of what it presents about Eva Braun is either fragmented or speculative. Therefore I wasn't disappointed as others have been, and I found that this book was engrossing and informative, as the author is indeed very knowledgable and establishes a better background for speculations than I had before.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
‘Who was this woman, actually, and what perspective does she open up onto this “criminal of the century”?’
Eva Anna Paula Braun was born on the 6th of February 1912, married Adolf Hitler on the night of April 28th 1945, and died on the 30th of April 1945. Eva Braun was the second of three daughters of Fritz Braun, a Munich school teacher and Franziska, a former seamstress, and met Hitler in the autumn of 1929. Hitler was apparently so taken with her that he immediately had her investigated to make sure that she had no Jewish ancestry.
But what was her role in his life? What influence did she have over him? How much did she know about the Holocaust? She never joined the Nazi Party, but we probably can’t draw too many conclusions from that as apparently Hitler wouldn’t allow his sister to join the party either.
Ms Görtemaker’s book suggests that Braun was more important than has previously been considered. She was largely kept hidden from the German public in order to maintain the illusion that the Führer was married to his people. Twice, apparently, her relationship with Hitler drove her to attempt suicide. There are occasional glimpses of a woman who loved dogs, expensive clothes, photography and skiing. And at the end, instead of staying in Munich, she chose to return to Berlin where, 36 hours after marrying, she and Hitler committed suicide.
‘I want to be a beautiful corpse. I will take poison.’
The problem with writing a biography about a person like Eva Braun is that very little information can be verified, few sources exist and fewer can be relied on. We have some photographs, but little context although Eva Braun sought to have her private letters saved for posterity. On 23 April 1945 she wrote an urgent letter to her younger sister, Gretl, urging her to take ‘all the letters from the Führer’ and the ‘copies of her replies’ and put them in a ‘water-resistant packet’. Gretl was to bury them if necessary, but absolutely not to destroy them. Eva also insisted that ‘on no account must Heise’s bills be found,’ referring to the fashionable Berlin dress designer Annemarie Heise. She didn’t get her wish. We know about Eva’s profligacy at the dressmaker but her correspondence with Hitler has never been found.
I found this biography both interesting and dissatisfying. Interesting because I’ve never really thought much about the woman who married Hitler just before they both died, dissatisfying because I have no real sense of any substance to the woman herself. Instead, there’s a sense of frivolity which, while it might seem appropriate for many young women of her age seems inappropriate for a woman so closely associated to Hitler. What did Eva Braun stand for? She smoked, drank wine, listened to jazz, was obsessed with sport and movies, read Oscar Wilde and spent a lot of money on clothes. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this book is the light that it sheds on those who were part of Hitler’s most intimate circle and his curious lifestyle.
Was Eva Braun one of Hitler’s victims? If she was, it seems that she was a willing one.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Eva Anna Paula Braun was born on the 6th of February 1912, married Adolf Hitler on the night of April 28th 1945, and died on the 30th of April 1945. Eva Braun was the second of three daughters of Fritz Braun, a Munich school teacher and Franziska, a former seamstress, and met Hitler in the autumn of 1929. Hitler was apparently so taken with her that he immediately had her investigated to make sure that she had no Jewish ancestry.
But what was her role in his life? What influence did she have over him? How much did she know about the Holocaust? She never joined the Nazi Party, but we probably can’t draw too many conclusions from that as apparently Hitler wouldn’t allow his sister to join the party either.
Ms Görtemaker’s book suggests that Braun was more important than has previously been considered. She was largely kept hidden from the German public in order to maintain the illusion that the Führer was married to his people. Twice, apparently, her relationship with Hitler drove her to attempt suicide. There are occasional glimpses of a woman who loved dogs, expensive clothes, photography and skiing. And at the end, instead of staying in Munich, she chose to return to Berlin where, 36 hours after marrying, she and Hitler committed suicide.
‘I want to be a beautiful corpse. I will take poison.’
The problem with writing a biography about a person like Eva Braun is that very little information can be verified, few sources exist and fewer can be relied on. We have some photographs, but little context although Eva Braun sought to have her private letters saved for posterity. On 23 April 1945 she wrote an urgent letter to her younger sister, Gretl, urging her to take ‘all the letters from the Führer’ and the ‘copies of her replies’ and put them in a ‘water-resistant packet’. Gretl was to bury them if necessary, but absolutely not to destroy them. Eva also insisted that ‘on no account must Heise’s bills be found,’ referring to the fashionable Berlin dress designer Annemarie Heise. She didn’t get her wish. We know about Eva’s profligacy at the dressmaker but her correspondence with Hitler has never been found.
I found this biography both interesting and dissatisfying. Interesting because I’ve never really thought much about the woman who married Hitler just before they both died, dissatisfying because I have no real sense of any substance to the woman herself. Instead, there’s a sense of frivolity which, while it might seem appropriate for many young women of her age seems inappropriate for a woman so closely associated to Hitler. What did Eva Braun stand for? She smoked, drank wine, listened to jazz, was obsessed with sport and movies, read Oscar Wilde and spent a lot of money on clothes. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this book is the light that it sheds on those who were part of Hitler’s most intimate circle and his curious lifestyle.
Was Eva Braun one of Hitler’s victims? If she was, it seems that she was a willing one.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
kelseyreadingstuff's review against another edition
1.0
Eh.
This book had nothing to do with Eva Braun. It seemed to be focused on everyone else BUT her and I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. I kept thinking it would get better but it never did. Disappointing.
This book had nothing to do with Eva Braun. It seemed to be focused on everyone else BUT her and I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. I kept thinking it would get better but it never did. Disappointing.
cchartier's review against another edition
3.0
A good overview of the few knowable facts and many claims about Eva Braun's life. There isn't much god evidence about her; most post-war statements and memoirs are self-serving and the author patiently sorts out what can safely be believed. Scholars who broadly generalized and defined the power of women in the upper echelons of the Third Reich are also taken to task. In many instances, these scholars believed the reports of Nazis desperate to keep their lives and livelihoods intact after the war when it came to the subject of women, while interrogating other claims.
At only about 250 pages (plus lots of notes), there isn't all that much about Evan Braun the person; instead it's a theory of what life was like in Hitler's inner circle (mainly hypocritical and cutthroat). It's still an interesting, if light, read.
At only about 250 pages (plus lots of notes), there isn't all that much about Evan Braun the person; instead it's a theory of what life was like in Hitler's inner circle (mainly hypocritical and cutthroat). It's still an interesting, if light, read.