Else Krüger

Else Krüger

Else Krüger (born 9 February 1915) was Martin Bormann's secretary from the end of 1942 (and, allegedly, mistress) during World War II.^{[Note 1]} She was born in Hamburg-Altona.^[1]

She was in the Führerbunker during the Battle of Berlin. Krüger was with Eva Braun, Gerda Christian, Traudl Junge, and Constanze Manziarly when German dictator Adolf Hitler told them that they must prepare to leave for the Berghof like the others. However, she volunteered to remain with Hitler in the Berlin Führerbunker. She was there when Braun indicated that she would never leave Hitler's side and they embraced. In a gesture of kindness, Hitler gave each of the women a cyanide capsule.^[2] Then on the afternoon of 30 April 1945, Hitler and Braun committed suicide.^[3][4]

Thereafter, Krüger left the Führerbunker on 1 May 1945 in a group led by Waffen-SS Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke.^[5] On the morning of 2 May, the group was captured by soldiers of the Soviet Red Army while hiding in a cellar at the Schultheiss-Patzenhofer Brewery on Prinzenallee.^[6]

After the war Krüger was interrogated by the British. She later married her British interrogator, Leslie James (1915–1995), on 23 December 1947 in Wallasey, Cheshire UK. She lived under the name Else James in Wallasey.^[7]

Although Rochus Misch upon his death in September 2013 is believed to have been the last living occupant of the Führerbunker, no evidence of Krüger’s death has been found.

Notes

1. O'Donnell, J. (2001) [1978], The Bunker. Junge and Christian, when interviewed by O'Donnell, both claimed that Bormann was having an affair with Krüger. When O'Donnell asked Krüger if this was true, she neither confirmed nor denied these statements.

References

Citations

1. Joachimsthaler, Anton (1999) [1995], p. 291.
2. Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin: The Downfall 1945, p. 278.
3. Joachimsthaler, Anton (1999) [1995], pp. 160–182.
4. Beevor, Antony (2002), p. 359.
5. O'Donnell, J. (2001) [1978], The Bunker, pp. 271, 274.
6. O'Donnell(2001) [1978], The Bunker, pp. 271, 274, 291.
7. O'Donnell, J. (2001) [1978], The Bunker, p. 293.

Bibliography

• Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin – The Downfall 1945. Viking-Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5.
• Joachimsthaler, Anton (1999) [1995]. The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, The Evidence, The Truth. Brockhampton Press. ISBN 1-86019-902-X.
• O'Donnell, James P. (2001) [1978]. The Bunker. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-80958-3.