With Hitler to the End: The Memoir of Hitler’s Valet

Book Description:

The remarkable memoir of a man who was by Hitlerâ??s side from 1935 to 1945. Heinz Linge worked with Adolf Hitler for a ten-year period from 1935 until the Führerâ??s death in the Berlin bunker in May 1945. He was one of the last to leave the bunker and was responsible for guarding the door while Hitler killed himself.
During his years of service, Linge was responsible for all aspects of Hitlerâ??s household and was constantly by his side. He claims that only Eva Braun stood closer to Hitler over these years.

Here, Linge recounts the daily routine in Hitlerâ??s household: his eating habits, his foibles, his preferences, his sense of humor, and his private life with Eva Braun. In fact, Linge believed Hitlerâ??s closest companion was his dog Blondi. After the war Linge said in an interview, â??It was easier for him to sign a death warrant for an officer on the front than to swallow bad news about the health of his dog.â? Linge also charts the changes in Hitlerâ??s character during their time together and his fading health during the last years of the war. During his last days, Hitlerâ??s right eye began to hurt intensely and Linge was responsible for administering cocaine drops to kill the pain. In a number of instancesâ??such as with the Stauffenberg bomb plot of July 1944â??Linge gives an excellent eyewitness account of events. He also gives thumbnail profiles of the prominent members of Hitlerâ??s â??courtâ?: Hess, Speer, Bormann and Ribbentrop amongst them.

Though Linge held an SS rank, he claims not to have been a Nazi Party member. His profile of one of historyâ??s worst demons is not blindly uncritical, but it is nonetheless affectionate. The Hitler that emerges is a multi-faceted individual: unpredictable and demanding, but not of an otherwise unpleasant nature. 12 b&w illustrations.