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The Women Closest to Hitler and Marlene Dietrich Book Essay
on:
Guido Knopp,
Hitler's Women:
by Olivia Stoopack for Prof. Marcuse's lecture course |
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& Abstract |
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Bibliography |
Plagiarize! |
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About Olivia Stoopack I am a senior political science major and will be attending law school in the fall. I have visited Germany multiple times, and have been interested in the Holocaust since I was much younger. I chose to write about the women in Hitler’s life and in Nazi Germany because it was a new aspect I had not explored before which I found different and enlightening. Abstract (back to top) Guido Knopp’s book, Hitler’s Women, profiles five women who lived in Nazi Germany as well as Marlene Dietrich, who left Germany shortly after the Nazi rise to power. Three of these women, Eva Braun, Magda Goebbels and Winifred Wagner, were part of Hitler’s personal life. Two others, Zarah Leander and Leni Riefenstahl, were part of the propaganda machine of the Third Reich. The last woman, Marlene Dietrich, was an actress who refused to have any part in Nazi Germany and helped many refugees flee to the United States. Knopp uses primary sources to reveal the character of these women and how their lives shaped their decision to follow, or refuse to follow, Hitler. He focuses on how Braun, Goebbels, Wagner, Riefenstahl and Leander readily ignored the atrocities being committed either because of devotion to Hitler or the desire for fame and profit. Dietrich is contrasted against them as an example of someone who did not back down from her beliefs. She used her prior ties with the United States and ability to look at the situation in Germany from the outside to avoid being swayed by Hitler and the Nazi Party. |
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Essay (back to top)
In the book Hitler’s Women, author Guido Knopp profiles six women who were affected by Adolf Hitler and Nazi power in Germany: Eva Braun, Magda Goebbels, Leni Riefenstahl, Winifred Wagner, Zarah Leander and Marlene Dietrich. Using biographical information, memoirs, personal diaries, and interviews with friends and family members, Knopp is able to compare and contrast these women with each other and explain their relationships to Hitler. While all six had similarities Knopp also is able to show stark differences. In particular Marlene Dietrich is contrasted with three of the other women, all of whom turned a blind eye to the Nazi Party’s actions, while Dietrich firmly refused to go along with what was happening in Nazi Germany because of her financial and personal abilities to move to the United States, astutely recognize the political and social situation in Germany from the outside, and make the decision that she needed to do something about it.
The first woman Knopp writes about is Eva Braun, Hitler’s mistress and eventually his wife. Braun’s political involvement was small if existent at all. She did not recognize Hitler when he came into the photography shop she worked at until her boss told her who he was (Knopp, 8). Braun’s obsession with attention and the spotlight eventually led to an obsession and relationship with Hitler. Unfortunately for Braun, he did not actively consider marriage as he claimed that he would only be married to Germany (Knopp, 14). His personal valet said that Hitler’s decision not to marry kept him closer to the people than if he had married, so he wished to remain single so the people would see him as devoted to them (Knopp, 15). Braun was pushed out of the political light and was only allowed to sit on the VIP podium once at a Nazi rally in 1934, and this “caused a stir” (Knopp, 17). Finally in 1936 Braun was brought to live at the Berghof with Hitler but was still kept out of all political and official affairs and was not seen by guests; she was the “unseen and unmentioned mistress” (Knopp, 22). Although she was not included in political affairs, she did know about many of the atrocities Hitler committed and like many of the women in this book she learned to “close her ears” (Knopp, 36). If anyone asked she would discourage political talk or evade questions about anything involving politics (Knopp, 40). Braun always hoped her life would be a dramatic story involving her finally marrying Hitler and it did turn out that way. She was desperate to be as emotionally close to Hitler as she could be, and when she realized their marriage would only happen through her suicide, she accepted that readily. (Knopp, 48). Her obsession with him ended in her death for him. Eva Braun’s role in Nazi Germany can be contrasted with that of Magda Goebbels, who was close to Hitler but was allowed to participate in the politics of Nazi Germany where Braun had been forbidden.
Magda Goebbels was the wife of Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. While both Braun and Magda Goebbels were close to Hitler, Braun was hidden away at official functions while Goebbels was allowed to be “the regime’s unofficial female leader,” and portrayed the “super mum of the Third Reich” (Knopp, pp. 75, 53). Goebbels had a questionable past, including a past Jewish last name from her stepfather Richard Friedländer who she had a strong bond with as her father figure, and love for Victor Arlosoroff a leader in the Zionist movement (Knopp, 57). She not only had feelings for Arlosoroff, she took part in Zionist debates and at one point even wore a Star of David around her neck (Knopp,58). However, Goebbels had no problem in following the antisemitism of Hitler’s doctrine and explained to her former sister in law that “The Third Reich was simply anti-Jewish […] and it was her husband’s job to attack the Jews” (Knopp, 76). Goebbels did not think much of Braun and refused to invite her to coffee, and even called her a “blonde airhead” (Knopp, 83). The amount of almost pathetic obsession and love Braun had for Hitler was not too different from the way Goebbels felt towards Hitler, although her feelings were those of a devoted follower. She believed completely in Hitler and the Nazi Party, even after her friendship with the Jewish leader of a Zionist group, and put everything she had into the Nazi party and its antisemitism. Her feelings went so far that she believed that when Germany was about to lose the war that she and her children could not live in the world that was coming (Knopp, 97). She and Braun both had a deep obsession with Hitler which led to their deaths. Goebbels and Braun both wanted approval from Hitler, although Braun was clearly more in love with him. Their different loves allowed Braun to ignore the atrocities he committed, while Goebbels plainly accepted everything that was going on and trusted that Hitler’s plans should be obeyed and carried out. Knopp’s use of first hand information such as diaries and conversations between the women and other people convey their feelings towards Hitler extremely well. Readers are able to understand Braun’s and Goebbels’ roles and hear in their own words how they felt about Hitler.
The next four women in the book all were involved in the arts. Knopp’s account of Leni Riefenstahl sets her up to look delusional in her lies. He contrasts her statements and parts of her memoir with what happened historically and with quotes from other people who knew her. Leni claims that she hardly worked for Hitler and that she “had no intention of falling under Hitler’s influence,” (Knopp, 99). Riefenstahl is known for one of her most famous movies called Triumph of the Will, which showed the Nazi Party Rally in Nuremberg in 1934 and put it in a “seductive light” (Knopp, 101). Her work with Hitler began when he saw her film The Blue Light and was impressed by her work (Knopp, 113). She was initially very enthusiastic about Hitler; she said his speech had a “hypnotic effect” on her and she was impressed by his ability to deliver it to the public so charismatically (Knopp, 113). Like others his charismatic speeches drew her in and led her to believe in him. Riefenstahl’s staunch denial and stories that are obviously un-true make her a questionable source. She has said that when Hitler asked her to make films for his party she was taken aback and said she was not interested in politics at all. She also insinuated that Hitler wanted to take her as his lover (Knopp, 114- 115). Riefenstahl had an image of Hitler in her mind that she kept to her death, one of a pleasant man in his private life who she respected but whose politics she was not interested (Knopp, 114). In her memoirs, which seem skewed, she says “[o]nce Hitler was in power, [she] wanted to have no connections with him any longer,” (Knopp, 116). This is interesting seeing as she continued to make movies for him, namely Victory of the Faith and Triumph of the Will, both Nazi propaganda movies of Nuremberg rallies in 1933 and1934, and Olympia which documented the greatness of Nazi Germany through the 1936 Olympics. Winifred Wagner and Hitler’s relationship is particularly interesting because of how close they were. Wagner says that “[she] knew him for 22 years and was never once disappointed in him as a human being. I mean, apart from the things that went on elsewhere, but of course those things did not affect me” (Knopp, 146). Knopp makes clear to readers that he cannot understand that she knew about everything elsewhere but believes it had nothing to do with her. Wagner is portrayed as having the most disregard for the public image of Hitler, instead keeping the private image that she held of him as the “uncle” of her children in her mind. Unlike Riefenstahl she does not deny her relationship with Hitler even once he came to power and started the war (Knopp, 148). She spoke of her friendship with him almost proudly, calling him “delightful” and “warm hearted and sociable” (Knopp, 148). These are adjectives most people would not choose to describe Hitler. This decision to encourage public knowledge of her close friendship with Hitler, even with the realization of everything he had done, is harder to understand than Riefenstahl’s decision to lie and push herself further away from Hitler and the Nazi Party. Knopp writes that perhaps Wagner’s English background led to a “fanatical nationalism” that pushed her to have complete faith in Hitler and the Nazis when they ruled Germany (Knopp, 149). She was very taken with the artistic world of Wagner and Bayreuth. Her connection with Hitler came with his obsession with Richard Wagner whose operas were later involved in many of his speeches, anthems and other aspects of the Nazi Party. At their first meeting Winifred Wagner was immediately taken with Hitler, so far as to start “practicing a veritable Hitler-cult,” as well as join the Nazi Party (Knopp, 158, 164). Wagner introduced Hitler to the high, cultured class that he needed access to for support. Wagner’s daughter Friedelind says that Wagner “fed him, dressed him and gave him lessons in elementary manners, took him to the opera house, provided him with money and gave parties in order to introduce him to influential people,” (Knopp, 165). Wagner’s express interest in Hitler was very important for him as she took him on as a sort of project and was able to get him into all the right social circles. Her instant affection for him is what allowed her to look past all the horrible things he did, she was immediately drawn to his personality much like Riefenstahl, Braun and Goebbels. The question of Hitler and Wagner’s physical relationship cannot be answered, but her husband Siegfried was suspicious of a possible relationship (Knopp, 165). The Bayreuth Wagner Festival became a nationalistic affair for the Nazis and Wagner continued to host Hitler in her home. Her platonic or perhaps romantic love for Hitler was enough to make her turn away from everything that was going on outside Bayreuth which led to constant criticism of Wagner. Wagner’s relationship with Hitler was much closer than Riefenstahl’s but both did the same thing during his time in power. He drew them in and earned their respect, which was in his advantage when they were willing to keep this image of him in their minds. Riefenstahl’s denial of her involvement is a natural reaction, while Wagner’s insistence that Hitler really was a good man is very concerning. Zarah Leander’s role as movie star of the Third Reich has earned her criticism because it looks at if she too ignored and accepted Hitler’s activities and profited off the situation. She was born in Sweden, and chose Berlin as her filmmaking arena when she signed with Universum Film AG (Ufa) (Knopp, 210). Knopp stresses that although Leander claimed herself to be a “political ignoramus” this was most likely not true as there are accounts that she attended meetings in Sweden with friends who were very politically minded (Knopp, 198, 211). Leander had an intimate friendship with Karl Gerhard who had left wing political views and vehemently opposed Hitler and the Nazis (Knopp, 211). Her Swedish friends were extremely surprised when she changed her views so quickly and accepted Hitler’s government as long as she could make money in the German film industry (Knopp, 211) At one point she had been extremely poor which frustrated her and was a position she never wanted to be in again (Knopp, 213). When she turned away from Sweden and started working for the Nazis she became extremely rich, solving this problem (Knopp, 213). She was not politically naïve but ignored what was happening and pretended it was not going on just like the other women. Her claim in her autobiography that “[she] could not change [her] political colors because [she] never had any” is probably a lie (Knopp, 248). Joseph Goebbels marketed out Leander in her films to help the German public escape their wartime lives by using the movies as an outlet (Knopp, 221). She had quite a few meetings with prominent Nazi figures including Hitler himself but mentions these incidents in passing as amusing meetings where she disarmed them with her “irreverent repartee” and where there was no conversation relevant to the political situation in Nazi Germany (Knopp, 232). The acts they committed did not outwardly bother her. Her claims that she helped some homosexual acquaintances from being put into camps barely helps her case that she did not ignore and profit from the situation in Nazi Germany (Knopp, 237). Leander’s interests were more self serving and ignorant than Riefenstahl and Wagner but at the same time she was not fascinated with Hitler the way Riefenstahl, Wagner or even Braun and Goebbels were. Instead she decided to pretend she was an ignorant Swedish woman who knew nothing about what was going on, and therefore was able to let everything happen. Marlene Dietrich is Knopp’s direct contrast to the previous three women. Also a film star, she could tell that Germany was changing from the country where she had grown up (Knopp, 254). Dietrich’s daughter said that “[Marlene] did not turn her back on her homeland, but rather on what it had become” (Knopp, 255). Dietrich left Germany to live in Los Angeles after she signed with Paramount in the United States in April of 1930 (Knopp, 264). What is notable is the action she took to show that she was not supportive of Hitler or Nazi Germany. After hearing the horrible things that were going on in Europe from her husband Rudi, she knew that she could not support the policies that were in effect there (Knopp, 270-271). In America, Dietrich helped the people fleeing from Germany to start a new life (Knopp, 271). She said that she “was able to help many of those persecuted escape, then to arrange accommodation for them and later find them work,” and she also gave large amounts of financial assistance to many political refugees which helped them come into the United States even with immigration quotas (Knopp, 271). Her help to them was extremely admirable. In 1937 she became a citizen of the United States, separating herself from her German roots, causing criticism from Germany about her abandonment of the Fatherland (Knopp, 280-281). When an ambassador came to ask her to come back to Germany in 1937 she responded that she would only be coming back when they invited the Jewish director she had previously worked with, Joseph von Sternberg, to come back with her (Knopp, 282-283). The only reason she says she wished she could have been closer to Hitler in some way is because she “will always be haunted by the thought that perhaps [she] could have talked him out of [the war]” (Knopp, 292). This seems unlikely, but the fact that she feels guilty at all about not being in Germany to stop everything from happening shows that she cared enough to not get caught up in the draw of Hitler and the Third Reich that Riefenstahl, Leander, and Wagner had fallen into. While these women were caught up in the propaganda of Nazi Germany and captivated by Hitler, Dietrich had the ability to look at what was going on from the United States. This view from the outside allowed her to see what was really going on and without any allegiance to Hitler she was able to understand that his choices for Germany were wrong (Knopp, 269). She felt allegiance to Germany, but the Germany of the 1920s that she was brought up in, and her Prussian upbringing led her to disregard Hitler’s talk of an exclusively ethnic Germany community (Knopp, 269). Dietrich’s decision to leave Germany because of her hatred of war is what provided her with the ability to see Nazi Germany differently than some of the other women. Although Dietrich clearly had an easy way to move to the United States through her contract with Paramount, other women such as Zarah Leander had this opportunity also but chose to stay and be the star of a corrupt government. After her acknowledgement of the problems in Germany, Dietrich’s decisions to help refugees may have been based off of her close involvement with Jewish people in the film industry and the belief that she needed to help the people who were being persecuted in her own country for reasons she could not understand (Knopp, 271). It is questionable whether these women were not strong enough to work against Hitler’s charisma and presence, or if they were solely out for their own interests. Either way Knopp does a convincing job by setting up Dietrich directly after Leander, who although they were both film stars could not be more different. Leander’s accounts of helping homosexuals, which were probably not even true, pale in comparison with the extensive help Dietrich gave to refugees from Europe in the United States. Riefenstahl, Wagner and Leander’s claims that they knew nothing or that it was none of their business also can be contrasted with Dietrich’s attitude to make it her business. The ignorance of the other women’s comments about the Nazis sounds ridiculous next to Dietrich’s strong statements about a Germany that changed in front of her eyes. Knopp’s account of these six women is significant for a few reasons. There are clear lines that connect these women, they all had a passion for drama and vanity, which was a major factor that drew them to Hitler. There are also differences such as nationality, and actual relations with Hitler. However all of them except Marlene Dietrich could be persuaded into the promises of the Third Reich and all that it had to offer. Although most of them chose to ignore what was going on, a major point that Knopp makes is that it did not have to be this way. Dietrich’s ability to pull away and rebel against Hitler and Goebbels’ wishes show that pretending to not know anything was not the only option. If something like this were to happen again Dietrich would be an example of what people should do rather than what the other women chose to do, which was absolutely nothing.
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Annotated Bibliography and Links (back to top)(links last checked 11/21/10) Book Reviews
Books and Articles
Relevant Websites
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Any student tempted to use this paper for an assignment in another course or school should be aware of the serious consequences for plagiarism. Here is what I write in my syllabi:
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