One of the most evil men of Hitler’s inner circle was Heinrich Himmler, who was the Head
of the SS.
Many SS members were more loyal to Himmler than they were to the Nazi dictator, and this
made him a dangerous friend to Hitler.
He was a man who was responsible for the deaths of millions, as his SS officers and men staffed
the concentration camps and they committed scores of war crimes.
If Himmler had not died before being brought to trial, it is certain he would have been
executed at the Nuremberg Trials for crimes against humanity.
But what is not as well known about the Reichsfuhrer SS is that he had a secret mistress that bore
him two children.
To many people in Germany, he was married to a woman named Margarete who became rather
senior in the SS, however the couple had become estranged and Himmler would see a much younger
woman in secret.
But what is the story of the Secret Mistress go Heinrich Himmler, join us today as we look
at this and to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Hedwig Potthast was born on the 5th February 1912 in Cologne, and she had a rather normal
upbringing.
Her father worked inside Cologne and owned a business, but following her exams at school
she then became a secretary.
She spoke a number of foreign languages, and after he training she worked in Kolbenz.
Around this time, Heinrich Himmler met his future wife Margarete Boden in 1927, but then
they married in July 1928.
The couple would then the following year had their only child, a daughter named Gudrun,
but Himmler was constantly away from his family, and was always busy on Nazi party business.
Due to the huge amount of responsibility and roles Himmler had inside of the Third Reich,
this placed a strain on his relationship with Margarete, and the couple grew estranged and
would only unite for social occasions, to keep up appearances that everything was okay.
They did not want many to believe they had problems in their marriage, but Margarete
tried her best to entertain other wives of key Nazis, however she wasn’t the most popular.
She had conflicts with the other wives, and Lina Heydrich violently hated her.
She was described as a ‘narrow minded, humourless woman.’
However Himmler would stray from his wife.
Through a friend, Hedwig Potthast met Himmler, and in 1934 she found herself working inside
of the Gestapo Headquarters on Prinz Albrecht Strasse in the German capital.
But after a number of years, she then became Himmler’s private secretary and she would
help him to perform his duties and organise his day.
Hedwig’s arrest record a the end of the Second World War was rather interesting, and
it said ‘She stated that she supervised Himmler’s private chancellery and that her
work was in now way connected with his ss activities.’
But the pair would have an affair, and it was said at Christmas 1938 the pair told each
other they loved one another.
They tried to keep a friendship, but then began to commit adultery, and Himmler’s
wife would find out about the affair in February 1941, despite the fact it had gone on for
some time.
Margarete felt completely humiliated that she had been usurped in her husband’s affections
by the much younger Hedwig who was his mistress, and Hewdig’s parents shunned her affair
with the head of the SS.
They turned her back on her, but she had a number of friends who were the wives of the
top ranking nazis.
Lina Heydrich who hated Himmler’s wife became her friend, as did the wife of Martin Bormann,
Hitler’s secretary.
It was clear that she was ingratiated with the top ranking Nazis, and she would even
at some point live in Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, the site of Hitler’s Eagles Nest.
It’s possible that when Himmler was summoned to the Berghof in this area, his mountain
retreat, that he would see Hedwig in the final years of the Second World War.
But their affair produced two children, a son named Helge who was born in February 1942,
and also a daughter named Nanette Dorothea in July 1944, who was born in Berchtesgaden.
Himmler would then following this ask for a loan from the Nazi Party Chancellory of
80,000 reichsmarks despite the fact the war was going on, and had turned against the Germans.
Himmler then spent this money building a house for his mistress.
But as a mistress of the former head of the SS, a high ranking Nazi and war criminal,
she was arrested and was interrogated, and her arrest report offers an interesting account
of her relationship with Himmler.
It says, ‘an attachment developed which eventually led to a serious love affair.
She left her job in 1941 to lead the life of a loyal, devoted mistress, and bore two
children to Himmler in the years that followed.
The alliance was not legalised by marriage, only because Himmler felt that a divorce might
result in his wife’s death, as the latter had been very ill since the birth of her only
child.She remained at Berchestesgaden until just before the allied occupation.
The last time she saw Himmler was during the week ending 22nd march 1945.
At that time Himmler was confined to bed in a hospital at hohenlynchen near Berlin, suffering
from an attack of grippe or flu.
Whilst visiting him, she encountered Dr Felix Kersten a massage specialist who had been
treating Himmler for years.
Dr Kersteh told her to call upon him if she ever needed any help.
This message had been intercepted) Whilst she lived in bertesgaden she also used to
receive daily telephone calls from Himmler.
She presumed that these calls came from Berlin, but is not certain.
The last call from him came on the 19th April 1945.
As usual he discussed only personal matters over the phone, although he mentioned the
fact that the situation was getting more difficult every day.
Before saying goodbye he promised to call again the following day, but she said that
she never spoke to him.
A letter from him arrived the same day, however was delivered by one of Himmler’s staff
officers.
It contained the usual personal messages, but ended with another phrase about the difficulties
and the hope that God would protect her, the children and Germany.
The letter gave no hint as to Himmler’s plans and no directions for her.
She said positively this was the last word direct or indirect she received from him.
She believed the arrest of Himmler was true, and offered no opinion as to Himmler’s whereabouts,
and was deeply concerned when it was suggested that the arrest of Himmler might not be true.
She thought he might be hiding somewhere, trying to save something for Germany, she
does not believe he fled to another country, and she claims that he never gave any indication
of having any plans in case of a German collapse.’
The arrest report then said, ‘When the allied advance threatened Berchtesgaden, she moved
with her children and subsequently to another address, where this interrogation took place.
After repeatedly protesting that she had burned all her letters from Himler, she finally admitted
she had only burned a small portion of them, as she could not bear to destroy anything
so precious to her.
She states that Himmler never discussed politics or SS activities with her, and that she had
been completely uninformed on those matters since leaving her job.
She considers Himmler an idealist with tremendous faith in Germany, and in the Fuhrer.
She believes that aeverything he did was for the sake of Germany.
He never enriched himself and kept valuable presents but gave them to the SS.
His only property is a house which he bought on a mortgage and paid off.
Himmler was privately opposed to the continuation of the war against the Western Allies.
He attributes the fact that England and the US fought Germany to Joachim Von Ribbentrop’s
ineptitude, and believes that another foreign minister might have avoided such a disaster.’
This arrest report from the 22nd May 1945, shows a lot about Hedwig Potthast and Himmler’s
relationship.
She tried to distance herself from her lover, as she probably knew and had information about
the crimes of the concentration camps.
She later after the war married and took her husband’s name, but she was found interestingly
living with the wife of Oswald Pohl, the wife of another Nazi SS war criminal.
It’s believed that she was also in close contact with Karl Wolff, a former best friend
of Himmler who escapes prosecution.
She died on the 22nd September 1994 at the age of 82.
Hewdig Potthast was the mistress of Heinrich Himmler who usurped his wife in the affections
of the Head of the SS.
She was in love with a man who was repsonsible for the deaths of millions, and who was in
control of the concentration camps.
She claimed she did not know much about his work, and she would refuse to answer questions
about Himmler and his work after the war.
She knew that if she mentioned lots, then she could have possibly been implicated.
But her story is one that is very interesting, and the fact she was in love with one of History’s
most evil war criminals, who’s name causes a chill down the spine is rather captivating.
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