Hitler Loved to Pose with Children

Hitler with children attired in native garb on the Obersalzberg. Credit: C&TAuctions/BNPS.

I have another page full of pictures of Adolf Hitler. However, that is sort of a depository for any interesting Hitler pictures that I come across. Thus, it's a lengthy page without a specific sub-theme. It may take a while to load for some viewers. For convenience, I have broken out only those shots which show Adolf Hitler posing with children.

One of many pictures of Hitler being nice to German children.

We all have heard of the tendency of politicians to kiss babies. Strangely enough, there aren't many - perhaps any - pictures of Hitler actually kissing any babies. I haven't found any, at least.



But he sure liked to pose with children. And they adored him.

Hitler with Hitler Youth on the Obersalzberg 1937. Note the German Maidens in the background awaiting their turn with the Fuhrer.

Hitler at heart was a politician, though of course, he morphed into many other things besides that. Part of his myth-making method was to pose with children, the younger the better. Hitler thus went out of his way to pose with children. Entire events appear to have been stage-managed to insert him into some kind of camp outing or pageant.


Many of these events were held on the Obersalzberg, the mountain home to his private residence in Berchtesgaden. This would have been a scenic outing for the children, and also quite convenient for Hitler.

Hitler at some celebration at the Berghof. Credit: C&TAuctions/BNPS.

Hitler's posing went well beyond just attending rallies of children, however. He also consciously posed with angelic-looking children individually.

Eva Braun taking one of the many propaganda shots of Hitler walking with children.

Eva Braun often took these propaganda shots. It probably made the children feel at ease to have a woman involved in the process.

Hitler with a German girl at the Obersalzberg (Berghof, apparently). Note the huge Swastika flag in the background and Hitler wearing the armband - they never missed a chance to get those symbols in.

One child appears in many of these shots, which were intended to appear on picture postcards. The girl was named Rosa Berneli (or Bernile) Nienau, from Munich. Rosa visited on her birthday in the summer of 1933, and Hitler invited her out of the crowd and up to Haus Wachenfeld for strawberries and whipped cream. This particular postcard (the one above) was published with the caption "Thanks for the Birthday Invitation."

This is a "well-known postcard" with Rosa, the local girl who appeared in many photos with Hitler.

Hitler's personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann (or perhaps Hoffmann's former assistant, Eva Braun) made maximum use of propaganda photos taken of the two together during this and other visits.

Another picture with a (terrified) child. I am tempted to try to identify her as Rosa, but I have no other information on this. One of Adolf's techniques at mass rallies (note all the people in the distance, watching), to greet a child, accept flowers from her, pat her cheek. This "humanized" him.

Hitler, with no children of his own, developed what may have been a genuine fondness for the girl. Unfortunately for propaganda purposes (for those times and that place), Rosa turned out to have a Jewish maternal grandmother. Martin Bormann abruptly ended the visits. However, Hitler did allow her to visit now and then thereafter despite knowing of her ancestry.

Hitler blessing a child, to the mother's (and apparently child's) delight. I am tempted to identify the girl as Rosa, but that is just a guess.

There were plenty of simple local families who were delighted to pose their children with the Fuhrer. Many of them may not even have known exactly who Hitler was - mass media did not reach into every remote cabin and cottage. However, Hitler obviously was a rich, important man, and in those days that alone counted for a lot.

Hitler greeting a member of the German Maidens with that weird Germanic cheek squeeze. They were the corollary group to the Hitler Youth. Note the masses of maidens in the background. She likely had just given him those flowers he is holding, which someone is about to take from him. Every single girl watching envied this girl, who likely was some kind of leader. If you look closely, it appears that the girls in the background are giving the Hitler salute (Hitlergruß).

Hitler used children as props during his rallies. In a typical scenario, some toddler who could barely walk would come out to hand Hitler flowers on behalf of whatever town he was visiting.

Hitler being nice to a child before the masses.

These little flower ceremonies apparently began when Hitler was campaigning across Germany before becoming Chancellor.

A girl welcoming Hitler to her city during the 1930s. She appears to be a member of the female counterpart to the Hitler Youth, the BDM (German Maidens).

Flying in his personal Junkers Ju 52, Hitler would touch down at some town and wait for the child to bring him the flowers as a sort of homage (a word actually used on some postcards). Then, they would pose looking at each other with blinding smiles.

Hitler greeting more German boys.

Hitler posed with boys and girls alike. Often, he appears to be sizing the boys up as future soldiers.

An odd photo of Hitler with children where the children have not yet been told to smile adoringly yet.

Naturally, all of the children were told exactly how to pose. Hitler did not just jump in behind them and get a snapshot. Invariably, the children would be smiling up at him adoringly or presenting him with some gift such as the obligatory flowers.

"Children pay homage to the Fuhrer" 1934.

Hitler also acted as a sort of uncle for the Goebbels children. Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda had six children. Some said that Hitler "liked" Magda, but then they said that about all of the attractive women around the Fuhrer. None of the Goebbels children (or Magda) survived the war.

Hitler and Helga Goebbels. They died within hours of one another in the Berlin bunker.

Hitler appeared to genuinely like the children. He was sort of a doting uncle. However, there is no question that, whatever he felt about them, the pictures were designed solely to further his image.

Another shot of Hitler with a Goebbels child, perhaps Helga again. Next time you see a picture of a politician posing with a baby, remember this shot.

Just like today, the kids would line up to get Hitler's autograph.

Hitler signing autographs for Hitler Youth.

Greeting the Fuhrer was considered a high honor. Getting picked out from the crowd to stand beside him with his arm on your shoulder was even better. Note how, in the photo below, he appears to have chosen the youngest boy in the group to stand next to him. This, of course, made him look bigger.

Hitler with Hitler Youth on the Obersalzberg 1937. Note the German Maidens in the background awaiting their turn with the Fuhrer.

The overwhelming tendency was for Hitler to pose with children barely out of diapers. This presumably conveyed some of their innocence upon him. It also made him appear to be the protector of the most vulnerable. Another effect was to make Hitler appear to be the guardian of the future.


A more subtle purpose was to appeal to women - some of Hitler's most ardent supporters were women. In fact, Hitler put a lot of thought and effort into gaining the support of women. Hitler was the only rock star in the Germany of the '30s and early '40s. Appealing to his admirers' maternal instincts was part of the image.

Hitler with children at the Berghof. An obvious propaganda shot, like virtually all of his appearances with children. I don't have a date on this, but whenever it was, there were several pictures taken that day. This was most likely circa 1935-1937 after the Berghof was finished being refurbished for him in 1936. Perhaps a house-warming party in 1936.

Some of the shots show what Hitler was looking for. In the photo below, the young girl smiling broadly captured the right "look."

Hitler with some children decked out in their Sunday best.

The same shot below, printed in color for a postcard. Once again, the girl has just the right look, looking playfully ahead.

Same children as in the above shot +1 more child on the left (apparently added for artistic balance). They now are properly posed and the shot is in final form for a postcard. Hitler's armband is made distinctive, and the little boy's vest on the left is colored to appear reminiscent of a Swastika. Whether or not the propaganda people consciously knew about subliminal advertising, they seem to have picked it up instinctively.

Below, a girl at a typical flower presentation. Adolf Hitler is shown greeting by a child in front of his personal Ju 52, which places this picture to some time in the 1930s (he switched to a faster Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor when the war began in 1939). Note how perfectly the plane's swastika gets in the shot like a halo over Hitler's head. Hoffmann knew what he was doing. Below, another typical flower ceremony shot.

A picture dated 1937 shows German Chancellor and Dictator Adolf Hitler receiving flowers from a little girl. Note the similarity to other photos above - these photo ops were very carefully staged by the propaganda people. I am tempted to identify also as Rosa, but it could have been any young girl. AFP PHOTO (Photo AFP/Getty Images)

2020

Hitler's Woman Captured the Fuhrer Both at Work and at Play

Eva Braun was virtually unknown in the Allied nations until after the war.

Below is home movie footage shot by Eva Braun. Photography was nothing unusual to Eva, who was a photographer's assistant when "Herr Wolf" (Hitler) met her one day in the shop.

Hitler is shown reviewing some of Eva's work at the Berghof.  Her former boss Heinrich Hoffmann, to whom official credit for many of her photographs was given, stands at left.

Eva's film is in color, which is quite unusual for the time period. Color film was many times the cost of black and white film, both to purchase and develop, but no cost was too great for the Fuhrer's mistress.

I think that is Eva in the background, but I am not sure.

Because of that, we have exceptional footage of Hitler, Berchtesgaden, a cruise, and other vacations that Eva went on, and Eva practicing on the parallel bars and going swimming and everything else that she liked to do.

A selfie from Eva's personal photo album. Yes, she was that far ahead of her time. (National Archives).

Eva was a big-time photographer and had unlimited access to her subject, much like, say, Linda McCartney and Paul McCartney. It is a film record taken by someone who knows how to use a movie camera.

Eva could make Hitler "positively good-looking"!

Eva was a mystery to the world.

Eva rather ostentatiously created (now quite helpful) title cards for the films, for unfortunately there is no sound. Home movie cameras of the time, no matter how fancy, did not yet have microphones - recall that talkies themselves were not even a decade old at the time of some of this footage. However, modern advances in lip-reading technology have deciphered some of the dialogue.

Eva with her Rolleiflex still camera.

Seriously, these films look like they were only shot ten or twenty years ago, not at a time when virtually all Hollywood films were shown in black and white. Some scenes are also in slow motion, which did not become a television network staple until the 1970s.


Evidently, Eva had studied the work of Leni Riefenstahl, who had pioneered the technique in her documentary of the 1936 Olympics, "Olympia" (1938). Eva had access to anything that she needed, and the German film industry was at its peak despite defections to Hollywood of some of its most legendary talent, such as Marlene Dietrich and Ernst Lubitsch.

Eva took this snap at the overlook on the way to the teahouse on the Obersalzburg.

Everybody who came to visit the Obersalzburg knew about Eva and her penchant for recording everything, even though she was virtually unknown to the German public, let alone the outside world. Here is a snippet from Joseph Goebbels' diary from 1943:

"Miss Eva Braun shows us some color movies that she filmed on the Obersalzberg in the last years. One saw the Fuehrer still in peacetime. I’ve never seen him so relaxed on film before. You also see the difference in the Fuehrer between the films of 1939 and then from 1942. You really see how the Fuehrer has changed during the war. Then he was still a young man, during the war he’s become more and more old, and now he’s quite bent over. But despite that, his moral steadfastness and determination is inexhaustible."

An extremely rare shot of Eva Braun's 16 mm Siemens film cine-camera casually lying on the table.

The films have a very convoluted history. Eva, of course, flew to Berlin (against Hitler's orders) in mid-April 1945 on one of the last Lufthansa flights of the war before they were suspended. She left behind at the Berghof her reels of film, simply piled in one of her rooms.

Eva (likely the woman with her back to the camera) had a great interest in advanced optical equipment, as evidenced by the telescope set up behind Hitler. Eva had a very imaginative mind which many did not appreciate at the time.

When the US Army liberated Berchtesgaden a couple of weeks later, they found piles of canisters of unmarked film. Fortunately for posterity, it somehow survived the USAAF bombing of the Berghof on 25 April 1945.

Eva with her very professional film equipment at the Berghof.

The US Signal Corps took the canisters away and sent them to the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington DC. Nobody apparently bothered to look at them or do anything with them but throw them into a warehouse. There they sat, gathering dust for decades, unnoticed and unwanted.

Eva with one of her movie cameras. Apparently, she upgraded from time to time. Also - notice the tripod in the background.

Nobody was interested in films, and they were utterly forgotten. Nobody, in fact, even bothered to catalog them. They were simply thrown in with other war films - primarily Japanese - and left to rot.

Note the camera at Eva's waist. She apparently took it with her almost everywhere.

However, they remained in absolutely perfect condition. That is fortunate, for many films of the time degraded or even burst into flame and caused fires.



A German filmmaker, Lutz Beck, tracked the films down in 1972 after finding a photograph of Eva holding a movie camera. Until then, nobody even knew that Eva had taken any films, though there were a few photos known of her holding a film camera. Beck found the Braun canisters piled with other films in an old aircraft hangar in Maryland. It was where the Signal Corps had dumped the films in 1945. He restored them and showed them to the public. People were dismayed and slammed him for glorifying the Third Reich. The experience scarred Beck. He did a service to posterity that we now appreciate, but he was ahead of his time.

Eva Braun with Uschi and Gitta Schneider on the Berghof terrace. This image was included in pages of Herta Schneider’s photo albums and cataloged as such in the National Archives. Most likely it is a self-consciously posed selfie, but it is difficult to call this "propaganda" because it was never intended for distribution.

Now more time has passed since Beck found the films than had passed then since the war. Nobody is forgetting the horrors of the Third Reich, but there is the possibility of a less visceral reaction to the films for historians and others, a more analytical approach. The films are all reproduced and available for purchase on various sites. Several hours are available. I have placed some samples below, though of course they could be presented better.

Albert Speer, on the far right, was a sourpuss when it came to Eva Braun - and he was dead wrong in his assessment of her. Joseph Goebbels, on the other hand, delighted in being the life of the party.

Albert Speer, Hitler's personal architect and later his Armaments Minister, once said that "Historians will be greatly disappointed by Eva Braun." She was the most modern one of the bunch, taking selfies and relaxing her subjects with her free-spirited demeanor so that they revealed completely different dimensions of themselves. Speer failed to see that the video record Eva Braun left behind, which could have been lost to bombs or neglect or simple ignorance, made her immortal.

Eva Braun filmed in living color using the best equipment and film of her day.














2022

A lot of odd Third Reich souvenirs found their way into the private market after World War II. Items stolen by the Germans which found their way into private hands have been subject to return to heirs of the rightful owners. A famous case occurred recently with the son of a German art dealer who retained stolen art taken from Jewish victims. However, some "souvenirs" were personal to German bigwigs such as Hitler and Hermann Goering and thus have no wronged owners (though some might argue that any Third Reich treasures were the result of plunder and thus tainted). One such item which pops up now and then on the auction markets is the infamous Hitler Swastika Ring.



World War II television shows these days which shall remain nameless glorify the GIs who occupied treasure-laden places in Germany such as Hitler's Berghof in Berchtesgaden. I have no issue with that, that is part of war. Without going off onto a rant on the topic, the soldiers were heroes who justly should be honored. However, some of them also were, shall we say, treasure hunters who grabbed whatever wasn't nailed down. Many of the takings were tasteless in the extreme (human skulls, for instance). GIs only made something like $30 a month, and plunder is as old as war, so their desire to make a profit from risking their lives is understandable (and made for a great film in "Kelly's Heroes"). Anyway, one such GI pocketed the ring shown in the accompanying pictures from the Berghof and brought it home.


Long in private hands and traded around, the ring is known as the Hitler Swastika Ring. In the form of a huge swastika, it is supported by other swastikas and swords. The piece has a large ruby setting. The entire gaudy thing rests in a silver globe complete with an elaborate foot, also with a swastika. The ring is gold-plated, but over the 80-odd years since it was crafted, much of the gold has flaked off.



The history of trinkets like this is instructive in itself. The ring was produced by German goldsmith Karl Berthold (1889-1975), who proudly informed the Fuhrer in 1933 that he had fired his Jewish assistants (without any laws saying he had to) so that their hands would not sully the gaudy ring. Berthold was one of those enablers who made money off the Party and then lived happily ever after. Souvenirs like the Hitler Swastika Ring are one of the very few areas where the Third Reich lives on in one form or another.



Obviously, the ring's entire history is horrendous. Besides that, the design itself is spectacularly kitschy and an eyesore. German art of the period tended to be monumental and overbearing, and this ring is no exception. However, the ring does have a unique provenance - it was given to Hitler by some underling, though whether Hitler ever wore it is unknowable, and he was not overly into jewelry. Collectors love unique items connected to top Third Reich Germans whether it is beautiful or not, so the Hitler Swastika ring's value has skyrocketed along with that of other authentic memorabilia. The ring reportedly sold for roughly $100,000 in September 2013, though who bought it and for exactly how much remains a mystery. While we can all dream up more deserving beneficiaries of the ring and/or its component attributes than some collector, private owners will no doubt endlessly trade this wildly offensive symbol back and forth for as long as people remember the Third Reich.



2016

Capt. Alven Baker wanted to capture Hitler. Presumably, an SOE operative on Operation Foxley would have concealed himself a bit differently. (Photo courtesy of Richard Baker).

Adolf Hitler led a charmed existence. It wasn't so much that he worked his way out of poverty, survived his abortive coup that left the man standing beside him dead, or became Chancellor and supreme ruler of Germany despite never once winning more than 50% of the votes in a fair election. No, Adolf Hitler was charmed because he managed to do all that and not get shot or blown up despite the numerous and extremely capable people determined to kill him.

One of many unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Hitler, the 20 July 1944 Stauffenberg plot.

Everyone knows about the 20 July 1944 attempt by Claus von Stauffenberg to assassinate Hitler. Many also know that the Stauffenberg plot was simply the last in series of poorly executed, untimely or simply unlucky attempts to eliminate Hitler in time to make a good peace with the Allies. Far fewer, though, know that the German officers were not the only ones plotting to assassinate Hitler. The British were trying, too. This was Operation Foxley.

Hitler and his Routines

Hitler was a creature of habit. He was known to not like seeing new faces in his presence, despite the fact that he despised several of them (such as his military chiefs). He had many routines. For instance, he would hold two situation conferences every day, one at noon and one at midnight (more or less). When at the Berghof in Berchtesgaden, Hitler would walk his dog, Blondi, in the woods every day. And, he would walk to take his daily tea.

Among Hitler's daily routines was walking Blondi.

Walk to take his daily tea, you say? Why would he do that? He could just brew a pot at home! Well, he could have: but he didn't. And he had a good reason not to: he liked to walk there.

Hitler taking his daily constitutional to the teahouse with Heinrich Himmler, 1943-44.

Hitler was well aware throughout his reign that people were trying to kill him. He also was smart enough to instinctively understand some basic principles of security. One of the most basic is to not become predictable in one's movements. When assassins know when and where you will be, you are as good as dead. The modern American Secret Service never publishes the President's schedule with too many details for precisely this reason.

Hitler in Paris. One of the reasons that he looks so worn in pictures taken there is because, for him, it was still the middle of the night. The visit exemplified his personal attention to security: it was not announced to local authorities; it came as a surprise even to his entourage; his plane landed at first light; it was done quickly with no set itinerary; and he was back home by about noontime. Many very surprised Parisians saw the Fuhrer up close and personal that morning, either driving by them on the streets or walking by with aides on Montmartre. He was safe because his visit was completely unexpected and unpredictable.

Hitler thus made it a fetish to never be predictable. This was not something that was done for him by some scheduler: he did it himself. One attempt on his life is known to have been foiled because Hitler, who it was known would be visiting a certain art gallery, intentionally rushed through it in a matter of minutes, leaving the saboteurs powerless. Hitler's famous July 1940 visit to Paris was conducted at 6 in the morning  - the middle of the night for a man with Hitler's schedule - purely for security reasons. It was always his decision, not his security detachment, and perhaps Hitler's greatest talent was this knowledge about how to keep himself alive.

Hitler outside his command train "Amerika." While the train was heavily defended, its most potent defense was its unpredictable schedule and whereabouts.

This unpredictability became well-known to those who would like to have eliminated Hitler, but there was nothing that they could do about it. Extraneous factors always seemed to protect the Fuhrer: once an officer with a gun went to the Fuhrer headquarters determined to assassinate Hitler, but for some reason, on this one occasion, the SS guards refused him admittance. It is clear that they did not suspect anything, because in that case the man would have been shot instantly. It was just the lucky charm, the "Devil's hand" as the would-be assassins called it, that continually protected Hitler.

Hitler's cap is believed to have held a metal plate.

Hitler also wore body armour when out in public, at least after the war began. His peaked cap was believed to contain a lead plate, and some of his uniforms appeared to contain bullet-proof vests. When venturing into military zones, Hitler even occasionally would don a holster and pistol, though this was extremely rare.

Hitler wearing a side-arm while inspecting an armoured train in Poland.

However, careful as Hitler was, there was one place that he felt secure: Berchtesgaden. While always protected there by security detachments, anti-aircraft guns and the like, the Berghof compound itself was relatively unguarded. It was the one spot where Hitler felt free to go outside, breath some fresh air, and not worry about his safety. He had always loved to walk in the mountains, and the Berghof offered him that opportunity, free of any cares.

The SOE

Hitler was right about one thing: he was safe at the Berghof from German assassins. The SS guards at the front gate were very effective, and the entire area - which included homes for Goering and Goebbels, along with military barracks and other installations, some 80 buildings in all - was patrolled and under surveillance. Any amateurish assassin - such as the members of the Stauffenberg plot - wouldn't stand a chance blundering in there.

An SOE agent, Philip Worrall, OBE, on assignment in the Greek mountains. He does not look too badly off.

There was one group of assassins, though, who were not amateurish in the slightest and, in fact, were quite deadly and effective. This was the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). This was a James-Bond type operation (the Director of SOE was only referred to as "CD") designed to infiltrate agents into occupied territory and carry out missions there. SOE had contacts with resistance forces throughout Europe, including some near Berchtesgaden.

Hitler at the teahouse with a companion.

As the war ground on, many ordinary Germans became quite resentful of the war's cost to them personally and the nation in general. Of course, they could not express such feelings openly, as many who did were sent to the concentration camps. However, the SOE was excellent through its web of spies at identifying and recruiting locals who might be useful in piecing together a larger operation. For instance, an agent parachuted into occupied France or Germany would need a place to stay while carrying out a mission; the SOE knew who to ask. There might be one person giving the commando shelter and sustenance, another taking him to the place where he would carry out his mission, and so forth. Even a seemingly simple mission, such as the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in June 1942, required extensive training, planning and, most importantly, assistance near the target.

Operation Foxley

The SOE decided early on that Hitler would be a target. Its first nebulous idea was simply to bomb Hitler's command train "Amerika." This plan ultimately was dropped because Hitler, as discussed above, was too predictably unpredictable. Hitler ordered his train personnel to inform stations that it was coming through only minutes before it arrived, varied its routes, left at different times, and so on. The SOE plan did not stand a chance and was shelved.

The famous "Hotel zum Türken" ("Turkish Hotel"). It is located next to the Berghof site. Hitler's SS security detachment was housed here. It is one of the very few buildings in the vicinity with a Third Reich association that remains, as it was a private dwelling essentially confiscated by the government. The private owners demanded and received it back after the war, and it remains in use as a hotel today.

The SOE put the assassination concept on hold until a specific opportunity arose. One finally did in June 1944. Subsequent to D-Day, the invasion forces took prisoner a German who at one time had been part of the security detachment in Berchtesgaden. Probably without thinking much of it, this man described normal routines at the Berghof, how people could know that Hitler was in residence there, and so forth.

Hitler and Goering at a scenic overlook at the Berghof, each trying to adopt a more studied manly pose for the camera. I think Goering won this round.

The SOE could not believe its luck. Among the things that they learned was that the staff at Berchtesgaden would raise a Swastika flag whenever Hitler was there, but not otherwise.

Adolf Hitler posing with the Swastika flag (Credit: C&TAuctions/BNPS).

The prisoner also told them that when Hitler woke up around 10:00 a.m., he invariably would head out for a 20- or 30-minute walk to the teahouse (not the Eagle's Nest, which is on another mountain) on the Obersalzburg that was on the other side of the Berghof compound.

The tea house on the Mooslahnerkopf. It was of Hitler's own design and was finished in 1937. It was a small building against the mountain side, with a rectangular lay-out and with an 8 meter diameter circular room on the side. It was demolished long ago. One can see the path that Hitler likely walked.

This walk featured scenic vistas of the valley below.  The view went both ways, of course. A carefully sited sniper with the right weapon would have an unmatched opportunity to alter world history. Due to Hitler's unpredictability, the agent would have to be smuggled into a safe house near Berchtesgaden and then wait for an indefinite period of time before an opportunity arose to carry out the mission. They would know that Hitler was in residence when the Swastika flag flew over the Berghof; then, it would only be a matter of getting into position and waiting. Using a POW named Dieser, the SOE located his uncle, a shopkeeper in nearby (20 km) Salzburg identified as "Heidentaler," who was opposed to the Hitler regime. Heidentaler would house two agents and then transport them to Berchtesgaden for the job disguised as German mountain troops.

A tempting target.

The plan quickly went up the British chain of command. Winston Churchill personally approved it. The head of SOE's German Directorate, Lt. Colonel Ronald Thornley, was not quite so confident. Without attacking the feasibility of the operation itself, Thornley was not convinced that assassinating Hitler would further the Allied war effort.

Hitler with Heinrich Himmler at the teahouse, 3 April 1944.

Hitler was known to have absolute control over German force deployments and strategy, and his conduct of operations was horrible. Leaving Hitler in place to ruin the German army, Thornley believed, was a better strategy than making him a martyr. This line of thinking became a major plot point in Lee Marvin's 1985 film, "The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission."

Hitler during his final visit to Berchtesgaden, in July 1944.

In the event, due to these sorts of misgivings, Thornley and his colleagues at SOE never actually approved the plan despite its support at "higher levels." Operation Foxley became impossible for other reasons. The British would have had to act extremely fast, because Hitler left the Berghof for the last time on 14 July 1944 for East Prussia. He never returned to Berchtesgaden. By January 1945, Hitler was in the bunker in Berlin, where no sniper would ever reach him.




2016