Constanze Manziarly (14 April 1920 – disappeared 2 May 1945) was born in Innsbruck, Austria. She served as a cook and dietitian to Adolf Hitler until his final days in Berlin in 1945.
Constanze Manziarly | |
|---|---|
 Manziarly in 1943 | |
| Born | 14 April 1920 |
| Disappeared | 2 May 1945 (aged 25) Berlin, Germany |
| Status | Missing for 79 years, 6 months and 23 days |
| Occupation(s) | cook, dietitian |
| Employer | Adolf Hitler |
| Notes | |
*Her death was never confirmed. | |
Early life
editManziarly was born in Innsbruck, Austria, on 14 April 1920.[1] According to Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge, Manziarly wanted to be a teacher and only took up cooking for Hitler temporarily.[2]
Career
editManziarly worked as cook and dietitian for Hitler from his 1943 stays at the Berghof until his death in Berlin on 30 April 1945. According to Junge, as of late 1944 Manziarly was still considered too new to be included within Hitler's "inner circle".[3] On 16 January 1945, Hitler began residing in the Führerbunker, the newer and lower unit of the Reich Chancellery bunker complex. Two rooms in the Vorbunker, the older and upper unit,[4] were used for food supply. Another room was used as the kitchen, with a refrigerator and a wine store. Manziarly prepared Hitler's meals in this kitchen during his last months.[5]
On 22 April, Hitler personally requested Manziarly to leave Berlin, along with Junge and Gerda Christian.[6] However, all three women volunteered to stay with the dictator until his death, and he apparently gave each of them a cyanide capsule to take should they decide to end their own lives.[7] On the night of 29 April, Manziarly accompanied the newly wedded Hitler and Eva Braun, as well as Junge and Christian to their nightly tea session, which characteristically lasted until morning; Hitler affirmed that he would commit suicide that day, 30 April.[8] According to Junge, Manziarly cooked a posthumous meal for Hitler later that day so others without direct knowledge of his death would not become suspicious.[9][a]
On 1 May, Manziarly left the bunker in a breakout group led by SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke. Evading the Soviet Red Army troops, they made their way north to a German Army holdout in the cellar of the Schultheiss-Patzenhofer Brewery on Prinzenallee. The group included Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck, Else Krüger, Christian, and Junge.[11] Early on 2 May, the group was captured by Soviet soldiers.[11] Mohnke tasked the four women with trying to deliver his written report to Hitler's successor, Karl Dönitz. The women walked out of the brewery courtyard and made their way into the Soviet occupied area of Berlin. The women split up, with Christian and Krueger waiting at a water supply area.[12] Manziarly was wearing a Wehrmacht jacket, and went to find some civilian clothes while Junge waited for her.[13] Junge next saw Manziarly being taken towards a U-Bahn subway tunnel by two Soviet soldiers; she reassured Junge that "They want to see my papers." Manziarly was never heard from again.[13] Junge's memoir speculates that Manziarly could have committed suicide using her poison capsule.[14][a]
The 1947 American book Who Killed Hitler? implies that Manziarly possessed exclusive knowledge of a Hitler lookalike seen in her kitchen prior to the collapse of Berlin, who was supposedly meant to ensure the dictator's survival.[15]
Depictions in film
editConstanze Manziarly has been portrayed by the following actresses in film and television productions:
- Phyllida Law in the 1973 British film Hitler: The Last Ten Days
- Carole Boyd in the 1973 British television production The Death of Adolf Hitler
- Pam St. Clement in the 1981 American film The Bunker
- Bettina Redlich in the 2004 German film Downfall (Der Untergang)
See also
editReferences
editFootnotes
edit- ^ a b Citing the inaccuracy of some of her other claims, historian Anton Joachimsthaler regards Junge as an unreliable eyewitness.[10]
Citations
edit- ^ Junge, Gertraud (2011). Hitler's last secretary : a firsthand account of life with Hitler. New York, N.Y.: Arcade Publishing. p. 290. ISBN 9781628721614.
- ^ Junge 2004, pp. 147, 166.
- ^ Junge 2004, p. 147.
- ^ Mollo, Andrew & Ramsey, Winston, ed. After the Battle, Number 61, Seymour Press Ltd., London, 1988, pp. 28, 30.
- ^ Stavropoulos, D. Berlin 1945: The collapse of the 'Thousand Year' Reich, Periscopio Publications, 2009, p. 82.
- ^ Junge, Traudl (1989). Voices from the Bunker, pp.1–3.
- ^ Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin: The Downfall 1945, p. 278.
- ^ Eberle, Henrik; Uhl, Matthias, eds. (2005). The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin from the Interrogations of Hitler's Personal Aides. Translated by Giles MacDonogh. New York: Public Affairs. pp. 246, 267. ISBN 978-1-58648-366-1.
- ^ Galante & Silianoff 1989, p. 24.
- ^ Joachimsthaler, Anton (2000) [1995]. The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, The Evidence, The Truth. Translated by Helmut Bölger. London: Cassell. pp. 150, 160. ISBN 978-1-85409-465-0.
- ^ a b O'Donnell, James (2001) [1978]. The Bunker, New York: Da Capo Press, pp. 271, 274, 283, 291.ISBN 0-306-80958-3
- ^ Junge, Traudl (1989). Voices from the Bunker, pp. 150–151.
- ^ a b Junge 2004, p. 219.
- ^ Junge 2004, p. 210.
- ^ Moore, Herbert; Barrett, James W., eds. (1947). Who Killed Hitler?. W. F. Heimlich (foreword). New York: The Booktab Press. pp. 59–60.
Sources
edit- Galante, Pierre; Silianoff, Eugene (1989). Voices From the Bunker. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 978-0-3991-3404-3.
- Junge, Gertraud (2004) [2002]. Müller, Melissa (ed.). Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary. Translated by Bell, Anthea. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55970-728-2.