Living with Hitler: Accounts of Hitler’s Household Staff

Hitler is one of the most analyzed figures in 20th-century biography. Many books have been written trying to get to the bottom of what made him tick. This book takes a different tack by translating two interviews and one memoir of the people who worked for Hitler at his retreat at Berghof; they include his valet, a housekeeper, and a chambermaid. Each of them had different types of contact with Hitler, or, as they called him, the Boss, and different types of relationships with him as well. This is a highly fascinating book, as it paints a relatively normal inside world with guests, dinners, walks, and movies. These people were not in the echelons of power; instead this is more of a history from the bottom, how the average person experienced events. Even though he was a powerful leader, to these people he was their boss who knew their names, gave them presents, and even attended their wedding. I believe readers will find it interesting, a change of pace from the usual major players and the political maneuvers and a more personalized account of living at the center of the Third Reich.