“Wolfhilde's Hitler Youth Diary 1939-1946”
By Wolfhilde von König
Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 320 pages | ISBN 9781475968545
Softcover | 6 x 9in | 320 pages | ISBN 9781475968552
E-Book | 320 pages | ISBN 9781475968569
About the Author
Wolfhilde von König, 1925-1993, grew up in Munich during World War II as a Hitler Youth Health Service worker. She built on this early experience to become a medical doctor, specialized in anesthesiology. In 1990 she retired from her position as Chief of Staff of the Maria-TheresiaKlinik. The diary was found among her papers after her death.
What is unique about
this book is that it is a Diary, not a Memoir, meaning it is an unedited
first hand account of day to day history as it happened, not a story
written from memory many years later...
Of particular interest is Wolfhilde's description of an assassination attempt against Hitler in Munich in 1939.
"When I went to bed after (Hitler's) speech, we heard a horrible bang but we couldn't figure out where it came from," Wolfhilde wrote. "The next morning we found out about the horrible assassination attempt on our Fuehrer. It was a kind providence for which we will be eternally grateful that our Fuehrer was spared."
On April 29, 1945, the day before Hitler committed suicide in Berlin, Wolfhilde wrote, "I sit here writing as the earth shudders from the thunder of gunfire ... In Berlin they are fighting to the end."
Although Wolfhilde didn't know it, though Manny had been in the Navy, he was among those battling Soviet troops in the ferocious street fighting in Berlin. He would be captured by the Soviets, and was released in June 1946.
"I just want to know how the Fuehrer is doing," Wolfhilde continued. "Is everything supposed to be over, everything we believed in and everything that we lived for? Should all the sacrifices have been in vain? I can not believe it ... Reichsmarshall Goering has resigned. What is this step supposed to mean? They say it may be health. Does the Fuehrer have to drink the cup to the dregs? What will the Occupation be like? Foreign troops in Munich, in all of Germany. It is hard to believe and yet so unbelievably sad. We, who conquered territory from the Caucasus to the North Sea and the Pyrenees, held Tripoli and the Balkans, now have the enemy on our land ready to eradicate us."
Wolfhilde died in 1993. VonKoenig said he'd gotten to know his aunt quite well, as the family had visited her in Germany and she "had been to the states quite often."
"She was very stern when she needed to be," VonKoenig said. "When she wasn't at work she was quite jovial, joking, always personable. I didn't have a chance to see her work at the hospital, but my brothers said she demanded respect and got every bit of it. She was meticulous in everything she did. She didn't do anything halfway. It was always full bore ahead."