A new Channel 4 series, Dictator: The Hitler Interviews, reveals startling insights from those closest to Adolf Hitler. The three-part documentary, airing at 9pm on Saturday 1 August, compiles archive footage from Hitler's loyal supporters for the first time.
Helene Hanfstaengl: The Woman Who Stopped Hitler's Suicide
Helene Hanfstaengl, wife of early Nazi confidante Ernst 'Putzi' Hanfstaengl, recalled a moment when Hitler knelt before her. 'Oh, he could lay it on, he really could. I was sitting on the sofa and he sank to his knees, put his head in my lap and said, “Oh, if I only had someone to look after me.”' When she suggested he marry, Hitler replied: 'I can never marry because my life is dedicated to my country.'
In November 1923, after the failed Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler fled to the Hanfstaengl home with a broken collarbone. As police surrounded the house, he threatened suicide. Helene intervened: 'I just went up and took it away from him, without any trouble at all. I shouted at him, I said, “what do you think you're doing? After all, your ideas of saving the country and you take your life and leave all your workers behind? They're looking for you to carry on.”'
Putzi Hanfstaengl: Early Supporter and Foreign Press Chief
Putzi, a Harvard-educated German-American businessman, became an early confidante and financial backer of Hitler. Of their first encounter in 1921, he said: 'When I heard this man for the first time in a very noisy meeting, I absolutely felt myself irresistibly drawn to him.' He added: 'He crushed any man with his voice.' Putzi's memoir, Hitler: The Missing Years, claims Hitler was in love with his wife. Helene acknowledged: 'In a way he was. I mean, in as far as he was able to be in love with anyone. He had big blue eyes and he used them.'
Elisabeth Popp: Childhood Landlord's Daughter
Elisabeth Popp knew Hitler before World War I. She was eight in May 1913 when an impoverished Austrian named Adolf Hitler rented a room in her family's Munich flat. Her father allowed him to stay without raising the rent because he spent nights quietly reading and struggled for money. After Hitler rose to power and her father died, he provided financial assistance through royalties from Mein Kampf. Elisabeth said: 'Losing the war shook him up. It was terrible. So many Germans had been so brave. And that made him harder.' Of Hitler's hatred for Jews: 'This wasn't just a political thing, it was something personal… It began as personal and then he built it up into a theory.'
Winifred Wagner: Loyal Friend and Confidante
Winifred Wagner, daughter-in-law of composer Richard Wagner, joined the Nazi Party in 1923 and remained loyal to Hitler until her death in 1980, despite denazification. She recalled: 'After the war we old Nazis invented a code name for him since we couldn't talk about him in public. We called him U-S-A – “Unser Seliger Adolf” Our Blessed Adolf.' Of their first meeting: 'He left a deep impression on me straight away. His personality and his eyes were compelling, very blue, large and expressive.' During Hitler's imprisonment for the Beer Hall Putsch, she organised a collection and sent him writing paper, later jokingly taking blame for supplying paper for Mein Kampf.
Baldur von Schirach: Hitler Youth Leader's Portrait
Baldur von Schirach, who led the Hitler Youth and spent 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity, described Hitler as: 'A man without measure, a man with great gifts, a man who in some ways could be considered a genius. But because he had no sense of measure, he could not succeed. I do not know how else I could make a sort of summary of this fabulous monster.'
A Warning from History
The series includes Putzi's warning: 'He starts his revolution and on it went. Not only was Hitler on the wrong train, it went faster and faster and faster, so nobody could jump off.' Dictator: The Hitler Interviews airs on Channel 4 at 9pm on Saturday 1 August.
