- Gerda Christian
Gerda Christian (
December 13 ,1913 –April 14 ,1997 ; born "Gerda Daranowski") was one of the private secretaries ofAdolf Hitler duringWorld War II .Biography
"Dara" (how Hitler referred to her) started working for him in 1937 after his secretaries
Johanna Wolf andChrista Schroeder had complained about having too much work. They asked for assistance but Hitler hesitated because he didn't want to employ a third secretary. He had grown accustomed to Wolf and Schroeder and did not wish to see a completely new face in his inner circle. He finally gave in and hired Gerda Daranowski, who had been working for Elisabeth Arden.She married
Luftwaffe officer Eckhard Christian in February 1943 and took a break from her employment for Hitler. She was replaced byTraudl Junge , but re-entered service in early 1943.One of the last remaining occupants of the
Führerbunker at the end of the war, Christian tried to escapeBerlin on1 May along with a large group including secretariesElse Krüger andTraudl Junge . The group, hiding in a cellar, was captured by theSoviets on the morning of2 May . Christian was repeatedly gang raped by soldiers of theRed Army in the woods near Berlin. [Cite book |last= O'Donnell|first= James P. |title= The Bunker |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fR0afUUXVOkC&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=%22gerda+christian%22+raped&source=web&ots=2LwpbYiHYZ&sig=_TgUJd1hyq5BzlUWF2G7_1LL5-Y&hl=en |accessdate= 2008-12-04 |year= 2001 |publisher= De Capo Press |isbn=0306809583]After the war, she lived in
Düsseldorf , where she worked at the Hotel Eden. She was a friend ofWerner Naumann , a former state secretary in the Third Reich's propaganda ministry and a leader of a postwar neo-Nazi group. She died of cancer inDüsseldorf in 1997.Portrayal in the media
Gerda Christian has been portrayed by the following actresses in film and television productions.
*Sheila Gish in the 1973 British film "".cite web | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070184/ | title = Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973) | accessdate = May 8 | accessdaymonth = | accessmonthday = | accessyear = 2008 | author = | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | date = | year = | month = | format = | work = | publisher =IMDb.com | pages = | language = English | doi = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | quote = ]
*Mitzi Rogers in the 1973 British television production "The Death of Adolf Hitler ".cite web | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283307/ | title = The Death of Adolf Hitler (1973) (TV) | accessdate = May 8 | accessdaymonth = | accessmonthday = | accessyear = 2008 | author = | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | date = | year = | month = | format = | work = | publisher =IMDb.com | pages = | language = English | doi = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | quote = ]
*Birgit Minichmayr in the 2004 German film "Downfall" ("Der Untergang").cite web | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363163/ | title = Untergang, Der (2004) | accessdate = May 8 | accessdaymonth = | accessmonthday = | accessyear = 2008 | author = | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | date = | year = | month = | format = | work = | publisher =IMDb.com | pages = | language = English | doi = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | quote = ]References
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