Plan B: Traudl Junge

0:10 Oh, hey there, oh hey there. Whoa, how are you? Um, okay. Yeah. Yeah, that's weird, you asked me first. I know I squeeze that in real fast. I only think because you probably know what happened. So me first, I know I squeeze that in real fast. I only think because you probably know what happened. So, uh, yeah, it's a sad buffoons podcast for me. My father just passed away, Um, and yeah, it's been a little, a little tough on that aspect, but uh, we wanted to still record and take my mind off of things. So yeah uh, I appreciate that. Thank you, kate, and uh, yeah, how are you?

0:53 I'm good, good I I got to babysit his kids yep, thank you for that yeah, and well, they did a family thing and they were so sweet to me they were. they were good for me. Yeah, they're. They're pretty good, except for the giant giant. Poopy mashed potato diaper. Oh did she. Oh yeah, I got my finger stuck in it and everything Gross. That's what you missed. We we appreciate you doing that. That was very kind of you, um, so we could go up and see my mom and my brothers and yeah, it's been a little weird, but you know we'll make it through. I've got some good people in my life to help me do that.

1:33 Missed my dad, of course, but Kate almost dropped her laptop. Wow. That was pretty great, and the time I decided not to start recording episodes, I could have got that gem on video. But either way, yeah, so I will. I will try and not bring the podcast down. Well, and later we're going to have a scotch and and kind of do a little salute to to his dad. My, my dad, enjoyed his scotch. He had a very basic one that he he was very frugal and he had a very basic one that he enjoyed to have. And uh, well, because he bought it in bulk, he had multiple bottles left, so I took one home, yeah, and uh, we're gonna, we're gonna have a scotch one of my dad's scotches later to uh pay a little tribute to my dad.

2:25 And and uh, yeah, I just enjoy that and reminisce about, I'll probably tell kate some stories yeah about my dad, like when he told me to wash his car with my buddy and we were messing around because we were in high school or whatever it was. And no, we were in eighth grade and uh, yeah, I ended up breaking my wrist you did I did. My buddy broke my wrist wasn't intentional, we were just goofing around and how do you break a wrist wash washing a car? you you've got like sponges and a hose, should I just tell you a little story time here yeah okay, so where the house I grew up at had a turnabout, like kind of thing, um in the driveway before he got up to the main part of the garage.

3:08 So he we parked the car there and to haul the hose out and whatever. And we're sitting there watching this, his old green Acura that he used to have, um, and so, of course, my buddy and I started goofing around and fake fighting or whatever. So we're like on the front lawn and uh, wrestling or whatever, and he knocked me down and decided to body slam me, ouch, and so I put my hands up to stop it, but my elbows were on the ground. So it had no had no give. Yeah. And so when he landed on my right wrist, it and just kind of yeah it on my right wrist it just kind of popped out it wasn't like a big break or anything.

3:49 It was a little fracture. I guess One of your carpals. Yeah, probably. I don't remember exactly, but I think it might have been. But either way, so we go up to the house. My dad's doing whatever he was doing in the house. I go, dad, I think I need to go to the hospital. He's like no, no, you don't go finish washing the car. So my buddy and I walked back outside to the car and I'm like I was in pain, obviously, and I go back in. I'm like no dad, I think I have to go to the hospital. I think I broke my wrist and we went to the hospital and sure as shit broke my wrist and you're fine, just walk it off. Yes, he was the type of guy that would say rub some dirt on it, yeah.

4:29 And so we went to the hospital. My buddy came with. We ended up dropping him off on the way home, and I had a cast in eighth grade, and I always remember when it is too, because it's when the offspring's album came out and the video for Come Out and Play was there. The drummer had a cast on his arm. Yeah, he lost me with, I know, but some other people Al might get. It Okay, but I I think it's a band. He's talking about folks. Yeah, it is, oh yes, the Offspring. Yes, it's a band. Go me. And obviously me being a drummer. I thought it was funny because he also had a cast. Unless I'm just having a mandela effect here and remembering it wrong, but yeah you never know. But yeah, that was the type of guy my dad was.

5:10 He's like rub some dirt on it, man, you're good no, I good story I need to go, so, anyways, well, uh what? what kind of beer do you have to get you down on this, this podcast episode? you had previously done a founders the all the all-day IPA which you like which you've had before, but you liked it and wanted it again, so I saw this. I didn't do an all-day. I did a Founders, though, and they have a Centennial IPA featuring Centennial hops. I like my IPAs. This should be a little more hop forward compared to your all-day. This should be a little more hop forward compared to your all day. A little bit more hippity, hop yeah. Peter Rabbit there is mine All right, so I've got a Lakefront Brewery, which I believe is.

5:54 Milwaukee still. Oh, is it Milwaukee yeah? Okay, and this one is called Dive Beer. It is a Milwaukee lager, yep, and it kind of looks like a drive-in movie screen kind of thing. Yeah, nice dive beer. Whoa, that went all over your arm, all right. Well, cheers, all right all right, yeah, I like it it's pretty good, yeah, yeah, mine's not bad either well, take another sip of this. Yeah, mine's pretty good, I like it. I would say if five was like are we doing one to five? Yeah, let's do one to five. I think like if five was like excellent, five stars right, I would probably rate this about a three and a half okay to four somewhere around there.

6:42 It's pretty good. I like it uh, mine's not bad. Out of five, I would probably give mine a three. Okay, so, um, it is not as hoppy as I thought it would be well, peter, I know he petered out hey see what I did there we are comedian nots Comedian knots. Comedian knots. Knots. No, we're buffoons. Okay, all right, I have a question for you. You do. Okay. Did you ever in your life have like a plan B Like? Hmm, like, instead of going this way yeah.

7:22 You have a backup plan. Oh yeah, I mean, yeah, I guess I did. Yeah, is that something you can share? Yeah, divorced my ex-wife. So you went plan B, I did plan B. This wasn't working. Because plan AAA did not work and I'll give you the joke on that later. I'm not going to share that because I'm not saying her name, but anyways, yeah, that was my plan B. And you went with it, I had to. Yeah, you had to, I fear there was an early grave if I didn't. Well, welcome. Thank you, you're welcome. Welcome to the rest of your life. How about you?

8:04 So I wanted to be a biologist of some sort, right, and I went through so many like quote unquote career changes Sure, that I don't think I ever had a plan. A. I just did whatever came, which is understandable and it's always been really successful Well that's good, at least. Yeah, came, which is and it's always been really successful. Well, that's good, at least. Yeah, um, but I guess when I was selling hearing aids, yeah, um, I didn't want to do that. I didn't like the price of hearing aids and me like, so I didn't like sales you couldn't peddle those. Yeah, um, I understand that and, uh, I wanted to. Actually I didn't even know this was a thing.

8:44 I became an esthetician right so I could pop pimples for a living and I didn't know that that was a thing I thought it was just dermatology sure I get that and my husband, who I was dating at the time, was like look into that, see if there's something else, and sure shit there's. I could be an esthetician I was I. I went to esthetician school within like a month, oh nice yeah, of of like quitting my job, like it was. It was such a quick turnaround. It was great, sure, and it's been great ever since well, okay, if we're going that route, my plan b, my plan a was to be a rock star that's right, yeah, I wanted. I've played the drums the majority of my life.

9:24 I wanted to uh, I wanted to play drums for a living, and I will blame myself a hundred percent for that not end up being the case. Um, and I also will blame my other plan a that I went to plan B with the ex wife. She was not very supportive. Um, terrible. She, you know, wanted to uh keep me down from like, going places and doing things. And that's what you need to do when you're in a band you have to go play shows you have to do all that, and it was hard when you were under lock and key all the time. So, but uh, I'm not here to bash the devil, I'll just move on well, we're gonna talk about trottle young trottle young her, her plan a okay was to be a ballerina ballerina but her plan b kind of took over sure okay, so was it.

10:21 Was it a unintentional plan B? It was a fallback that became the forerunner. Gotcha. So Trottle Young was born Gertrude Humps in Munich, Germany. I love that last name Humps Humps and she was born on March 16th 1920. Okay, she came from a family like oozing and like right wing ideology. Okay, her father, max Humps, was a brewer, a master brewer, ooh, and he had anti-Republican national and anti-Semitic views. So did they say where he was a master brewer at no.

11:04 Mother did he? Did they say where he was a master brewer? At no mother. This my information, like 90 of my information came from trottle, young's own like autobiography. Oh okay, so she had. She wrote a book. Yes, did she write she wrote the book. She wrote the book okay um spoiler alert. She died um prior to it oh really being released, so it was released post so it was released posthumously. Thank you, you're welcome. But the book and this kind of gives way to the time era that we're talking about you already said she was born in 1920. That's fair, so the book is called until the final hour, hitler's last secretary. Yeah, and it was trottle young okay I mean that makes sense, because what the war ended, 45 right is that right yes, so I mean, she was like 25 yes so I mean, it kind of led me to believe that it was world war ii based so her father, max um actively participated in the fry core, which is free core in america by the way, the name max humps is just fucking hilarious.

12:09 It's also funny because I guess I never even said this, maybe on the podcast. My dog died too you did, once did I, okay, I couldn't remember, but uh, his name was max. Luckily he didn't hump anyways I beg to differ did he? oh no, he did that to you, he did that to me and I have it on video, because he did it to your daughter and I was like max get off, that's right. So, max humps, there you go. Yep, wow, trottle, trottle and me have something in common, okay he actively participated in the fry corps, which is a paramilitary group okay, that classed with leftist parties in the early weimar republic, which is the german reich gotcha.

12:49 So max's extremism extended by joining the nazi party. Okay, and he failed a coup d'etat, oh yes, and he evaded arrest but was unable to get employment. So he left for Turkey, abandoning his family. Oh, so he just up and left because he failed, yeah, and like well, I got to go get work, see ya, yeah, peace, I'm out of here. Yeah. Does Turkey have a famous master brewing class or something? I don't know? I don't know. I mean, did it ever say what he did after he left, or does it kind of just end with him there? No, it ends with him, yeah, leaving. And so huge financial burden on Trottle's mother, obviously, and she struggled to make ends meet, don't?

13:30 we all. Trottle went to school to help. She went to school and served, which served as like a breeding ground for nazi ideology. Of course, there were discussions um which normalized concepts like the nierenberg laws, which is about like race, racial hygiene, and the jewish question, like what do we do with the jewish? that's fucked up that. That's even a question yeah I understand the time frame, so yeah so one of the laws um was the law of protection of german blood and german honor, and it forbade marriages and extramarital intercourse between jews and germans so it forbade it.

14:10 But it doesn't mean you couldn't do it. I mean just saying and then the employment of german females under 45 and jewish households. Oh, so 46. Yeah, you can go work in a Jewish household, but you're under 40, 45 or younger Yep, that's weird. The other law was the Reich Citizenship Law, which declared that only those of German or related blood were eligible to be Reich citizens and the remainder were classified as state subjects without citizenship rights State subjects Wow Okay. So, as Trottle readily accepted the notion of Bolshevism as like a threat to civilization I'm saying that word a lot that's all right.

14:52 Civilization. She embraced the rise of Adolf Hitler, okay, and she later described it as like a national liberation. It's a chance for Germany to regain hope, confidence. And their failure of World War. I. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Fueled by this optimism, she joined the German Girls League in 1935. So she would have been. What 15 then? Yes, it was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany. It was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement.

15:32 Okay, so, balancing the need to help her family financially and then her dream of becoming a dancer, she did opt to go to a commercial college in 1936. Okay, so what was the name of the Women's League? Thing again, sorry. It was the German Girls League. Was that probably equivalent is not the right word, I don't think. But is that somewhat equivalent to like the Hitler Youth thing? Yes, it is. Oh, yes, yes, it is Awesome. So, balancing the need to help her family, she ended up going to college so she learned practical skills like shorthand and typing and she was able to get a job really quickly.

16:17 So her first position was a clerk and it ended abruptly because of sexual harassment from her superior oh dear apparently he like pulled her aside and showed her some porn or something they had porn back then. Yeah, just kidding yeah look at this magazine I found in the ditch it's probably someone's ankles you have some nice ankles. What? In 1938, Trottle joined the Faith and Beauty Program. Faith and Beauty. A new wing of the German Girls' League, targeting Aryan women age 18 to 21. And it served as a tie-in between the League of German Girls and the National Socialist Women's League Gotcha.

17:01 So the group's mission was to instill Nazi ideology in young women, shaping them to be incarnations of beauty, future mothers who would raise children devoted to the regime. Wow. I mean. All in the family. Yeah, I mean, they really kept the. They tried to get him young, I guess so she really wanted to be a ballerina. She did continue to like, take classes and everything oh, she did okay yes, but war basically like put everything on a standstill which, yeah, which is understandable yeah, so in 1941, after passing her dance exams. Not nazi control over jobs meant um. Individual ideals were secondary to them yeah.

17:44 So if you want to be a dancer, fuck you go do this, because we need you to so this is plan b, yeah, okay did, did. Uh, you said she took classes for being a ballerina. She never went to like college or anything for that, no, but she did have exams, so to speak or final projects, I guess final dances. Okay, that's why I asked that, because I wasn't sure if it was a school-type setting or just a class that she took. Yeah, okay. So her reality of not being a ballerina brought her to Berlin, and a position in the new Reich Chancellery opened up. Did you say where she was born? In Germany, munich, munich.

18:25 Okay. So in 1942, Hitler had three secretaries, that's a lot of secretaries, man. Frau Christian. He had a lot to say, if you recall. Yeah, I mean he was. He had a lot to say, he was always talking uh. So frau christian, and he trusted her exclusively so she was like top dog yeah, secretary yes, but she recently left. She was getting old up there in age. Oh was she. Yeah, so she went to go work in a jewish home. Was she 46? I mean? that's just. That's still just a weird-ass thing, but all right. No, I just like how you brought it right around. So Hitler relied on the other two pretty heavily so, fraulein Wolf and Fraulein Schroeder.

19:09 But they also were kind of getting up there in age and Hitler wanted to recruit some younger secretaries. So in November 1942, 10 young women, including Trottle, were summoned to Fuhrer headquarters. Was she still? Gertrude at this time. Trottle is a nickname for Gertrude. Oh really, yes, that's a weird nickname, all right. Yeah so moving on. So they traveled to Rastenberg Station, which is in east prussia, and they were invited onto like a luxurious guest train sure, and that's where they, like, waited to meet hitler okay so days and days passed before he showed up before their introduction.

19:59 Yeah, so in the meantime, the women, like, pretended they were on vacation, essentially. Well, why not at that point? Yeah, they explored the forest around them. They treated themselves very well with, um a fancy liquor in the dining car were they just like basically catered to them, like here's your dinners and stuff they're fed. Yeah, yeah, all they were waiting and they had like snowball fights and they went hiking in the woods and that kind of thing showed some ankle at the local tavern exactly so unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, they were summoned finally to to go meet hitler. It's on his schedule, not theirs. So so women were in a tizzy? Sure, yeah, they were. They were sleeping.

20:39 So panic, disarray, franticness, they all got dressed, put on makeup and they were guided through multiple checkpoints and down a long path to the Fuhrer bunker, which is called the Wolf's Lair. At this point, okay, and this is in East Prussia, gotcha. Okay, okay, and this is in. East Prussia, gotcha. Okay, the guards let them in, basically without searching any of their bags, their person, because they all had terrified looks on their faces. So these people aren't going to do anything. Yeah, exactly. That's pretty wild though I mean even if they look terrified, you're not going to pat them down to make sure this isn't some assassin for Hitler. Yeah, good Lord yeah, good lord.

21:23 So inside a narrow concrete corridor led them to a waiting room which was shared by other domestic staff and hitler's orderlies okay. So his valet informed them that hitler was feeding his dogs and instructed them on what to do. Hitler would address them first and they were to only reply with Heil Mein Feuer. Okay, okay. So, led by Albert Bormann, who was an adjutant, he was a military officer who did like admin work. Okay, they proceeded to Hitler's study, passing through a cute little tea room. Upon entering the study, hitler greeted them all warmly, shaking each of their hands and asking their names and where they're from. And, like I said, this is all coming from trottle herself, right.

22:05 So after a brief exchange they were dismissed and they never even got a chance to say like heilmann, fear, oh, wow, okay, I think they were all just shocked. I would imagine. Yeah, so the women were told that they would be required to do a dictation test for the fear, okay. So days again turned into weeks, jesus, of just nothing. And then, finally, trottle and one other woman, um, were requested to perform their test so the other. You said 10 total, so the other eight yes, we're just dismissed, or no? they were just waiting around for their next, their turn. they just called those. Okay, yeah, so. They called waiting around for their next return. They just called those two Okay, yeah, so they called this woman and Trottle first, gotcha, okay. So Trottle actually did perform the dictation first.

22:46 So with just her and Hitler in a closed off room, she typed his dictation. She does not remember what it was about because she was so nervous, oh really, yeah. Upon finishing her test, hitler complimented her for a job well done and Trottle left his office and returned to sit with like with the other secretary. Okay, and Trottle kind of explained her experience with the other woman here's what I did, here's what he likes, et cetera. Wow, so she's given her notes. Yes, yes, that's kind of nice of her. Hitler suddenly appeared and offered Trottle the job, without any other woman getting a chance. Oh, wow, so he must have impressed her quite a bit then, because you got all these other women waiting to take your dictation.

23:31 Yep, so she stayed there the other night and went back to Berlin. Oh, they probably had to be pretty sad to get off their little party train. Maybe not knowing eventually what happens maybe like I, I think I dodged a bullet with that one yeah, but she lived because she wrote she wrote this autobiography so I mean I wonder if those other nine women lived through that's fair the war that's fair, yeah that's it. That would be kind of interesting to find out. We probably never could maybe, maybe plan a was to work for hitler and plan b was something entirely different. Could? have been? Could have been a chef could have been a chef. Look at that, maybe she could be employed.

24:14 Hitler another way. Well, you know, let's move on. Excellent decision. So Hitler frequently asked Trottle for a dictation. So on January 30th 1943, she was called in, expecting like an oath or a swearing in or something like a ceremony Sure, as the other two senior secretaries were also there. So she's like expecting like a formal something rather Sure, um, as the other two senior um secretaries were also there. So she's like expecting like a formal something rather. Okay, it wasn't anything like that. Oh he was just like hey, this is so-and-so, this is so-and-so, she's, she's hired. Yeah, she's the new, the new girl. Yeah, basically.

25:01 Fair enough, he did pull her side. Oh, he cautioned her about the attention she might receive from his guards and other male colleagues, oh really, and assured her that she could come to him at any point for protection oh wow. I mean you got the top dog protecting you, even though he's a piece of shit yep. So from that day forward, as his secretary, she had regular interactions with him okay, um dictation, taking long walks with him and having meals with him oh wow. So she kind of became his almost right-hand man, in a way, kind of yeah, right hand. So she wasn't called upon for dictation initially okay um. So instead her routine for like the first four weeks would involve checking in each morning and seeing if there were any tasks for her Gotcha, and then she would inform the valet on duty of her whereabouts.

25:48 Like I've got nothing going on, so here's where I'll be. Yeah, I suppose he probably wanted to have them accessible at any moment so they had to check in. Basically Right Makes sense. So during this period she took the opportunity to get to know those close to Hitler. Sure Makes sense, and this included the valets Right, heinz Ling, heinz Mm-hmm and Hans Jung. Do you think Heinz's nickname was Ketchup? No, okay. So they alternated shifts every other day the two valets. Okay. And so they alternated shifts every other day. The two valets, okay, and they were selected from Hitler's personal bodyguards. Oh wow, their roles were pretty demanding. Sure.

26:29 So they would manage his daily routine, his meals, his wardrobe. They were basically functioning like personal assistants. Yeah, sounds that way. Yeah, if they're doing all of those different tasks. Yeah, sounds that way yeah. If they're doing all of those different tasks. So, yeah, okay. So Trottle noticed Hitler's preference for attractive women. Oh. And it was more important to him than pretty much any other quality. Yeah, just the looks. So he liked the cover, not the pages. Yep, all right, yep, so he liked the cover, not the pages. Yep, all right, yep, but she defied him and his initial warning of men watching her because she began a relationship with his valet, hans Young. Oh, getting a little frisky with the Hans yeah.

27:10 So it wasn't a secret Hitler or any of his inner circle. Sure, they were open about it. They were. So one of their motivations to marry eventually was to secure Hans' position on the front lines. Yes, so this is a quote from Trottle. Hans Jung was a particular favorite of the Fuhrers, serving him devotedly and with a strong sense of duty. All the same, he was anxious to get further away from Hitler. He was one of the few people to realize that in the long run, hitler's ideas would have such an effect on you that in the end you wouldn't know what you had thought of yourself and what was due to outside influence.

27:55 Hans wanted his sense of objectivity back and wow. So basically what he's saying there is hitler knew how to get in your head and make. I mean, look what he did. Obviously it's very it's amazing that he did that to all those people, but could you imagine being that close to him and having that affect? you like that? and him have the right sense of mind to fucking notice it I mean that's pretty impressive, because usually you don't even notice it because well they're, they're so close, they're steering your brain for you, basically, and yeah, it's wild. But good on him to be like, yeah, I gotta go. Yeah, this is probably not good for me so hitler agreed for trottle and Hans to marry Aw, because apparently they needed his permission.

28:41 I don't know. You don't have to ask for dads, you got to ask for fears. But while Hans was going to the front lines, he's like Trottle can stay working for me. So Trottle and Hans had a brief honeymoon at Lake Constance, which is a lake between Switzerland, germany and Austria. Oh, okay. And then he left for duty. Did they, and sorry if I'm jumping on the gun on this does it say exactly where he went to the front lines and stuff. Okay, If he did, I did not write it down, that's fine. So, Hitler excuse me Trottle started observing Hitler's dreams of what would happen after the war okay um, he wanted to be surrounded by artists and academics and she thought that that was super, super odd to be like, be thinking of, considering how bad the war was escalating well, yeah, and like wasn't, wasn't hitler a artist?

29:34 Yeah, I think so At a young age and something like that. And obviously he wrote his book Mein Kampf, whatever. But it's funny that this guy who basically wanted to annihilate an entire race, the Jewish people, was like, yeah, I want to paint and have these people around me painting. He wanted to retire in Austria. Isn't that where he's originally from? I believe he wasn't born in germany no I don't think so unless I'm mixing up my, my hitlers, but but no, I I think. I want to say he was originally from Austria, but I guess I don't know.

30:18 Yeah, he was born in Austria. Look at you, yeah. I might be a buffoon, but I know random stuff. Yeah. So he wanted to be far away from the military world, which is kind of Like after the facts kind of thing. He imagined his future self dictating his memoirs with wolf and schroeder, and um, he would think that trotter would like move on with his lives. But so he was imagining like his older secretaries hanging around and like being with him okay, sure so hans young ended up dying oh weird um. He was in normandy.

30:58 He had an airstrike um and that wasn't like d-day normandy airstrike, was it. It was just I don't know what it happened to be normandy and yeah, okay, yeah, either way um so ss liaison officer herman fangling. Liaison Officer Herman Fengling relayed this information to Hitler. Okay. And he relayed it to Trottle because, Hitler didn't want to face her himself. Oh. Really. Mm-hmm, because it was basically his fault. He wanted to go to the front lines, kind of thing. Eventually, when they crossed paths, he did express some sorrow. Oh that's super nice. Yeah, yeah so by january 1945.

31:42 Nazi defeat was pretty heavy cloud it was imminent it was imminent and trottel and the rest of hitler staff relocated to the fuhrer bunker yeah, the main center of berlin, yeah yeah, bunker is not an understatement, it is a bunker oh, his, his thing was ridiculous yeah it was like a little city underneath the ground basically yeah this is wild so um taken from trottle young's book quote by now the fierce, huge underground bunker in the grounds of the reich chancellery had been made ready 11 meters or 12 yards of thick reinforced concrete covered the little cabins and rooms inside, but only a flat roof emerged above ground level.

32:27 The bunker was intended only for temporary accommodation during an air raid, but when an incendiary bomb made the living rooms above ground uninhabitable, particularly the library, it became permanent living space for Hitler and his staff. But in the evening, punctual as clockwork, enemy aircraft came over and we had to dine with Hitler in the little room in the bunker where he lived and worked. It was a tiny place in the very heart of the new Fuhrer bunker. End quote. Wow, I mean, could you imagine living underground like that, like you're in your own little hobbit hole? Yeah, I think that would be stifling. Yeah, I mean, I would think. Yeah, so the taking of Berlin was rapidly becoming worse.

33:12 Okay. And Hitler dismissed his older secretaries. Why did they get to be dismissed? I don't know, Maybe he had a kind soul for them and he was like get out while you can. He did not have a kind soul, he was a dick. I know, but he cared about the people super, super close to him, and that's about it. Yeah, that was kind of evident with his weirdness. So by the end of Aprilil the red army was closing in and despite the imminent defeat, hitler clung to some like weird delusional hope well, I mean, if you're in that position, you kind of have to yeah, he was like saying that we're gonna have some last stand fights. Yeah, um, anyone retreating are gonna get executed like he.

33:56 He was trying to stand firm yeah, of course, yeah even escape suggestions were dismissed. He, he had this like fear of public humiliation, like they would catch him, put him on display, etc oh really, yeah, he was like worried about that, yeah so the public humiliation outweighed like any desire for survival. So that's probably part of the reason why he ended up killing himself. Yeah. And his wife Eva Braun. So, in this chaos, Hitler dictated his final will and testament to throttle oh wow. Leaving everything to the crumbling Nazi party. Should have gave it to throttle. At least she could have used it.

34:36 I know, she says, quote side by side, we go to his conference room. I am about to remove the cover from my typewriter but the fear says take it down on the shorthand pad. I sit alone. Excuse me, I sit down alone at the big table and wait. Hitler stands in his usual place by the broad side of the table, leans both hands hands on it and stares at the empty tabletop, no longer covered today with maps or street plans, for several seconds. If the concrete didn't act like a drum skin, mercilessly amplifying the reverberations of every bomb blast in every shot, you could have only heard the breathing of two human beings. Then, suddenly, the Fuhrer utters the first words my political statement.

35:21 For a moment, my hand trembles. Now, at last, I shall hear what we've been waiting for for days an explanation of what has happened, a confession, even a confession of guilt, or perhaps a justification. This final document of the thousand year right should contain the real truth told by a man with nothing left to lose. End quote. Wow. But the answer is no. Oh so really. Yep, it was. She said it was hollow, there was no passion and there were no justifications. So he was just putting some words down Pretty much. Wow, that's disappointing Cause yeah, you passion and there were no justifications, so he was just putting some words down pretty much wow, that's disappointing because, yeah, you like, all right cool, we can finally understand the, the reason behind the madness and well, that was disappointing.

36:06 Pretty much that sucks on april 29, excuse me, on april 28th 1945, hitler married ava braun, his longtime girlfriend Correct, and they pledged their Aryan descent before being married. Well, yeah, duh. So during the forced wedding festivities, trottle continued typing up Hitler's last will and testament. When Goebbels arrived in her office and he was crying Goe her office. And he was crying gobels he was crying. Gobels was ordered to leave berlin for a new government role oh really, but he refused oh yeah, because he was.

36:48 He was all about the hitler he dictated a testament defying hitler for the first time, choosing death okay with national socialism over life without it. What a dumbass. So once her documents were typed, the wills and testaments were taken out of Berlin by a courier. Sure, I do not know where they went. Yeah, I'd be curious to know that. Like did they survive Did? they. Yeah, yeah, that's interesting. So Hitler was paranoid that the cyanide capsule he was going to take wouldn't entirely kill him okay and then he'd be taken into custody of the red army and be ridiculed and degraded. Yeah, um, so he tested his cyanide capsule on his dog oh jesus christ, what a dick.

37:32 seriously, that dude was a piece of shit, okay. And then Bron, unwilling to live without him, also agreed to take her own life. Oh Lord, so farewells were exchanged. Heinz Lintz, one of the valets, recounted Ava Bron's composed demeanor as she came up and thanked him. She thanked him for his discretion regarding her husband's demise. So it was like planned that they're going to keep everything discreet. Yeah. Wow. And Joseph Goebbels also attempted to sway Hitler's decision, but ultimately chose to stay by his side. Oh really.

38:12 He was like trying, like no, you can survive this. And Hitler's like no, I got to go, man, and he goes okay, I will too fine so did goblins also. He didn't kill himself he did oh, he did. That's how goblins died. I did not know that, I guess okay so hitler called upon um heinz ling for one last exchange, and ling described a frail, defeated figure who issued issued a final order suicide. Okay, so he did a final salute, a weak handshake, and hitler closed the door oh, so they did it behind closed doors they did okay so trottle young recounted the chilling silence broken by a single gunshot on April 30th.

38:58 Hmm, the news was clear Hitler, eva Braun, had taken their lives. Okay, so witnessing the aftermath, rokas Misch, a bodyguard, described a slumped Hitler and Eva laying beside him. Okay. So chaos then ensued in the Fuhrer bunker Yep. So chaos then ensued in the Fuhrer bunker Yep. Some loyalists chose suicide, while others, including Trottle Young, opted for escape. On May 1st, Young joined a group, fleeing the bunker. They navigated a maze of underground passages and emerged into the ruins of Berlin. And it was in ruins. Oh yeah, that was getting bombed the fuck out of yeah ruins of berlin and it was in ruins.

39:39 Oh yeah, that was getting yeah bombed the fuck out of. Yeah and young described the desperation of civilians that she saw like they were eating scraps and they, they were eating meat, um, from a dead horse that had been long dead yeah, I mean they were looking for anything. Because they didn't, the city was in fucking ruins obviously. So their escape route led through a subway tunnel filled with wounded, homeless and weary soldiers. Okay, and upon nearing a train station, the group was immediately engulfed in a hail of sniper bullets, oh shit. And somehow they fought their way through and they sought refuge in a makeshift bunker. Okay, they sought refuge in like a makeshift bunker.

40:21 Okay, so hung witnessed another tragedy walter he will, a member of their group, committed suicide by gunshot and cyanide capsule yeah, they really like doing it double style yeah, yeah, don't want to make sure it happens yeah, I mean, the cyanide capsule won't kill me, this billet will, yeah, and vice versa so trottles escaped from the bunker. She wasn't like, immediately free. She was captured in berlin. Oh, she was she was by allied forces and in 1944 excuse me, july of 1945 so she made it for over a month because, or no, she left on may 1st. So two months, yeah, wow so trottle young's imprisonment began in a russian commandments uh, commandants, excuse me, a russian commandants berlin office.

41:03 Okay, and it she was followed. It was followed by like solitary confinement and like a woman's prison oh gotcha so after 14 weeks she was finally questioned, and it was mainly about hitler's death well, yeah, I'm sure they were all curious yeah I mean, there's that whole conspiracy theory that he fled to argentina and blah blah blah I just wanted to make sure. Like is this really him? Is he really dead? Blah, blah yeah. So Through her captor's stories of their own suffering, Trottle starts to notice the horrors of the Nazi actions. About fucking time. So essentially a propaganda veil starts to lift and she's seeing things a little bit clearer now.

41:44 Well, like her husband who wanted to get away from him, that veil has been lifted because, well, he's dead and can't keep doing it. And a lot of the senior officials are captured or killed yeah, yeah, and she was finally starting to realize, like how controlled she was yep, exactly that's. That's crazy. I mean it's funny that it took that long, but again, you're being manipulated. You're not going to know that. Yeah so another transfer led um trottle in a crowded cell with suspected spies. Her last possession her wedding ring was was stolen. Oh really, yeah, that's too bad. A cellmate also betrays her. Oh, and that led to the confiscation of her hidden poison capsule.

42:29 That oh, she still had. She still had one on her. She still had one on her. She still had one on her. Did it say where it was hidden? No, so she's fearing like deportation to Russia? Oh yeah, yeah, so um, she wasn't really important. No, but she also wasn't unimportant, like they didn't know what to do with her? Well, because she had literally an inside track to directly to Hitler. Yeah, so like, maybe she has information. Yeah. So a kind Armenian interpreter called Arkady actually becomes her lifeline. He arranges better living conditions and work in exchange for staying in the Russian zone. Oh, okay. So after an interrogation about Hitler's final days, she finally agrees to help identify other bunker survivors.

43:14 Gotcha. So Jung was held in several jails. She was interrogated about her role in Hitler's entourage and the events surrounding his death. Sure, by December 1945, she was released from prison but restricted to the Soviet sector of Berlin, gotcha so she couldn't go anywhere. Yeah. Don't leave town. Yeah, exactly. So on New Year's Eve 1945, she was admitted to the hospital in the British sector for diphtheria, and she stayed there for about two months. For what Diphtheria? What? Is that I think it's a colon issue. Oh dear, she didn't have Cologuard to test it. Oh dear, she didn't have Cologuard to test it. No, I think it's. That's a weird commercial by the way, I think that is a colon issue, is it?

43:56 That's all right. I'm going to look. Okie dokie. A serious infection of the nose and throat that's easily preventable by a vaccine. Oh, a sheet of thick gray matter covers the back of the throat, making breathing hard. Symptoms include sore throat, fever, swollen lymph nodes and weakness. That sounds terrible. It is the opposite of the back end so, um, while she was there, so she was in the hospital for about two months, right? So while she was there, her mother was able to secure paperwork for her, and it required her to move to the British sector of Berlin.

44:37 Okay. Oh, excuse me, from the British sector to Bavaria. Oh, okay, her paperwork went through. They're going to Bavaria, gotcha, in 1946, and she traveled from berlin and across the soviet occupation zone, which was to become east germany, sure, to the british zone and then south uh, to bavaria in what is known as the american zone oh, I didn't know. We had a zone, I guess, apparently interesting yeah, so young, was held by the americans for a short time during the first half of 1946 and was interrogated about her time in the fear bunker. Of course she was. Then she's like should I write a book? I mean, I got these experiences.

45:20 So she was freed and she was allowed to live in West Germany. Oh, she was Okay, yes, so, despite this attempt at normalcy, she had a ton of guilt. Well, yeah, I mean that's rightly so In 1947, so very shortly after two years Young began writing her memoir. She stated a goal was to provide an objective account, but she described Hitler as agreeable pater paternal. And she just had this kind of lingering sense of denial yeah, that makes sense yeah, she acknowledged an internal conflict, a warning voice, if you will, about hitler's true nature, which she obviously ignored right years later, the weight of her fat past was finally like hitting her okay in a 1991 interview.

46:12 She recounted learning about sophie scroll sophie scroll uh, she was a young woman who bravely resisted the nazis and was executed in 1945, and this sparked a deep sense of guilt, sure? So suddenly her, her own youth, seemed like a hollow excuse. For, like her obliviousness, she struggled with depression, starting in the 1960s and initially feeling like a general life failure. She later connected it to, like, her nazi past which yeah, I mean yeah okay yeah. So the stark contrast between her innocence and the regime's atrocities like deepened her guilt, right she realizing that sophie scrolls resistance at a similar age kind of shattered her self-justification well, yeah, why didn't?

47:04 why didn't I also do that? yeah, yeah so the years of self-awareness brought depression, failed therapy and like a lot of career struggles. Yeah, she also had a writing block and she was considering escaping to Australia. Oh, but the Australian authorities refused Trottle, giving her the reason as her role in the Third Reich. Well, yeah, yeah. I could have guessed that, but this is the first time after 25 years that she was met with a rejection because of her past well, that's impressive actually, because, I mean, most people would have thought that would have been a common occurrence from the rest of her life so that's, that's surprising so young, revisited her infamous unfinished memoir um adding a new perspective um with her newfound guilt oh sure she acknowledged her initial failure to be critical of Hitler, a naivety that was now more filled with shame, sure, and she didn't actively participate in the atrocities, but she admitted to enjoying her time with Hitler.

48:08 Okay. And she willfully ignored the warning signs that she had within herself. Right. Like she saw the red flag and was like no, no, it's just yellow. I mean, that's just yellow. Maybe it's not even a flag. I can't tell. So trottle says, quote I withdrew and let the guilt fillings, the grief and sorrow eat into me. Suddenly I had become interesting as an eyewitness, which brought me into severe conflict with my guilt complexes, because the conversations were never about the question of guilt, only about the historical facts, so I could describe them without having to justify myself. That was something that weighed on me even more and gave me even more to think about, to think about.

48:48 Today I mourn for two things For the fate of those millions of people who were murdered by the National Socialists and for the girl Trottle Humps, who lacked the self-confidence and good sense to speak out against them at the right moment. End quote. Trottle Young passed away in 2002. Wow, so she was 81, 82? Wow. Her autobiography To the Last Hour, hitler's Last Secretary, was published after her death, bummer, and obviously it serves as a chilling reminder of the seductive power of evil and the importance of self-reflection. Yeah, I mean it's got to be so. Did you read her?

49:29 entire book I did. It is available online. Okay, I did not. Save is available online Okay. I did not save it because I'm a dumbass, but I will find it again and it will be in our show notes Because, yes, you can read it online. I didn't have to purchase it. So it was a pretty good read. I mean, how was it? It was kind of surface level. Okay, she's not a writer. No, she was a secretary, but what a surface level. okay, she's not a writer, no, but what she had to say was interesting, right, okay well, that's yes, it's super easy read, all right, yeah, yeah, I mean, do you find it funny too? you brought up red flags. Do you find it funny that the nazi flag was red? I mean, it was right there, folks. It's like can we be more obvious?

50:09 yeah, no, that's, that's wild to be that close to, to hillar, and you know just, I don't know, that's just get entranced by his powers of manipulation. And did she ever marry again? Did it ever say anything like that, or no? oh, I didn't. That wasn't part of my research, I'm afraid that's fine. I I didn't think it was relevant, I was just kind of curious because I wonder? Because her husband was heinz, not the hans right hans young was hans young heinz was the other one yes, okay, heinz ling was that's right, um, because, yeah, because. So hans would have died pretty young too when he went to the front lines, kind of thing.

50:50 But yeah, that's crazy, because having that front row seat to madness is just it's unique perspective. Yeah, I mean, she was so close she didn't see anything basically, yeah, right, and to have that? I don't know, the words are escaping me. Just that being so close to something so evil, it's like how do you not fucking see that? Or how do you not become evil yourself? Yeah, and while she kind of reflected on it, almost feeling like she kind of was in a way, obviously she wasn't, she was just a secretary that happened to be Hitler's fucking secretary, but she clearly felt bad about it in the end.

51:33 But well, that's just. Yeah, I couldn't imagine. That's fucking wild. So the evil, evil Hitler and a little secretary girl, it's like fuck. Yeah, she was really pretty too, Was she? Yeah, there was a documentary where I first she yeah, there was um a documentary I where I first learned of her. Oh, okay. Um, and she testified with a judge um, in English, like she had to learn what she wanted to say in English. Sure, um, but her dictation was just so beautiful. Yeah, interesting, yeah, I sure, um, but her dictation was just so beautiful yeah, yeah, interesting.

52:18 Yeah, I'll, I'll also try to find that video and and uh put it in the show notes link, that okay yeah cool. Yeah well, thank you for that story. That was, uh, very uplifting. Yeah, we're on a roll. A couple of uplifting stories in a row or so give or take, just kidding, um so to kind of recap, my lake front brewery dive beer, yes, my milwaukee lager yes a solid four oh, you upgraded yeah, I think it's a solid four. Yeah how is it? Because, uh, medello being aager, where would you put it near Modelo? Would you give Modelo a five, I guess? I would, because, I mean, I know it's your go-to. Yeah, I would give Modelo a five.

52:58 Okay, fair enough. Yeah, this is smooth. I like it Good. Yeah, easy drinking right. It is Nice. Yeah, yeah, I mean don't get me wrong my founders, centennial IPA. I'm sticking with my three. Um, yeah, definitely there's ones out there that I personally enjoyed better and there's definitely worse. Yeah, so I'll I'll stick with the three on this one. All right, but uh, yeah, very good Well do you want to dedicate this episode to your dad? Yeah, let's do that. So here's to you, keith, miss you already. And this episode is to my dad because, well, he loved World War II. And here we go, cheers, cheers, dad, welp, I suppose.

53:41 All right, buffoons, that's it for today's episode. Buckle up, because we've got another historical adventure waiting for you. Next time Feeling hungry for more buffoonery, or maybe you have a burning question or a wild historical theory for us to explore. Hit us up on social media. We're History Buffoons Podcast on Reddit, x, instagram and Facebook. You can also email us at historybuffoonspodcast at gmailcom. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts and turn those notifications on to stay in the loop. Until next time, stay curious and don't forget to rate and review us. Remember, the buffoonery never stops. Love it, love it.

54:32 It's great.