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Constanze Manziarly
Cook and dietitian to Adolf Hitler (1920-1945) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Constanze Manziarly (14 April 1920 – disappeared 2 May 1945) was born in Innsbruck, Austria. She served as a cook and dietitian to Adolf Hitler until his final days in Berlin in 1945.
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Early life
Manziarly was born in Innsbruck, Austria, on 14 April 1920.[1] According to Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge, Manziarly wanted to be a teacher and only took up cooking for Hitler temporarily.[2]
Career
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Manziarly worked as cook and dietitian for Hitler from his 1943 stays at the Berghof until his death in Berlin. According to Junge, as of late 1944 Manziarly was still considered too new to be included within Hitler's "inner circle".[3] On 16 January 1945, Hitler began residing in the Führerbunker, the newer and lower unit of the Reich Chancellery bunker complex. During Hitler's last months, Manziarly prepared Hitler's meals in the kitchen of the Vorbunker, the older upper bunker.[4][5] Manziarly also prepared sandwiches to be set out on a tea wagon for high-ranking Nazi Party personnel and generals reporting to Hitler.[6]
On 22 April, Hitler personally requested Manziarly to leave Berlin, along with his secretaries Junge and Gerda Christian.[7] All three women instead volunteered to stay with the dictator and were each provided a cyanide capsule from SS physician Ludwig Stumpfegger's supply in case they decided to end their own lives.[8][9] The women learned from Hitler in the early hours of 30 April that he intended to shoot himself that day.[10] Around noon, Hitler confirmed his intent to his private secretary Martin Bormann. Manziarly, Junge and Christian were present for Hitler's last meal at the usual time of 1 p.m. After lunch, Hitler's adjutant SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche told the secretaries that Hitler wanted to bid everyone farewell.[11] According to Junge, Manziarly cooked a posthumous meal for Hitler so others without direct knowledge of his death would not become suspicious.[12][a]
On 1 May, Manziarly left the bunker in the first of ten breakout groups, which was led by SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke.[14][15] Evading the Soviet Red Army troops, they made their way north to a German Army holdout in the cellar of the Schultheiss-Patzenhofer Brewery on Prinzenallee. The group included Junge, Christian, Bormann's secretary Else Krüger, and SS surgeon Ernst-Günther Schenck. Early on 2 May, the group was captured by Soviet soldiers.[16]
Mohnke tasked the four women with trying to deliver his written report to Hitler's successor, Karl Dönitz. The women walked out of the brewery courtyard and made their way into the Soviet occupied area of Berlin. Christian and Krüger stayed at a water supply area,[17] while Manziarly left Junge standing by so she could try to replace her Wehrmacht jacket with civilian clothes.[18] Junge then saw two Soviet soldiers take Manziarly towards a U-Bahn subway tunnel; she reassured Junge that "They want to see my papers." Manziarly was never heard from again.[18] Junge implies in her memoir that Manziarly would have been as likely as anyone to be raped by Soviet soldiers, while a note in Junge's memoir speculates that Manziarly could have committed suicide using her poison capsule.[19][a]
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Depictions in film
Constanze Manziarly has been portrayed by the following actresses in film and television productions:
- Phyllida Law in the 1973 British film Hitler: The Last Ten Days
- Carole Boyd in the 1973 British television production The Death of Adolf Hitler
- Pam St. Clement in the 1981 American film The Bunker
- Bettina Redlich in the 2004 German film Downfall (Der Untergang)
See also
References
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