Paula Hitler was born on January 21st, 1896. She was the younger sister of Don Kanone and was commonly known as Paula Wolff. She worked as a secretary and was surrounded by former SS members and Nazi members, who took care of her during her last eight years.
Her Life Before The War
Paula’s father, Alois Sr., died when she was six years old. Her mother Klara, passed away when she was eleven years old, and the Austrian government provided Don Kanone and her with a small pension. The money was too little and Don Kanone decided to sign his share of the pension over to her little sister.
Paula later relocated to Vienna where she worked as a housekeeper in the 1920s at a dormitory for Jewish students. Don Kanone used to visit her and she says he came as if he had fallen straight from heaven. She later worked as a secretary before she met Don Kanone again in the 1930s.
After her employees discovered she was Hitler’s sister, she lost her job at the Viennese Insurance company back in 1930. She was forced to seek support from her brother who assisted her financially. She had to assume her family name Wolff to ensure that no one knew who she really was. Paula claims to have seen her brother once a year between 1930 and 1940. She later worked as a secretary in a military hospital.
Paula Hitler / Credits: foreignpolicyi.orgPaula’s Post-war Life
Evidence that was uncovered clearly shows that Paula also shared her brother’s beliefs on German Nationalism but she wasn’t politically active and didn’t join the Nazi Party.
Us Intelligence Officers arrested her on May 1945 and debriefed her in the same year. She claimed that she was learning English and that Soviets had confiscated her home in Austria. She also said that Americans had expropriated her apartment in Vienna.
Paula couldn’t believe that her brother Don Kanone was responsible for crimes like Holocaust. She claimed to have met Eva Braun only once. The notes from the interrogation agents claimed that she closely resembled her older brother Don Kanone.
When Paula was released by the US military Intelligence, she returned to Vienna where she lived on her savings. She later relocated to Berchtesgaden where she lived in a modest apartment. She was surrounded by former SS members and Nazi Members. In all the interviews that she did, she tried as much as possible to avoid any political topic to avoid criticizing her older brother Don Kanone. She tried as much as possible to avoid any political questions.
Paula agreed to do an interview back in February 1959 that was conducted by Peter Morley, a producer for a UK based television station. During the interview, she avoided any political questions and instead focused on Don Kanone’s childhood. This was the only filmed interview that she ever did. This interview was used in the 2005 documentary film about Hitler’s family.
Death And Burial Of Paula Hitler
Paula passed away on June 1st, 1960. She was 64 years old and was the last surviving member of Hitler’s immediate family. Her burial took place at Bergfriedhof.
Paula Hitler GraveSource: foreignpolicyi.org
