Nazi wives and lovers tended to be mediocre women. They were not especially
gifted or brilliant. They were content to be used as tools for their partners’
purposes—and to make the most of their proximity to power. That might surprise
you. You might have expected Nazi-advertised attributes like “blonde,”
“athletic,” “Nordic,” or “motherhood” to have had something to do with why
certain women ended up in relationships with Adolf Hitler and his inner
circle.
While it’s true that several top Nazis tended to be partial to blondes, they
chose female partners for reasons of exploitation rather than personal
admiration. Hitler, for example, scorned marriage and children, instead
preying on naive teenage girls he could dominate; one such relationship was
with his half-niece Geli Raubal.
In most cases, the exploitation was mutual. While the Third Reich touted the
ideal of “noble” and “simple” housewives, reality shows the women who stood at
the prow of the Third Reich were anything but. They were willing to court
monstrosity for money and privilege. Some became sadistic: like Brigitte
Frank, who wore furs stolen from displaced Jewish women, or Unity Mitford, who
toured a Jewish family’s apartment she wanted to confiscate while the owners
wept in front of her.
Nazi propaganda made people forget that attributes like blondeness,
athleticism and motherhood are ordinary. In a world where mediocrity became an
ideal, women who otherwise stood no chance of success were able to transform
themselves into goddesses, thriving in an atmosphere of cruelty, materialism
and superficial glamor.
British socialite Unity Mitford was an obsessed fan of
Hitler who formed a close relationship with him. Appreciating that her middle
name was Valkyrie, Hitler used Unity, a zealous Nazi convert, to take public
swipes at her native England. Unity shot herself when England declared war on
Germany. She died in 1948 from the bullet lodged in her brain. Angela “Geli” Raubal, daughter of Hitler’s half-sister,
became Hitler’s muse as a teen and eventually moved in with him in Munich.
Hitler was extremely possessive, policing her actions and isolating her from
the outside world. Geli was found dead of a gunshot wound in 1931; her death
was allegedly a suicide. 
Hitler descends the steps of his private Berghof residence
with his mistress and eventual wife, Eva Braun (top). Hitler met 17-year-old
Eva in 1930 and took her as a lover shortly after the death of his half-niece
Geli. Eva’s diary suggests Hitler was emotionally abusive, often withholding
affection. “I guess it really is my fault,” wrote Eva in her diary in 1935
before attempting suicide. Eva then got the attention she wanted; Hitler moved
her into the Berghof. He refused to marry her and allegedly referred to Eva as
his “pet” in Austrian slang. Nevertheless Eva enjoyed basking in Hitler’s
power. Eva poses in a bathing suit (bottom). Platinum blonde in the mid-1930s,
Eva later changed her appearance to become plainer and adopted traditional
Bavarian clothes. Hidden from the public, she entertained herself with
frivolous activities during Hitler’s absences. Hitler and Eva finally married
just before committing suicide together in Berlin in 1945. Eva lived off of
Hitler’s wealth, leading a luxurious life. This diamond and beryl pendant
(right) was one of her many expensive trinkets. Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering and actress
Emmy Sonnemann married in 1935. Goering had been a widower; his first wife, a
Swedish noblewoman named Carin, had died in 1931. Goering’s wives reflected
his ambitions: his first was rich and well-connected, and his second was an
influential society hostess. Emmy courted media attention and actively
competed with other Nazi wives to be known as the “First Lady” of the Reich.
The Nazi eagle
and swastika insignia appears in this elaborate pendant that belonged to Emmy
Goering. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda are
shown here seated next to Hitler. Born to an unwed mother, Magda advanced
socially after marrying and divorcing an older industrialist. Then she worked
her way into the Nazi political machine, first sleeping with Goebbels and then
setting her sights on Hitler. Hitler however did not return Magda’s interest;
the fact that she was an adult probably didn’t appeal to him. Magda settled
for Goebbels. The two married in 1931 and had six children. For all his bluster about family values, Goebbels was a
sex pest who chased every skirt he saw. His most famous mistress was Czech
actress Lida Baarova (right). Her sex appeal made Goebbels forget his own
rules about the “superiority” of German women. Magda took revenge by having a
very public affair with his secretary Karl Hanke (left). “I am sometimes
totally tormented,” Goebbels wrote of the crisis in his diary in 1938. He
decided to propose a plural marriage and got Lida and Magda to form a shaky
truce, which ended after Goebbels and Lida cavorted in front of Magda and
family guests. Hitler ultimately threatened to fire Goebbels if he and Magda
did not patch things up, which they did. Goebbels dumped Lida, who was then
blacklisted. Magda killed her six children before committing suicide with
Goebbels in 1945. 
Leni Riefenstahl was another
Third Reich luminary who enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame thanks to powerful
men. Starting off as a dancer, Leni maneuvered into acting and had an affair
with actor and director Luis Trencker, a pioneer of the German Bergfilm
(mountain film) genre. After learning the stark cinematic arts of Bergfilme,
she arranged to meet Hitler, wrote him adoring letters and became an eminent
director of Nazi propaganda films. Sly and sexually voracious, Leni had many
affairs; the exact nature of her relationships with Hitler and Goebbels
remains debated. Brigitte
Frank declared herself “Queen of Poland” after her husband Hans was appointed
Nazi governor there. She frequented the Krakow ghetto to collect expensive
furs from her husband’s victims, which she wore in public. Infamous SS leader Heinrich Himmler was a brooding
introvert when he married older divorcee Marga (right) in 1928. Sharing his
hateful ideals, Marga was also a domestic shrew; together the angry couple
failed at chicken farming and had a daughter. As Reichsführer-SS, Himmler got
new glamor and a new girlfriend–his secretary Hedwig Potthast (left). They
shared two secret children plus a love nest–allegedly decorated with furniture
made from human bodies. Signing his letters as “Heini” to his wife and as the
SS “Hagal” rune to his mistress, the duplicitous Himmler advocated for
polygamy. Winifred
Wagner, daughter-in-law of composer Richard Wagner, befriended Hitler in 1923.
Hitler, a Wagner fan, spent nights at the widowed Winifred’s home in Bayreuth.
Winifred sent him care packages when he was incarcerated after the Beer Hall
Putsch. Hitler showered favors on the Wagner family and Bayreuth. Lina von Osten joined the Nazi Party in 1929 and married
Final Solution architect Reinhard Heydrich in 1931. They lived in ill-gotten
luxury in Czechoslovakia, where Heydrich was known as the “Butcher of Prague”
and assassinated in 1942. Afterwards Lina had forced laborers from
concentration camps work at her Jungfern Breschan Manor. She allegedly spat on
prisoners and had them beaten, and had Jewish laborers deported to their
deaths. She denied she or her husband did anything wrong.
this article first appeared in military history quarterly
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