Henriette von Schirach
Henriette was nine[citation needed] years of age when she first met Hitler, who frequently came to the Hoffmann house for dinner.
Hitler may have made a pass at her when she was 17:[7] He gave himself great airs, with his dark leather coat, his whip and his Mercedes, whose driver waited for him in front of the door.
In 1931, Henriette met Baldur von Schirach, the former leader of the Nazi Student League and the youngest of Hitler's entourage.
Henriette identified herself with the goals of her husband, who held sole control over the educational system of the German Reich.
[citation needed] He was appointed by Hitler as Gauleiter and Reich Governor of Reichsgau Wien, and moved with his family to Vienna.
When she raised the issue during a visit to the Berghof on 24 June 1943, Hitler was enraged: "That's all I need, you coming to me with this sentimental twaddle.
[3]: Ch 10 [12] In a 1989 BBC documentary "The Fatal Attraction of Adolf Hitler", Henriette recounted what had happened: "So I told him what I had seen.
"[14] Henriette von Schirach's father Heinrich Hoffmann was also present, as was Joseph Goebbels, who recorded the incident in his diary.
[3]: Ch 10 In Junge's account, the Jews in question were being deported from Vienna, where Baldur von Schirach was Gauleiter.
[8]: 210 At the end of the war, Henriette's husband attempted to avoid capture, posing as a writer ("Dr. Richard Falk").
[3]: Ch 11 He was tried and convicted at Nuremberg, being sentenced on 1 October 1946, for crimes against humanity for his deportation of the Viennese Jews.
[18][3]: Ch 13 According to her memoirs, during her imprisonment she was given the daily task of cleaning the prison's toilets using Hitler Youth flags.
She recalled being mistreated and held in contempt by the white American guards, and that it was only the black soldiers who were decent to her.
[3]: Ch 13 On 20 July 1949, while Baldur von Schirach was in prison, Henriette filed for divorce, because of her romantic involvement with Alfred H. Jacob, former husband of German film director Leni Riefenstahl.
[19] She sent Baldur a damning final letter, writing, "Have you at any time, instead of sitting in your cell studying philosophy, Latin, French, writing poetry, and thinking how to straighten out your position in history, as you call it, actually faced reality and wondered where the next meal was coming for your wife and children?
[18] Henriette was also able to buy back artworks that had been confiscated from Baldur von Schirach, from the Bavarian State Painting Collections (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), even though some of these had been stolen from Jews.
State Commissar for Victims of Racial, Religious and Political Persecution Philipp Auerbach [de] criticised Hanfstaengl for a "particular act of gallantry towards ladies of war criminals".
[3]: Ch 13 [21] She made use of statements by Jacob, her father and his housekeeper that pictures and furniture were her legitimate property.
The Schirachs' home Schloss Aspenstein [de] was confiscated, however Henriette repeatedly forced her way in to make off with items.
"[22] Billy F. Price, a Texan entrepreneur and collector of Hitler's paintings, worked with the Schirach family to attempt to recover Heinrich Hoffmann's collection of Hitler's watercolours, and Heinrich's entire collection of photographs, which had been confiscated by the US government.
[3]: Ch 13 In March 1958, there was discussion in the media about the last three Nazi war criminals detained at Spandau (Rudolf Hess, Albert Speer, and Baldur von Schirach), due to the long time for detention and high cost to the international community to imprison war criminals.
With financial support from the Daily Mail, Henriette travelled to London to the British Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd in order to request a reduction of the 20-year prison sentence for her ex-husband.
"[citation needed] "The Price of Glory" was "much livelier and more fantastical", as well as much more successful, than her husband Baldur's memoirs, published after his release from Spandau.
