Book Reviewed: Nazi Wives: The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany by James Wyllie

Women of Nazi legacy This is a captivating study of the personal lives of Hitler's henchmen and the women who shared their lives at the height of the second world war. This narrative history looks at the uncertainties and instabilities in the lives of the men discussed here: Hermann Goering, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Rudolph Hess, Martin Bormann, and Hitler. How did these darkest and powerful figures handle their family lives? Because their wives gave them support, encouragement and direction, and most importantly stood by the Nazi ideology. The Third Reich controlled every aspect of their officer’s lives that included who they had romantic relationships, who they married, and the family background of these women. Their family lives offer perceptions of Nazi rule and the psychology of its leaders. For example, Gerda Bormann, wife of Martin Bormann, was Hitler’s private secretary and an ideal Nazi wife. She had her blonde hair in a tress and wore traditional Bavarian dress and walked with gait and elegance of Julie Andrews of “The Sound of Music.” The Nazis believed their mission was to 'masculinize' life in Germany and women must play a supportive role that included not complaining about their husband’s infidelities. Gerda Bormann was programmed to obey her husband. She went on to suggest a contract be drawn up granting her husband’s mistress Manja Behrens the same rights as her. And even suggested a law to be passed that would entitle healthy men to have two wives. But behind the propaganda machinery, its leaders were involved in debauched affairs, three-way relationships and brutal mistreatment of their wives that would have shocked in today’s world. Joseph Goebbels was another dirty dog in his personal life. He pursued director Leni Riefenstahl and stuck his hand under her dress while they were at an opera. He had an affair with Czech actress Lida Baarova and asked his wife Magda if his mistress can move in together in a three-way relationship. She reluctantly agreed, but progressively fed up with his behavior, she considered a divorce, but Hitler refused to permit that. The book is quite narrative and sometimes gets boring to read. Readers interested in the history of Nazi Germany may find this interesting.