To most, Eva Braun is known as the wife of Adolf Hitler. Technically true, the fact is that the pair were only married for less than 40 hours. However, she was indeed Hitler's longtime companion and partner, and first met the tyrant when she was just 17. By the time she was 19, the two are believed to have been romantically involved. It wasn't until 1944 that she began to be seen in public at German events with Hitler.
Braun was wildly in love with Hitler, and actually attempted suicide twice early in their relationship. The first occasion involved shooting herself in the chest with a pistol in an effort to attract Hitler's attention, while the second was an overdose of sleeping pills after she began to feel that he wasn't giving her enough time. As a result, Hitler moved Braun into his household near Berchtesgaden when he was in the area, and also provided her with an apartment at the Reich Chancellery.
According to most historians, Hitler and Braun's romance was a well-kept secret from the German public, who weren't aware of their connection until after WWII had come to an end. The reason was apparently that Hitler wanted to portray himself as a chaste hero, and hoped to remain single to exploit what he believed was his intense sexual attractiveness. While the two were close, it was a secret romance throughout their lives.
Braun herself was actually not a member of the Nazi party. She only became interested in politics when Germany moved to a total war economy, which would ban cosmetics and other women's luxuries. Otherwise, she was more interested in sports, clothes, and photography and many of the most well-known photos of Hitler were taken by Braun.
Hitler and Braun were married on April 29, 1945, as Berlin was being bombed by the allies. The ceremony took place within the Fuhrerbunker and was witnessed by Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels. After the wedding the two had a small breakfast and said their farewells to the inner circle of the Nazi party. On April 1945, Hitler and Eva Braun – now Eva Hitler – killed themselves. Eva ingested cyanide capsule, while Hitler opted to shoot himself in the head with his pistol. The corpses were burned in the garden behind the Reich Chancellery. Eva Braun was only 33 years old when she died, and she will go down in history as the lover of the most heinous tyrant the world has ever known.
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