Paula Hitler, Adolf Hitler’s sister in Berchtesgaden Germany


Paula Hitler Grave in Berchtesgaden Germany
Paula Hitler’s Grave in Berchtesgaden Germany

Paula Hitler was the younger sister of Adolf Hitler. Their father Alois Hitler had three wives during his life and Paula and Adolf are from the same mother, named Klara Pölzl. Paula was born on 21st of January 1896 in the town of Hafeld in Austria. She was seven years younger than Adolf and she was the last child of Alois Hitler. Her father died when she was six in 1903 and her mother died in 1907 just four years later. Klara was probably related to Alois Hitler, for she called him “uncle” even after they got married.

After their mother died Adolf shared his part of the elderly pension with his sister Paula. Paula later moved to Vienna and had a job as secretary. During World War One she lost contact with Adolf Hitler. Somewhere during the nineteen twenties they finally met up again, and after losing her job due to her last name, Adolf suggested her to change her last name to “Wolf”. This was a childhood nickname and in later times only his closest companions dared to call him by his nickname “Wolfie”. During World War Two Paula had a secretary job in a military hospital.

Relationship

Paula Hitler was in a relationship with an Austrian doctor named Erwin Jekelius. This doctor was an Action T4 expert, a euthanasia program to dispose mentally ill and disabled. Under his supervision in Vienna around 790 children were gassed in 1941. After Paula Hitler wanted to marry him and asked for permission, Adolf Hitler had Erwin arrested by the Gestapo and send him to the Eastern Front. He survived the war and was captured by the Russians, he did not survive the Gulag though and died in Russia in 1952 on the 8th of May.

Paula Hitler Sister of Adolf Hitler Berchtesgaden Germany
Paula Hitler, the sister of Adolf Hitler – Berchtesgaden Germany

After WWII

Paula was caught by the Americans in May 1945 but was released the same year.  She said that she could not believe her brother was responsible for the holocaust and met Eva Braun only once. After her release she moved back to Vienna, and worked in an arts and craft shop. In 1952 she moved back to Berchtesgaden and lived quietly in a two room flat as Paula Wolf. She looked after former SS members and survivors of the NSDAP during this period. In 1959 she was interviewed, which was the only filmed interview she ever gave. The German version of the interview is lost but the English dubbed interview can still be seen.

Death

Paula Hitler died in 1960 at the age of 64 and she is buried on the Waldfriedhof cemetery in Berchtesgaden. She was the last immediate family member of Adolf Hitler. Paula had no children and never got married. Her grave holds two names of the people that took care of her grave. After they died in 2005 and 2006 they were buried on the same spot as Paula and their names were placed on the wooden grave marker, covering Paula Hitler’s name.

Paula Hitler Bergfriedhof Berchtesgaden Germany
Paula Hitler’s grave on the cemetery in Berchtesgaden Germany

Visit

Paula Hitler’s grave can be found on the Waldfriedheim in Berchtesgaden, in the corner to the church building and the road.


8 thoughts on “Paula Hitler, Adolf Hitler’s sister in Berchtesgaden Germany

This is a point of discussion. We have found no sources stating that the grave has been cleared, but rather that the names (of the former care takers) have been added later (her name resides underneath the new inscription).
The article on Findagrave has been put there by an anonimous source.

1959 was not the first interview she gave. When you google her name, you get transcripts of a 1940s interview with her.

Hi Kath,
You are right, there are interviews from 1946 as well. I forgot the word ‘filmed’ and it became a different sentence in the end. Thank you for your comment.

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