Former maid to Adolf Hitler interview

כאן | Elizabeth Kalhammer is now a 92 year old woman. yet she has a secret story in her past. She used to work at Hitler's private estate from 1943 to 1945

KAN | Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reporter - Antonia Yamin interviewed the Former maid to Adolf Hitler - on her life at his private estate

[ABC_DEF]

She is honest, and that is admirable. She doesn't approve of what Hitler did. But she had a wonderful time working for him, and she is not going to pretend she didn't.

[dead_warrior_wae]

"I would've killed him."


No you wouldn't. If you grew in that era with those people in these circumstances, you absolutely wouldn't.

[ambycakes]

She was simply surviving. It was either live in a mansion with a secure job and home or continue to not know the feeling of being full from eating. I appreciate her honesty and can tell she’s sincere.

[anietac.]

She said it was the first time in her life she wasn't hungry. Her experience was significant in so many ways. She was in the middle of history in the making with a point of view of no other, why would she turn her 20 year old self around. Great interview

[TheJeffylicious]

This is a woman who was a maid at Hitler's house. So what? I mean, sure it is interesting, she might even have stories of Hitler in a lighter moment. She killed nobody, she cleaned dishes, cleaned the house, brought Hitler his food... She is no criminal. She is not responsible for anyone's death. I guess you can say she didn't try to kill Hitler, but would YOU have had the courage to do it? I wouldn't have. I would have smiled at Hitler, Eva Braun and their guests. Always happy. People generally don't think of happy people as suspicious. This lady is just fine in my book.

[HxnTx]

We are the last generation that will be able to meet these people in person

[welshpete]

To me when she said, when she started working there . " For the first time in my life I was not hungry ", is very moving . She is an amazing old lady with a clear memory !

[annettegreer]

I admire her honesty. Being young she was isolated and secluded from truth and provided with food and security she had never had previously. It was only when she returned home that she faced the reality outside of the world she had been sanctioned to live in. Blessings to her.

[dresrosa]

Stop making the poor old women like she is evil

She only did what she need to survive

[backhandok]

Not many people have a christmas card signed by Adolf Hitler.

[hamarana]

6:24 "It was the first time in my life I wasn´t hungry" - how do you tell a very poor young girl not to work at a mansion, where the most "admired" person, at the time, lived?

[Thomasthetank]

"How an entire nation can succumb to a dangerous blindness" those words hit really really hard. Super relevant, even nowadays.

[benp.]

"He wouldn't get up before 2pm, and he wouldn't go to bed before 4 in the morning"
I didn't know I had so much in common with Hitler

[PokrRat]

I respect her honesty. If you put yourself in her shoes, it's kind of hard to blame her. She went from being a poor and hungry young woman to a person with status and a very comfortable life. She also genuinely believed that she was doing a service to her country. Most people today would play down their experiences to avoid the stigma, but I don't know that many people would actually make different choices in her circumstances.

[itsmeabbylee]

According to what I found on an Austrian obituary page, Elisabeth passed away in March 2022 at the age of 97. May she rest in peace and may we continue to thank her for sharing her incredibly insightful story to be preserved for future generations of historians.

[johanngrunholz]

Austrian here to report some minor inaccuracies in the translation of her dialect. At 6:17 for example, she's talking about rice with golden chanterelles ("Eierschwammerln"), not rice with eggs and mushrooms ("Eiern und Schwammerln"). Also, she doesn't say it was the first time in her life that she wasn't hungry, but that she never had that meal before.

[somewhat_toasty]

6:45
"He wouldn't get up before 2 p.m and he wouldn't go to bed before 4 in the morning"
for once, I can kinda relate to Hitler

[jules]

so sad they didn’t translate what she said properly, at one point she called hitler a clown lmao

[michaelterry]

I don't think this woman was involved in the decision making of any of the “final solution” or “what country should we invade next?” questions. I think she was more involved in the, “Which chocolate should I put on the pillow?” and “Should I open the window and let fresh air into the room ?” questions.

[josephrispoli]

I'm an American, born and raised. My grandmother was born in Munich Germany. I remember coming home from school one day, and telling her how we learned about Hitler, and how horrible of a person he was. She looked at me with a look of anger I had never seen before. I don't remember the conversation word for word, but she told me that before Hitler came to power, the Economy was HORRIBLE. It was after WW1, and just before WW2. She said they had to wait in line 3 hours or longer just to get a loaf of bread! Sometimes, they would get nothing. When Hitler came into power, the economy flourished, and people and their families could eat a good meal. Something most Americans take for granted. I'm not saying Hitler was a good man, but I try to envision living in a world where you can barely feed your family, and then all of a sudden, a new man comes into power, and your family can live a better life and eat good. Now that I'm older, I can understand my grandmother's point of view. Perception is everything, and propaganda is King.

R.I.P. Oma. I miss you