Brunhilde Pomsel
| Brunhilde Pomsel | |
|---|---|
 Brunhilde Pomsel, in about 1943 | |
| Born |
January 11, 1911 Berlin, Germany |
| Residence | Munich, Germany |
| Occupation | Stenographer and typist, secretary, broadcaster |
| Known for |
Secretary to Joseph Goebbels centenarian status |
Brunhilde Pomsel (born 11 January 1911)[1] is a German-born centenarian who was a personal secretary to Joseph Goebbels, and later a broadcaster. She worked for Goebbels from 1942 onwards, and is one of the last surviving eyewitnesses of the Nazi power apparatus.
Biography
Born in Berlin in 1911, Pomsel worked as a stenographer for a Jewish lawyer and as a typist for a rightist nationalist, at one point working for both simultaneously.[2] In 1933, she gained a job as a secretary in the news department of the Third Reich’s broadcasting station after joining the Nazi Party.[3] On the recommendation of a friend, she was transferred to the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in 1942, where she worked under Joseph Goebbels as a shorthand writer until the end of the war.[3][2] According to Kate Connolly in the Guardian, Pomsel's tasks included the "massaging downwards statistics about fallen soldiers, as well as exaggerating the number of rapes of German women by the Red Army".[3] After the Fall of Berlin in 1945, Pomsel was sentenced by the Soviets to five years in prison.[4]
After being released from prison in 1950 Pomsel worked in German broadcasting until her retirement in 1971.[2] On her 100th birthday in 2011, she publicly spoke out against Goebbels.[5] A documentary called A German Life, drawn from a 30-hour interview with Pomsel, was shown at the Munich International Film Festival in 2016.[3][6]
As of 2016, Pomsel lives in Munich, Germany.[7]
References
- ↑ "Die Geschichte der Frau, die Goebbels Sekretärin war" (in German). noz.de. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
- 1 2 3 Wilder, Charly (July 5, 2016). "Goebbels's Secretary Struggles With Her Responsibility". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Connolly, Kate (August 15, 2016). "Joseph Goebbels' 105-year-old secretary: 'No one believes me now, but I knew nothing'". The Guardian. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
- ↑ Brucker, Marion; Wallace, Rita (April 23, 2015). "Secretary says Nazi propagandist Goebbels was a 'narcissist'". USA Today. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
- ↑ Tony Paterson (September 2, 2011). "Goebbels was a coward: former secretary spills wartime secrets - Europe - World". The Independent. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
- ↑ ""A German Life": Erinnerungen von Goebbels' Sekretärin" (in German). derstandard.at. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- ↑ Ofer Aderet (2016-07-05). "Goebbels' Stenographer Says She Knew Nothing About Holocaust". Haaretz. Retrieved 2016-07-13.