Her father was the first lieutenant of Adolf Hitler, the second top commander of the Nazi administration and one of the major perpetrators of the Holocaust, Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (October 7, 1900-May 23, 1945)! Once, the Führer gave her dolls and chocolates during a Christmas party. Gudrun Margarete Elfriede Emma Anna Burwitz – popularly known as Nazi princess – died on May 24, 2018 at the age of 88 at her residence near Munich. However, the global media took nearly a month to report her death.

Gudrun with her father (March 6, 1938)

Gudrun’s death was first reported by Bild in June. The German daily also reported that she had worked in West Germany’s foreign intelligence agency for a couple of years (in the early 1960s). Many believe that it might be a reason for the media not to disclose the news of her death immediately.
Gudrun, along with her father, visited the notorious Dachau concentration camp at the age of 12. Later, she wrote in her diary: “Today, we went to the SS concentration camp at Dachau. We saw everything we could. We saw the gardening work. We saw the pear trees. We saw all the pictures painted by the prisoners. Marvellous! And afterward we had a lot to eat. It was very nice.” Like her father Himmler, she is considered to be a life-long supporter of Nazis. The father-daughter duo used to think that the Nazis did not and could not make any mistakes…… so, there is no need to seek apology from history. In fact, Gudrun was of the opinion that ‘Holocaust‘ didn’t take place in Germany. She reportedly helped the Nazis – accused of being guilty and punished as war criminals – financially.

Gudrun with her parents

Gudrun was born on August 8, 1929 in Munich (seven months after her father assumed the position of Reichsführer-SS or SS commander with Hitler’s approval). She was Himmler’s most beloved child from the beginning. In the 1930s-40s, she was often photographed with her father. Once, Gudrun wrote that she liked to see her reflection in her father’s polished boots.
However, her dreams were shattered in May 1945 when the Allies defeated the Axis powers to win the WWII. Gudrun, who was just 15 at that time, and her mother Margarete Boden fled to northern Italy, but were arrested by the US troops. Elsewhere in Germany, the Russian forces detained Himmler on May 20, 1945 and transferred him to the British custody. Three days later, he committed suicide by biting on a cyanide capsule he had concealed. However, the daughter refused to believe that her father committed suicide and maintained that he was killed by his British captors.

Gudrun with the Führer

Gudrun and her mother were held in various detention facilities in Italy, France and Germany for four years. Later, she was summoned to the hearing of some of the war-crimes trials of her father’s associates in Nuremberg. In their publication My Father’s Keeper (p 2002), Norbert and Stephan Lebert wrote: “She did not weep, but went on hunger strikes. She lost weight, fell sick and stopped developing.”
After their release, Gudrun and her mother settled in Bielefeld. In the northern German town, Gudrun started working as a dressmaker and bookbinder. However, it became increasingly difficult for her to hold a steady job because of her family history. In 1961, Gudrun joined the German intelligence service as a secretary in Munich. And she lost the job in 1963, when the concerned authorities in then West Germany reviewed the presence of former Nazis in the government.

Himmler with wife & children

In the late 1960s, she tied knot with Wulf-Dieter Burwitz, a writer who became an official in a right-wing political group, and settled in Munich. The couple had two children. Gudrun had always avoided the media. She reportedly attended the reunion party of the SS-officers, hiding in Austria, in 2014. In the past, Gudrun used to attend the annual Ulrichsberg gathering in the neighbouring country and got the status of both a star and an authority. In his book Stille Hilfe, Oliver Schröm described her as a ‘schillernde Nazi-Prinzessin’ (flamboyant Nazi princess).
A British journalist, Allan Hall, tried to meet Gudrun in 2015. However, the Nazi princess did not allow him to enter her residence. “I never talk about my work. I just do what I can when I can. Go away. You are not welcome,” Gudrun told Allan.
She has kept her promise. Gudrun will never talk to anybody.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das