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My Research Journal: History
Posted: May 22, 2025
A few days ago I fell down a little rabbit hole of researching Eva Braun and honestly her story seems so depressing. I always assumed she had been happy in her relationship and rarely questioned people who hated her. But the more digging I've done.. The worse I feel for her. Eva Braun married Hitler and that's all most people care to know about her. They think that one single fact about her life makes her a horrible person overall.
I too used to be one of those people who assumed she was just crazy. But she wasn't. When Eva was 17 (1929) she took a photography job working for Hitler's personal photographer. That was how she initally met him. Though she didn't see him regularly until 1931 when his half niece who had previously been living with commit suicide. Which brings me to the topic that made me rethink my opinion of her. In August 1932 Eva Braun made the first of two known suicide attmepts by shooting herself in the chest with her fathers gun. Historians say she "just wanted Hitler's attention" and that is one of many reasons I feel bad for her.
While it is true her second attempt years later was influenced by a lack of attention there is zero evidence to suggest this influenced the first. Not to mention, regardless of if this influenced her decision or not it is insane to boil down a womans suicide attempt where she shot herself in the chest to her seeking attention. People don't shoot themself in the chest for attention. You have to have a very real and serious death wish to do that.
The idea that her first attempt in 1932 was just a way to get attention from Hitler comes from her second attempt in 1935 when she overdosed on sleeping pills. Her sister Ilse found her and gave first aid before calling a doctor. While Ilse was there she also removed pages from Eva's journal. Pages which suggested she had made the attempt due to Hitler not making enough time for her.
On the topic of Eva and suicide there's one story pretty much everyone with any knowlege of her knows: Her suicide at the end of the war along with Hitler and almost everyone else in the bunker. What a lot of people don't know, however, is that Eva was never supposed to be in that bunker. Hitler had told her not to go with him. He told her to leave and escape before they lost. Despite this: When Henriette von Schirach said that Eva should go into hiding after the war ended Eva responded saying she wouldn't let Hitler die alone and that she intended to stay with him until the end.
To be honest she seems to have been a litte.. Overly obsessed. I don't think this was just a case of genuine loyalty to a partner. Eva was 17 when she met Hitler, 19 when they started spending a lot of time together. And he wasn't JUST older than her, he was the most important person in the country. I truly believe Eva felt reliant on him. Like she couldn't live without him there. She had never known life alone. She knew life with her parents and then life with Hitler. And even when she felt trapped in the relationship she attempted suicide rather than leaving. She didn't think she could handle being on her own. That's why she chose death over being alone. Eva wasn't evil or a horrible person. She was trapped. Much like Hitler's half niece who commit suicide because she felt trapped.