Constanze Manziarly (14 April 1920 – disappeared 2 May 1945) was born in
Innsbruck,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. She served as a
cook and
dietitian
A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ca ...
to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
until his final days in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
in 1945.
Early life
Manziarly was born in Innsbruck, Austria, on 14 April 1920.
Career
Manziarly began working as cook and dietitian for Hitler from his 1943 stays at the
Berghof until
his death in Berlin on 30 April 1945. Hitler took up residence in the ''
Führerbunker'' on 16 January 1945. The
Reich Chancellery
The Reich Chancellery (german: Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared ...
bunker complex in Berlin was made up of two bunkers, the lower ''Führerbunker'' and the older upper bunker, known as the ''
Vorbunker
The ''Vorbunker'' (upper bunker or forward bunker) was an underground concrete structure originally intended to be a temporary air-raid shelter for Adolf Hitler and his guards and servants. It was located behind the large reception hall that wa ...
''. Two rooms in the ''Vorbunker'' were used for food supply. Another room was made up of the kitchen which had a refrigerator and a wine store. Manziarly used the kitchen to prepare Hitler's meals while he stayed in the ''Führerbunker''.
Together with
Gerda Christian and
Traudl Junge, Manziarly was personally requested by Hitler to leave the bunker complex on 22 April. However, all three women volunteered to stay with the dictator until his death, and he apparently gave each of them a
cyanide capsule to take should they decide to end their own lives.
[Beevor, Antony (2002). ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', p. 278.]
Manziarly left the bunker complex on 1 May in a break-out group led by
SS-''
Brigadeführer
''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between the years of 1932 to 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as ''Untergruppenf ...
''
Wilhelm Mohnke
Wilhelm Mohnke (15 March 1911 – 6 August 2001) was one of the original members of the SS-Staff Guard (''Stabswache'') "Berlin" formed in March 1933. From those ranks, Mohnke rose to become one of Adolf Hitler's last remaining generals. He joi ...
. Evading the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
troops, they made their way north to a German Army hold-out in the cellar of the Schultheiss-Patzenhofer Brewery on the Prinzenallee. The group included Dr.
Ernst-Günther Schenck, Gerda Christian,
Else Krüger, and Traudl Junge.
[O'Donnell, James (2001) ]978
Year 978 ( CMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated ...
''The Bunker'', New York: Da Capo Press, pp. 271, 274, 283, 291. Early on 2 May, the German group was captured by Soviet soldiers.
[ Mohnke tasked the four women with trying to deliver his written report to Hitler's successor, Karl Dönitz. The women walked out of the brewery courtyard and made their way into the Soviet occupied area of Berlin. The women split up, with Christian and Krueger waiting at a water supply area.][Junge, Traudl (1989). ''Voices from the Bunker'', pp. 150–151.] Manziarly, whom Junge thought looked like "the ideal image of Russian femininity, well built and plump-cheeked", was wearing a Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
jacket, and went to find some civilian clothes while Junge waited for her.[ Junge next saw Manziarly being taken towards a U-Bahn subway tunnel by two Soviet soldiers; she reassured Junge that "They want to see my papers." Manziarly was never heard from again.][Junge, Traudl (2004). '' Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary'', p. 219, .]
Portrayal in the media
Constanze Manziarly has been portrayed by the following actresses in film and television productions:
* Phyllida Law
Phyllida Ann Law (born 8 May 1932) is a British actress, known for her numerous roles in film and television.
Early life
Law was born in Glasgow, the daughter of Meg "Mego" and William Law, a journalist. Prior to the Second World War, her fath ...
in the 1973 British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
film '' Hitler: The Last Ten Days''.Bettina Redlich
Bettina is a female name predominantly found in the Italian and German languages. This name has various interpreted meanings and origins.
In Italian, Bettina originated as a diminutive of the names Elisabetta and Benedetta. Benedetta is the Ita ...
in the 2004 German film '' ''Downfall'' (''Der Untergang'').
See also
* List of people who disappeared
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manziarly, Constanze
1920 births
1940s missing person cases
Austrian chefs
Dietitians
Austrian civilians killed in World War II
Missing people
Missing person cases in Germany
People from Innsbruck
Personal staff of Adolf Hitler
Women in World War II