She was a teenager when the war ended and was released in after testifying at the Nuremberg trials. The head of the spy agency's history department then corroborated the newspaper report about Burwitz's activities in West Germany, which reunited with communist East Germany in to form the present German state.
At that time the organisation was under the control of Reinhard Gehlen, a former Nazi military intelligence commander who left the BND in Mr Hechelhammer said the organisation did not ordinarily discuss current and former employees but was making an exemption because Burwitz had died. German organisations such as the BND have grappled with how to address their own Nazi links in the post-war era. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies.
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Recommended Coco Schumann: Jazz musician who refused to bow to Nazi ban. Burwitz was active in Stille Hilfe, a group that assisted Nazi fugitives to flee to South America after the war. Already subscribed? Log in. Forgotten your password? Want an ad-free experience? Himmler spent very little time with his wife.
Lina Heydrich suggested that Himmler was embarrassed by her appearance: "Size 50 knickers, that's all there was to her. In Heinrich Himmler began an affair with his young secretary, Hedwig Potthast.
The couple set up home in Mecklenburg. Hedwig gave birth to a son, Helge born and a daughter, Nanette Dorothea born Although separated from his wife, Himmler remained close to his daughter, Gudrun, who he phoned every few days and wrote to her at least once a week.
Himmler adored his young, blue-eyed, blonde-haired daughter and would often take her to official state functions. In he even took her to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp. Gudrun 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. And afterwards we had a lot to eat. We use cookies to improve our service for you.
You can find more information in our data protection declaration. The BND told Bild newspaper that Himmler's daughter, Gudrun Burwitz, worked from the end of to autumn as a secretary in the intelligence agency. Burwitz died in May at the age of 88, having spent her life mingling with right-wing extremist circles and always defending her father.
Reinhard Gehlen had set up an anti-Soviet espionage apparatus that proved valuable in the context of the Cold War. The CIA-backed Gehlen Organization was made up of former Nazi intelligence and military officers with connections and experience in Eastern Europe and anti-Communist activities.
Its members formed a core at the new BND, which Gehlen led from until Read more: How Germany's foreign intelligence agency recruits young hackers. Hechelhammer said that because Burwitz was no longer alive, the BND was able to break with a policy of not commenting on current or former employees. Burwitz's father, Heinrich Himmler, was commander of the SS Schutzstaffel , responsible for the Nazi reign of terror in Germany and occupied lands.
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