At the Heart of the Reich: The Secret Diary of Hitler’s Army Adjutant
Written by Gerhard Engel
Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki
4/5
()
About this audiobook
A revealing account of Hitler’s thoughts and actions throughout World War II from one of his closest aides.
Major Gerhard Engel was Hitler’s army adjutant from 1938 to 1943. During his years with Hitler, Engel kept a diary. After the war, he added material to shed further light on certain events, military and political decisions, and Hitler’s attitude to particular problems. His diary covers the decision-making process behind crucial military actions, including the annexation of Austria, the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the war against Russia. He also addresses intrigue within Hitler’s inner circle and his casual conversations with other key Nazi figures.
At the Heart of the Reich sheds important light on the Fuhrer’s core beliefs. It includes the statement made by Hitler in 1941, “I am now as before a Catholic.” It also details his views on German Jews and dwells on the extent to which they served in the Wehrmacht. Engel also addresses the deportation of Jews from Salonika and Hitler’s order to Himmler to select a destination, the details of which Hitler was apparently unconcerned with. The final part of the diary is mostly devoted to the war against Russia. Engel’s reports confirm that the master plan was to take Leningrad and Rostov, then close pincers behind Moscow. The plan was frustrated by senior army commanders’ lack of enthusiasm and Hitler’s failure to exert firm leadership. Engel depicts Hitler as a vacillating, contrary man. It is not unlikely that this encouraged his generals to impose themselves and argue their plan to rush Moscow, which ultimately contributed to the defeat of the Third Reich.
Related to At the Heart of the Reich
Related audiobooks
Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empire of Destruction: A History of Nazi Mass Killing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prevail until the Bitter End: Germans in the Waning Years of World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stalin: Passage to Revolution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Campaigns of World War II: The Eastern Front: Digitally narrated using a synthesized voice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51941: The Year Germany Lost the War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nazi Wives: The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stalingrad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unsolved Mysteries of WWII Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Europe Against the Jews: 1880-1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHitler: Ascent 1889-1939 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fall of Berlin 1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Somehow Survived: Eyewitness Accounts from World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Berlin: Life and Death in the City at the Center of the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hitler, the Germans, and the Final Solution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler and the Habsburgs: The Fuhrer's Vendetta Against the Austrian Royals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War on the Eastern Front: The German Soldier in Russia 1941-1945 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hitler's Children: Sons and Daughters of Third Reich Leaders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hitler Years: Triumph, 1933-1939 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fur Volk and Fuhrer: The Memoir of a Veteran of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The End of Tsarist Russia: The March to World War I and Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Goering: The Rise and Fall of the Notorious Nazi Leader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Wars & Military For You
The Art of War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Book Summary: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead And Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Templars: The History and the Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hagakure: The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine: From Zionism to Intifadas and the Struggle for Peace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make It Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for At the Heart of the Reich
13 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It was a nice chronological review of what was going on in the German army during WWII. I was disappointed that the army adjutant wasn’t privy to more detailed information related to Hitler’s activities and that the information ended before the Americans jumped into Normandy.
However, I really enjoyed a look into the past.1 person found this helpful