Von Below - At Hitlers Side: the Memoirs of Hitlers Luftwaffe Adjutant 1937-1945

At
Hitlers Side

Nicolaus von Below was almost constantly at Hitlers side
for eight years. In his memoirs he provides a thoughtful record
of those years from the point of view of a professional army
office Von Belows book is probably a unique document in
that it represents a serious attempt, by a comparatively uncomplicated
but unfailingly sincere man, to come to terms with matters
he would ordinarily have considered totally beyond him.

Gitta Sereny

Since as Luftwaffe Adjutant Nicolaus von Below saw
Hitler on an almost daily basis from 1937 down to the last days in
the bunker, I found his memoirs indispensable in writing the
second volume of my biography of the Dictator and now greatly
welcome their appearance in English translation.

Ian Kershaw

An intimate glimpse into the decision-making process of the
Nazi military leadership A brief history of the war from the
perspective of someone who witnessed it at the highest levels and
then interspersed this history with his remembered observations
and occasional references to surviving correspondence.

Library Journal (USA)

We are presented with an absorbing account which provides
more insight about the intimate detail about life with the Fuhrer
than many other It is our good fortune that the late Nicolaus
von Below miraculously survived Hitlers ruthlessness and the
Bomb Plot attempt to kill Hitler (and the author) on 20 July
1944. Otherwise we would not, even belatedly, have been made
privy to these important memoirs.

Kenneth Macksey
Tank: The Journal of the Royal Tank Regiment

This excellent volume His accounts of his dealing
with Hitlers allies and generals during both good and bad times,
and Hitlers reactions to their views and news, provide a detailed
insight into the working of the Nazi and Axis machine
both in peace and war.

The British Army Review

Von Below writes clearly, honestly and objectively, and gives
yet another insight into the mind of the one man who alone
changed the course of 20th century history. Well worth reading.

Pennant: The Journal of the Forces Pension Society

At Hitlers Side is the ideal title for Nicolaus von Belows
unique book because Below was Hitlers Luftwaffe adjutant from
1937 to 1945. Von Below, an intelligent but unimaginative man,
was an effective witness of Hitlers war. He flew to many of the
battlefields to get first hand reports just as Montgomery used
young liaison officers to find out what was going on. Von Below
throws new light on the strange, sinister twilight world in
which Hitler overran Europe.

The Guards Magazine

At
Hitlers Side

The Memoirs of Hitlers Luftwaffe Adjutant
19371945

Nicolaus von Below

Translated by Geoffrey Brooks

FRONTLINE
BOOKS

Greenhill
Books

Original German edition: Als Hitlers Adjutant 193745
1980 by v. Hase & Koehler Verlag, Mainz, Germany

First published in Great Britain in 2001 by
Greenhill Books, Lionel Leventhal Limited
www.greenhillbooks.com

Reprinted in this format in 2010 and 2012
by Frontline Books

an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

1980 by v. Hase & Koehler Verlag, Mainz, German
English translation copyright Lionel Leventhal Limited, 2001

ISBN 978 1 78159 974 7

The right of Nicolaus von Below to be identified as
author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Printed and bound in England
by CPI

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail: enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Contents

Pages 129144

Von Below with Hitler after war is declared.

Von Below with Hitler during Wehrmacht manoeuvres, 1937.

Von Below accompanying Hitler in Hitlers personal aircraft.

Von Below asleep during the journey.

Von Below and his wife at the Berghof, 1938.

Hitler with the Italian Ambassador, 1938.

Hitler with Frau von Below at the Berghof.

Hitler with his personal pilot, Hans Baur.

Von Below with his wife and Wilhelm Brckner.

Frau von Below with Generalleutnant and Frau Stumpff.

Speer, Frick, Ribbentrop, Goebbels and Bouhler with Hitler at the Berghof.

Hitler with Gustav and Albert Krupp, 1939.

The French Ambassador arrives at the Berghof.

The Old Reich Chancellery.

The Marble Gallery, New Reich Chancellery.

The situation table in the Great Hall of the Old Reich Chancellery.

Gring congratulates Hitler on his 50th birthday.

Models of all the German warplanes: a present from the Luftwaffe.

A private birthday party.

The Berghof in Obersalzberg.

Inside the Berghof.

Hitlers study at the Berghof.

Frau von Below with Albert Speer at the Berghof.

Hitler with von Below, Poland, 1939.

Von Below celebrates promotion.

Hitler, von Below and Jodl during the Balkans campaign.

Situation conference for Barbarossa, June 1941.

Hitlers dining room in Fhrerhauptquartier Wolfschanze.

Hitler and Mussolini visit the Eastern Front, 1941.

Christmas 1941 at FHQ.

Von Below with Rommel, 1941.

Oberst Ltzow receives a decoration from Hitler.

Von Below with Generalfeldmarschall Milch, 1942.

Von Below with his brother at Wolfschanze.

Von Below at FHQ Winniza, 1942.

Von Below with Bodenschatz, 1942.

Von Below with Oberst Rudel at FHQ.

Hitler with his staff at Obersalzberg, 1943.

Von Below, von Szymonski and von Freyend, 1943.

Student, Hewel, Wagner, Gring and Dnitz at Wolfschanze.

Recipients of Luftwaffe Oak Leaves.

Hitler with Bormann and Jodl after the July 1944 assassination attempt.

The conference room after the explosion.

Hitler visits Admiral von Puttkamer and Kapitn Assmann in hospital.

A copy of Hitlers private testament.

Illustrations 6, 7, 8, 12, 23 and 24 courtesy of Dirk von Below.