"Secretary of the Devil", "brown eminence", a man who was constantly behind the throne of the Fuhrer, who was his second "I", his shadow is Martin Bormann.
History knows this "evil genius" as one of the most significant Nazi leaders, as the most mysterious and least public figure, who deliberately avoided publicity and despised awards, ranks and public recognition.
Young years
The son of Theodor Bormann - an ordinary postal employee - was born on June 17, 1900. At the age of 18, he was drafted into the army, then participated in the First World War. Apparently, Martin Bormann did not like military affairs, as he served as an ordinary batman: he served coffee, carried suitcases with other people's property, and cleaned boots. Although he boasted that he was a private in an artillery regiment, which allegedly has documentary evidence. Being a lover of country life and nurturing a dreambecome a literate farmer, after demobilization he graduated from the courses of specialists in the agricultural industry, having managed to join an anti-Semitic organization during the training period.
After graduation, Martin got a job as an inspector on the estate of von Troyenfels, who led the local ultra-right organization, where he fully showed his abilities as an office worker. Having a high salary, Bormann secretly traded in stolen goods from the estate and was once caught "hot" by a school teacher, W alter Kadov. The teacher Bormann Martin and his friend were killed, for which they ended up in the dock. For unknown reasons, the crime committed was recognized as unintentional, and Bormann was sentenced to 11 months in prison, after serving which he returned to his old duty station as a hero who was punished for justice.
Bormann Prison Experience
Thieves', speculative activity again fascinated him, which did not prevent Bormann from showing himself in politics. Even before his conviction, he joined the DNFP, one of the most influential parties in Germany, and in 1922 he was a member of G. Rossbach's militant brigade. Having come to the conclusion that he was cramped here, since things did not go beyond drunken gatherings with tearful abuse of the government, seriously interested in the ideas of Nazism, Bormann left home, where he joined the Frontbann, an illegal military organization of SA stormtroopers.
In 1927, Bormann joined the NSDAP, became an assistant to Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel, and later the head of the insurance department and the head of the economic department. In 1929 he married Gerda Buch -daughter of the Chief Justice of the Nazi Party.
Witnesses at the wedding were Rudolf Hess and Adolf Hitler. The Bormans became the parents of ten children, nine of whom survived. The first child was named Adolf in honor of the godparent.
Martin Bormann as a family man
The relationship of the spouses caused bewilderment in party circles - as soon as Martin whistled, and Gerda was at his feet. She was in no way humiliated by her puppy dog loy alty. She supported her husband in everything, even in relations with other women, the legal wife prompted and gave advice. Apparently, therefore, the relationship between the spouses was very strong.
Up the career ladder
At the end of 1929, on the instructions of the Fuhrer, Bormann Martin created and himself headed the National Socialist Automobile Corps. A successful debut was noticed, and in the early 1930s, Bormann worked closely with Heinrich Himmler, successfully using the accumulated experience of recent speculation. For fruitful and diligent work, he was taken as a financier to the Imperial leadership. It was here that, when solving monetary issues on a national scale, Bormann showed diplomatic skills that contributed to the acquisition of support for the fascist movement from reputable German manufacturers.
In Berchtesgaden, Bormann rebuilt Hitler's house - the Berghof (even registered to Bormann), and then was its manager, entrusting all financial matters to himself. Reichsleiter, GeneralSS, chief of staff Rudolf Hess, personal assistant to the Fuhrer - Bormann easily overcame all these steps in order to become personally necessary to Hitler. He was entrusted with the organization of party congresses, as well as such delicate work as carrying out "purges" in the apparatus of the NSDAP. For complete safety, Bormann, who had the dislike of the "old fighters", joined the SS, thanks to which he practically became the head of the personnel policy of the NSDAP. This allowed him to control the fate of the Nazis at his own discretion. Sending unwanted people to the front, resignation, slander, absurd accusation or approaching himself - the life and career of subordinates were now in his hands.
Bormann's attitude to Christianity
Bormann was so negative about Christianity that, in addition to the violent persecution of the Church, he officially left it. In 1937, he imposed a ban on the entry into the NSDAP of people with a spiritual title, and in 1938 he issued an order stating that the worldview of the National Socialists should be taken as true faith. Even everyone's favorite Christmas evoked unpleasant associations for Bormann and his wife (an ardent supporter of her husband's views) and strengthened the confidence that none of their children would fall under the corrupting influence of the Christian faith.
Unfortunately, life decided otherwise - the children of Martin Bormann became Roman Catholics, and Adolf Martin, the eldest son, became a priest.
The Fuhrer's indispensable personal assistant
In 1944, Bormann, who became absolutely indispensable to Hitler and took part ineach discussed decision, took the vacant vacancy of Rudolf Hess, who had lost the confidence of the party. His appointment could be predicted, but it was not welcomed by the Fuhrer's entourage. Bormann was disliked for secret machinations, he was not familiar with the public, and his industriousness aroused suspicion. As Hitler's personal secretary, he headed the Party Chancellery, concentrating in his hands all the levers of party power - huge and comparable only to the power of Stalin at the end of Lenin's life. The efficient operation of a huge bureaucratic mechanism was determined by such factors as:
- titanic work capacity and energy of Martin Bormann;
- its indispensability for the Fuhrer;
- relentless vigilance;
- constant meddling;
- total control over personnel changes;
- relentless demands of discipline.
In the role of the Fuhrer's secretary, Bormann Martin was perfect - he guessed the wishes of his patron, faithfully, unobtrusively and meekly carried out all the orders of his leader, to whom he was devoted absolutely sincerely.
Clarity, clarity and brevity of reports with a skillful selection of facts, skillfully combined with threads of intrigue and deceit, almost always led to the Fuehrer taking the decisions required by Bormann. While Martin Bormann enjoyed Hitler's favor, no one even tried to throw him off the place obtained by such painstaking work.
Bormann against the political elite
Yes, and Bormann Martin himself tried anymethods to keep competitors at a distance, always maintaining and wisely using the leading position. He achieved the fall of the authority of Goebbels, Himmler, Ribbentrop, Goering and other tops of the Reich. However, the triumph of the "king of the party", as his enemies called him, was not long. The course of the war turned into an inexorably approaching catastrophe. On August 10, 1944, at the initiative of Bormann, representatives of heavy and military industry were gathered in Strasbourg. At the training camp, they discussed the possibility of exporting "party gold" outside the country in order to save funds for the resumption of the Nazi movement when better times come.
Last days in sight
Shortly before his death, at the end of April 1945, Hitler appointed Bormann to the newly introduced post - Reich Minister for Party Affairs.
After the failed negotiations with Zhukov on a truce, the suicide of Goebbels, Bormann decided to escape by any means, breaking out of the encircled Berlin. Since then, no one has seen him alive. It only remained to guess where Martin Bormann had disappeared. He could have died, but the body was never found; could escape, but then sooner or later there would be some news about him. Due to the lack of a corpse in 1946, Bormann was convicted in absentia by the Nuremberg Tribunal and sentenced to death.
Three Lives of Martin Bormann
According to one version, Martin Bormann, having taken the “gold of the party”, fled to South America, where he became a large landowner.
The second version suggests that Martin Bormann is a Soviet intelligence agent who wasrecruited in 1939. On April 29, 1945, having ascertained the death of Hitler, he surrendered to the Soviet troops and secretly lived on the territory of the USSR. In 1972 he died and was buried in Lefortovo, in an old cemetery. This version is not supported by any evidence.
Biography of Bormann Martin according to the third version, the most plausible, puts an end to his life path on May 2, 1945. Apparently, the path that Bormann outlined for escaping from Berlin was closed. Realizing the impossibility of salvation, he bit through the ampoule with potassium cyanide. In 1972, while laying tram rails in Berlin, human bones were found, presumably recognized as the remains of Bormann. In 1998, a DNA test, to which Martin Bormann Jr. agreed, finally confirmed this. The ashes of Martin Bormann were scattered over the neutral waters of the B altic Sea.
Following Bormann's footsteps
In an attempt to exhaustively learn about life, the details of the disappearance and the further fate of the "right hand" of the Fuhrer, many documentaries were shot. From a number of many works, one can single out:
- “Unsolved mysteries. Where and when did Martin Bormann die? The documentary puts forward several versions of the development of his future fate. There is even speculation that Bormann was kidnapped by British intelligence.
- “Martin Bormann. In Search of the Golden Nazi. In this work, the director's team tries to trace the path of the "elusive Nazi" in order to check any, even the most implausible versions of his disappearance.
- “Martin Bormann. Devil's secretary. This is a Russian job. Here they are trying to truthfully show the viewer who Martin Bormann was, whose biography ends with an ellipsis.
