Review of Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (2002) by J D — 19 Dec 2007

A rare firsthand, personalized look into what it was like to be around the private Hitler. And after having watched so many documentaries about the Nazis rise to power, so many interviews with former cogs in the German machine, it is a relief to listen to someone who was involved, however peripherally, express remorse and guilt for what happened.

In a way, it's actually a bit infuriating that a woman who was no more than a girl taking innocuous dictation expresses more sadness for what happened than the guards and officers who actually committed the atrocious acts of the Holocaust, but it still provides a glimmer of hope for human nature.

This is a very bare-bones documentary, just an hour and a half of an old woman recounting her time as one of Hitler's personal secretaries, but it's of course a fascinating story nonetheless. Frau Junge brings up some vivid memories, many of them jarring, such as Hitler cuddling a puppy or Eva Braun insisting on getting a statue of a nymph as Berlin falls down around her.

A great addition to the film documentation of the Nazi regime.