Bormann: the Man who Manipulated Hitler by Jochen von Lang with the assistance of Claus Sibyll (Translated from the German by Christa Armstrong and Peter White)
London: Book Club Associates, 1979 (published in German under the title Der Sekretar in 1977)
"Give them a uniform and they think they're Hitler!" How many times I've heard that when people rail against the petty bureaucracies of modern life. After reading this well-researched piece of journalism and history, you will understand that the quote should be slightly changed to read Bormann in place of Hitler, for it was Martin Bormann, with his lack of vision, but lust for power and control, who was the master of using bureaucracy to make hell of the lives of not only ordinary people, but even the paladins of the Nazi Government and Military.
Von Lang begins his book by explaining that, to the vast majority of German people, Bormann was unknown, even after the War. He stayed in the shadows away from publicity (von Lang notes several instances where his name was mis-spelled on the rare occasions he did make it into the papers). However, through his tenacity and willingness to take on any job no matter how mundane, he gained the trust of Hitler and became indispensable to him. He used this closeness to the Fuhrer to enlarge his sphere of influence, eventually becoming a gatekeeper, and so in many ways he controlled the Third Reich by controlling access to its head.
In reading von Lang's book, it seems that Bormann's greatest ability was the ability to work. He had no grand visions of his own: he ensured that Hitler's rantings were written down, and he saw his role as turning these rambling thought bubbles into concrete orders and programs. His role as the Secretary to the Fuhrer meant that he could state that anything he proposed came from the Fuhrer, and by restricting access to Hitler frustrated those who might want to push their own programs. Those who disagreed with Bormann, or who wanted him moved on, sometimes grouped together to try and push him out or reduce his influence, but invariably they failed. Bormann had ensured that a wide range of people within the party owed allegiance to him, and so often knew of intrigues before they came to fruition, and the complete trust that Hitler had in him meant that it was usually impossible to cast any doubts on his performance.
It's well-known that Hitler disliked giving power to any one individual or group, which caused many problems in running Nazi Germany as it seemed that everyone had a finger in every pie. Bormann used this tendency to his advantage, supporting one group, then another, to ensure that decision-making was impossible unless he facilitated it. Many Nazi potentates held their noses while dealing with Bormann, but deal with him they had to.
Bormann was not a good speaker, he was not a charismatic man, and he didn't come from a good family. Many Nazis in the early days looked down on him, which came back to haunt them when he gained power: he often used it to diminish or destroy those that had snubbed him in the early days - this even extended to his own Father-in-law. Unlike a lot of other top Nazis, he didn't crave medals, or even wealth (although he did amass real estate). What he craved was to be indispensable to his Fuhrer, and to be the one wielding the power that emanated from him. As Germany foundered, the Party became more important than the Government, or even the Military. His power increased with that of the Party which led to the "grotesque irony of Bormann the bureaucrat... that, as his sphere of authority expanded, the actual physical area where that authority counted shrank. The more completely he got his hands on Hitler's domain, the smaller the domain became. Shortly before his death, he had thirty-six hours of glory as absolute regent and supreme commander of the Nazis, but his rule extended over not much more than one square kilometer of Berlin real estate."
Von Lang came to this story through his journalism, when Bormann's and Stumpfegger's bodies were found in Berlin in 1972. The story of proving they were Bormann's, and reconstructing his last day form the last chapter of this book, but they were the first foray of von Lang into this story. There had been much speculation as to what happened to Bormann before and after the bodies were found: that he had made it to South America, that he ran a "Fourth Reich" organisation, and so on. Von Lang provides conclusive evidence in this book that he died in Berlin, with final proof via genetic testing coming in the 1990s.
If you want a comprehensive account of the life of one of the more shadowy leaders in the Nazi world, I can recommend this book.
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