The Children of the 7 Most Powerful Nazi Leaders
What happened to the offspring of some of the evilest people in history?
How did the children of the Nazi leaders remember their fathers? Did they defend them? Did they condemn their murderous ancestors?
Let’s have a look at the children of Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering, Hans Frank, Albert Speer, Rudolf Hess, Martin Bormann, and Joseph Goebbels.
Please note that Adolf Hitler didn’t have children.
1. Gudrun Himmler: the daughter of Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS
Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) was the head of the notorious SS (Schutzstaffel, in German Protection Squadron). He was the main architect of the Holocaust. As such, he was responsible for the killing of over six million Jews. His SS units were responsible for the ethnic cleansing in the occupied countries. At the end of the war, Himmler committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule.
Himmler married Margarete Boden in 1928. The pair had one daughter, Gudrun. The proud father adored Gudrun and telephoned her almost every day. However, he was often away from home and also cheated on her mother with his secretary.
Gudrun Himmler (1929-2018) received the nickname “Nazi princess.” She remained loyal to her father Heinrich Himmler for her entire life. She cherished his memory.
She married Wulf Burwitz, a member of the extremist Neo-Nazi party NPD.
Gudrun became a star in the Stille Hilfe (in German Silent Aid). The Stille Hilfe was an organization that helped former SS members. Through this organization, she helped Klaus Barbie, SS officer known as the “Butcher of Lyon,” to escape to South America. She also supported Martin Sommer, a sadistic SS officer known as the “Hangman of Buchenwald.”
2. Edda Goering: the daughter of Hermann Goering, Hitler’s right hand
Hermann Goering (1893-1946) was one of the most powerful Nazis. He was the head of the Luftwaffe (the German air force). Goering was also the heir to the Nazi Empire in the case of Adolf Hitler’s death. After the war, he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and committed suicide in 1946.
In 1935, Goering married actress Emmy Sonnemann. The pair had only one child, their daughter Edda. Goering loved Edda very much and he doted on her. He bought her lavish toys, such as a fifty meter long model of the palace of Frederick the Great.
After the war, Edda Goering (1938-2018) became a law clerk, worked in a hospital and took care of her mother. She lived in a modest apartment in Munich, Germany. In the 1970s, she began an affair with journalist Gerd Heidemann. The couple hosted Nazi social events aboard the Goering’s yacht Carin II. In her later years, Edda withdrew from public life.
Edda never believed her father’s guilt. She remained supportive of him until her death in 2018.
“I loved him very much, and it was obvious how much he loved me. My only memories of him are such loving ones.”
— Edda Goering about her father, Hermann Goering
3. Niklas Frank: a son of Hans Frank, Hitler’s lawyer and the ”Butcher of Poland”
Hans Frank (1900-1946) was a high-ranking Nazi official and Hitler’s personal legal adviser. He became the governor of Nazi-occupied Poland. In this role, he organized the exploitation and murder of hundreds of thousands of Poles. Known as the “Butcher of Poland,” Frank was hanged as a war criminal in 1946.
Hans Frank married Brigitte Herbst in 1925. The couple had five children: Sigrid, Norman, Brigitte, Michael, and Niklas. The marriage was unhappy and Hans tried to divorce.
Frank’s daughter, Sigrid, emigrated to South Africa. She remained an ardent Nazi supporter until her death. Another of Frank’s daughters, Brigitte, committed suicide in 1981. Michael and Norman Frank, his sons, died in 1990 and 2010 respectively.
Niklas Frank (born in 1939) is the only child of Hans Frank who is still alive. He openly scolded his father for his crimes against humanity in his book The Father: A Settling of Accounts.
Niklas always carries with him a photo of his dead father, taken after he was hanged. For him, the photo is a reminder of what evil people are capable of.
4. Albert Speer Jr.: a son of Albert Speer, Hitler’s architect and only friend
Albert Speer (1905-1981) was Hitler’s favorite architect. A member of Hitler’s inner circle and Hitler’s only friend, Speer was one of the most influential Nazi members. He also served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production. He used forced labor and underground factories to increase German military production.
At the Nuremberg trials in 1946, Speer was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
In 1928, Albert Speer married Margarete Weber. The couple had six children: Albert, Hilde, Fritz, Margarete, Arnold, and Ernst. Albert Speer was distant from his family. Even after his release from prison, he refused to connect with his children.
His eldest son Albert Speer Jr. (1934-2017) inherited his father’s talent for architecture. He became a very successful architect himself. He was even the lead designer for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
Throughout his life, Albert Speer Jr. looked for ways to distance himself from the dark legacy of his father. He recognized the wrongdoings of Albert Speer.
“I have to live with my father’s phantom.”
— Albert Speer Jr.
Hilde Speer (born in 1936) became a prominent politician. She helped the victims of antisemitism and Nazi atrocities. She also tried to distance herself from her father.
Margarete Speer (born in 1938) studied archaeology and became a photographer. She published the book about her absent father with the title Are You Speer’s Daughter.
Arnold Speer (born in 1940) became a community doctor.
5. Wolf Ruediger Hess: the son of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy
Rudolf Hess (1894-1987) was a leading member of the Nazi Party. In 1939, Adolf Hitler appointed him as his deputy. Hess actively supported antisemitism and the Holocaust.
In 1941, he flew to Scotland to negotiate peace with Great Britain. The British immediately arrested him. After the war, he was found guilty of crimes against peace and served a life sentence. He committed suicide in 1987.
In 1927, Rudolf Hess married Ilse Proehl. The couple had only one child, Wolf. His name was to honor Hitler, whose code name was “Wolf.”
Wolf Ruediger Hess (1937-2001) became an architect. He campaigned for his father’s release and rehabilitation all his life. He openly doubted the alleged suicide of his father. Wolf believed the British Secret Service murdered his father to silence him. He wrote three books about his father.
6. Martin Adolf Bormann Jr.: a son of Martin Bormann, Hitler’s private secretary
Martin Bormann (1900-1945) was Hitler’s private secretary. He gained tremendous power since he controlled access to Hitler. By 1943, he had complete control over all internal affairs in Germany. Bormann supported the extermination of Jews and Slavs.
At the end of the war, he committed suicide to avoid capture by the Soviets.
In 1929, Martin Bormann married Gerda Buch. The couple had ten children: Martin Adolf, Ilse, Ehrengard, Irmgard, Rudolf Gerhard, Heinrich Hugo, Eva Ute, Gerda, Fritz Hartmut, and Volker.
The enormous family didn’t stop Borman from having a series of mistresses.
Martin Adolf Bormann Jr. (1930-2013) was the eldest son of Martin Bormann. He had the nickname “Crown Prince.” As a teenager, he lived a life of plenty and was an ardent young Nazi.
After the war, he felt the burden of his father’s sins and became a Roman Catholic priest. He rejected his middle name, “Adolf.” Martin worked in Congo as a missionary. There he was abducted three times and almost killed. He believed that his suffering was God’s punishment for his father’s sins.
“Every day I pray for the souls of millions who died through the fault of my dad, Jews, Russians, Poles.”
— Martin Bormann Jr.
Later, he fell in love with a nun, married her in 1971, and left the priesthood. He toured schools in Germany and Austria, speaking about the horrific crimes of the Nazi regime. In Israel, Martin met with the survivors of the Holocaust.
7. The children of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda
Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) was the skillful Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany. He was one of the most loyal associates of Adolf Hitler. He advocated antisemitism and the Holocaust.
Goebbels married Magda Ritschel in 1931. The couple had six children: Helga, Hildegard, Helmuth, Holdine, Hedwig, and Heidrun. He also adopted Harald Quandt, Magda’s son from her first marriage.
At the end of World War II, Joseph and Magda Goebbels and their six children joined Adolf Hitler in his bunker in Berlin.
They refused the offer by Albert Speer to smuggle their children out of Berlin.
On 1 May 1945, one day after Hitler’s suicide, Joseph and Magda asked Hitler’s personal physician to poison their children with cyanide. Afterward, both of them committed suicide.
Harald Quandt (1921-1967), Goebbels’s stepson, was a lieutenant in the Luftwaffe. He was the only child of Magda Goebbels to survive World War II.
The Allies captured him in 1944 in Italy. After his release in 1947, he became a successful business executive and a notorious playboy. He died in a plane crash in 1967. His five daughters inherited a fortune, which is worth at least $6 billion today.
Conclusion
Some children of the Nazi leaders remained loyal to their fathers, regardless of their horrific crimes. Gudrun Himmler, the daughter of Heinrich Himmler, is the most obvious example.
Some children openly rejected and condemned their fathers. The most vocal is Niklas Frank, the son of Hans Frank.
As children, they were innocent. They were too young to be aware of what was happening around them.
On the other hand, their Nazi fathers destroyed the childhoods of millions of innocent children.
“You never escape from your parents, whoever they are.”
— Martin Adolf Bormann Jr.
