Paula Hitler

Paula Hitler (January 21, 1896 – June 1, 1960) was the younger sister of Adolf Hitler and the last child of Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara Pölzl. Paula was born in Hartfeld, Austria, and was the only full sibling of Adolf Hitler to survive infancy.

After their mother died from breast cancer, Adolf turned over his share of their orphans' pension to her. She lost contact with him for many years during the First World War and its aftermath. She later said that when they met again in the 1920s, she was surprised and did not even recognize him, but then was delighted when he took her shopping. From 1929 onwards she saw Adolf once a year, typically at large Nazi functions and events. In 1936 he asked her to change her name to Paula Wolff (Adolf's childhood nickname, which he had also used incognito during the 1920s). Adolf provided her with steady financial support from the early 1930s until his death in 1945.

Paula worked as a secretary in a military hospital until the end of the Second World War, was arrested by US Intelligence officers in May 1945, and debriefed beginning later that year. Paula said she could not bring herself to believe her brother had been responsible for the Holocaust but agents ignored this as a sisterly expression of loyalty. Paula was released from US custody and returned to Vienna where she worked in an arts and crafts shop. In 1952 she moved to Berchtesgaden, Germany, reportedly living in seclusion in a two-room flat.

In February 1959 she agreed to give an interview to Peter Morley, a documentary producer for British television station Associated-Rediffusion, which was broadcast as part of a programme called Tyranny: The Years of Adolf Hitler. She talked mostly about Hitler's childhood. This was the only filmed interview she ever gave before her death on June 1, 1960 at the age of 64. Paula neither married nor had children. There is some evidence she shared her brother's strong German nationalist beliefs, but she was not politically active. She was buried in the Bergfriedhof in Berchtesgaden under the name Paula Hitler.

In June 2005 the wooden grave marker and remains were reportedly removed and replaced with another burial, which is common practice in German cemeteries after two or more decades have elapsed.