Erna Flegel

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Erna Flegel (born in 1913) was a German nurse. From January 1943 until the end of World War II Flegel served in that capacity for Hitler's entourage during the Battle of Berlin. She is believed to have been in Hitler's bunker when he committed suicide.

She had originally worked alongside one of Hitler's physicians, Dr. Werner Haase, as a nurse at Humboldt University Hospital and was transferred by the Red Cross to the Reich Chancellory as the war ended.

During her time in the Führerbunker she befriended Magda Goebbels and sometimes acted as a nanny to the Goebbels children until their deaths.During the Soviet capture of Berlin, Soviet troops advised her to remain in the bunker where it was safer. Later interrogated by the Americans, Flegel then lived a life of anonymity until 1977 when documents including her interrogation were declassified. The media later tracked her down to her present residence, a nursing home in Germany.

She was portrayed in the 2004 German film Der Untergang by Liza Boyarskaya.

External links

* Photograph of Ms. Flegel
*"'Hitler's nurse' breaks silence" from BBC News
*Interview: Erna Flegel (May 2, 2005) from The Guardian