LIFE - Adolf Hitler: Up Close

Adolf Hitler, Up Close

Sat, 01 Apr 1939 03:00:00 EST

Between 1936 and 1945, German photographer Hugo Jaeger was granted unprecedented access to Adolf Hitler, traveling and chronicling, in color, the Fuhrer and his confidants at small gatherings, public events, and, quite often, in private moments. Here, and in several other galleries on LIFE, we present never-before-published and rare photographs from Jaeger's astonishing -- and chilling -- collection. (Pictured: Hitler attends the 1939 launching of the battleship Tirpitz.)

Hugo Jaeger: Photographer to Hitler

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:09:31 EDT

Hugo Jaeger, one of Hitler's personal photographers, in 1970. Jaeger's story -- and the story of how LIFE came to own his photographs of Hitler -- is nothing short of astonishing. In 1945, when the Allies were making their final push toward Munich, Jaeger found himself face to face with six American soldiers in a small town west of the city. During a search of the house where Jaeger was staying, the Americans found a leather suitcase in which Jaeger had hidden thousands of color photo transparencies. He knew he would be arrested (or worse) if the Americans discovered his film and his close connection to Hitler. He could never have imagined what happened next.

Hitler Reviews the Troops, 1938

Thu, 01 Sep 1938 04:00:00 EDT

The American soldiers threw open the suitcase that held the Hitler images. Inside, they found a bottle of cognac that Jaeger had placed atop the transparencies. Elated, the soldiers proceeded to share the bottle with Jaeger and the owner of the house. The suitcase was forgotten. (Pictured: Tens of thousands of Nazi troops parade before Hitler in 1938, Nuremberg.)

A Nazi Christmas Party, 1941

Thu, 18 Dec 1941 03:00:00 EST

After the Americans left, Jaeger packed the transparencies into 12 glass jars and buried them on the outskirts of town. In the years following the war, Jaeger occasionally returned to his multiple caches, digging them up, repacking, and reburying them. He finally retrieved the collection for good in 1955 -- 2,000 transparencies, all of them, amazingly, still in good shape -- stored them in a bank vault, and in 1965 sold them to LIFE. To date, only a fraction of the Jaeger collection has been published. (Pictured: Adolf Hitler and other Nazi officials attend a Christmas Party in 1941, at the height of the second World War.)

Hitler's Extravagant Birthday Gifts

Thu, 20 Apr 1939 03:00:00 EST

In the late '30s, very few photographers were using color. Hugo Jaeger was an early adopter and Hitler liked what he saw. "The future," Hitler once said to Jaeger, "belongs to color photography." (Pictured: A hand-worked castle inlaid with precious stones, given to Hitler for his 50th birthday, April 20, 1939.)

Hitler and the Totalitarian State

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Hitler observes military maneuvers in St. Polten, Austria, in the spring of 1939. "The great strength of the totalitarian state," Hitler once said, "is that it forces those who fear it to imitate it."

Commemorating the Beer Hall Putsch, 1938

Tue, 08 Nov 1938 03:00:00 EST

Hitler speaks in Munich on the 15th anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, in which Hitler and other Nazi party members attempted to overthrow the German government. Hitler, jailed for a year for his part in the coup attempt, was a master at swaying large crowds. "The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belong to one category," he said.

A Dark Day in Munich: 'Peace in Our Time'

Wed, 28 Sep 1938 03:00:00 EST

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (front row, second right) walks past a Nazi honor guard on the way to a meeting with Adolf Hitler in 1938. After the meeting, Chamberlain famously declared that the agreement he had struck with the German Fuhrer meant "peace in our time" -- but subsequent events showed that he had merely whetted Hitler's appetite by handing over a strategically critical part of Czechoslovakia during their negotiations. See the room where the Munich Agreement was signed, and other public and personal places central to the Reich, in Hitler's Private World.

Hitler Among the Cars, 1939

Fri, 17 Feb 1939 03:00:00 EST

Adolf Hitler tours the 1939 International Auto Exhibition in Berlin. Three years before, at another Berlin auto show, Hitler announced that Porsche would design the "People's Car," or Volkswagen, an affordable, practical vehicle for the working German family.

Hitler Talks Cars

Fri, 17 Feb 1939 03:00:00 EST

Hitler was enthusiastic about cars, but didn't like to drive. For years, he had his chaffeur race down German roads at 80 mph. But once the war started, he became increasingly paranoid about his own safety, and forbade his driver to exceed 35 mph.

Hitler's Aide, Julius Schaub

Sat, 25 Feb 1939 03:00:00 EST

Julius Schaub, Hitler's personal aide and adjutant, observes those around him at a party. After the 1944 bomb attempt on Hitler's life, Schaub is said to have falsely claimed to have been injured in the blast so he would be awarded a special badge by the Fuhrer. Schaub had actually been in another building at the time of the explosion.

Beauty Amid the Beasts

Mon, 01 Jan 1940 03:00:00 EST

German film actress Hannelore Schroth sits in a chair at a reception for German artists held in the Berlin Chancellery in 1940. "[Hitler] often remarked that he didn't want witty or intelligent women around him, not aware how offensive such remarks must be to the ladies who were present," the chief Nazi architect Albert Speer once wrote.

Young, Beautiful, Doomed

Mon, 01 Jan 1940 03:00:00 EST

German actress Marieluise Claudius leans back in a chair in the Chancellery during an artists reception in Berlin, 1940. A prolific film actress during the 1930s, she died of heart failure in 1941, at age 29.

Street of Fire: Munich, 1938

Tue, 08 Nov 1938 03:00:00 EST

Nighttime Munich is lit with torches and festooned with swastikas in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler's aborted attempt to use military might to take the government. Once he gained power in the late '30s, Hitler memorialized the putsch as a milestone on his own path to glory. The 1938 anniversary also witnessed the infamous Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass -- a nationwide attack on Jews.

Hitler Salutes the Troops, Nuremberg, 1938

Thu, 01 Sep 1938 04:00:00 EDT

Hitler salutes German troops in Adolf Hitler Platz in 1938. "The very first essential for success," Hitler once said, "is a perpetually constant and regular employment of violence." See more of Hitler's ability to sway crowds in the service of violence and hatred in the gallery Among the Crowds.

Hitler on a Cruise, 1939

Sat, 01 Apr 1939 03:00:00 EST

Adolf Hitler chats with several young women on a promenade of the German cruise ship Robert Ley (named after a prominant Nazi labor leader) on its maiden voyage in April, 1939.

Hitler Waves Bon Voyage

Sun, 01 Jan 1939 03:00:00 EST

Hitler waves goodbye from aboard the Robert Ley. Six years later, on April 30, 1945, Hitler and his mistress (and, reportedly, as of April 29, his wife) Eva Braun committed suicide in a bunker beneath Berlin as the Allies crushed his army and took control of Europe. Many historians put the number of deaths attributed directly to World War II at about 70 million. Most of those killed were civilians.