Editing Maria Reiter

'''Maria Reiter''' (December 23, 1911 - 1992), known as "Mimi" or "Mitzi", was [[Adolf Hitler]]'s fiancée in the late 1920s. She was the only woman known to have had a physically intimate relationship with Hitler who survived the war. She told her story to the German periodical ''[[Stern (magazine)|Stern]]'' in 1959. 

==Early life==
Reiter was the daughter of an official of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] in [[Berchtesgaden]].

==Hitler==
Hitler met Reiter when she was working in a shop in [[Obersalzberg]], one of Hitler's favourite retreats. According to Reiter's own account, the 37-year-old Hitler became friendly with the 16-year-old girl, and asked her out. At the end of the evening he made a "coarse" sexual advance towards her which she rejected, but they finally kissed. They had a number of other dates during which Hitler became increasingly passionate towards her. According to the ''Stern'' article, Hitler "told her that he wanted her to be his wife, to found a family with her, to have blonde children, but at the moment he had not the time to think of such things. Repeatedly Hitler spoke of his duty, his mission."<ref name = "ro">Rosenbaum, Ron, ''Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of his Evil'', Macmillan, 1998, p.114-16.</ref> He told her to wait for him and that they would live together. After this declaration Hitler ignored her for months, plunging her into depression. In despair, she attempted to hang herself, but her brother-in-law found her and cut her down before she died.

After this episode Reiter gave up on Hitler and married a local hotelkeeper. But the marriage was not a success. In 1931 Reiter left her husband. After a visit from [[Rudolf Hess]] convinced her of Hitler's continuing interest in her, she travelled to Munich to see Hitler once more.<ref name="Time">[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,864655-1,00.html Uneven Romance, ''Time Magazine'', Monday, Jun. 29, 1959]</ref> Reiter claims that she spent the night with Hitler and that "I let everything happen. I had never been so happy as I was that night".<ref name = "ro"/> Hitler suggested that she remain in Munich as his lover, but Reiter wanted marriage. Hitler was concerned that a relationship with a woman who had left her husband would be politically damaging to him, so the couple parted. Nevertheless Hitler delegated his personal lawyer [[Hans Frank]] to handle her divorce.  

In 1934 after Hitler's rise to power, Reiter met him once more and he again asked her to become his lover. Again he refused. This led to an angry argument in which Hitler reiterated that he could not marry or have children because he had a "big mission" to fulfill. Eventually Mimi married [[Hauptsturmführer]] Georg Kubisch, an [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer, in 1936. Hitler congratulated Kubisch on his marriage at an assembly of the SS in Munich. Their last meeting was in 1938, when, according to Mimi, Hitler expressed dissatisfaction with his relationship with [[Eva Braun]].<ref name="Time" /> Kubisch was killed in 1940 during the [[Battle of Dunkirk]], after which Hitler sent Mimi a hundred red roses. 

The details of Reiter's story about their physical relationship cannot be confirmed, though the fact that Hitler was in love with her was asserted by his sister [[Paula Hitler]], who stated that she was the only woman who might have curbed his destructive impulses.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.editorialbitacora.com/armagedon/mujeres/maria.htm Photographs of Maria with Hitler]

[[Category:People|Reiter, Maria]]
[[Category:Germany|Reiter, Maria]]
[[Category: World War II]]