Hitler Was My Friend

Heinrich Hoffman was a key part in the making of the Hitler legend, the photographer who carefully crafted the image of the Fuhrer as a godlike figure. Hoffmann published his first book of photographs in 1919, following his work as an official photographer for the German army. In 1920 he joined the Nazi Party, and his association with Hitler began. He became Hitler's official photographer and traveled with him extensively. He took over two million photographs of Hitler, and they were distributed widely, including on postage stamps, an enterprise that proved very profitable for both men. Hoffmann published several books on Hitler in the 1930s, including The Hitler Nobody Knows (1933). Hoffmann and Hitler were very close, and he acted not only as a personal confidante-his memoirs include rare details of the Fuhrer-but also as a matchmaker it is Hoffmann who introduced Eva Braun, his studio assistant, to Hitler.

At the end of the war, Hoffmann was arrested by the US military, who also seized his photographic archive, and was sentenced to imprisonment for Nazi profiteering. This edition of a classic book includes photographs by Hoffmann and a new introduction by Roger Moorhouse.