9. Danger was an aphrodisiac, with men and women of all ages turning to carnal relations to try and escape the horror for just a few moments
The Bunker was filled with both men and women, most of them young, in their 20s or 30s. Gertraud Junge, one of Hitler’s personal secretaries, later revealed what went on in those dark days. She recalled: “An erotic fever seemed to have taken possession of everybody. Everywhere, even on the dentist’s chair, I saw bodies locked in lascivious embraces. The women had discarded all modesty and were freely exposing their private parts.” Some of the women coupling up were secretaries or typists. But others were apparently desperate women SS men picked up on the streets of Berlin.
And it wasn’t just the lowly staff who were using making love as a coping tactic. Martin Bormann fully embraced this lowering of inhibitions and decadent atmosphere. He was a notorious womanizer and liked seducing younger female staff. What’s more, his wife Gerda actively encouraged his philandering, even inviting his conquests to their home. Similarly, it’s alleged that Hitler himself also engaged in copious amounts of intercourse in the build-up to his marriage with Eva Braun, possibly since he knew the end was close or because he was high on a cocktail of drugs.
