‘That is my assumption, yes. But decent people don’t reveal the secrets of the bedroom, do they? But if that was not the case, why did Hitler ask her to live with him and give her a room in close proximity to his own? No, there is no doubt in my mind.’

Vanderberg agreed. ‘Anyway, Frau Dietrich, you were going to tell me about the other men in Geli’s life. And you still haven’t explained to me how she came to be living with Hitler.’

‘Well, first of all he put her in a furnished room in Königinstrasse, not far from his own place, then a small apartment nearby in Thierschstrasse belonging to one of his friends. Her studies had gone nowhere, of course, and she had broken them off during that first winter in Munich. There were other problems, too. Did I tell you about Emil Maurice, a disciple of Hitler? He was the one who played the guitar at the picnics. They had been friends since the end of the war and were in the Landsberg Prison together. Maurice even acted as his secretary. When they were freed he became his driver, and so he was there at all the picnics and frolics at Chiemsee. He was crazy about Geli – and she certainly had a soft spot for him. He was a lot more lively than Hitler and quite a bit younger.’

‘Wasn’t Hitler jealous?’

‘At first he seemed to put up with their flirtation, but when it became a little more serious, he went into a rage. On one occasion Geli heard him screaming at Maurice and beating him with his riding crop. The result was that Maurice was ousted from Hitler’s inner circle and Geli was no longer allowed to see him. Hitler then moved her into his new apartment in Prinzregentenplatz where he could keep her closely controlled. When he wasn’t there, others usually were – his housekeeper Frau Winter, her husband Georg and their helper, Frau Reichert. Geli felt that their eyes were on her constantly.’

‘Disapproving eyes?’

‘They felt their first duty was to Hitler, but I think they probably liked Geli and sympathised with her. Most people did. Many men fell for her – even Goebbels had ideas of taking her as his mistress, until he understood the way things were. Hitler became more and more demanding, telling her what clothes to wear, what time she was to be home, forbidding her to dance, refusing to allow her to go away without him. He even threatened to beat her with his filthy hippo-hide crop. That thing – he always carried it, she said – it was like a talisman to him.’

‘Not easy for a young woman.’