The funeral would be discreet and, besides themselves, only two of the infamous three and their immediate families would be present. The small Catholic church Bormann selected for the service was the oldest in the Santa Cruz district. Hitler had been raised by a practising Catholic mother and was baptised and later confirmed in the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Linz. He told Bormann he found the whole experience truly repulsive, and, as soon as he left home, he vowed never again to visit the inside of a church.

However, Hitler was also a pragmatist, and, in his book, Mein Kampf, he described himself as a Christian, encouraging followers of the Nazi Party to embrace his notion of “Positive Christianity”. This concept rejected the divinity of Christ and talked instead of the racial purity of the German people, combined with the Christian philosophy of the Nazi Party. In the dark days of their confinement in the Führerbunker in 1945, Hitler confided to Bormann that he loathed the Christian movement but he knew he had to maintain a public association with them for tactical reasons. Bormann was the only person close enough to the Führer to fully understand the roots of his atheist views, but, nevertheless, he felt he had little option but to hold the service in a church.

The night before the funeral, Bormann and Richard met in Hitler’s study to discuss the new future that lay ahead now the Führer was dead. They relaxed next to each other on a black Chesterfield style leather sofa and shared a bottle of Chivas Regal whisky, another cherished privilege that Bormann imported, this time from Scotland. He poured them both a large drink from the antique crystal decanter.

“Richard, as you well know, your father and I spent many years planning for the future and, now he has passed, it’s important you become familiar with some of the finer details.”

“I’ve always been aware how important it was to both of you to build the corporation into the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world and for its base to be located in a major city in the United States.”

Bormann downed his scotch and poured them both another. “Indeed, but we have far more ambitious plans than that.” Richard nodded and Bormann continued. “We moved you to America as soon as we thought prudent for another reason. Richard, you need to marry in the next few years and father a son. Your choice of the mother is vital to the success of the plan. She needs to fit the Aryan archetype – blonde, blue-eyed, long legs and broad hips for childbearing.