Their Last Suppers: Legends of History and Their Final Meals

by Andrew Caldwell

  —Adolf Hitler, April 13, 1945

  Adolf Hitler’s final master plan to “suck the Russians” into Berlin, thus relieving the pressure on his eastern armies, allowing them to regroup and attack the Russians from the rear, was greeted with silent groans from his general staff, who had already seen their mighty forces whittled away to practically nothing in the hands of this failed painter from upper Austria.

  The “eastern forces” did not really exist, long dispersed or shivering in Russian gulags. Their “forces” consisted of old men, the wounded, and young boys from the Hitler Youth with guns thrust into their hands. The Third Reich was coming to its last days and all knew it, but no one could admit it and stand up to Adolf Hitler, the Führer.

  How a lowly corporal who served in, and saw, the horrors of World War I could take a defeated people in his hands and inspire them to yet another conflict that would claim more than 50 million lives has to be one of the most incredible stories of all time.

  Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Upper Austria, initially living a miserable existence as a third-rate artist. He enrolled in the Bavarian Infantry at the outbreak of World War I, earning two Iron Crosses. A background of rampant anti-Semitism after the war helped him to form an obscure German Workers’ Party at the end of the hostilities, which later became the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or the Nazis. In politics he found an outlet for his vitriol and a vehicle for his ambitions that no one could have dreamed of.

  Suddenly discovering within himself a power of demographic oratory in open air tirades in Munich against the Jews and the Treaty of Versailles, he cunningly tapped into the German resentment of the settlement terms from the war. This stirred their inborn sense of superiority over others, twisting all the blame for their problems onto the Jews and their partners, the victorious Allies.

  Even 13 months in jail did not quell his hatred, and he used the time to write his successful book, Mein Kampf. His party began to grow rapidly, becoming the second most powerful political force in Germany. The world depression and rising unemployment elevated his status even more in the eyes of a desperate German people. President Hindenburg tried to keep him under control by making him chancellor in 1933, but within months he had died and Hitler had declared himself head of state, the Führer.

  As the Allies looked on, he rearmed the new Germany at a rapid rate, creating a Berlin—Rome Axis with Mussolini in 1937. He suddenly annexed Austria, then overran Czechoslovakia in 1939, all the while keeping the Russians on the sidelines with the nonaggression pact on August 21. He then invaded Poland on September 1, which finally snapped the Allies out of their stupor and caused the declaration of World War II by the Allies on September 3, 1939.

  Effortlessly sweeping through Denmark, Holland, and Norway, Hitler considered the war over when his German troops entered Paris on June 22, 1940, while the British troops simultaneously exited the continent at Dunkirk. Believing the British would stay holed up in England, he believed he could mop up the remains of Europe at his leisure.

  This show of newfound German might brought the adulation of his people and the realization that their dream of a thousand-year reich might be possible after all.

  And so with Europe in his hands, Hitler turned his attention to Germany’s perennial foe, Russia. Finally invading on June 22, 1941, his armies besieged Stalingrad and even reached to within 25 miles of Moscow. But like Napoleon before him, he had not taken into account the long supply lines needed as the Russians retreated before him, adopting a scorched-earth policy as they went, destroying their own country to prevent succor for the Nazis. A worse foe than the Russians now struck: The Soviet winter arrived, freezing the panzer tanks and men alike. Bitter cold seized once smooth-running engines, and now the Russians, using Siberian and Cossack troops inured to the cold, launched their controlled counterattack that eventually took them to the gates of Berlin. Like Napoleon’s, the bodies of Hitler’s troops marked the long retreat. But the loss of so many only caused Hitler to fire his “incompetent” generals.

  He now assumed control of the armies personally, but his inexperience was obvious and disaster followed disaster as his battered armies retreated from Russia, leaving 90,000 prisoners and many more thousands dead at Stalingrad alone.

  With the Allied landing in Normandy on June 5-6, 1944, the writing was on the wall for Germany. Hitler’s generals tried to plead with him to come to terms and then eventually tried to kill him themselves with a bomb. Neither tactic worked. Hitler was determined to fight on, a decision that took many more millions to the grave with him in the next 10 months.

  On February 12, 1945, the State Department in Washington was convinced that Hitler and his staff, supported by some 200,000 elite troops, were preparing a last stand in the National Redoubt, built in heavily wooded mountains near Hitler’s famous getaway, The Eagle’s Nest.

  Given this information, and believing the capture of Hitler was more important than the taking of Berlin, Allied commander General Dwight Eisenhower turned his attention to the coming assault on the Redoubt, leaving the Russians free to take Berlin.

  It was only on April 23, when the captured German lieutenant general Kurt Dittmer said that all he knew of a fortress was something he had read in a Swiss newspaper the year before, that the Allies realized their mistake. Hitler was in Berlin and determined to remain there for his last stand.

  An increasingly manic Hitler was ensconced in the Reich bunker, a concrete fortification built under the Reich Chancellery in the center of Berlin. With a concrete roof some 18 feet thick and walls 5 feet thick, the thirty rooms on two levels, though badly ventilated and cramped, were impervious to the heavy shelling that was reducing Berlin. Going upstairs to the Chancellery on April 20 to celebrate his 56th birthday with his 33-year-old girlfriend, Eva Braun, Hitler retained hope that the increasingly fractious relationship between Stalin’s Russia and the other Allies would bring salvation for him and his people. The American—British alliance would surely side with him against the barbarians from the East, although it looked as if it would be at the last moment.

  However, Hitler’s fury at the “ineptness” of his generals grew daily in the confines of the Reich bunker. His mood swings were not helped by his doctor, who gave him large daily amphetamine injections, along with a mysterious cocaine-based eye drop for some unknown ailment that Hitler insisted on taking at doses more than five times the prescribed recommendation.

  At his birthday party in the Chancellery, Hitler presented Iron Crosses to young boys before exhorting them to defend the Reich to the last and sending them out onto the streets to confront the fierce Russians, who were only blocks away. As Berlin was being flattened, his mistress, Eva Braun, played their only gramophone record over and over as they sipped champagne. The tune was called “Red Roses Bring You Happiness.”

  As the Russian stranglehold on the city tightened it was obvious to everyone that the end was near, but Hitler obstinately refused to take the last chance to flee Berlin, insisting that he would die with the city.

  Finally, on April 28, seeing the end was nigh, he dictated his last will and testament to his secretary, Traudl Junge, who later described him as a “pleasant boss and a fatherly friend.” In a simple ceremony he then married Eva Braun and, not trusting the cyanide capsule he was given, as he thought there was a plot to drug him and hand him over to the Russians, he gave it to his dog Blondi to see how effective it was. Seeing his dog expire quickly, he administered one to his new bride, then sitting in his office in front of the ever-present picture of his mother, he shot himself with a Walther pistol.

  His physician, Dr. Stumpfegger, helped carry the couple up the four flights of stairs to the garden of the Chancellery, laying Eva’s body on Hitler’s right and then drenching them with gasoline and burning them to a crisp.

  As the great war finally came to an end, three of the world’s leaders of the mighty conflict perished within 19 days of each other: Mussolini at the hands of his own peop
le, Roosevelt by the hand of God, and Hitler, who started it all, by his own hand.

  MENUS

  In September 1931 Hitler became vegetarian after the suicide of his niece Geli Raubal, whom he loved (she shot herself), but he was often caught eating meat, especially his favorite liver dumplings.

  Last Meal

  Vegetable Soup and Mashed Potatoes

  Favorite Dinner Dishes

  Roasted Squab

  Pan-Fried Trout

  Sautéed Potatoes

  Liver Dumplings

  Onion Pie

  His personal chef for many years was Marlene Kunda, who made great nonmeat food, until he discovered she was a Jew, whereupon she disappeared from history.

  Favorites

  Chocolates (2 lb a day) and Pastries

  Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream

  Sugar

  He always took seven spoons of sugar in his tea and even added spoonfuls of sugar to his wine.

  Hitler’s Vegetable Soup

  Hitler liked his soup thick and creamy, prepared by his dietitian, Marlene Von Exner, from 1943. She secretly added marrow fats to his meals because she despised his vegetarian diet.

  ½ cup onions

  ½ cup celery

  ½ cup chopped apple

  1 cup potatoes

  ½ cup carrots

  ½ cup turnips

  4 oz nut compound

  1 apple sliced

  1 cup flour

  2 pints water

  salt and pepper to taste

  Lightly poach the vegetables until soft. Remove from water and stir in the flour slowly until a soft roux is formed.

  Add the chopped apple and the nut compound and blend all the ingredients together gently.

  Puree, season to taste, thin if necessary with double cream, and serve garnished with sliced apples.

  Roasted Squab

  Dione Lucas, a chef in Hamburg, says he loved squab prepared this way.

  6 tbsp or ¾ stick unsalted butter

  4 squabs, ¾ to 1 lb each

  20 juniper berries

  salt and pepper to taste

  4 slices brioche, at least ¾ inch thick

  Melt 4 tbsp butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the birds and brown on all sides.

  Cover and cook over low heat until the breasts are medium rare (20 to 25 minutes), basting often.

  Crush the juniper berries with anything heavy.

  When the birds are about done, add the berries to the pan and season to taste. Cook over high heat for a few seconds, turning the squabs continuously.

  Melt the remaining butter and fry the bread until golden on each side.

  Serve.

  Pan-Fried Trout (4)

  4 rainbow trout, filleted

  2 tbsp lemon juice

  1 tsp salt

  1 dash white pepper

  1 dash Worcestershire sauce

  flour as needed

  2 tbsp butter

  Place the trout fillets in a glass dish; add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

  Let stand for 5 minutes. Remove fillets, coat with flour.

  Place butter in 12-inch sauté pan; heat gently. Add fillets, skin side up. Sauté until golden, turn, and bake at 325°F for about 10 minutes.

  Liver Dumplings (Lebeknoedel) (4)

  1 lb ground liver

  ½ lb ground lean pork

  1 cup breadcrumbs

  1 cup bread soaked in water and pressed dry

  1 egg

  a little corn flour

  ¼ tsp grated nutmeg

  1 minced onion

  2 oz chopped fresh parsley

  4 tsp butter

  ½ cup dry breadcrumbs

  Mix ingredients in order given except breadcrumbs and drop by the teaspoonful into boiling salted water. Boil for 15 minutes.

  Remove to serving dish and top with breadcrumbs, browned in butter.

  Serve with sauerkraut.

  Onion Pie (zwiebelkuchen) (8)

  1 pack yeast, active dry

  1 tsp sugar

  1 ½ tsp salt

  3 cups unbleached flour

  1 tbsp shortening

  1 cup water, 120°F to 130°F

  6 bacon slices, cut up

  2 medium onions, sliced

  ¼ tsp cumin

  pepper as desired

  1 egg yolk

  1 cup sour cream

  Mix yeast, sugar, 1 tsp salt, and ½ cup flour.

  Blend in shortening and warm water; beat for 2 minutes.

  Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

  Place dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let dough rise in a warm place for ½ hour. Pat dough into a lightly greased 12-inch pizza pan or onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Press up edges to make a slight rim.

  Fry bacon until crisp. Remove from grease and drain on absorbent paper.

  Add onions to bacon grease; cook slowly until tender but not brown.

  Sprinkle onion, bacon, cumin, ½ tsp salt, and pepper over dough.

  Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.

  Blend egg yolk and sour cream. Pour over onions.

  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer or until golden brown and sour cream is set.

  Serve warm or at room temperature.

  Sautéed Potatoes

  2 lb peeled golden potatoes

  3 tbsp olive oil

  Slice the potatoes in ¼-inch slices.

  Lightly boil the potatoes for about 6 minutes.

  Finish in sauté pan with oil until golden brown on both sides.

  MARILYN MONROE

  Brentwood, California

  August 5, 1962

  I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or beautiful, but because I have never belonged to anything or anyone else.

  —Marilyn Monroe

  Born into poverty as Norma Jean Mortenson on June 1, 1926, the daughter of a mentally ill mother and a father she never knew, Marilyn Monroe nonetheless lived an incredibly eventful life, one that saw her become the most famous movie star on the planet. She was married to the world’s greatest athlete, and then the greatest playwright, and eventually became the mistress of the world’s most powerful man, all within a few short years.

  Because social workers were forced to take her away from her mother at the age of 9 and she was put into her first orphanage, no one could have envisaged the career this determined little girl was about to embark on. Living with various foster parents through the 1930s, she always harbored the same dream, like so many California girls, of becoming a star in nearby Hollywood.

  From an early age she realized the power she had over men, and in 1942, at the age of only 17, she married neighbor James Dougherty, the first of a series of tortured relationships with men. This became her longest affair and lasted until September 13, 1946, by which time she had decided that “Norma Jean” was not going to open the gates of Hollywood for her, so she changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.

  Working as a cocktail waitress around movie lots, she used her sexuality to gain access to meetings with the movers and shakers at 20th Century Fox, and gradually her walk-on roles and bit parts became even bigger, particularly after she had a torrid affair with Stavros, the main financial power behind the studio itself.

  French movie actor Yves Montand entered her life next, blatantly trying to use the up-and-coming starlet to position himself in the American movie industry.

  “The World’s Greatest Athlete,” baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, then walked down the aisle with her in January 1953, but the divorce went through less than 18 months later as Marilyn, determined to make it to the top, would not allow him to pull her away from what he considered the evil decadence of Hollywood. However, DiMaggio’s feelings for her were the most sincere. Of all the men in her life, he was the only one to attend her funeral years later. He had truly loved her.

  Playwright Arthur Miller became her next husband in June 1956
, and another turbulent relationship ebbed and flowed for the next 4 years. Yet again, Marilyn’s obsessions with her movie career and deep distrust of men placed intolerable pressures on the marriage, causing yet another breakdown.

  When a fling with Frank Sinatra failed as he left her for dancer Juliet Prowse, Marilyn entered the last years of her life in 1962 at her new home on Fifth Helena Drive. Finally at the top of her profession as a movie star, she was firmly in the sights of the world’s most powerful man, John F. Kennedy, the president of the United States.