Egon Ludwig Sedgwick Hanfstaengl ( February 3, 1921 – March 21, 2007) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

art publisher who was also

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

's godson and the son of

Ernst Hanfstaengl Ernst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl (; 2 February 1887 – 6 November 1975) was a German-American businessman and close friend of Adolf Hitler. He eventually fell out of favour with Hitler and defected from Nazi Germany to the United States. He lat ...

Life

Egon Hanfstaengl was born on February 3, 1921, in New York City as the son of Ernst Hanfstaengl and Helene Hanfstaengl, née Niemeyer. Hitler became his godfather. He had a sister, Hertha, who died at the age of 5. He received his school education in England and Germany, where he also joined the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

. An American citizen by birth, he returned to the United States for his university education. As the son of a prominent former top official of the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

, about whom the American press reported regularly, Hanfstaengl also came into the focus of the reporting. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' announced the admission of the 18-year-old to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. The newspaper also reported that he volunteered for the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

in early 1941. The news about Hanfstaengl's entry into the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

also received attention from Minister of Propaganda

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to ...

; he made a corresponding entry in his diary. Journalist

John Franklin Carter John Franklin Carter a.k.a. Jay Franklin a.k.a. Diplomat a.k.a. Unofficial Observer (1897–1967) was an American journalist, columnist, biographer and novelist. He notably wrote the syndicated column, "We the People", under his pen name Jay ...

, who, as a consultant to

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, had psychological assessments prepared of some Nazi leaders, also asked Hanfstaengl's father and his son. When Hanfstaengl started working on a book about the Hitler Youth, Roosevelt, who knew his father, Ernst Hanfstaengl, from studying in Harvard, spontaneously dictated several paragraphs for a foreword, according to Carter's report. According to American records, Hanfstaengl offered Roosevelt to travel to Hitler in the Berghof near

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; th ...

, in 1943 to attack him, but the White House ignored this suggestion.Joseph E. Persico: ''Roosevelt's Secret War. FDR and World War II Espionage.'' New York 2002, S. 332. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Hanfstaengl was a lecturer in European and American history at

Brooklyn College , mottoeng = Nothing without great effort , established = , parent = CUNY , type = Public university , endowment = $98.0 million (2019) , budget = $123.96 m ...

in New York. He was managing director of the art and publishing house Franz Hanfstaengl in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, from 1958 until its dissolution in 1980. As the godchild of Adolf Hitler, he appeared in several documentaries about Hitler. He died on March 21, 2007, at the age of 86.

Literature

* Ulrich Chaussy: ''Zweimal Amerika und zurück nach Bayern: das bewegte Leben des Egon Hanfstaengl.'' Bayerischer Rundfunk, 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanfstaengl, Egon 1921 births 2007 deaths People from New York City Hitler Youth members Harvard University alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in Germany Brooklyn College faculty