Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary [DVD] [2002] [NTSC]

"Blind Spot" is an interview with an old woman, Traudl Junge, who a long time ago was one of Hitler's secretaries. Trauld worked with him from 1942 to1945, and was the person to whom Hitler dictated his will before committing suicide. She was part of his inner circle, and as such recounts to the directors of this film (André Heller and Othmar Schmiderer) many events that help the spectator to understand at least a little how Hitler was in private, and how he reacted in different circumstances.

I was specially stricken by the fact that Trauld didn't realise what was happening in Germany while she worked for Hitler. Of course, she and the other secretaries that worked for Hitler didn't type anything that had to do with political or military matters, but all the same, it is incredible that she didn't get any accurate information at all about the outside world while she was working for him. When she started her new job, Trauld believed that she would be at the center of all information, but instead she entered a blind spot. Only afterwards would she learn that the man she liked, the same man who was nice towards his dog Blondie and polite with her, was a killer of millions.

Traudl Junge was a young 22-year-old woman when she became "Hitler's secretary", but as she recognized later, "youth is not an excuse for ignorance". She didn't notice, or she didn't pay attention, and for that she was remorseful. It took Trauld almost her whole life to come to terms with what she had been. Only shortly before dying of lung cancer was she able to tell to Heller and Schmiderer "I'm starting to forgive myself.

All in all, I highly recommend this filmed interview. It doesn't have good framing, the edition is not more than average and the sounds isn't overly good. Despite that, "Blind spot" is a very good film on an interesting subject, and it is likely to be something that you will appreciate watching, if nothing else because it provides a different perspective on one of the world's greatest criminals.

Belen Alcat

This film is a firsthand account from a woman who was a chosen to work as Hitler's secretary after winning a typing contest. It's an account of an ordinary person witnessing history in the making - for instance, she recalls in detail the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Hitler and adds that Mussolini visited in the afternoon. She describes the staff around Hitler as being isolated from the outside world and her account of Hitler's final days in the bunker is surreal.

Blind Spot is compelling viewing and won the audience award at the Berlin film festival and the best documentary award at the Chicago film festival in 2002.

I was prompted to write this review after reading Joe Haschka's sickening review in which he attempts to trivialise this documentary. I can't begin to express the depth of contempt I have for someone mocking a dying woman.