Hedwig Potthast

Hedwig Staeck (; 5 February 1912 – 22 September 1994) was the private secretary and mistress of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, with whom she had two children.

Potthast began as Himmler's secretary in 1936 and by 1938 she had become his lover. She resigned from her duties in 1941, and subsequently had two children with Himmler, a boy and a girl. After World War II, Potthast married and lived the rest of her life outside the public eye. In post-war interviews, she refrained from answering questions about Himmler's involvement in war crimes committed by the Nazis or about her own knowledge of them.

Biography Early life Hedwig Potthast was born on 5 February 1912 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, as the daughter of a local businessman. After her final Abitur exams at secondary school, and attending a finishing school, she trained as a secretary qualified in foreign languages at the Economic Institute for Interpreters, Mannheim. That same year, Himmler borrowed from the Nazi Party Chancellery and had a house built for Potthast near Berchtesgaden in the small picturesque city of Schönau am Königssee.

Little is known about the overall relationship between Himmler and Potthast. The couple most likely saw each other only infrequently due to Himmler's activity in his numerous offices. It remains unclear how much, if anything, either Potthast or Himmler's wife knew about his "secret work"—i.e., his involvement in the Final Solution, the genocide of the Jews. Potthast's relationship with Himmler ended in early 1945; they met for the last time in mid-March 1945, after which they shared daily telephone calls until 19 April 1945.

Post-war When World War II in Europe ended, Potthast was in Achensee, Austria, and, after having learned of the death of Himmler on the radio on 23 May 1945, went into hiding, living temporarily with Eleonore Pohl in Rosenheim, Upper Bavaria. In June/July 1945, she was arrested there by members of the U.S. Army and interrogated for several days in Munich. Margarete and Himmler's daughter, Gudrun Burwitz, did not learn of her half-siblings until after the war. When she tried to make contact with them, Potthast refused. She lived in Theissendorf and kept in contact with the family of Himmler's older brother, Gebhard, as well as Himmler's former close confidant, Karl Wolff, until the 1950s.

Final years Potthast later married Hans Staeck and took his name.