Paula Hitler

Early life Paula Hitler was born in Hafeld, Fischlham, Upper Austria, on 21 January 1896 to Alois Hitler and Klara Hitler (née Pölzl). She was Adolf Hitler's only full-sister and only full-sibling who survived to adulthood. For the most part, she had no other contact with her brother during his struggling years as a painter in Vienna and later in Munich, his military service during World War I and his early political activities. She was delighted to meet him again in Vienna during the early 1930s.

Paula used the surname "Hiedler", the original spelling of "Hitler". By her own account, after losing a job with the Austrian State Insurance Company on 2 August 1930 when her employers found out who she was, Paula received financial support of 250 schillings a month from her brother, and lived under the assumed surname of "Wolff" at Adolf Hitler's request. "Wolf" was a childhood nickname of his which he had also used during the 1920s for security purposes.

Adolf Hitler appears to have had a low opinion of Paula's intelligence, referring to both her and their half-sister Angela as "dumme Gans" ("stupid goose").

Paula later claimed to have seen her brother about once a year during the 1930s and early 1940s. She worked as a secretary in a military field hospital for much of World War II.

She characterized her childhood relationship with her brother as one of both constant bickering and strong affection. Paula said that she could not bring herself to believe that her brother had been responsible for the Holocaust. She had also told them that she had met Eva Braun only once. After her debriefing, Paula was released from American custody and returned to Vienna, where she lived on her savings for a time, then worked in an arts and crafts shop. the last surviving member of Hitler's immediate family. She was buried in the Bergfriedhof in Berchtesgaden/Schönau under the name Paula Hitler. In June 2005, the wooden grave marker and remains were reportedly removed when another burial took place at the same spot, a common practice in German cemeteries after two or more decades have elapsed. In May 2006, however, the grave marker was returned to Paula's grave with a hinged panel, covering her name, that displays the names of the more recent burials.

Five months after her death, the Federal Court in Berchtesgaden issued a certificate of inheritance in which Paula Hitler was awarded two-thirds of Adolf's estate.