Eva was a naïve youngster when Hitler, who was 22 years her senior, locked eyes with hers in a Munich shop. Such was her insularity from the major events of the period that in 1931 she was unable to connect the interested older man with the prominent moustache with Hitler.

In no ways could this be considered a partnership of equals. In every respect it can be considered that Hitler required a mistress and that is what Eva became: nothing more and nothing less.

The old maxim that power is a powerful aphrodisiac applied in this case. In fact millions of German women sent beseeching letters to Hitler requesting whether they could bear his child. Where would that leave their existing spouses? Today in the cold light of the 21^st century, there are probably very few women in the whole world desperate enough who would want to bear Hitler’s children let alone be his mistress. Likewise despite Kim Jong-um, the current president of North Korea being podgy and eternally glum and morose, he has managed to attract a stunning wife for the very self-same reason.

One of the first duties that a mistress must learn is that she has to remain in the background. With Hitler continually alluding to the fact that Germany was his wife, Eva became depressed and withdrawn. In a desperate attempt to attract Hitler’s attention once he had become Chancellor in 1933, Eva attempted to commit suicide by shooting herself. Fortunately the wound was not grievous and a grateful Hitler accorded her the status as his official mistress. In reality this meant nothing but Eva’s pride was placated. In truth she desired more but had to accept what Hitler would offer.

With Hitler being based in Berlin and Eva in Munich in Hitler’s flat, this ultimately led to another attempt at suicide. The 25 tablets were insufficient to kill her but it did result in a more formal upgrade with her own house in Munich. In the time honoured tradition of all mistresses, Eva obtained a sizeable monthly allowance and as an additional perk, the use of his private plane.

My personal impression of Eva is that she was attractive, but not stunningly so, but with a penchant for the non-intellectual such as movies and movie stars. At no level could she be considered the intellectual equal of Hitler? Her concerns were for the mundane, the here-and-now whereas Hitler’s focus was on the end game. I cannot imagine that at any point in their relationship Eva and Hitler would have discussed the affairs of state unlike the Clintons or the Obamas. So what did they talk about?

From Hitler’s perspective, Eva was purely a mistress. Even at his holiday home at Bergtesgarten, not once did Eva or Hitler show affection to the other. It was as if they were ships passing in the night. Even here, they did not officially share a room but they had adjacent rooms albeit with an interleading door.

Very little was subsequently learnt of Eva’s true feelings as all her private letters and correspondence has never been found but I could warrant that she cut a lonely figure.

The one aspect of being a mistress that rankled Eva Braun was being excluded from all official events. The fiction that Hitler was married to Germany had to be maintained at all costs. It would also have reduced Hitler’s allure to the frauleins of the Reich and instead of the focus of an event being 100% on Hitler himself, it would have been detracted.

After the final surrender of the German forces at Stalingrad in early 1943, Hitler became morose. His health deteriorated rapidly and he aged considerably. Eva found solace in her sister, Gretl as Hitler was holed up at the Wolfsschanze near Rastenburg in Prussia for most of the time. Burdened by the rapidly deteriorating sitaution, Hitler was unable to visit her often but was known to phone her every night. The very point in his life when he required a sympathetic ear so as to unburden himself, Hitler became ever more isolated from humanity and emotions.

It was at this point that Eva became enamoured with an SS guard, Gruppenfuhrer Hermann Fegelein. Whether Fegelein didn’t want to play with fire or Eva did not take her desire any further, we will never know but eventually Fegelein started dating Eva’s sister Gretl and they subsequently got married.

Once the Wolfsschanze was overrun by the Russian forces, Hitler retreated to the so-called Fuhrerbunker beneath the Reich’s Chancellory in Berlin.

In the damp fetid conditions underground, Hitler married Eva on the 29th April 1945. Thirty six hours later, both committed suicide: Hitler by shooting himself and Eva by taking poison.

I have often wondered what type of life Eva led those 14 years with Hitler. Certainly there was no intellectual or emotional connection. For Hitler it was only a phyiscal connection devoid of meaning or emotion. I am convinced that Hitler had a dark soul which did not permit even the slightest chink of light in. If that is so, how much solace, comfort and emotional support could a Hitler provide to a playful, whistful, wisp of a woman desiring some TLC and affection?

Despite living in an emotional desert, Eva obviously felt connected to Hitler in some way and vice versa otherwise Hitler would not have arranged a last-minute marriage nor her decision to commit suicide jointly with him. In marrying Eva, Hitler ultimately acted as a gentleman.

Even Hitler’s generous monthly stipend would not have compensated for the emotional void in Eva’s life. What Eva craved most, Hitler would never have been able to provide to her.

Hitler was devoid of emotion and was ultimately an enigma to even those supposedly close to him.

Why Eva persisted in such a barren relationship nobody has been able to understand.