Gerda Daranowski (13 December 1913 – 14 April 1997) was one of Adolf Hitler's secretaries.
Background[]
Born Gerda Daranowski, and nicknamed "Dara", she began working for Hitler in 1937 after his secretaries Johanna Wolf and Christa Schroeder had complained about having too much work. They asked for assistance but Hitler reportedly hesitated. He did not wish to see a new face in his inner sanctum. He finally gave in and hired Gerda Daranowski.
She had been engaged to Hitler's driver Erich Kempka, and later married, Luftwaffe officer Eckhard Christian on 2 February 1943. Gerda then took a break from her employment for Hitler. She was replaced by Traudl Junge. Eckhard Christian was appointed Ia of the Luftwaffe Command Staff at Hitler's request. Gerda Christian returned to Hitler's staff as one of his private secretaries.
After Hitler's death, Gerda tried to escape Berlin on 1 May 1945. She was part of a "break-out" group led by Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke, that included secretaries Else Krüger and Traudl Junge. The group was captured by the Soviets on the morning of 2 May, while hiding in a cellar off the Schönhauser Allee.
After the war, she lived in Düsseldorf, where she worked at the Hotel Eden. She divorced Eckhard Christian in 1946. She was a friend of Werner Naumann, a former state secretary in the Third Reich's propaganda ministry and a leader of a postwar neo-Nazi group. She died of cancer in Düsseldorf in 1997, aged 83.
In the parodies[]
Some parodies, such as the ones made by MoarHitlerParodies, depicted Gerda as Günsche's girlfriend, or love interest. She is often known as the ugly one or the "Meg Griffin" of the bunker. Especially compared to Traudl, who almost every male in the bunker, including Hitler himself, seems to have the hots for. Gerda is also portrayed to have a close bond with Traudl, as they share much of their screentime together; some Untergangers use this as a guy trying to seduce them or them being just friends.
Gerda is also shown to be very sensitive as she is the person who cried outside in the Original Bunker Scene. This became a recurring gag in the parodies, where she would cry about Hitler's ranting. Luckily for her, Traudl is always ready to comfort her.
Her name is sometimes used as an expletive in place of "God" (For example, "Mother of Gerda!" or "For the love of Gerda!"). One of the first examples was when Hitler reacted to Harvey Dent's face in Harvey Dent's Pistol of Chance .
Her counterpart in the Mirror Parody Universe, Naitsirhc Adreg, doesn't cry as much as Gerda.
Gallery[]