Eva Braun first met Adolf Hitler in 1929, when she was 17 years old and working for a Nazi party photographer. She was 23 years younger than him.
Braun had been Hitler's mistress for 14 years, but the relationship was kept hidden from the German people. Hitler wanted to remain attractive to his female admirers, and Braun was groomed to refrain from public displays of affection.
Their private life together in the bunker was confined to a few small concrete rooms. They slept separately. Braun was in the bunker against Hitler's wishes, but she refused to leave.
Braun's family did not approve of her affair with the Führer. Her sister Ilsa Braun believed that Eva's relationship with Hitler was doomed.
Those close to Hitler saw his decline. One witness described his face as gray as ashes, his hands in a constant state of agitation, and his eyes glassy. He was bent over like an old man, and it seemed to this observer that he did not have the energy to live much longer.
To those who knew the details of the Braun and Hitler relationship, it was no surprise that she wanted to die with him. A housekeeper who kept house for Hitler for 15 years recalled that Eva Braun was a regular visitor.
There was a time when Braun wanted Hitler to marry her. Hitler said he would never marry, but that she could remain his girlfriend. She was very unhappy over the situation and attempted suicide by shutting herself in with a pistol, though she did not seriously injure herself.
Hitler began dictating his final will and political testament to Traudl Junge. He started by blaming the Jews for the war.
The will also revealed that Hitler was prepared to give his mistress what she had always craved. Although he never mentioned her by name, it stated that in return for her loyalty and willingness to die with him, he would at last marry Eva Braun.
Hitler emerged from his room with Eva Braun on his arm. She wore a black sequin dress, and her eyes were radiant with happy tears. Hitler wore his usual tunic.
Goebbels acted as best man in the hastily arranged ceremony. The bride and groom, adhering to the legal requirements of a Nazi wedding, both declared that they were of pure Aryan descent and free from hereditary disease.
As Eva signed the wedding certificate, she wrote the letter B for Braun before scoring it out and writing Hitler.
There was a little wedding celebration, and they drank champagne. Hitler did not drink any champagne because he was dictating his will.
Hitler returned to dictating his will, stating that he and his new wife would take their lives rather than face the shame of defeat and surrender. Their bodies were to be burned. The will also urged his successors to continue the fight.
Eva Braun changed her clothes. She chose Hitler's favorite dress, black with white roses around the neck. She did her hair and painted her nails.
Having married Eva Braun and written his last will and political testament urging his followers to continue the fight, all Adolf Hitler had left to do was take his life.
In his final hours, the Führer's paranoia reached new heights in the claustrophobic bunker. He was depressed and suspicious of everybody.
Hitler even suspected that the poison would only make him unconscious and that he would be turned over alive to the Allies. He decided to test the poison.
He tested it on his best friend, his dog Blondi. The dog died.
The bombardment above resumed with renewed intensity. The bunker personnel waited for the Führer to finally carry out the act he had been threatening for the last eight days.
One witness ran back to Hitler's room and entered it. They found Eva Braun sitting on the sofa, her head resting on Hitler's left shoulder. She wore a black chiffon dress. She was dead, but she had no marks of violence on her body.