Kathrine Frich
New historical discoveries continue to reshape how the Third Reich is understood from the inside.
Personal records, long hidden from public view, can expose how ideology translated into daily action.
A newly uncovered diary now offers such a glimpse from the heart of Nazi rule.
A private record
A leather-bound diary belonging to Otto Telschow, a senior Nazi official and associate of Adolf Hitler, has been authenticated and added to the Lüneburg City Archive in northern Germany.
The 75-page journal was discovered in the United States and later purchased by the city council for £6,000, according to local officials.
Experts who examined the paper, ink, binding and handwriting confirmed the diary’s authenticity, the archive said.
Telschow, a committed National Socialist, began writing it in March 1941, when he was 65.
The diary includes personal Christmas cards sent by Hitler, carefully preserved between its pages.
Meetings with Hitler
Among the entries are descriptions of encounters with the Nazi leader.
In one passage, Telschow noted Hitler’s physical condition during a meeting, writing: “The Führer greeted us with his left hand, as his right is still swollen. But when he speaks, he is the same as always.”
Historians say such observations are rare in private sources from senior Nazi officials, whose inner thoughts are usually known only through formal documents.
The archive said the diary would be published to show, in Telschow’s own words, how power operated within the regime.
Exercising terror
Telschow served as Gauleiter of Ost-Hannover, a powerful regional post in what is now Lower Saxony.
In the diary, he openly described using his authority to remove perceived enemies, referring to pushing opponents “out of the way.”
Researchers cited by the archive said he was directly involved in decisions that led to numerous death sentences.
The entries also contain antisemitic rants and sharp judgments of rival Nazi officials.
Alongside this brutality, Telschow recorded mundane details such as daily routines and the weather in Lüneburg, documenting ordinary life alongside repression.
Unanswered questions
Historians say the diary is an unusually candid source, offering insight into the mindset of a Nazi Gauleiter. It also raises unresolved issues, including references linked to forced labour.
One case mentioned by researchers concerns a Ukrainian forced labourer assigned to work for Telschow, whose fate remains unclear.
Otto Telschow died in 1945, days after a failed suicide attempt.
His diary, archivists say, stands as a stark record of how ideology, bureaucracy and violence intertwined.
Sources: Lüneburg City Archive. Mirror.
