NEW PHOTOGRAPHS HAVE been released from Eva Braun’s personal albums – shedding more light on the woman who was German dictator Adolf Hitler’s longtime lover and, for a few short days, his wife.

Life magazine has published over 30 photographs from the private collection of a woman who loved one of the most despised figures of the 20th century.

Braun came from a respectable Bavarian family and began a modelling career when she was 17 years old, posing for Nazi photographer Heinrich Hoffman. Braun subsequently met Hitler, who was 23 years her senior.

The pair were involved in a relationship for over a decade before their marriage in 1945. However, just 40 hours after they were wed – as the Allies marched on Berlin – they took their own lives.

The photographs show Braun posing in swimsuits, dressing up, sitting with her sister and playing with dogs. They also include images of Hitler’s birthday celebrations, photos of Braun when she was a child and a teenager, and pictures of the Braun family.

See the photographs in Life magazine >