Portrait of Martin Bormann. Bormann died in an effort to flee Berlin in the last days of World War II, but was long thought to be at large. He was tried in absentia at Nuremberg, where he was sentenced to death.
— National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.
Martin Bormann (1900-1945) became the chief of staff for Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, in 1933. Virtually unknown to the German public, Bormann as a close assistant to Hitler was a powerful force behind the scenes in internal politics. Following Hess' flight to Great Britain, Bormann became head of the Party Chancellery (1941) and, officially in 1943, Secretary to the Fuehrer. His hand could be seen in an array of domestic policies, including the murder of the Jews, the "euthanasia" effort, the plunder of artwork, and the expansion of forced-labor programs. He also signed a series of edicts ordering deportations of Jews to the east.
Bormann died in an effort to flee Berlin in the last days of World War II, but was long thought to be at large. He was tried in absentia at Nuremberg, where he was sentenced to death. West German authorities officially declared him dead in 1973 after his remains were discovered and positively identified.
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