Martin Bormann

German Nazi official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, one of the most powerful but least known Nazis; he was called "Hitler's evil genius." He gained immense power by using his position as Adolf Hitler's private secretary to control the flow of information and access to Hitler.

Bormann joined a paramilitary Freikorps organisation in 1922 while working as manager of a large estate. He served nearly a year in prison as an accomplice to his friend Rudolf Höss (later commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp) in the murder of Walther Kadow.

Bormann joined the Nazi Party in 1927 and the Schutzstaffel (SS) in 1937. He initially worked in the party's insurance service, and transferred in July 1933 to the office of Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess, where he served as chief of staff.

He began acting as Hitler's personal secretary on 12 August 1935. He had final approval over civil service appointments, reviewed and approved legislation, and by 1943 had de facto control over all domestic matters.

Bormann was one of the leading proponents of the ongoing persecution of the Christian churches and favoured harsh treatment of Jews and Slavs in the areas conquered by Germany during World War II.

Bormann returned with Hitler to the Führerbunker in Berlin on 16 January 1945 as the Red Army approached the city. Bormann was named executor of Hitler's estate. After Hitler committed suicide on 30 April, Bormann and others attempted to flee Berlin on 1-2 May to avoid capture by the Soviets. Bormann probably committed suicide on a bridge near Lehrter station. His body was buried nearby on 8 May 1945, but was not found and confirmed as Bormann's until 1973; the identification was reaffirmed in 1998 by DNA tests.

The missing Bormann was tried in absentia by the International Military Tribunal in the Nuremberg trials of 1945 and 1946. He was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging.