A 103-year-old Jewish lady who grew up in the same Munich neighborhood as Adolf HITLER in the 1920s and fled to England two days before the onset of World War II has died.
Alice Frank Stock escaped Nazis shortly before to the onset of World War II.
The rest of her extraordinary life was spent in the United Kingdom. The centenarian’s family resided on Prinzregentplatz in Munich, next door to Hitler.
Following her death at the age of 103, tributes were given to a Jewish widow who resided in the same apartment building as Adolf Hitler and saw the removal of his coffin.
Growing up in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, Alice Frank Stock spent many years living next door to the future Nazi ruler.
The centenarian’s family dwelt on Munich’s Prinzregentplatz, only a few doors away from the future Führer until 1933, when he became Chancellor.
The residence of Adolf Hitler was also the cradle of the Nazi party.
Alice said in an interview just before to her death that she sometimes saw Hitler being escorted into the building by tall SS soldiers, most likely out of fear of an assassination attempt.
Ms. Stock was born in Augsburg before traveling to Munich with her family as a three-month-old infant in 1918.
Due to the mounting danger to Jewish people in Germany, she was moved to study in Lausanne, Switzerland at the age of 17 after having spent her formative years in Germany.
In 1937, she came to London to attend secretarial school; her parents followed two years later, two days before the outbreak of World War II.
Following her death at the age of 103, tributes were given to a Jewish widow who resided in the same apartment building as Adolf Hitler and saw the removal of his coffin. Alice Frank Stock spent years growing up in Germany throughout the 1920s and 1930s next door to the future Nazi dictator.
Hitler’s nighttime activities were also the subject of widespread rumors, notably the unexplained fate of his niece Geli Raubal, with whom some think he had a connection.
Ms. Stock recounted seeing a casket being brought out of Hitler’s flat, which she and others believed may have been Geli’s corpse after she shot herself.
However, she said that she and her family seldom saw Hitler before being forced to flee Germany.
Ms. Stock was born in Augsburg before traveling to Munich with her family as a three-month-old infant in 1918.
Judy Willmott, the niece of Ms. Stock, has now paid her respects and stated that her aunt, who resided in Bristol, died away in May of this year.
Mrs. Willmott said, “As pressure on Jews in Germany increased, Alice moved to London at the age of 19 in 1937 and was later naturalized.”
The future Führer dwelt in Prinzregentplatz in Munich, where the centenarian’s family resided until 1933, when he became Chancellor.
There were many rumors regarding Hitler’s midnight activities, including the strange death of his niece Geli Raubal, with whom he allegedly had an affair.
The family was compelled to sell a 200-year-old violin, which Ms. Stock sneaked out of Germany, in order to get the required £1,000 to enter England.
Mrs. Willmott said, ‘In 1942, Alice got a place in the “Y” Unit of the BBC’s Monitoring Service, which was established to monitor German-controlled radio transmissions, due to her fluency in English.
‘Alice’s role was to maintain a diary of transmissions and interpret them as required, underlining anything she thought would be of interest that might be sent to London promptly.
Alice took notice of the music that was played, paying special attention to the songs “J’attendrai” and “Can You Hear My Secret Calling?” since the names of the songs that followed may be part of a coded message.
She stated, “After more than four decades of marriage, Alice married Roy Macdonald Stock MC, known as “Mac” in Paris.
‘During their retirement, they met and cooperated with Henry-Louis de la Grange on his exhaustive biography of Gustav Mahler, traveled to many places, including Russia and China, and spent joyful summers walking in the Dolomites.
Ms. Stock claims to have seen a casket being brought out of Hitler’s flat; she and others hypothesized that it was Geli, who had shot herself. 1930 photograph of Hitler and Geli sitting together
Ms. Stock said that she and her family were forced to flee Germany only days before the onset of World War 2 and did not witness much of Hitler. Photographed are the three-year-old lady and her three-year-old brother, Richard.
Ms. Stock and her husband Roy on their wedding day in 2004 (left) and on vacation in the 1990s (right) (right)
They spent their last years in Bristol, Mac’s hometown.
Alice continued to take an active interest in everything around her, wrote a chronicle of her exciting life, and formed a number of new connections that offered her much comfort and happiness.
Ms. Stock, when residing at the Druid Stoke Bupa Care Home in Bristol, recounted her time spent at Prinzregentplatz and her interactions with the infamous ruler.
She said, “We lived in a home – a large house – with two entrances.
The other apartment was either number 13 or number 15. That was Hitler’s residence.
After leaving Germany, Ms. Stock worked for the BBC and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). She is seen in 1936 (left) and the 1950s (right).
“We heard several rumors from the chef and others,” A coffin was seen being carried out of the entryway.
I believe Hitler’s niece was residing there when she passed away.
There were rumors as to how and when she died. I believe it was true that the casket was brought out with a lady inside.
But there was never any proof, and you were unable to speak freely.
Ms. Stock said that despite her near closeness to the Führer, she seldom saw Hitler and had no personal encounters with him.
August and Valerie Stock in 1930, before they were forced to depart Germany.
She said, “I never talked with him.”
Once, I went to the opera; I obtained royal box seats via the school. I was very satisfied.
“When I arrived in the evening, there were SS guys stating, “You cannot enter here; go two boxes down.”
As the curtain rose, I peered into the royal box and saw Hitler seated there.
I observed him coming home once or twice as well. His vehicle would pull up.
‘Two SS guys would spring out of the stands on each side, and he would hurry up to the house, apparently scared that someone would attempt to assassinate him.’
Ms. Stock also indicated that the fear of punishment was prevalent even in Hitler’s early career.
She said, “We had a great old Catholic chef who was staunchly anti-Nazi.
Once she stepped outside and saw a photograph of Hitler hanging on the wall, and she said, “Yes, he should be hung, the rascal – but not in this manner!”
‘
I said: “You’ll get us all into a concentration camp”.
The structure in Munich is still standing.
How Hitler planned his ascent to power from his modest Munich flat
Hitler is seen in the window of his Prinzregentenplatz residence.
In the early 1930s, Hitler’s flat on Prinzregentenplatz was one of the most significant venues in the growth of the Nazi Party.
In 1929, the party leader relocated from his modest house on Thierschstrasse to the nicer surroundings of Prinzregentenplatz.
The apartment on the second story of the building included nine rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a large corridor, and a cloakroom.
Initially, Hitler leased the flat before the Nazi Party purchased the whole block during its meteoric ascent to power in the 1930s.
Geli Raubal, Hitler’s favorite niece, moved into the flat in 1929, and there were rumors that their connection had been amorous.
In September 1931, when he was gone in Erlangen, Geli was discovered dead in one of the rooms with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Her death was ruled a suicide by the coroner, with Hitler falling into a “great despair” and leaving her flat exactly as she had left it.
Hitler and the Nazi Party would persuade millions of Germans to vote for fascism under the pretense of “rebuilding the country” a year later, in 1932.
In the early 1930s, Hitler is seen exiting his apartment building on Prinzregentenplatz.
Soon after achieving the majority he sought, the government approved a bill that granted Hitler the authority to amend the law without going through the German legislature, suppressed the free press, and set him on the path to a dictatorship, the Third Reich, and his “final solution.”
In January 1933, President Hindenburg was compelled to appoint Hitler chancellor of Germany, marking the beginning of the Third Reich’s ascent to absolute power.
Hitler remained at the apartment until 1934, when he became Germany’s Fuhrer and Reichskanzler.
After signing the Munich Accords in 1937, Hitler continued to use the flat infrequently, visiting British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain there.