Editing Hildegard Knef (section)

==Early years==
Hildegard Knef was born in [[Ulm]] in 1925. Her parents were Hans Theodor and Friede Augustine Knef. Her father, a decorated [[First World War]] veteran, died when she was only six months old, and her mother moved to Berlin and worked in a factory.<ref name="The New York Times" /> Knef began studying acting at age 14 in 1940. She left school at 15 to become an apprentice animator with [[Universum Film AG]]. After she had a successful screen test, she went to the State Film School at [[Babelsberg]], [[Berlin]], where she studied acting, ballet, and elocution. [[Joseph Goebbels]], who was [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler's]] propaganda minister, wrote to her and asked to meet her, but Knef's friends wanted her to stay away from him.<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news|last=Binder|first=David|title=Hildergard Knef, 76, Actress Who Escaped P.O.W. Camp|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/02/arts/hildegard-knef-76-actress-who-escaped-pow-camp.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date = 2 February 2002 | page = C16 |access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref>