Editing Winifred Wagner (section)

===Friendship with Adolf Hitler===
In 1923, Winifred Wagner met [[Adolf Hitler]],<ref name=":0" /> who greatly admired Richard Wagner's music. When Hitler was jailed for his part in the Munich [[Beer Hall Putsch]], Wagner sent him food parcels and stationery on which Hitler's autobiography ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' may have been written. Although Wagner remained personally faithful to Hitler, she denied that she ever supported the [[Nazi Party]]. Her relationship with Hitler grew so close that by 1933 there were rumours of impending marriage<ref name=":0" /> (there were similar rumours about her love for English novelist [[Hugh Walpole]]).<ref>[[Brigitte Hamann|Hamann, Brigitte]] (2005) [2002]. "Winifred Wagner". London: ''[[Granta]]''. {{ISBN|1862076715}}. pp. 49 and 99</ref> 

''Haus [[Wahnfried]]'', the Wagner home in [[Bayreuth]], became Hitler's favourite retreat.<ref name=":0" /> He stayed there on numerous occasions without his bodyguards, despite fears of his SS colleagues.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carradice |first=Phil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60MrEAAAQBAJ&dq=Winifred+Wagner&pg=PT95 |title=Hitler and his Women |date=2021-05-31 |publisher=Pen and Sword History |isbn=978-1-5267-7955-7 |language=en}}</ref> Hitler gave the Bayreuth festival government assistance and tax-exempt status, and treated Wagner's children solicitously. 

According to biographer [[Brigitte Hamann]], Wagner was reported to be "disgusted" by Hitler's persecution of the Jews. In one notable incident, in the late 1930s, a letter from her to Hitler prevented [[Hedwig Pringsheim|Hedwig]] and [[Alfred Pringsheim]] (whose daughter [[Katia Mann|Katia]] was married to [[Thomas Mann]]) from being arrested by the [[Gestapo]].<ref>Tony Paterson, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/05/26/wagner26.xml "'British' Wagner saved Jews from her friend Hitler"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050907072506/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2002%2F05%2F26%2Fwagner26.xml |date=7 September 2005 }} ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'', 25 June 2002</ref> Alfred Pringsheim was a fan of Richard Wagner, who he corresponded with and supported financially. He was also a patron of the Bayreuth Festival.

According to [[Gottfried Wagner]], Winifred Wagner's grandson, she never admitted any error to her ways. After the war, her posthumous devotion to Hitler, whom she referred to as "USA" – for ''Unser Seliger Adolf'' (our blessed Adolf) – remained undimmed. She corresponded with Hitler for nearly two decades. Scholars have not been allowed to see the letters, which have been kept locked away by [[Verena Wagner Lafferentz|Amélie Lafferentz]], one of Winifred Wagner's grandchildren, who has insisted that they not be released until the whole family agrees to do so.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/hitler-links-a-wagner-and-not-proud-of-it-806113.html|title=Hitler links: A Wagner, and not proud of it|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=8 April 2008|access-date=22 October 2016}}</ref>