When Hitler rose to power in Germany and Europe, he made Paula change her name from Paula Hitler to Paula Wolff - Wolff was Adolf Hitler's nickname. She later told:

"The first time that my brother suggested my changing my name was at the Olympic Games in Garmisch. He wanted me to live under the name of Wolff, and maintain the strictest incognito. That was sufficient for me. From then on I kept this name. I added the Mrs. as I thought that less conspicuous."

Until the last weeks of the war, Paula Hitler lived in Vienna where she was arrested by US Intelligence officers in May, 1945. During the interrogations, she told how her brother had been deeply affected by his mother's death when he was 18. After breaking into tears, she said: Please remember, he was my brother:

"The personal fate of my brother affected me very much. He was still my brother, no matter what happened. His end brought unspeakable sorrow to me, as his sister .."

Paula was released and returned to Vienna to work in an arts and crafts shop. On December 1, 1952, she moved to a two-room flat near Berchtesgaden, Hitler's mountaintop retreat on the German-Austrian border, where she lived in seclusion under the last name of Wolf until her death on June 1, 1960.