Hitler [Transcription note: Bracketed [Page] links provide access
to the individual images from which these transcriptions were
made]
[Page 3 |
Page 4]
At the time of the reoccupation of the Rhineland, Hitler made use of an
extraordinary figure of speech in describing his own conduct. He said,
"I follow my course with the precision and security of a sleepwalker."
Even at that time it struck the world as an unusual statement for the undisputed
leader of 67,000,000 people to make at the time of an international crisis.
Hitler meant it to be a form of' reassurance for his more wary followers
who questioned the wisdom of his course. It seems, however, that it was
a true confession and had his wary followers only realized its significance
and implications they would have had grounds for far greater concern
that aroused by his proposal to reoccupy the Rhineland. For the course of
this sleep-walker has carried him over many untravelled roads which finally
led him unerringly to a pinnacle of success and power never reached before.
And still it lured him on until today he stands on the brink of disaster.
He will go down in history as the most worshipped and the most despised
man the world has ever known.
Many people have stopped and asked themselves: "Is this man sincere
in his undertakings or is he a fraud?" Certainly even a fragmentary
knowledge of his past life warrants such a question, particularly since
our correspondents have presented us with many conflicting views. At times,
it seemed almost inconceivable that a man could be sincere and do what
[Page 5]
Hitler has done in the course of his career. And yet all
of his former associates whom we have been able to contact, as well as
many of our most capable foreign correspondents, are firmly convinced
that Hitler actually does believe in his own greatness. Fuchs reported
that Hitler said to Schuschnigg during the Berchtesgaden [sic] interviews:
"Do you realize that you are in the presence of the greatest German
of all time?"
It makes little difference for our purpose whether he actually spoke
these words or not at this particular time as alleged. In this
sentence he has summed up in a very few words an attitude which
he has expressed to some of our informants in person. To Rauschning,
for example, he once said:
"Aber ich brauche sie nicht, um mir von ihnen meine geschichtiche
Groesse bestaltigen zu lassen." (717)
And to Strasser, who once took the liberty of saying that we was
afraid Hitler was mistaken, he said:
"I cannot be mistaken. What I do and say is historical." (378)
many other such personal statements could be given. Oechaner has
summed up his attitude in this respect very well in the following words:
"He feels that no one in German history is equipped as he is to
bring the Germans to the position of supremacy which all German
statesman have felt they deserved but were unable to achieve." (669)
This attitude is not confined to himself as a statesman. he also
believes himself to be the greatest war lord as, for
[Page 6]
example, when he says to Raischning:
"Ich spiele nicht Krieg. Ich lasse mich nicht von `Feldherrn'
kommandieren. Den Krieg fushre ich. Den engentlichen Zeitpunkt
zum Angriff bestimme ich. Es gibt nur eine guenstigen. Ich warde
auf ihm warten. Mit eisernor Entschlossenheit. Unc ich warde ihn
nicht verpassen..." (701)
And it seems to be true that he has made a number of contributions
to German offensive and defensive tactics and strategy. He believes
himself to be an outstanding judge in legal matters and does not
blush when he stands before the Reichstag, while speaking to the
whole world, and says,
"For the last twenty-four hours I was the supreme court of the
German people." (255)
Then, too, he believes himself to be the greatest of all German
architects and spends a great deal of his time in sketching new
buildings and planning the remodeling of entire cities. In spite
of the fact that he failed to pass the examinations for admission
to the Art School he believes himself to be the only competent
judge in all matters of art. A few years ago he appointed a
committee of three to act as final judges on all matters of art,
but when their verdicts did not please him he dismissed them and
assumed their duties himself. It makes little difference whether
the field be economics, education, foreign affairs, propaganda,
movies, music or women's dress. In each and every field he believes
himself to be an unquestioned authority.
He also prides himself on his hardness and brutality.
That belief in his own power actually borders on a feeling of
omnipotence which he is not reluctant to display.
"Since the events of last year, his faith in his own genius, in
his instinct, or as one might say, in his star, is boundless. Those
who surround him are the first to admit that he now thinks himself
infallible and invincible. That explains why he can no longer bear
either criticism or contradiction. To contradict him is in his
eyes a crime of 'lese majeste'; opposition to his plans, from whatever
side it may come, is a definite sacrilege, to which the only reply
is an immediate and striking display of his omnipotence." (French
Yellow Book, 945)
Another diplomat reports a similar impression:
"When I first met him, his logic and sense of reality had
impressed me, but as time went on he appeared to me to become
more and more unreasonable and more and more convinced of his
own infallibility and greatness ..." (Henderson, 129)
There seems, therefore, to be little room for doubt concerning Hitler's
firm belief in his own greatness. We must now inquire into the
sources of this belief. Almost all writers have attributed Hitler's
confidence to the fact that he is a great believer in astrology and
that he is constantly in touch with astrologers who advise him
concerning his course of action. This is almost certainly untrue. All
of our informants who have known Hitler rather intimately discard the
idea as absurd. They all agree that nothing is more foreign to Hitler's
personality than to seek help from outside sources of this type.
The informant of the Dutch Legation holds a similar view. He says:
[Page 8]
"Not only has the Fuehrer never had his horoscope cast, but he is
in principle against horoscopes because he feels he might be
unconsciously influenced by them." (655)
It is also indicative that Hitler, some time before the war, forbade
the practice of fortune-telling and star-reading in Germany.
It is true that from the outside it looks as though Hitler might be
acting under some guidance of this sort which gives him the feeling
of conviction in his infalibility. These stories probably originated
in the very early days of the Party. According to Strasser, during
the early 1920's Hitler took regular lessons in speaking and in mass
psychology from a man named Hamissen who was also a practicing
astrologer and fortune-teller. He was an extremely clever individual
who taught Hitler a great deal concerning the importance of staging
meetings to obtain the greatest dramatic effect. As far as can be
learned, he never had any particular interest in the movement or any
say on what course it should follow. It is possible that Hanussen
had some contact with a group of astrologers, referred-to by one
von Wiegand, who were very active in Munich at this time. Through
Hanussen Hitler too may have come in contact with this group, for
von Wiegand writes:
"When I first knew Adolph Hitler in Munich, in 1921 and 1922, he was
in touch with a circle that believed firmly in the portents of the
stars. There was much whispering of the coming of another Charlemagne
and a new Reich. How far Hitler believed in these astrological
[Page 9]
forecasts and prophesies in those days I never could get out of Der
Fuhrer. He neither denied nor affirmed belief. He was not averse,
however, to making use of the forecasts to advance popular faith
in himself and his then young and struggling movement."
It is quite possible that from these beginnings the myth of his
associations with astrologers has grown.
Although Hitler has done considerable reading in a variety of
fields of study, he does not in any way attribute his infallibility
or omniscience to any intellectual endeavor on his part. On the
contrary, he frowns on such sources when it comes to guiding the
destiny of nations. His opinion of the intellect is, in fact,
extremely low, for in various places he makes such statements
as the following:
"Of secondary importance is the training of mental abilities."
"Over-educated people, stuffed with knowledge and intellect, but
bare of any sound instincts."
"These impudent rascals (intellectuals) who always know everything
better than anybody else..."
"The intellect has grown autocratic, and has become a disease of life."
Hitler's guide is something different entirely. It seems certain
that Hitler believes that he has been sent Germany by Providence and
that he has a particular mission to perform. He is probably not clear
on the scope of this mission beyond the fact that he has been chosen
to redeem the German people and reshape Europe. Just how this is to
be accomplished is also rather vague in his mind, but this does not
concern him greatly because an "inner voice" communicates to him
the steps
[Page 10]
he is to take. This is the guide which leads him on his
course with the precision and security of a sleep-walker.
"I carry out the commands that Providence has laid upon me." (490)
"No power on earth can shake the German Reich now, Divine
Providence has willed it that I carry through the fulfillment of
the Germanic task." (413)
"But if the voice speaks, then I know the time has come to act." (714)
It is this firm conviction that he has a mission and is under the
guidance and protection of Providence which is responsible in large
part for the contagious effect he has had on the German people.
Many people believe that this feeling of Destiny and mission have
come to Hitler through his successes. This is probably false. Later
in our study (Part V) we will try to show that Hitler has had this
feeling for a great many years although it may not have become a
conscious conviction until much later. In any case it was forcing
its way into consciousness during the war and has played a
dominant role in his actions ever since. Mend (one of his comrades),
for example, reports:
"An eine eigenartige Propheseiung errinere ich mich noch in
diesem Zusammenhag: Kurs vor Weihnachten (1915) auesserte er
sich, dass wir noch vieles von ihm hoeren werden. Wir sollen
nur abwarten, bis seine Zeit gekommen ist." (208)
Then, too, Hitler has reported several incidents during the
war which proved to him that he was under Divine protection.
The [Page 11] most startling of these is the following:
"I was eating my dinner in a trench with several comrades. Suddenly
a voice seemed to be saying to me, 'Get up and go over there.' It
was so clear and insistent that I obeyed automatically, as if it had
been a military order. I rose at once to my feet and walked
twenty yards along the trench carrying my dinner in its tin can with me.
Then I sat down to go on eating, my mind being once more at rest. Hardly
had I done so when a flash and deafening report came from the part of
the trench I had just left. A stray shell had burst over the group
in which I had been sitting, and every member of it was killed." (Price, 241)
Then, also, there was the vision he had while in hospital at
Pasewalk suffering from blindness allegedly caused by gas:
These experiences must later have fit in beautifully with the views
of the Munich astrologers and it is possible that underneath Hitler
felt that if there was any truth in their predictions they probably
referred to him. But in those days he did not mention any connection
between them or dwell on the Divine guidance he believed he possessed.
Perhaps he felt that such claims at the beginning of the movement
might hinder rather than help it. However, as von Wiegand has pointed
out, he was not averse to making use of the forecasts to advance his
own ends. At that time he was content with the role of a "drummer"
who was heralding the coming of the real savior. Even then,
however, the role of drummer was not as innocent or as
insignificant in Hitler's mind as might be supposed. This was
brought [Page 12] out in his testimony during the trial following the unsuccessful Beerhall Putsch of 1923. At that time he said:
"Nehmem Sie die Ueberzeugung hin, dass ich die Erringung eines
Ministerpostens nicht als erstrebenswert ansehe. Ich halte es eine
grossen Mannes nicht fuer wuerdigeseinen Namen der Geschichte nur
dadurch ueberliefern zu wollen, dasser Minister wird. Was mir vor
Augen stand, das war vom ersten Tage tausendmal mehr: ich wollte
der Zerbrecher der Marxismus werden. Ich werde die Ausfgabe loesen,
und wenn ich sie loese, dann waere der Titel eines Ministers fuer
mich eine Laecherlichkeit. Als ihh zum ersten Mal vor Richard Wagners
Grab stand, da quoll mir des Herz ueber vor Stolz, dass hier ein Mann
ruht, der es sich verbeten hat, hinaufzuschreiben: Hier ruht
Geheimrat Musikdirektor Excellenz Baron Richard von Wagner. Ich war
stolz darauf, dass dieser Mann und so viele Maenner der deutschen
Geschichte sich damit begnuegten, ihren Namen der Nachwelt zu
ueberliefern, nicht ihren Titel. Nicht aus Bescheidenheit wollte ich
'Trommler' sein. Das ist des Hoechste, das andere ist eine
Kleinigkett."
After his stay in Landsberg Hitler no longer referred to himself as
the "drummer." Occasionally, he would describe himself in the words
of St. Matthew, "as a voice crying in the wilderness", or as St. John
the Baptist whose duty was to hew a path for him who was to come and
lead the nation to power and glory. More frequently, however, he
referred to himself as "the Fuehrer", a name chosen by Hess during
their imprisonment. (901)
As time went on, it became clearer that he. was thinking of himself
as the Messiah and that it was he who was destined to lead Germany to
glory. His references to the Bible became more frequent and the
movement began to take on a religious [page 13]
atmosphere. Comparisons between Christ and himself became more numerous and found their way into his conversation and speeches. For example, he would say:
"When I came to Berlin a few weeks ago and looked at the traffic in
the Kurfuerstendamm, the luxury, the perversion, the iniquity, the
wanton display, and the Jewish materialism disgusted me so thoroughly,
that I was almost beside myself. I nearly imagined myself to be Jesus
Christ when He came to His Father's temple and found it taken by the
money-changers. I can well imagine how He felt when He seized a whip
and scourged them out." (905)
During his speech, according to Hanfstangl, he swung his whip around
violently as though to drive out the Jews and the forces of darkness,
the enemies of Germany and German honor. Dietrich Eckart, who
discovered Hitler as a possible leader and had witnessed this
performance, said later, "When a man gets to the point of identifying
himself with Jesus Christ, then he is ripe for an insane asylum."
The identification in all this was not with Jesus Christ, the
Crucified, but with Jesus Christ, the furious, lashing the crowds.
As a matter of fact, Hitler has very little admiration for Christ,
the Crucified. Although he was brought up a Catholic, and received
Communion, during the war, he severed his connection with the Church
directly afterwards. This kind of Christ he considers soft and weak
and unsuitable as a German Messiah.
The latter must be hard and brutal if he is to save Germany and
lead it to its destiny.
"My feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Saviour as a
fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness,
[Page 14] surrounded by
only a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and
summoned me to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest
not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love, as a Christian
and as a man, I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord
rose at last in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the
Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was the fight for
the world against the Jewish poison." (M.N.O. 26)
And to Rauschning he once referred to "the Jewish Christ-creed with
its effeminate, pity-ethics".
It is not clear from the evidence whether the new State
religion was part of Hitler's plan or whether developments
were such that it became feasible. It is true that Rosenberg
had long advocated such a move, but there is no evidence that
Hitler was inclined to take such a drastic step until after he
had come to power. It is possible that he felt he needed the
power before he could initiate such a change, or it may be
that his series of successes were so startling that the people
spontaneously adopted a religious attitude towards him which
made the move more or less obvious. In any case, he has
accepted this God-like role without any hesitation or
embarrassment.
White tells us that now when he is addressed
with the salutation, "Heil Hitler, our Savior", he bows
slightly at the compliment in the phrase - and believes it.
(664) As time goes on, it becomes more and more certain that
Hitler believes that he is really the "Chosen One" and that in
his thinking he conceives of himself as a second Christ who
has been sent to institute in the world a new system of values
based on brutality and violence. He has fallen in love with
[Page 15]
the image of himself in this role and has surrounded himself with
his own portraits.
His mission seems to lure him to still greater heights. Not content
with the role of transitory savior it pushes him to higher goals -
he must set the pattern for generations to come. Von Wiegand says:
"In vital matters Hitler is far from unmindful of the name and
record of success and failure he will leave to posterity." (493)
Nor is he content to allow these patterns to evolve in a natural way.
In order to guarantee the future he feels that he alone can bind it
to these principles. He believes, therefore, that he must become an
immortal to the German people. Everything must be huge and befitting
as a monument to the honor of Hitler. His idea of a permanent
building is one which will endure at least a thousand years. His
highways must be known as "Hitler Highways", and they must endure for longer periods of time than the Napoleonic roads. He must always be
doing the impossible and leaving his mark on the country. This is
one of the ways in which he hopes to stay alive in the minds of the
German people for generations to come.
It is alleged by many writers, among them Haffner (418), Huss (410)
and Wagner (489) that he has already drawn extensive plans for his
own mausoleum. Our informants, who left Germany some time ago, are
not in a position to verify these reports. They consider them well
within the realm of possibility, however. This mausoleum is to be the
mecca of
[Page 16]
Germany after his death. It is to be a tremendous monument
about 700 feet high, with all the details worked out so that the
greatest psychologicaI effect might be attained. It is also alleged
that his first errand in Paris after the conquest in 1940 was a visit
to the Dome des Invalides to study the monument to Napoleon. He found
this lacking in many respects. For example, they had put him down in a
hole which forced people to look down rather than high up.
"I shall never make such a mistake," Hitler said suddenly. "I know
how to keep my hold on people after I have passed on. I shall be the
Fuehrer they look up at and go home to talk of and remember. My life
shall not end in the mere form of death. It will, on the contrary,
begin then." (410)
It was believed for a time that the Kehlstein had been originally built
as an eternal mausoleum by Hitler. It seems, however, that if that
was his original intention he has abandoned it in favor of something
even more grandiose. Perhaps the Kehlstein was too inaccessible to
enable large numbers of people to come and touch his tomb in order to
become inspired. In any case, it seems that far more extravagant
plans have been developed. His plan, if it is to be successful, needs
constant emotional play on hysteric mass minds, and the more he can
arrange the ways and means of achieving this, after he dies, the more
assured he is of attaining his final goal.
"He is firmly convinced that the furious pace and the epochal age
in which he lived and moved (he really is convinced that he is the
motivating force and the moulder of that age) will terminate soon
after his death, swinging the world by nature and
[Page 17]
inclination into a
long span of digestive process marked by a sort of quiet inactivity.
People in his `1000 year Reich' will build monuments to him and go
around to touch and look at the things he has built, he thought. He
said as much on that glorified visit of his to Rome in 1938, adding
that a thousand years hence the greatness and not the ruins of his
own time must intrigue the people of those far-away days. For,
believe it or not, that is how the mind of this man Hitler projects
itself without a blush over the centuries." (410)
There was also a time a few years ago when he spoke a good deal about
retiring when his work was done. It was assumed that he would then
take up his residence in Berchtesgaden and sit as God who guides the
destinies of the Reich until he dies. In July, 1933, while visiting the
Wagner family, he talked at length about getting old and complained
bitterly that ten years of valuable time had been lost between the
Beerhall Putsch in 1923 and his accession to power. This was all very
regrettable since he predicted that it would take twenty-two years
to get things in adequate shape so that he could turn them over to
his successor. (936) It is supposed by some writers that during
this period of retirement he would also write a book which would stand
for eternity as a great bible of National Socialism. (3) This is
all rather interesting in view of Roehm's statement made many
years ago:
"Am liebsten taet er Heute schon in den Bergen sitzen und den
lieben Gott spielen." (715)
A survey of all the evidence forces us to conclude that Hitler
believes himself destined to become an Immortal Hitler,
[Page 18]
chosen by
God to be the New Deliverer of Germany and the Founder of a new
social order for the world. He firmly believes this and is certain
that in spite of all the trials and tribulations through which he
must pass he will finally attain that goal. The one condition is
that he follow the dictates of the inner voice which have guided
and protected him in the past. This conviction is not rooted in
the truth of the ideas he imparts but is based on the conviction
of his own personal greatness. (146) Howard K. Smith makes an
interesting observation:
"I was convinced that of all the millions on whom the Hitler
Myth had fastened itself, the most carried away was Adolph Hitler,
himself." (290)
We will have occasion in Part V to examine the origins of this
conviction and the role it plays in Hitler' s psychological economy.
The original
plaintext version of this file is available via ftp.
[ Previous |
Index |
Next ]
Home ·
Site Map ·
What's New? ·
Search
Nizkor
© The Nizkor Project, 1991-2012
This site is intended for educational purposes to teach about the Holocaust and
to combat hatred.
Any statements or excerpts found on this site are for educational purposes only.
As part of these educational purposes, Nizkor may
include on this website materials, such as excerpts from the writings of racists and antisemites. Far from approving these writings, Nizkor condemns them and
provides them so that its readers can learn the nature and extent of hate and antisemitic discourse. Nizkor urges the readers of these pages to condemn racist
and hate speech in all of its forms and manifestations.
As he believes himself to be
"I am one of the hardest men Germany has had for decades,
perhaps for centuries, equipped
[Page 7]
with the greatest authority of
any German leader... but above all, I believe in my success.
I believe in it unconditionally." (M.N.O. 871)
"Als ich im Bett lag kam mir der Gedanke, dass ich Deutschland
befreien wuerde, dass ich es gross machen wuerde, und ich habe
sofort gewusst, dass das verwirklicht werden wuerde." (429)