A single man responsible for the fate of an entire nation, the death of 3 million Jews, and largely re-writing a chapter in history, Adolf Hitler attempted to seize the entire world’s power in his clenched fist. He could not understand why a man should not be just as cruel as nature and believed that his conduct was in will with the Almighty. His abstract perceptions were a result of his personality, which has been studied repeatedly and in depth. Here are 10 facts that delve into and beyond the rigid psyche of Adolf Hitler – The Noble Wolf.
1. If only
Numerous events occurred in the life of Adolf Hitler which could have taken a slightly different path and prevented Europe from being washed in blood.
It is claimed by historians that at age 4 while playing tag, Hitler had fallen into a strong current and was saved from drowning by a priest.
His childhood ambition was to be a priest.
At age 16, Hitler’s first love was a Jewish girl named Stefanie Isak. Lacking courage, he never spoke to her.
He tried for entry into 2 art colleges at Vienna but was rejected at both as he had not completed his basic education.
Although disputed, it is believed that while serving as a soldier in WWI, a gravely injured Hitler encountered Henry Tandey (a British soldier) and wandered into his line of fire. Tandey chose not to shoot and lowered his rifle before the German soldier nodded his thanks and wandered off. When Hitler came across the newspaper clipping of Tandey receiving the Victoria Cross years later, he recognized him and kept the clipping.
Though these paths could have been taken, history chose to teach the world a lesson and give it THIS man, who struck the entire Europe like an earthquake- a brutal force which no one could anticipate or control.
2. An indirect perpetrator of Hiroshima and Nagasaki attack
Yes, there’s a link here. Albert Einstien- the greatest scientist of all times, advocated peace and criticized Nazi aggression. He had fled Germany and settled in New Jersey by the time. It had become clear by late 1930’s that there was no stopping the growing evil of Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
Therefore, Einstein signed his name to a letter urging the president to support American research into “extremely powerful bombs of a new type.” Awakened by the threat of atomic warfare, Roosevelt secretly authorized the Manhattan Project, a program that produced, in 1945, the world’s first atomic bombs. Thus, a weapon built to stop Hitler ended up being dropped on Japan. As Einstein was approaching death, he admitted to an old friend, “I made one great mistake in my life—when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification—the danger that the Germans would make them.”
3. Revenge and Frustration
Fritz Gerlich (pictured above) was a German journalist and fierce critic of Hitler who also believed that Hitler had murdered Geli. After the formation of the Nazi government, Gerlich was murdered on the instructions of Hitler in 1934. It is said that to notify his wife, his blood-spattered spectacles were sent to her.
4. Bizarre Sexual Desires
Many historians cited in their records that Hitler was a man of bizarre sexual desires. He specifically liked being defecated and urinated on in the bedroom. It is also believed that Geli (pictured above) turned away from Hitler because of his perverted sexual desires. She had admitted to a friend that Hitler made her do things in the privacy of her room that sickened her but she didn’t refuse as she didn’t want to lose him to some woman that would do what he wanted.
Another woman who got close to Hitler was a film actress Reneta Muller. She later confided to her director that one evening when she was at the Chancellary, Hitler asked her to get undressed, then threw himself on the floor, begging her to kick him, and inflict pain. She left the Chancellery very upset and their relationship did not last long.
5. Love life
Hitler was a part of several love stories, all of which ended in a miserable state of affairs.
During his stay in the Bavarian Alps at age 37, Hitler met Maria Rieter (16) while walking his dog. He approached her and soon she was accompanying him to his meeting and dinner parties. He would feed her cakes, touch her leg under the table and take her out for rides in his Mercedes. He proposed his love and desire to marry her, but soon returned to Munich to pursue his mission. Under insecurity, she hung herself from the clothesline. Luckily, she was saved at the last minute.
At age 39, Hitler’s 20 year old niece Geli Raubal moved in with him. The affection he felt for her soon developed into a passionate relationship. She would always wear the red swastika given to her by her uncle Alf. According to an account given on their love story, “He (Hitler) followed her into millinery shops and watched patiently while she tried on all the hats and then decided on a beret. He sniffed at the sophisticated French perfumes she inquired about in a shop, and if she didn’t find what she wanted, he trotted after her like a patient lamb. She exercised the sweet tyranny of youth, and he liked it, he was more cheerful, happier.”
For two years, they stayed together before their relationship became stormy and they started accusing each other of being unfaithful. On one Saturday morning 1931, Geli Raubal’s dead body, pierced by a bullet was found on the floor of her room in the flat. It was believed that she killed herself to hurt him deeply enough to disturb him and he became suicidal because of the rumors that he had shot her. He stopped looking at newspapers and wanted to give up politics and never appear in public.
Consequently, Hitler became a vegetarian as he claimed that meat now reminded him of Geli’s corpse. Geli’s death served as a greater blow than any other event in his life. He was inconsolable, suicidal and never spoke of Geli again without tears coming to his eyes. According to his own statement to a number of witnesses, she was the only woman he ever loved. According to Hitler’s doctor, his health had actually started deteriorating after his niece’s death, both mentally and physically.
By age 43, Eva Braun (20) was Hitler’s main girlfriend. She was a photographer and several pictures we see of him today were clicked by her. Eva too was insecure due to his involvement with other women and attempted serious suicide 2 times in a successful bid for Hitler’s attention.
“From our first meeting I swore to follow you anywhere even unto death. I live only for your love.”
-Eva Braun ( in a letter to Hitler)
In his will, Hitler named Braun to receive an annual 12,000 Reichsmarks after his death. They got married when she was 33 and he was 56 in a brief civil ceremony in the bunker where Hitler was hiding. 40 hours later, they committed suicide together.
Hitler had about a dozen other serious involvements with women, most of which ended in suicide.
6. Animal Lover
Adolf Hitler was a candid animal lover and always kept his dog, Blondi by his side. He disapproved of cosmetics since they contained animal by-products and frequently teased Eva Braun about her habit of wearing makeup. At social events, he would give graphic accounts of animal slaughter to make his guests shun meat. If a movie scene ever showed cruelty to or death of an animal, he’d cover his eyes and look away until someone alerted him the scene was over.
7. Memoirs today
The Berghof was Hitler’s vacation residence during his stay in the Bavarian Alps after his release from prison. In 1937, a round teahouse was built on a hill across the valley, 1 km walk from the Berghof house via a wooden path. It was this tea house where Hitler ate cream cakes with his girlfriend Eva Braun and snoozed in chintz chairs as the world war commenced by him erupted. On the same mountain, another structure called “Eagle’s Nest” (pictured above) was constructed as a 50th Birthday present to Hitler. Today the building serves as a restaurant and is an attraction to about an annual 300,000 visitors who flock up 1800 meters to see the historical place.
8. Chocolates and children
Hitler had an extremely sweet tooth. It is said that he ate up to 2 pounds of chocolate in a day and generally took his tea with seven teaspoons of sugar. He was even seen adding spoonfuls of sugar to a glass of red wine.
Ironically, he felt no burden being responsible for several children perishing in the holocaust but has been pictured posing lovingly with children of friends and relatives.
9. Awards and recognitions
At age 49, in 1938, Hitler became Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year” for being the greatest threatening force faced by the democratic, freedom-loving world.
In 1939, Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. However, the nomination was a satirical protest and was retracted in a few days.
10. Antisemitism
It is no news that Hitler was a hater of the Jewish race. However, it is under speculation exactly where he picked this antisemitism from. It might have been due to the Jewish doctor who let his mother die or it might have been infused in him while struggling to survive in the streets of Vienna, which was known for antisemitism at that time.
According to Hitler, Jews were responsible for everything he did not like, including modern art, pornography and prostitution. Even though they formed merely 1% of the population, he believed that the Jewish race was gradually taking over the entire country and blamed them for Germany’s defeat in WWI. Under Hitler’s dictatorship, several Jews were imprisoned in concentration camps where many died as a result of deliberate maltreatment, disease, starvation, and overwork. They were transported in inhumane condition for several days or weeks, with little or no water and would die before reaching their destination. Some historians may be able to provide a legitimate reasoning for many of his actions, but the holocaust can never be justified.
An astounding fact is that Hitler never visited a single concentration camp. It was reported that he used to laugh when told of the sufferings of the Jews. He once remarked that a guilty conscience was a Jewish invention.
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