learntoquestion ltq discussions

We tend to wonder about things that we can only assume to be the truth. We have never known what has went through the mind of Hitler and I don't think we will ever know which makes him intriguing. We won't figure out where such incisive hate came from that what makes him interesting. We know he has committed terrible crimes but what strikes people's interests is why he did these things. Reading the article about his upbringing puts him into a different light. He did normal things everyday things just like anyone else, he worked hard for his home, was breifly vegetarian and even was alcohol free at a point in his life, so we catch ourselves asking what went wrong?

Hitler also opens up the thought of how easy it is to act immorally. If you don't believe in a higher power ie. God/Allah, Karma, Bhudda etc. theres nothing really stopping you from acting immorally. Theres laws that will punish you but internally theres nothing holding you back. Sometimes people try to justify things that are seen as "bad" in our society because they fear being judged and fear the feeling of guilt but if you don't feel them there will be no internal repercussions. Proving to us that technically everything is a choice some answers are more morally obvious than others.

Do you understand him any better?

- No I don't think anyone will ever understand him. His erotic and brutal characteristics make it impossible to understand his true nature as well as how he was able to do these things and why he did it. In certain ways it is possible to understand him as a human but not as a violent dictator. We know his family background and about how his father was married multiple times or how he was the first of 4 children to survive it wasn't until the death of his mom and being denied from art school when his obsession with war started. Maybe his behavior can be linked to his parents incestuous relationship but, even then there have been cases of incest everywhere why is he any different?

Do you think trying to understanding him is a worthwhile pursuit?

- It is worthwhile to provide people with closure. Pursuing his motives is also important for historical purposes. We all know we have to learn from history so it isn't repeated this is one of those learning moments where if we know why we can address the situation before it gets to that point.

At the end of the day, in your view, what’s the most important thing(s) to know about Adolf Hitler? And why?

- Adolf Hitler was a terrible man and his upbringing doesn't explain or justify the atrocities that he committed. The things that happened to him during his earlier days are realities for some people so why does he deserve an explanation or justification? He doesn't. He should forever be known as a terrible human who committed horrible humanitarian acts

The difference between the fascination between hitler and A list celebrities is, some people look up to celebrities but people wonder about Hitler. People are intrigued by something that that isn't easily attainable, people like mysteries and puzzles and as sick as it may sound people see trying to figure him out as an unsolvable game. They know they won't get a concrete answer but wants to try.

Originally posted by plasticbottle123 on March 09, 2023 18:32

To the average person’s knowledge Adolf Hitler is an evil monster who killed millions of Jews during the Holocaust and was a Nazi. All of this is of course true, but after researching reading “Hitler’s Mountain Home,” Homes and Gardens by Ignatius Phayre, New York Times article “Profiles: Führer”, and watching Charlie Rose’s interview with Ian Kershaw it made me realize that Hitler was a human. He is a human just like you and me. And I think that is why people are most intrigued by Hitler. That is the scariest epiphany one can have. To realize that someone who was a baby, had a life, had parents just like you could end up doing such terrible things, makes you feel a certain way. It is really quite eerie to fathom. Some people argue that he was destined for this life from the beginning, but I believe all humans are in control of their own life and make their own choices to lead them down their path. So Hitler once had a clean slate, I think.

It is also intriguing to wonder about the many “what if” scenarios. For example, what if he would’ve gotten accepted into art school and his mother hadn’t died at the same time maybe his life would have been a lot different. Because those two events were huge shocks and affected his mental state extremely in a negative direction. Those two things occurring at the same time was arguably what sent him down the gutter so to speak and was the start of the build up of resentment for the world that has always rejected him. Is this the fault of the art school or the doctor operating on his mother? No, because even though Hitler’s artwork was unique and highly talented it was not what the school was looking for at the time and his mother's passing was not the doctor's fault. Also interestingly according to Ian Kershaw despite the many allegations of Hitler’s start of his burning hating Jews came from his mothers doctor being Jewish he actually had a good relationship with him and got him gifts and such and didn’t blame him for his mothers death. And there is the what if he died in WWI. He survived TWICE from being gassed. What if he were to die and none of this would have happened, but by some miracle he survived. There are a lot of “what if” situations that you could go down, but unfortunately we cannot change the past and must dissect the path that actually happened.

I found it fascinating that Hitler chose to be vegetarian, refrained from smoking and alcohol, and was celibate. Because you think someone so “clean” or uber healthy in that case wouldn’t be capable of thinking in the diabolical ways Hitler did. Usually people who stay loyal to these practices are seen as saints and are usually highly religious which Hitler was not seen as either. And also the sheer amount of humans he got to follow him never fails to shock me. It is unbelievable to think that millions of people worshiped this dude like he was a god. Every time I see pictures of the thousands of people lined up in Nazi uniforms it baffles me. And how he managed to get pretty much all of Germany to put their hand up and salute him daily for years. It is truly scary and to think that leaders in the future can look up to him and try and model some of his leadership skills, because he literally wrote a memoir of his life and what he did, is pretty terrifying.

Another way to look at it was just how Ian Kershaw said it that some people, even though this is very sad and Hitler is no person that someone should look up to, could have looked up to Hitler because he was this average everyday normal person who was poor and highly unsuccessful. And to hear this story of someone who had nothing, got rejected from school, was a troubled child, and rejected by society all his life could rise to such great power was a huge and still is an inspiration to people who go down this path of being a burnout. Of course that is horrible to say, but we see a lot of this in today's society with social rejects becoming Neo-Nazi’s and looking up to Hitler. Going off of this Ian Kershaw mentioned that Hitler was not supposed to be this powerful leader. Unlike Stalin, Lenin, Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan who came from a lineage of elite rulers and were sort of destined for that life, Hitler was just a regular Joe-Schmoe who came from a normal family. That could also serve as an inspiration for social rejects that look up to Hitler.

Another highly intriguing thing to me is the lack of and the disappointment of the ending. You would think a villain story such as Hitler’s would end with a dramatic ending like him being assassinated or dying by sacrificing himself for the country, but instead he killed himself. An act of a true coward. You think he would have done something to put an end to the insane story he had, but nope he just took a gun and shot himself. That is so selfish. He was so selfish that he didn't want anyone to have the satisfaction of killing him or putting him in jail to rot for the rest of his life that he took the easy way out and pulled the trigger of a gun. I think that reveals a lot about Hitler’s character and tells us that he truly only cared for himself.

All of these thoughts are all over the place, but how can you not be all over the place when talking about someone who carries such a heavy weight. It is overwhelming to try and pinpoint only one thing that makes us so curious about Hitler. But if I were to say what the overarching reason is that would be the fact that you can sit there and think that someone who was a son, went to school, enjoyed music, art, great food, had friends, a family, and was just any regular old person committed such horrendous acts against humanity and how he managed to do so is why the world will talk about Hitler forever.

I also found Hitlers Vegetarian and his abstinence in smoking and drinking interesting and how he got that many people to blindly follow him is insane. I can't wrap my heard around how crazy it is that it was able to happen.

Originally posted by plasticbottle123 on March 09, 2023 18:32

To the average person’s knowledge Adolf Hitler is an evil monster who killed millions of Jews during the Holocaust and was a Nazi. All of this is of course true, but after researching reading “Hitler’s Mountain Home,” Homes and Gardens by Ignatius Phayre, New York Times article “Profiles: Führer”, and watching Charlie Rose’s interview with Ian Kershaw it made me realize that Hitler was a human. He is a human just like you and me. And I think that is why people are most intrigued by Hitler. That is the scariest epiphany one can have. To realize that someone who was a baby, had a life, had parents just like you could end up doing such terrible things, makes you feel a certain way. It is really quite eerie to fathom. Some people argue that he was destined for this life from the beginning, but I believe all humans are in control of their own life and make their own choices to lead them down their path. So Hitler once had a clean slate, I think.

It is also intriguing to wonder about the many “what if” scenarios. For example, what if he would’ve gotten accepted into art school and his mother hadn’t died at the same time maybe his life would have been a lot different. Because those two events were huge shocks and affected his mental state extremely in a negative direction. Those two things occurring at the same time was arguably what sent him down the gutter so to speak and was the start of the build up of resentment for the world that has always rejected him. Is this the fault of the art school or the doctor operating on his mother? No, because even though Hitler’s artwork was unique and highly talented it was not what the school was looking for at the time and his mother's passing was not the doctor's fault. Also interestingly according to Ian Kershaw despite the many allegations of Hitler’s start of his burning hating Jews came from his mothers doctor being Jewish he actually had a good relationship with him and got him gifts and such and didn’t blame him for his mothers death. And there is the what if he died in WWI. He survived TWICE from being gassed. What if he were to die and none of this would have happened, but by some miracle he survived. There are a lot of “what if” situations that you could go down, but unfortunately we cannot change the past and must dissect the path that actually happened.

I found it fascinating that Hitler chose to be vegetarian, refrained from smoking and alcohol, and was celibate. Because you think someone so “clean” or uber healthy in that case wouldn’t be capable of thinking in the diabolical ways Hitler did. Usually people who stay loyal to these practices are seen as saints and are usually highly religious which Hitler was not seen as either. And also the sheer amount of humans he got to follow him never fails to shock me. It is unbelievable to think that millions of people worshiped this dude like he was a god. Every time I see pictures of the thousands of people lined up in Nazi uniforms it baffles me. And how he managed to get pretty much all of Germany to put their hand up and salute him daily for years. It is truly scary and to think that leaders in the future can look up to him and try and model some of his leadership skills, because he literally wrote a memoir of his life and what he did, is pretty terrifying.

Another way to look at it was just how Ian Kershaw said it that some people, even though this is very sad and Hitler is no person that someone should look up to, could have looked up to Hitler because he was this average everyday normal person who was poor and highly unsuccessful. And to hear this story of someone who had nothing, got rejected from school, was a troubled child, and rejected by society all his life could rise to such great power was a huge and still is an inspiration to people who go down this path of being a burnout. Of course that is horrible to say, but we see a lot of this in today's society with social rejects becoming Neo-Nazi’s and looking up to Hitler. Going off of this Ian Kershaw mentioned that Hitler was not supposed to be this powerful leader. Unlike Stalin, Lenin, Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan who came from a lineage of elite rulers and were sort of destined for that life, Hitler was just a regular Joe-Schmoe who came from a normal family. That could also serve as an inspiration for social rejects that look up to Hitler.

Another highly intriguing thing to me is the lack of and the disappointment of the ending. You would think a villain story such as Hitler’s would end with a dramatic ending like him being assassinated or dying by sacrificing himself for the country, but instead he killed himself. An act of a true coward. You think he would have done something to put an end to the insane story he had, but nope he just took a gun and shot himself. That is so selfish. He was so selfish that he didn't want anyone to have the satisfaction of killing him or putting him in jail to rot for the rest of his life that he took the easy way out and pulled the trigger of a gun. I think that reveals a lot about Hitler’s character and tells us that he truly only cared for himself.

All of these thoughts are all over the place, but how can you not be all over the place when talking about someone who carries such a heavy weight. It is overwhelming to try and pinpoint only one thing that makes us so curious about Hitler. But if I were to say what the overarching reason is that would be the fact that you can sit there and think that someone who was a son, went to school, enjoyed music, art, great food, had friends, a family, and was just any regular old person committed such horrendous acts against humanity and how he managed to do so is why the world will talk about Hitler forever.

I completely agree with your argument regarding the "what if" questions of Hitler. Especially with modern day society being so in-tune with celebrity gossip, many believe in these conspiracy theories and create the "what if" scenarios to stay "woke." People are never really satisfied with what they have which also plays into all the conspiracy theories in other parts of the world like flat-earthers and so many other groups of people who think going against the grain associated them with being "woke".

Originally posted by Mylienta on March 09, 2023 21:25

We tend to wonder about things that we can only assume to be the truth. We have never known what has went through the mind of Hitler and I don't think we will ever know which makes him intriguing. We won't figure out where such incisive hate came from that what makes him interesting. We know he has committed terrible crimes but what strikes people's interests is why he did these things. Reading the article about his upbringing puts him into a different light. He did normal things everyday things just like anyone else, he worked hard for his home, was breifly vegetarian and even was alcohol free at a point in his life, so we catch ourselves asking what went wrong?

Hitler also opens up the thought of how easy it is to act immorally. If you don't believe in a higher power ie. God/Allah, Karma, Bhudda etc. theres nothing really stopping you from acting immorally. Theres laws that will punish you but internally theres nothing holding you back. Sometimes people try to justify things that are seen as "bad" in our society because they fear being judged and fear the feeling of guilt but if you don't feel them there will be no internal repercussions. Proving to us that technically everything is a choice some answers are more morally obvious than others.

Do you understand him any better?

- No I don't think anyone will ever understand him. His erotic and brutal characteristics make it impossible to understand his true nature as well as how he was able to do these things and why he did it. In certain ways it is possible to understand him as a human but not as a violent dictator. We know his family background and about how his father was married multiple times or how he was the first of 4 children to survive it wasn't until the death of his mom and being denied from art school when his obsession with war started. Maybe his behavior can be linked to his parents incestuous relationship but, even then there have been cases of incest everywhere why is he any different?

Do you think trying to understanding him is a worthwhile pursuit?

- It is worthwhile to provide people with closure. Pursuing his motives is also important for historical purposes. We all know we have to learn from history so it isn't repeated this is one of those learning moments where if we know why we can address the situation before it gets to that point.

At the end of the day, in your view, what’s the most important thing(s) to know about Adolf Hitler? And why?

- Adolf Hitler was a terrible man and his upbringing doesn't explain or justify the atrocities that he committed. The things that happened to him during his earlier days are realities for some people so why does he deserve an explanation or justification? He doesn't. He should forever be known as a terrible human who committed horrible humanitarian acts

The difference between the fascination between hitler and A list celebrities is, some people look up to celebrities but people wonder about Hitler. People are intrigued by something that that isn't easily attainable, people like mysteries and puzzles and as sick as it may sound people see trying to figure him out as an unsolvable game. They know they won't get a concrete answer but wants to try.

You bring up an interesting point concerning how we are better able to understand Hitler as a person after reading the articles. Overall, the understanding we now have of his personal life before his reign of terror doesn't change much; he still committed the greatest crime against humanity and what does the fact that he liked flowers and had a weird familial background change. My question for you is how much do you think that childhood trauma brought upon to him by his family affected him? Does it explain any of his motives or was it just a poor childhood that started him off in the wrong direction in life? Do we have any sympathy for him because of this?

Originally posted by griffin.lally on March 09, 2023 21:12

There are a number of things to be intrigued about regarding Hitler. Some of the more common questions come from inquiry about his reign of terror through absolute power and how he came to be. Within this, there is an unnamed sense of curiosity as to how it truly feels in his position. Was there any feelings of remorse or regret or was it strictly an overwhelmed power trip that never died down? Others are a desire to understand his motives and why he really did all that he has done. Was there exposure to this certain hatred as a child? What was his personal life like—was he this evil demon to all in his path or was this targeted just to those we read about in class all the time? These questions will likely forever go unanswered which possibly contributes even more to the culture of curiosity. However, reading the articles did in fact answer some of these questions. To begin, Hitler gave a considerable amount of thought to the appearance of his house. He is known to have had flowers, ornate furniture, elastic animals, music, and general amiability within his estates. Consequently, it makes you wonder even more, how could a person so in tune with his artistic interests and seemingly calm and collected life have committed the worst crime against humanity in all of human existence? It is here that conspiracy theorists begin to arise and continue the inquiry about Hitler for decades to come.

I don’t necessarily think our fascination with Hitler is in the same sphere akin to A-list celebrities in the modern world. In today’s society, this interest is often spewed by social media and fan-clubs that idolize many of these icons. Hitler, evidently on the other spectrum of this scale but similar to the points listed in Janet Flanner’s article on pop-gossip, was most definitely not idolized in the same manner that celebrities are now. Currently, it is more about money, fame, relatability, and content that drives obsessions. Alternatively, Hitler’s following was largely based on a hunger for power and political superiority. Consequently, I would agree that the image of pure evil contributes most to our fascination with him. Though this sounds a bit weird to say, it almost feels as though we have labeled him as a model citizen of what not to be. Regarding him as the ultimate “bogeyman,” I think it falls into the pop culture of associating these evil movie characters with real people in history in order to match a face to the evils we see on TV on a day-to-day basis.

Despite all this, Hitler obviously isn’t responsible for the entirety of the evils of WWII. It dates much longer back to the Treaty of Versailles which, when created, lacked the ability for nations to fully burden with the consequences of WWI and a lack of power given to nations to appropriately deal with ill-fated decisions in the future. Yes, he is the face of the lowest point within WWII—and largely responsible for global involvement due to his unwelcomed aggression—but that doesn’t make him solely responsible for the evils.

After reading through all the articles and listening to the video, I don’t necessarily feel as though I understand Hitler better, but rather have a more complete view as to who Hitler was as a person in the private sector. There was a sudden change in his demeanor after being exposed to the politics and feelings of power brought by the Nazi Party. From here, he drifted farther away from his artistic touch and closer and closer into a political agitator who dominated military action to expand his control and reign. Throughout all this, I strongly feel as though it’s important to take the time to understand him better. We can use these discoveries to better teach ourselves on what not to be and reflect on past mistakes to correct them from reoccurring in the future. It’s also important to note his motives behind his actions because it provides reasoning as to why Hitler did what he did. Ultimately, the most important thing to know about Hitler is simply his crime against all of humanity. He stands as a lesson for who not to be and led the world into arguably the darkest time of its history. He was the most evil and degenerate person ever and that is exactly who he should be remembered for. Yes, it’s interesting to read up on the background aspects of his life, but those details are irrelevant when discussing him as an overall person.

When you said:

"Despite all this, Hitler obviously isn’t responsible for the entirety of the evils of WWII. It dates much longer back to the Treaty of Versailles which, when created, lacked the ability for nations to fully burden with the consequences of WWI and a lack of power given to nations to appropriately deal with ill-fated decisions in the future. Yes, he is the face of the lowest point within WWII—and largely responsible for global involvement due to his unwelcomed aggression—but that doesn’t make him solely responsible for the evils."

I completely agree with this. Most people who learn about WWII or just know common facts about it think that it was all Hitler and that the whole war was Hitlers fault. That is a very common misconception of world history especially in America. Like you said "he was the face of the lowest point within WWII" but that doesn't mean he was responsible for everything. Very well put.

Hitler was a real human being. He was a real person, who had a real childhood, and a real life. He was deemed a "normal" person at one point. There were points when nobody thought anything of him, when his name was irrelevant. So why have we become so fascinated by him and his life? I would say that its because we realize that someone so ordinary turned into someone so disgusting and atrocious, and its hard for us to believe. He has become so well known for his terror and violence and rule over the nazi party, that we can't even imagine him doing normal human things. He's one of us. This man is no different than us biologically, yet the ideas in his head were inhumane and unfathomable. My big key takeaway is just the fact that hitler was a real human being. In these articles and interviews, they talk about his life and the things he used to do. Hitlers mountain home had cacti in the front entrance. The inside walls of that home were painted a jade green color. He liked to garden occasionally. He would breed German Sheperd dogs in his backyard. These are all things that you wouldnt necessarily think twice about, so why are we mentioning them as important? It all really just ties back into the fact that we cant believe a normal person would do such things. He was such an awful person, its clear that we have de-humanized him. We find it bizarre that he had a cactus in his front entrance. We think that maybe the jade green walls must have meant something. We cant fathom the fact that he did normal human being things.

I would say that understanding him is important, but it gets to a point where some people might be doing too much. I think that we can look at things like his mental health, and "where it all went wrong", but he's a human! Humans are extremely hard to understand individually. I feel like doing things like investigating his childhood homes for clues and figuring out how he acted during christmas time with his family is kind of insane. Unless theres really some stand-out event, i dont see a point in analyzing his every little movement. He walks, talks, eats, drinks, sleeps, etc. just like everybody else i feel like. Leading up to his position of power, as well as during his reign are definitely imoprtant to look into, but i think that at some point some researchers might be trying a little bit too hard. Ian Kershaw in the beginning og his interview says that " Hitler comes from nowhere in a highly modern, highly civilized state..." If we can agree that he came from some little town that wasnt really significant to anything relevant at the time, then why do we obsess over it? Why does that matter? There are many unanswered questions when it comes to researching hitler.

There are also many unanswered questions when it comes to Hitlers life itself. There are many what if questions that everybody has, and there always will be. What if he was never rejected from art school? or What if his mom hadnt died of cancer? These are all very interesting questions, but they will never end. They can go extremely deep. but on the contrary, you can ask what if questions about anybody and anything. So why do we ask so many about Hitler? Again, Its a de-humanization thing. We dont want to fathom he was a human being, so we ask these questions in order to make him seem a bit more human. We ask these questions so that we can imagine what things would've been like if nothing "went wrong". Everybody really just wants an explanation for why he became the person he became.

Its a very complicated subject, but to summarize things up i would just say:

We are so intrigued with Hitlers life because we find it hard to believe that he was really a human.

Its just important to realize that he was a real person who lived a real life, every day, from the day he was born. His actions were so inhumane and horrifying, that we have basically deemed him as unreal. This leads us to finding random things like the fact that he had dietary restrictions fascinating.

Originally posted by griffin.lally on March 09, 2023 22:02

Originally posted by Mylienta on March 09, 2023 21:25

We tend to wonder about things that we can only assume to be the truth. We have never known what has went through the mind of Hitler and I don't think we will ever know which makes him intriguing. We won't figure out where such incisive hate came from that what makes him interesting. We know he has committed terrible crimes but what strikes people's interests is why he did these things. Reading the article about his upbringing puts him into a different light. He did normal things everyday things just like anyone else, he worked hard for his home, was breifly vegetarian and even was alcohol free at a point in his life, so we catch ourselves asking what went wrong?

Hitler also opens up the thought of how easy it is to act immorally. If you don't believe in a higher power ie. God/Allah, Karma, Bhudda etc. theres nothing really stopping you from acting immorally. Theres laws that will punish you but internally theres nothing holding you back. Sometimes people try to justify things that are seen as "bad" in our society because they fear being judged and fear the feeling of guilt but if you don't feel them there will be no internal repercussions. Proving to us that technically everything is a choice some answers are more morally obvious than others.

Do you understand him any better?

- No I don't think anyone will ever understand him. His erotic and brutal characteristics make it impossible to understand his true nature as well as how he was able to do these things and why he did it. In certain ways it is possible to understand him as a human but not as a violent dictator. We know his family background and about how his father was married multiple times or how he was the first of 4 children to survive it wasn't until the death of his mom and being denied from art school when his obsession with war started. Maybe his behavior can be linked to his parents incestuous relationship but, even then there have been cases of incest everywhere why is he any different?

Do you think trying to understanding him is a worthwhile pursuit?

- It is worthwhile to provide people with closure. Pursuing his motives is also important for historical purposes. We all know we have to learn from history so it isn't repeated this is one of those learning moments where if we know why we can address the situation before it gets to that point.

At the end of the day, in your view, what’s the most important thing(s) to know about Adolf Hitler? And why?

- Adolf Hitler was a terrible man and his upbringing doesn't explain or justify the atrocities that he committed. The things that happened to him during his earlier days are realities for some people so why does he deserve an explanation or justification? He doesn't. He should forever be known as a terrible human who committed horrible humanitarian acts

The difference between the fascination between hitler and A list celebrities is, some people look up to celebrities but people wonder about Hitler. People are intrigued by something that that isn't easily attainable, people like mysteries and puzzles and as sick as it may sound people see trying to figure him out as an unsolvable game. They know they won't get a concrete answer but wants to try.

You bring up an interesting point concerning how we are better able to understand Hitler as a person after reading the articles. Overall, the understanding we now have of his personal life before his reign of terror doesn't change much; he still committed the greatest crime against humanity and what does the fact that he liked flowers and had a weird familial background change. My question for you is how much do you think that childhood trauma brought upon to him by his family affected him? Does it explain any of his motives or was it just a poor childhood that started him off in the wrong direction in life? Do we have any sympathy for him because of this?

You pose good questions, personally I do not have any sympathy for him. Sure he suffered in life and had childhood trauma, so many have. No amount of childhood trauma should push someone to the point of what he did. If he was struggling, he should have asked for help or something. Just because he had a harder life doesn't mean that we should suddenly start feeling bad for him and using it to soften the blow of what he did. To me it doesn't seem like it explains any of his motives. None of the people he hurt had done anything personally to him and hurting them did nothing to help him.

Originally posted by legoninjagofan67 on March 09, 2023 22:18

Hitler was a real human being. He was a real person, who had a real childhood, and a real life. He was deemed a "normal" person at one point. There were points when nobody thought anything of him, when his name was irrelevant. So why have we become so fascinated by him and his life? I would say that its because we realize that someone so ordinary turned into someone so disgusting and atrocious, and its hard for us to believe. He has become so well known for his terror and violence and rule over the nazi party, that we can't even imagine him doing normal human things. He's one of us. This man is no different than us biologically, yet the ideas in his head were inhumane and unfathomable. My big key takeaway is just the fact that hitler was a real human being. In these articles and interviews, they talk about his life and the things he used to do. Hitlers mountain home had cacti in the front entrance. The inside walls of that home were painted a jade green color. He liked to garden occasionally. He would breed German Sheperd dogs in his backyard. These are all things that you wouldnt necessarily think twice about, so why are we mentioning them as important? It all really just ties back into the fact that we cant believe a normal person would do such things. He was such an awful person, its clear that we have de-humanized him. We find it bizarre that he had a cactus in his front entrance. We think that maybe the jade green walls must have meant something. We cant fathom the fact that he did normal human being things.

I would say that understanding him is important, but it gets to a point where some people might be doing too much. I think that we can look at things like his mental health, and "where it all went wrong", but he's a human! Humans are extremely hard to understand individually. I feel like doing things like investigating his childhood homes for clues and figuring out how he acted during christmas time with his family is kind of insane. Unless theres really some stand-out event, i dont see a point in analyzing his every little movement. He walks, talks, eats, drinks, sleeps, etc. just like everybody else i feel like. Leading up to his position of power, as well as during his reign are definitely imoprtant to look into, but i think that at some point some researchers might be trying a little bit too hard. Ian Kershaw in the beginning og his interview says that " Hitler comes from nowhere in a highly modern, highly civilized state..." If we can agree that he came from some little town that wasnt really significant to anything relevant at the time, then why do we obsess over it? Why does that matter? There are many unanswered questions when it comes to researching hitler.

There are also many unanswered questions when it comes to Hitlers life itself. There are many what if questions that everybody has, and there always will be. What if he was never rejected from art school? or What if his mom hadnt died of cancer? These are all very interesting questions, but they will never end. They can go extremely deep. but on the contrary, you can ask what if questions about anybody and anything. So why do we ask so many about Hitler? Again, Its a de-humanization thing. We dont want to fathom he was a human being, so we ask these questions in order to make him seem a bit more human. We ask these questions so that we can imagine what things would've been like if nothing "went wrong". Everybody really just wants an explanation for why he became the person he became.

Its a very complicated subject, but to summarize things up i would just say:

We are so intrigued with Hitlers life because we find it hard to believe that he was really a human.

Its just important to realize that he was a real person who lived a real life, every day, from the day he was born. His actions were so inhumane and horrifying, that we have basically deemed him as unreal. This leads us to finding random things like the fact that he had dietary restrictions fascinating.

I agree with this. Its hard for people to grapple with the idea that lives every day like you or me could be a horrific dictator. It humanizes him in a way that scares people because it is easier to almost separate him from us because you want to think an emotionless monster would only be capable of doing what Hitler did.

Originally posted by legoninjagofan67 on March 09, 2023 22:18

Hitler was a real human being. He was a real person, who had a real childhood, and a real life. He was deemed a "normal" person at one point. There were points when nobody thought anything of him, when his name was irrelevant. So why have we become so fascinated by him and his life? I would say that its because we realize that someone so ordinary turned into someone so disgusting and atrocious, and its hard for us to believe. He has become so well known for his terror and violence and rule over the nazi party, that we can't even imagine him doing normal human things. He's one of us. This man is no different than us biologically, yet the ideas in his head were inhumane and unfathomable. My big key takeaway is just the fact that hitler was a real human being. In these articles and interviews, they talk about his life and the things he used to do. Hitlers mountain home had cacti in the front entrance. The inside walls of that home were painted a jade green color. He liked to garden occasionally. He would breed German Sheperd dogs in his backyard. These are all things that you wouldnt necessarily think twice about, so why are we mentioning them as important? It all really just ties back into the fact that we cant believe a normal person would do such things. He was such an awful person, its clear that we have de-humanized him. We find it bizarre that he had a cactus in his front entrance. We think that maybe the jade green walls must have meant something. We cant fathom the fact that he did normal human being things.

I would say that understanding him is important, but it gets to a point where some people might be doing too much. I think that we can look at things like his mental health, and "where it all went wrong", but he's a human! Humans are extremely hard to understand individually. I feel like doing things like investigating his childhood homes for clues and figuring out how he acted during christmas time with his family is kind of insane. Unless theres really some stand-out event, i dont see a point in analyzing his every little movement. He walks, talks, eats, drinks, sleeps, etc. just like everybody else i feel like. Leading up to his position of power, as well as during his reign are definitely imoprtant to look into, but i think that at some point some researchers might be trying a little bit too hard. Ian Kershaw in the beginning og his interview says that " Hitler comes from nowhere in a highly modern, highly civilized state..." If we can agree that he came from some little town that wasnt really significant to anything relevant at the time, then why do we obsess over it? Why does that matter? There are many unanswered questions when it comes to researching hitler.

There are also many unanswered questions when it comes to Hitlers life itself. There are many what if questions that everybody has, and there always will be. What if he was never rejected from art school? or What if his mom hadnt died of cancer? These are all very interesting questions, but they will never end. They can go extremely deep. but on the contrary, you can ask what if questions about anybody and anything. So why do we ask so many about Hitler? Again, Its a de-humanization thing. We dont want to fathom he was a human being, so we ask these questions in order to make him seem a bit more human. We ask these questions so that we can imagine what things would've been like if nothing "went wrong". Everybody really just wants an explanation for why he became the person he became.

Its a very complicated subject, but to summarize things up i would just say:

We are so intrigued with Hitlers life because we find it hard to believe that he was really a human.

Its just important to realize that he was a real person who lived a real life, every day, from the day he was born. His actions were so inhumane and horrifying, that we have basically deemed him as unreal. This leads us to finding random things like the fact that he had dietary restrictions fascinating.

I completely agree with everything you said! I too focused on the fact that he was a "human person" and that will always be the most jarring thing to be because it all just seems so... unreal. I agree that we shouldn't analyze every small moment in his life, otherwise the information becomes redundant and in some ways it sounds like we make excuses for him. I think we try to search for answers so much because we are scared of how a person like this is creating, and in some ways we try to compare him to our lives.

Originally posted by plasticbottle123 on March 09, 2023 22:07

Originally posted by griffin.lally on March 09, 2023 21:12

There are a number of things to be intrigued about regarding Hitler. Some of the more common questions come from inquiry about his reign of terror through absolute power and how he came to be. Within this, there is an unnamed sense of curiosity as to how it truly feels in his position. Was there any feelings of remorse or regret or was it strictly an overwhelmed power trip that never died down? Others are a desire to understand his motives and why he really did all that he has done. Was there exposure to this certain hatred as a child? What was his personal life like—was he this evil demon to all in his path or was this targeted just to those we read about in class all the time? These questions will likely forever go unanswered which possibly contributes even more to the culture of curiosity. However, reading the articles did in fact answer some of these questions. To begin, Hitler gave a considerable amount of thought to the appearance of his house. He is known to have had flowers, ornate furniture, elastic animals, music, and general amiability within his estates. Consequently, it makes you wonder even more, how could a person so in tune with his artistic interests and seemingly calm and collected life have committed the worst crime against humanity in all of human existence? It is here that conspiracy theorists begin to arise and continue the inquiry about Hitler for decades to come.

I don’t necessarily think our fascination with Hitler is in the same sphere akin to A-list celebrities in the modern world. In today’s society, this interest is often spewed by social media and fan-clubs that idolize many of these icons. Hitler, evidently on the other spectrum of this scale but similar to the points listed in Janet Flanner’s article on pop-gossip, was most definitely not idolized in the same manner that celebrities are now. Currently, it is more about money, fame, relatability, and content that drives obsessions. Alternatively, Hitler’s following was largely based on a hunger for power and political superiority. Consequently, I would agree that the image of pure evil contributes most to our fascination with him. Though this sounds a bit weird to say, it almost feels as though we have labeled him as a model citizen of what not to be. Regarding him as the ultimate “bogeyman,” I think it falls into the pop culture of associating these evil movie characters with real people in history in order to match a face to the evils we see on TV on a day-to-day basis.

Despite all this, Hitler obviously isn’t responsible for the entirety of the evils of WWII. It dates much longer back to the Treaty of Versailles which, when created, lacked the ability for nations to fully burden with the consequences of WWI and a lack of power given to nations to appropriately deal with ill-fated decisions in the future. Yes, he is the face of the lowest point within WWII—and largely responsible for global involvement due to his unwelcomed aggression—but that doesn’t make him solely responsible for the evils.

After reading through all the articles and listening to the video, I don’t necessarily feel as though I understand Hitler better, but rather have a more complete view as to who Hitler was as a person in the private sector. There was a sudden change in his demeanor after being exposed to the politics and feelings of power brought by the Nazi Party. From here, he drifted farther away from his artistic touch and closer and closer into a political agitator who dominated military action to expand his control and reign. Throughout all this, I strongly feel as though it’s important to take the time to understand him better. We can use these discoveries to better teach ourselves on what not to be and reflect on past mistakes to correct them from reoccurring in the future. It’s also important to note his motives behind his actions because it provides reasoning as to why Hitler did what he did. Ultimately, the most important thing to know about Hitler is simply his crime against all of humanity. He stands as a lesson for who not to be and led the world into arguably the darkest time of its history. He was the most evil and degenerate person ever and that is exactly who he should be remembered for. Yes, it’s interesting to read up on the background aspects of his life, but those details are irrelevant when discussing him as an overall person.

When you said:

"Despite all this, Hitler obviously isn’t responsible for the entirety of the evils of WWII. It dates much longer back to the Treaty of Versailles which, when created, lacked the ability for nations to fully burden with the consequences of WWI and a lack of power given to nations to appropriately deal with ill-fated decisions in the future. Yes, he is the face of the lowest point within WWII—and largely responsible for global involvement due to his unwelcomed aggression—but that doesn’t make him solely responsible for the evils."

I completely agree with this. Most people who learn about WWII or just know common facts about it think that it was all Hitler and that the whole war was Hitlers fault. That is a very common misconception of world history especially in America. Like you said "he was the face of the lowest point within WWII" but that doesn't mean he was responsible for everything. Very well put.

This is really interesting to mention––it is especially notable that war creates a... convoluted air. I think the wartime hysteria affects all the parties, especially ones that are influenced by people like Hitler. Either way, I still find it crazy that so many people were just accepting of this... Did he bribe people to join his forces? Or hypnotize them or what..