For a brief moment, try saying the name “Hitler” aloud, or even read it quietly on a piece of paper without associating the name with the actions of a sadistic and perverse German with an ineptitude for growing significant facial hair. Maybe that was too harsh? Actually, no, it wasn’t. There are not enough vulgar obscenities to describe the architect of one of the most horrific acts of nationalistic genocide in the history of man. Perhaps we shouldn’t allow ourselves to fill any capacity of our mind and soul with the memory of this man. If we were so concerned with ensuring his legacy ceased to exist, wouldn’t we do everything in our power to forget? But no. The families of 11 million massacred innocent people remember. They can’t forget. And they won’t. Perhaps instead of asking ourselves “Why are we so intrigued by Hitler,” we must ask ourselves whether we have a responsibility to remember, to learn, and to educate ourselves on this Freudian freak. I would argue, yes, we do. In reference to the Holocaust, Jews, other survivors, and their families alike all say “never again,” and “never forget.” And I would argue that the famous fascist is a common denominator between those two sentiments. It is impossible to imagine the Holocaust without Hitler, ergo it is impossible to forget without remembering his name, nor is it possible to image a “Holocaust” like the WWII genocide would ever happen again without the role the Nazi leader played. We as a generally sympathetic society feel the need to study this deranged dictator so that we may compare his atrocious behavior with the more noble and libertarian ideals of Western democracies. There is also an almost certain irony that during Hitler’s rampage through Europe, the rest of the world looked on, yet generations after the slaughter, we are so quick to condemn and analyze the behaviors the world’s leading powers enabled for more than a decade from 1933 until the end of the war. We are so intrigued by Hitler because he was the first man in a position of power such as his to actually tell his nation, his allies, and his enemies to go screw themselves. In Nazi Germany there was cooperation or retaliation. There was life or death. Hitler ensured these standards would never falter. Undoubtedly, Hitler will remain perhaps one of the most prominent and rightfully hated political leaders of the 20th century. And yet we are still incapable of understanding him any better. To truly understand a person, one must empathize with that person. I wouldn’t blame anyone who would say they find it impossible to empathize with Adolf Hitler; nor would I really want anyone to in this modern age. However, we are persistent, because we will never be satisfied unless we can justly say Hitler committed these acts of genocide for reasons x, y, and z. Again, this all connects back to our desire to ostracize Hitler from mankind as demonic pariah. And maybe that’s the right approach, but we might never know.
I think that one of the big reasons why we’re so intrigued by Hitler is because we’re trying to see what made him the way he turned out. Obviously the Holocaust was such a horrific genocide and so it is natural that people would want to figure out what could possibly make a human being want to do all that to other people. I think that people want to know this because we want to see if there were any warning signs, any ways that could have possibly allowed us to be able to prevent the Holocaust from happening. However, people have taken this in such wild ways, for example in class we discussed how there was a theory that because Hitler’s mother’s doctor was Jewish and since Hitler’s mother died, Hitler hated Jewish people. Despite there not being proof, people still create these long theories like that one to try and find a reason for what Hitler did. But I think that theories like that still don’t really make sense, because it still takes a lot for someone to inflict a horrific genocide an entire group of people because one the actions of one individual from that group that may or may not have existed. I think that these theories cannot encompass every single factor that caused Hitler to turn out the way that he did and that’s why we keep trying to make them, trying until we can make the perfect theory and understand what could have driven someone to do such horrible things.
I also think our fascination with Hitler has to do with human nature. Like for example, something that has to do with why people slow down to stare at car accidents even though there is nothing that we can do about it. Or the recent fascination with true crime through documentaries and podcasts. Why do we love looking at tragedy and love that uncomfortable feeling? There is just something about Hitler and something in our human nature that makes us unable to look away.
From the articles and the interview, I noticed that they talk a lot about mostly mundane things about Hitler, rather than every single bit of evil that he did. Like his diet and what his house looks like. I think it makes us think about the human side of Hitler, as weird as that sounds. In the Home and Gardens article, it says “The Fuhrer, I may add, has a passion about cut flowers in his home, as well as for music.” It almost makes him sound completely normal, like who doesn’t love flowers and music throughout their home? If anything this makes Hitler sound like a better person, you don’t really think about a person who is responsible for the deaths and sufferings of millions as someone who enjoys the same things as an average person does. It just gives a bit of a sick feeling, thinking about how you or people you know have anything in common with someone as horrible as Hitler. Thinking of him as once being a normal person is just odd. I also saw this when we were looking at the paintings by him, before you knew they were made by Hitler, some of them were pleasant in a way or at least not horrible to look at. But once you realized they were by Hitler, all that sense of normalcy and ordinariness goes away.
I don’t understand why he did what he did any better, but I think that it isn’t possible for me to understand why he did what he did. I think it’s just so complex that no theory could completely explain why exactly he did it. I think that Mylienta’s response articulates this well. They say that “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.” I think that since we’re pretty ordinary humans, we can understand the human side of Hitler, and since it makes more sense to us, there tends to be a greater focus on the side of Hitler that caused the Holocaust. We already understand how humans are, but we don’t understand why Hitler did what he did, and so we try to come up with theories to explain it. And we don’t really understand how they can both exist in one person, as it seems contradictory. I think that trying to understand Hitler would be a good thing to do, but I don’t think we really could. I don’t think I could understand the mind of someone who did such evil things.
I think that it is important to know that despite how the articles describe him as a normal person, it doesn’t excuse any of the actions that he did later on that made him the Hitler we know today. There isn’t justification for what he did. No justification whatsoever.
I think the reason why we are so interested in the 5W’s of Hitler’s life is because of what he did during the Holocaust and how his actions seem so evil. I feel like even as a society we do, perhaps quite strangely, have an obsession with evil. Immediately murder mysteries come to mind, but I was also thinking about the trial of Alex Murdaugh and also the investigation of Byran Kohberger. I think, looking back, what Hitler did was simply so tragic. I think even beyond what we learn in this class, everyone knows about Hitler, and I think it's because of the sheer number of Jews he murdered during the Holocaust. To that, I agree with what Ian Kershaw said about how we are so intrigued by Hitler because it shows how evil humans can be. It’s what he’s remembered in history for. Not that he was actually born in Austria, not that he wanted to be the next great artist, but rather that he killed millions of people.
I think this obsession that we have with Hitler is akin to perhaps the obsession we had with following Donald Trump’s actions during his presidency, but I don’t think these two fascinations were the same. I think the fascination with Trump was mostly to see what next dumb thing would he say or do on TV or on Twitter. However, with Hitler, we look back in history. Not what he’s going to do next.
For me, I think part of the obsession also comes from wondering why Hitler did what he did. This is something that I still don’t know and is a very big question. We remember Hitler for his atrocities, yet we still don’t know why it all happened in the first place. I think this relates to putting the blame for World War II on him. I don’t know if we should put the entire blame on him, but I think in relation to the world history I have been taught, I have always associated World War II with Hitler and the Holocaust.
I think the Janet Flanner and Ignatius Phayre were both super interesting, especially with how much they sort of contrasted what I typically know about Hitler, and also how different it was portraying Hitler from Ian Kershaw. I think the articles are quite different that modern celebrity-hosted talks and gossip shows, because I feel like in modern society we focus those forms of entertainment on a different type of content. To me, these articles especially, the Janet Flanner one, just seemed too “historical. However, I do feel like I understand Hitler better. Flanner’s article I think was very good at revealing another side of Hitler, and perhaps even understanding why he did what he did. I think Flanner mentioning that Hitler was a pretty isolated person with few friends does explain a lot. I think trying to understand who Hitler was is a worthwhile pursuit. There are more sides to a human being than just their evil, and Hitler lived another life before becoming the leader of the Nazi Party, like trying to be an art student. At the end of the day, I think the most important thing to know about Hitler is his association with the Holocaust, but also he was a human after all, so also more about his personal life away from the Nazi Party.
Why are we so intrigued by Hitler?
Learning all this about Hitler's background and the details of how he rose to power, his image has pretty strongly changed in my mind. While he may have been an immensely powerful dictator, he rose into that position against all odds, completely defying any logic. He seems to have been, by all means, a complete failure early in life, and he even almost died in World War I. Reading through the description of his house in "Homes and Gardens", one begins to get the idea that Hitler was just a normal man. This idea sharply contrasts with what we all know about Hitler, which is that he was the catalyst for one of the worst crimes against humanity ever known. It makes me wonder if maybe the horrifying but also ridiculously illogical affair which was the Holocaust was caused by some random madman off the streets gaining power simply by being in the right place at the right time and having a particular talent for giving rousing speeches. As Ian Kershaw states in the interview, Hitler didn't even realize he had the skills of a demagogue prior to 1919, and yet two decades later he was orchestrating one of the worst atrocities in human history.
The more I learn about Hitler, the more convinced I become that it's important to understand him, because of how unremarkable his life was prior to his rise to power. As Kershaw also states, we are less fascinated by men such as Joseph Stalin because Stalin was viewed as just another addition to a long line of corrupt Russian rulers. Hitler, on the other hand, was just a war veteran trying, and failing, to make it in the world of art, all while living in one of the most open-minded parts of the world at that point in history. It really gives you the idea that as long as times are tough enough, anything can happen, and understanding exactly what led to this unassuming man's rise as a dictator could prevent something like this from happening again.
I think the most important thing for everyone to keep in mind about Hitler is that he was initially just another German citizen. He wasn't born the complete personification of evil which we all see him as today; as far as we know, his childhood wasn't too unusual in any way. He fought in World War I just like many other young German men and later in life, he wanted to be an artist more than anything. We all need to be able to understand that someone like this is still capable of becoming a ruthless dictator, deliberately orchestrating the deaths of millions of people.
Adolf Hitler is an extremely intriguing figure. I must admit I had no idea before taking this class about his passionate desire to become an artist, vegetarianism, and his simplistic nature. It is absolutely crazy to think that he was an aspiring artist, who only ever just wanted to go art school. I think the biggest takeaway from these readings and videos is that Hitler was a human. I think when reading in textbooks about WWII or Hitler in general, we forget that he was a human, we dehumanize him. It’s hard to believe that he was a human, that he liked music, art, cut flowers, that he had a sweet tooth, that he went to regular restaurants that we would also go to. “Human” is sometimes used as an adjective to describe a person’s “better” qualities, such as kindness and compassion. It’s difficult to pin that word on Adolf Hitler, because he has committed such horrific atrocities, it’s almost impossible to think of him as “human”. This is why we find him so intriguing. It’s difficult to see him as doing anything other than what we learn about in textbooks, so when we do, it’s compelling in a way.
Society wants to keep him as that image of pure evil, that villain of the twentieth century. But he wasn’t responsible for everything in WWII. No one human is ever responsible for triggering a world war, in my opinion. There are just too many factors that go into it. He may have been an influence, but let’s not forget the Treaty of Versailles, or the ever-entangling alliances. I think trying to understand him is a worthwhile pursuit, but just because he was human and we learn about all these personal traits doesn’t excuse what he did. At the end of the day, what is most important is not to remember what kind of food he liked, what he liked to do in his free time, the most important thing to remember is what he did, and the genocide that he helped spur. He did not create anti-semitism, but he used it to his advantage. The Holocaust was a tragic genocide, and I do think that we should try to understand his thoughts behind it, because if we don’t, it could be repeated.
Ian Kershaw tackles the very question of why so many are curious about Hitler. He mentions that the curiosity is focused on Hitler, and not others like Stalin, who may have even ended more lives. Hitler is different from other dictators of the century such that he rose from nothing. He is not of a noble lineage, he was not born into wealth, yet he rose to power to become one of the most infamous dictators of history. Hitler showed the dark side of civilization, and the fact that is a human, is unsettling, because once we acknowledge that he was a human, we have to face the understanding that anyone could be capable of such inhumanity (ironically). He shows us what humans are truly capable of, and it’s scary, but at the same time, fascinating.
These articles actually do strike me as the 1930s equivalents of celebrity-infused talk and gossip shows. There are entire articles devoted to Hitler and his personal life. Detailing all of his personal likes, dislikes, how he lived, who he surrounded himself with, all sounds like gossip to me, which isn’t surprising. Hitler is indeed a figure who has encaptured the masses. It’s especially intriguing with all of the little things that happened during the course of his life to lead him to dictatorship. We discussed in class that his father’s name was changed to Hitler from Schicklgruber, and if he hadn’t, Hitler wouldn’t be Hitler. I honestly can’t imagine referring to Hitler as Schicklgruber. Nevertheless, many of my peers bring up the endless what-if questions. What if he wasn’t rejected from art school, what if his father never changed his surname, what if? This may have been yet another reason people continue to speculate about Hitler, to wonder what exactly led him to commit such horrors. It’s almost unfathomable, and shocking, to think that if even one thing was changed about his life, he might just have been a normal forgettable figure in history. Maybe the Holocaust, maybe WWII, maybe all of history would’ve been changed.Why are we so obsessed with Hitler
I think there are a number of reasons we are so intrigued by Hitler. To begin: Hitler has an indispensable role in our culture: he tells us what evil is. He is our most potent figure of morality. The idea of that alone generates immeasurable amounts of curiosity into his life and his existence as a person. Because ultimately we all seek to answer the question: what drives a person to spur a genocide- to kill hundreds of millions and impact the world beyond compare? How could a human being do such a thing- with no remorse? No sentiment? Did he lack empathy? How would a psychologist even begin to categorize him by today’s standards? Our unanswered questions cycling from then to now is what I believe makes up half our obsession with Hitler. It’s impossible to know everything we wish we did about Hitler- and that creates a world of frustration and simultaneous fascination.
Despite the intrigue and curiosity he has caused since his presence dominated society, I don’t believe our obsession is akin to those that exist for celebrities and billionaires in our modern world. While today’s celebrities are idolized for their beauty and talent- Hitler was idolized for the fear and terror he sparked, as well as his destruction. (This is something that Flanner notes). In our world with modern-day evils of animal abusers and (for lack of better word) average murderers- it is no doubt Hitler exists on an alternate level of evil in people’s minds- which is why he holds a different form of our obsession.
However, having read through the assigned articles and videos I have to agree with my peers- I don’t understand Hitler any better than the first time I heard his name. I may know more about him- that he was a bad artist and a truly bad person- but by no means do I comprehend him as a person. Maybe this is partially because I air on the side of disbelief- it's still so difficult to wrap my head around all the atrocities that he supported and caused. Though, I can tell you that as he drifted from mediocre artist to power hungry political dictator, Hitler entered into our minds and was determined to remain there.
I think ultimately it's important to recognize Hitler’s crime against humanity- and maybe we even need to stop our understanding of him there- because I don’t believe we are going to be able to further it. He shall be remembered as one of the greatest evils our world has ever encountered, but I don’t think our thoughts should be held captive by the details of his life- because I don’t know that we will ever understand Hitler.
Originally posted by ReginaldWindowWasherKitchenSink on March 09, 2023 23:32
For a brief moment, try saying the name “Hitler” aloud, or even read it quietly on a piece of paper without associating the name with the actions of a sadistic and perverse German with an ineptitude for growing significant facial hair. Maybe that was too harsh? Actually, no, it wasn’t. There are not enough vulgar obscenities to describe the architect of one of the most horrific acts of nationalistic genocide in the history of man. Perhaps we shouldn’t allow ourselves to fill any capacity of our mind and soul with the memory of this man. If we were so concerned with ensuring his legacy ceased to exist, wouldn’t we do everything in our power to forget? But no. The families of 11 million massacred innocent people remember. They can’t forget. And they won’t. Perhaps instead of asking ourselves “Why are we so intrigued by Hitler,” we must ask ourselves whether we have a responsibility to remember, to learn, and to educate ourselves on this Freudian freak. I would argue, yes, we do. In reference to the Holocaust, Jews, other survivors, and their families alike all say “never again,” and “never forget.” And I would argue that the famous fascist is a common denominator between those two sentiments. It is impossible to imagine the Holocaust without Hitler, ergo it is impossible to forget without remembering his name, nor is it possible to image a “Holocaust” like the WWII genocide would ever happen again without the role the Nazi leader played. We as a generally sympathetic society feel the need to study this deranged dictator so that we may compare his atrocious behavior with the more noble and libertarian ideals of Western democracies. There is also an almost certain irony that during Hitler’s rampage through Europe, the rest of the world looked on, yet generations after the slaughter, we are so quick to condemn and analyze the behaviors the world’s leading powers enabled for more than a decade from 1933 until the end of the war. We are so intrigued by Hitler because he was the first man in a position of power such as his to actually tell his nation, his allies, and his enemies to go screw themselves. In Nazi Germany there was cooperation or retaliation. There was life or death. Hitler ensured these standards would never falter. Undoubtedly, Hitler will remain perhaps one of the most prominent and rightfully hated political leaders of the 20th century. And yet we are still incapable of understanding him any better. To truly understand a person, one must empathize with that person. I wouldn’t blame anyone who would say they find it impossible to empathize with Adolf Hitler; nor would I really want anyone to in this modern age. However, we are persistent, because we will never be satisfied unless we can justly say Hitler committed these acts of genocide for reasons x, y, and z. Again, this all connects back to our desire to ostracize Hitler from mankind as demonic pariah. And maybe that’s the right approach, but we might never know.
You make a really good point about humans choosing to ostracize Hitler trying to separate us from him. I never really thought of this and it makes so much sense now that I read your post. We don't want to believe that we are capable of committing crimes or even becoming someone similar to Hitler so we view them as "others".
Originally posted by testicular_cancer on March 12, 2023 14:51
I think there are a number of reasons we are so intrigued by Hitler. To begin: Hitler has an indispensable role in our culture: he tells us what evil is. He is our most potent figure of morality. The idea of that alone generates immeasurable amounts of curiosity into his life and his existence as a person. Because ultimately we all seek to answer the question: what drives a person to spur a genocide- to kill hundreds of millions and impact the world beyond compare? How could a human being do such a thing- with no remorse? No sentiment? Did he lack empathy? How would a psychologist even begin to categorize him by today’s standards? Our unanswered questions cycling from then to now is what I believe makes up half our obsession with Hitler. It’s impossible to know everything we wish we did about Hitler- and that creates a world of frustration and simultaneous fascination.
Despite the intrigue and curiosity he has caused since his presence dominated society, I don’t believe our obsession is akin to those that exist for celebrities and billionaires in our modern world. While today’s celebrities are idolized for their beauty and talent- Hitler was idolized for the fear and terror he sparked, as well as his destruction. (This is something that Flanner notes). In our world with modern-day evils of animal abusers and (for lack of better word) average murderers- it is no doubt Hitler exists on an alternate level of evil in people’s minds- which is why he holds a different form of our obsession.
However, having read through the assigned articles and videos I have to agree with my peers- I don’t understand Hitler any better than the first time I heard his name. I may know more about him- that he was a bad artist and a truly bad person- but by no means do I comprehend him as a person. Maybe this is partially because I air on the side of disbelief- it's still so difficult to wrap my head around all the atrocities that he supported and caused. Though, I can tell you that as he drifted from mediocre artist to power hungry political dictator, Hitler entered into our minds and was determined to remain there.
I think ultimately it's important to recognize Hitler’s crime against humanity- and maybe we even need to stop our understanding of him there- because I don’t believe we are going to be able to further it. He shall be remembered as one of the greatest evils our world has ever encountered, but I don’t think our thoughts should be held captive by the details of his life- because I don’t know that we will ever understand Hitler.
I agree that my opinion hasn't changed from before reading the assigned articles. Despite the attempts to make Hitler seem more "human", I don't think anything can justify the atrocities he committed.
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 like how you mentioned the many "what if?" questions. I too was thinking about that, especially as we were learning about Hitler's desire to be the world's next great artist.
Why are we so intrigued by Hitler?
I also think that Hitler's humanity adds so much to this discussion. He wasn't a cruel man his whole life I'd assume. Someone gave birth to him, he participated in school picture day, he had creative goals that he wanted to achieve, and he was good at what he did.He even served his country in the military. If he had stopped there and never got involved with government affairs again, he might have been considered to be a very respected man. I can see how he wasn't always heartless. His creative goals were never met, he lost his mother, and if we're to say that those things led up to his spiral towards dictatorship, that proves he did feel pain, sadness, and grief. Anyone would be upset that they got rejected from their dream school, and they would be devastated if their mother passed so tragically. Yet the difference between Hitler and the rest of the world is what happened next. Again, it's such a mystery as to when, where, and if that humanity left him.
All that being said, no I don't think that Hitler is responsible for every misfortune that happened in World War II. There are certainly things that were far beyond his control such as inflation and mass unemployment. We also have to remember, Germany never recovered from WWI before the second world war broke out. They lost so much land, their rivers, their livestock. Their struggle began way before Hitler. It also doesn't help that the Great Depression in the United States managed to influence Germany's economy. All that being said, he played a huge role in Germany's downfall and in permanently changing life for several populations in the country today.
The videos have helped round my views on Hitler. What really stood out to me was how important his personal image to the world was, and how high he held his moral values. He loved animals, was vegetarian, wouldn't smoke, didn't waste time with sex. What's more is that he was labelled a "partial invalid," compensating with his twisted tendencies. I don't think that anyone can truly understand him. His actions and viewpoints are hard enough to understand on their own, but breaking down his true nature is a seemingly impossible task. What I took from the articles and video is that there was so much more to HItler than meets the eye, and between his facade and compensation for his less favorable traits, it's impossible to tell what is real and what is fake, or how deep something actually goes.
At the end of the day, none of this really matters. Hitler himself has nothing to do with today. What he did was awful, but his reign is over, and all we can do is try to recover from it and prevent anyone like him from ever rising to power again. I think that there are people in this world who fascinate themselves with Hitler as a form of comfort, thinking to themselves that the Holocaust could never happen again, because nobody like Hitler will ever be seen again. They hold on to blissful ignorance, which is rather dangerous because who knows? Maybe the world could see another in the future. Especially since Nazism still exists in so many parts of the world. For those people, Hitler is used as a scapegoat for the Holocaust and so many other things. They almost justify these events by trying to prove the head of the operation to be insane or evil. And while that may be true to some degree, Hitler could not have pulled this off on his own. His actions were enabled by his loyal followers. By focusing on Hitler, we lose focus from his victims.Therefore, while it's important to always remain vigilant, we can stop paying so much attention to Hitler, and focus on bettering humanity itself. In the end, the most important thing to know about Hitler is that he is the product of a struggling society that was a byproduct of an insane war. which was a byproduct of human error. He is living proof that we as a world need to be careful. We can't let pride and tempers and impulsive decisions break us up and throw us into chaos. It was in the most dire situation when he rose to power, elected out of desperation. It all goes back to before World War I. If we can prevent mass disarray and disaster, we can prevent another Hitler.
People want to learn more about him because of the atrocities he was able to commit. “How could one man have control of such a big population, and for what reason?” are the questions many ask about him. What he did during and before WWII was absolutely awful, and involved more than the people in the targeted populations— they involved citizens to feel fear and to even partake in the genocidal and unjustified actions of the Nazis. Many people try to find a reason behind the madness and evil, and how he was able to even gain such influence and power, which is what makes many people fascinated with him.
The most important thing to know about Hitler was that he was against increasing the disparities between the poor and the rich, as mentioned in the Janet Flanner article “Profiles: Fuhrer,” because as mentioned in class before, Germany was undergoing a great financial crisis, and Hitler himself was living as a failed artist living off of almost nothing after not getting into his dream art school and both of his parents dying. I believe that it is important to try to understand him because understanding him is a good way of understanding the corruption in people’s judgments, the methods that were used and successful in influencing others, and the source of the common resentment people had against those whom they deemed were inferior. According to Ian Kershaw, Hitler did show some hesitation in his actions. Learning more about him makes me and others understand more about the environment he was brought up in and the kind of mentality that was already present in many people before.
What stood out to me the most from this assignment was that Hitler’s speeches were similar to Trump’s, in that they both used rambling speeches and sprinkled in hatred, resentment and hopes for the people at the time (as said in Ian Kershaw’s Charlie Rose talk as well). Both figures were able to influence a lot of people because of their speeches, and both knew exactly what audience they were catering to.
The other thing that also stood out to me was this quote from the article, “Hitler’s Mountain Home,” when the author states that “it is a mistake to guess that week-end guests are all, or even mainly, State officials. Hitler delights in the society of brilliant foreigners, especially painters, musicians and singers.” This quote in particular seems contradictory as Hitler also hunted and sent brilliant foreign artists, painters, musicians, and singers to concentration camps. The article also mentions that Hitler’s house was far away from concentration camps— away from the hellish environment that existed in the concentration camps. It’s disgusting that such a hateful person was able to enhance the hatred in other people and use it as a way of “making Germany great again.” As a result of his success, he “compensated for his debilities by developing a violent will and exercising strong opinions,” as stated by Janet Flanner in her article “Profiles: Fuhrer.”
Originally posted by WindWanderer on March 13, 2023 17:54
I think that we are fascinated by Hitler because the world has never seen anyone like him. He's a truly one of a kind figure. However, I feel as though while his name is well known, we can't necessarily compare him to celebrities like Beyonce or Kim Kardashian. We watch and are interested in celebrities because of their talent or because they're entertaining or because they're interesting. Hitler is hardly a celebrity. I feel that we take the same interest as Hitler as we do serial killers like Ted Bundy. We focus on serial killers and people like Hitler-if there are any out there- because we cannot fathom or piece together exactly how their brains work, or what on earth could possess them to take the course of action that they did. The things he did are unspeakable and incomprehensible. They're evil. I think that looking into and analyzing Hitler is our attempt to dissect and understand that evil and where it started.
I also think that Hitler's humanity adds so much to this discussion. He wasn't a cruel man his whole life I'd assume. Someone gave birth to him, he participated in school picture day, he had creative goals that he wanted to achieve, and he was good at what he did.He even served his country in the military. If he had stopped there and never got involved with government affairs again, he might have been considered to be a very respected man. I can see how he wasn't always heartless. His creative goals were never met, he lost his mother, and if we're to say that those things led up to his spiral towards dictatorship, that proves he did feel pain, sadness, and grief. Anyone would be upset that they got rejected from their dream school, and they would be devastated if their mother passed so tragically. Yet the difference between Hitler and the rest of the world is what happened next. Again, it's such a mystery as to when, where, and if that humanity left him.
All that being said, no I don't think that Hitler is responsible for every misfortune that happened in World War II. There are certainly things that were far beyond his control such as inflation and mass unemployment. We also have to remember, Germany never recovered from WWI before the second world war broke out. They lost so much land, their rivers, their livestock. Their struggle began way before Hitler. It also doesn't help that the Great Depression in the United States managed to influence Germany's economy. All that being said, he played a huge role in Germany's downfall and in permanently changing life for several populations in the country today.
The videos have helped round my views on Hitler. What really stood out to me was how important his personal image to the world was, and how high he held his moral values. He loved animals, was vegetarian, wouldn't smoke, didn't waste time with sex. What's more is that he was labelled a "partial invalid," compensating with his twisted tendencies. I don't think that anyone can truly understand him. His actions and viewpoints are hard enough to understand on their own, but breaking down his true nature is a seemingly impossible task. What I took from the articles and video is that there was so much more to HItler than meets the eye, and between his facade and compensation for his less favorable traits, it's impossible to tell what is real and what is fake, or how deep something actually goes.
At the end of the day, none of this really matters. Hitler himself has nothing to do with today. What he did was awful, but his reign is over, and all we can do is try to recover from it and prevent anyone like him from ever rising to power again. I think that there are people in this world who fascinate themselves with Hitler as a form of comfort, thinking to themselves that the Holocaust could never happen again, because nobody like Hitler will ever be seen again. They hold on to blissful ignorance, which is rather dangerous because who knows? Maybe the world could see another in the future. Especially since Nazism still exists in so many parts of the world. For those people, Hitler is used as a scapegoat for the Holocaust and so many other things. They almost justify these events by trying to prove the head of the operation to be insane or evil. And while that may be true to some degree, Hitler could not have pulled this off on his own. His actions were enabled by his loyal followers. By focusing on Hitler, we lose focus from his victims.Therefore, while it's important to always remain vigilant, we can stop paying so much attention to Hitler, and focus on bettering humanity itself. In the end, the most important thing to know about Hitler is that he is the product of a struggling society that was a byproduct of an insane war. which was a byproduct of human error. He is living proof that we as a world need to be careful. We can't let pride and tempers and impulsive decisions break us up and throw us into chaos. It was in the most dire situation when he rose to power, elected out of desperation. It all goes back to before World War I. If we can prevent mass disarray and disaster, we can prevent another Hitler.
Yes, I totally agree with you. Hitler is used as an image, and is heavily focused on so that people can "put a face to evil", and be reminded that the atrocities of the past are in the past (and hence won't happen again). It's unfortunate though that the events that happened in the Holocaust could happen again, given the right circumstances, emotions, fear. I mean--- Hitler didn't just come out of thin air. He came from a place of resentment that resulted from his failed dreams, the death of his parents, and the anti-semitism already present in Germany. The only thing he was missing was using his voice, which was how he was able to rise to the level that he did.
Originally posted by NotATRex on March 09, 2023 23:17
Well, I think what we often forget is that Hitler was a person––just like the person sitting next to you in math class. I think what most fascinates us is the fact that any regular person, even an aspiring artist, can cause a years-long genocide. We often will question our humanity––what drives a person to this extent? How does someone become so hateful? In that, we also feel a certain fear; that if one person is influenced so, can we be? He is often regarded as that of the devil, a pure evil, but as we saw in class today, he was a learned student, a passionate painter, and a human-being with needs and wants. I think we are inclined to hate him for his acts, as we should, but struggle to conceptualize that he was “normal” at some point in his life. Even after discovering the artwork we saw was by Hitler, our perspective immediately changes, and we come to question his work saying, “He really wasn’t that good at all”, for fear of showing any sign of fondness at all. The main question we seek, as a whole, is how he grew to be this person, or not so much of a person at all.
I believe that Hitler’s popularity stemmed from the fact that he was a new and rising political figure––and it doesn’t equate to the status of current celebrities now. There was some curiosity and bewilderment that encapsulated him as he grew to power. People were anxious to see what would happen next, and were perfectly fine staying non-confrontational. This, in part, mimics today’s current gossip. For example, a pop magazine about the Meghan Markle and her drama with the royal family is (I’m sure) as entertaining as Janet Flanner’s article about Hitler was. People are constantly interested in seeing who a celebrity’s true self is (Who really is Hitler?! Read now!). Nevertheless, media today doesn’t romanticize these “leaders” in the same way.
In order to answer my general questions above, I do think it is extremely important to understand who Hitler was and how he came to be. As I said, he was not always a crazy, radical figure. After reading on Hitler’s life before, I feel a certain uneasiness within me––I find myself relating to his all-too-human qualities, and finding it strange that a man who was so horrible can be at all similar to myself. For one, this man loved Disney! As one of my peers also stated, he was a vegetarian. He was an extremely paranoid and anxious person––taking pictures of himself reciting fake speeches to see what he looked like to the public. Learning about his life before creates a human version of Hitler that I thought was unable to ever be achieved or visualized––and this I think is fascinating. I guess the most important thing to know about Hitler is that he was a very lonely and isolated man. It seemed that the only thing he was yearning to look for in life was acceptance and self-identity, but even so, he took the wrong path and is now the most hated man in the world. He found his popularity, but will never be respected.
It's a bit funny actually, that Disney at some point made a WWII episode that made fun of his dictatorship/commented on it. It makes me wonder how he reacted to such an episode, since he loved Disney so much. As you said yourself, Hitler was a very insecure guy, with a strong will. I think what humanizes him the most is the fact that he was basically on his own when he failed getting into the art school of his dreams--- the only thing that was around him was poverty, loneliness, failure, and the anti-semitism found in Vienna. Additionally, with Germany losing in WWI, he must've felt his pride take an even bigger hit. All of this, of course, shouldn't justify his later actions though.
reply to FFE
Originally posted by Freight Farm Enjoyer on March 10, 2023 23:30
Learning all this about Hitler's background and the details of how he rose to power, his image has pretty strongly changed in my mind. While he may have been an immensely powerful dictator, he rose into that position against all odds, completely defying any logic. He seems to have been, by all means, a complete failure early in life, and he even almost died in World War I. Reading through the description of his house in "Homes and Gardens", one begins to get the idea that Hitler was just a normal man. This idea sharply contrasts with what we all know about Hitler, which is that he was the catalyst for one of the worst crimes against humanity ever known. It makes me wonder if maybe the horrifying but also ridiculously illogical affair which was the Holocaust was caused by some random madman off the streets gaining power simply by being in the right place at the right time and having a particular talent for giving rousing speeches. As Ian Kershaw states in the interview, Hitler didn't even realize he had the skills of a demagogue prior to 1919, and yet two decades later he was orchestrating one of the worst atrocities in human history.
The more I learn about Hitler, the more convinced I become that it's important to understand him, because of how unremarkable his life was prior to his rise to power. As Kershaw also states, we are less fascinated by men such as Joseph Stalin because Stalin was viewed as just another addition to a long line of corrupt Russian rulers. Hitler, on the other hand, was just a war veteran trying, and failing, to make it in the world of art, all while living in one of the most open-minded parts of the world at that point in history. It really gives you the idea that as long as times are tough enough, anything can happen, and understanding exactly what led to this unassuming man's rise as a dictator could prevent something like this from happening again.
I think the most important thing for everyone to keep in mind about Hitler is that he was initially just another German citizen. He wasn't born the complete personification of evil which we all see him as today; as far as we know, his childhood wasn't too unusual in any way. He fought in World War I just like many other young German men and later in life, he wanted to be an artist more than anything. We all need to be able to understand that someone like this is still capable of becoming a ruthless dictator, deliberately orchestrating the deaths of millions of people.
I completely agree that it is important to note that at the very beginning, Hitler was just another German citizen whose rise to power ended in tragedy for millions. However, I think that it's even more important to know why his reign went so far south. I definitely feel as though if he had tried to come into power at any other time, he wouldn't be able to. His rise to power was a byproduct of a struggling Germany, and the things he was able to convince the people of even more so. Had Germany been flourishing at this time and somebody started spewing off all the things that he did, a lot more people would have questioned or even protested against them. It's important to note the Hitler only thrived because the social climate at the time allowed him to. It serves as a kind of warning to all of us that our actions, such as starting wars, can lead to mass devastation.