learntoquestion ltq discussions

I think that we are so intrigued by Hitler because the Holocaust was a major catastrophic event that took the lives of millions of people, and people tend to think that it was all because of one person. Wanting to wipe out an entire population and having enough power and attempting to do so is a very serious thing, and most people do not think about things like this, and can not be an impulsive thought based on one thing, so people probably want to know what caused Hitler to think so negatively about Jewish people and how his life ended up to making that decision. From what we know, Hitler had a pretty normal life growing up, so people want to know WHY he did everything and what caused him to end up like that. In the article "Hitler's Mountain Home" he was described as a kind and smart man, who was friendly to servants and had visitors/guests over his house where he would show them around. He seemed to be a very caring person, so it doesn't really make sense for him to go from a good person to a very evil and bad person who was responsible for the deaths of millions. He is not responsible for every little thing that happened during World War II, but he was a main factor into what happened, and people usually think about the Holocaust and Hitler as if they were the same thing. My big "takeaway" about Hitler is that he seemed to be a normal person growing up and so many people are fascinated with what happened in his life to think so negatively about Jewish people that he tried to kill them all, and there are a lot of theories about what happened. I don't understand him any better and I don't think it is a worthy pursuit to understand him because we don't know why Hitler did the things he did and we will never know why, and it doesn't really matter what the reason was because nothing justifies what he did and it won't change anything if we do find out what the reason was. The most important thing to know about Hitler was that he turned out to be a very bad person and ended the lives of millions of people and people should focus more on the Jewish people that were killed and their lives rather than tiny little facts about Hitler years before World War II.

Our fascination or intrigue about Hitler stems from the natural human interest in outrageous claims and things that happened. The same thing that has us cranking our necks to see the crash on the highway is what have we watching Hitler. We can compare him to celebrities like the Kardashians and trump both of who say outrageous things that spike our interest. Even though they are much more toned down than Hitler. When people also do extreme stuff we what to glimpse into their psyche to find a reason that pushed them to kill millions or make racist jests. Along with this, it is easier to pin something on one person rather than a whole group, while Hitler sparked the fire there needs to be hatred already there to be burned. Trying to understand him and looking at his life could possibly help to understand how someone’s life could take such a course as he did and prevent it from happening again. Being able to learn cues of potential genocide and how to spot it, is also intriguing to people. Learning that he got rejected from school, was an artist, and got gassed in battle helps us understand Hitler a little better and the rage from losing the first war which prompted him into power. Trying to understand him better is a somewhat useful pursuit because even though we think something like this couldn't happen it very well could as we have seen risings in the alt-right and Neo-nazis movements. It is important to take away from Hitler how easy it is for someone to take complete control over a population and commit such heinous acts. As we can see it happening in places like China and Russia where the governments are incredibly propaganda machines that hid and promote atrocities.

I think that trying to fully understand every minute detail of Hitler's personality and life, while not at all harmful, is ultimately less important than understanding how he came to be the leader of the most horrific regime in history. I did learn that Hitler was an extreme minimalist in his personal life, eating only porridge, bread, and occasionally a cake on a regular basis; not smoking or drinking; committing to celibacy; and being able to get ready in the morning in 15 minutes. I was also reminded of his utterly fragile ego, as he banned all party members from taking even the slightest comedic dig at him. Although these small facts and tidbits are intriguing, the far more important parts of Hitler's life were how he orchestrated a fascist takeover in one of the most progressive countries of the 1920s. This is largely credited to his unfortunate skill at oration and organization, as he was able to turn the six-member Munich division of the DAP into the largest fascist movement in history. It is important to know how Hitler rose to power so that someone like him can never gain as much influence as he did.

Originally posted by the_rose_apple on March 09, 2023 22:56

Just like serial killers and cold cases, we are intrigued by Hitler because we want to know why. Why did Hitler do the things he did? Why was he so cruel and merciless? Why did he fight so hard for a country that he wasn’t even technically from? Why did he think the way he did? Why did someone with a seemingly normal life become so hell-bent on restoring his version of justice for Germany which ended in the deaths of millions of people? All these questions and more are the reason that Hitler and so many others are being analyzed in depth by the public. The mystery behind their motives and how they managed to do everything they did without being punished is what keeps people so interested in him and other outliers in society. Not to mention that he was given power - he didn’t take it from someone else. Ian Kershaw explains how Hitler had been given the power with which he used his newfound voice to advocate for his beliefs, as twisted as they were, with the general public. Without that power, he might have never risen to become the Hitler we all know.

While most people would view him as being the personification of pure evil, he was a kid just like other people. He was a baby, he went to school, he liked art and music, and his garden. At first glance he seems perfectly fine and normal until you look at his later years. And while he isn’t responsible for everything that happened in World War 2, he is definitely the main perpetrator for the wars horrors. He related to the people of Germany who were suffering after the disaster that was the First World War. That popular support for him and the Nazi’s gave him power which he used to become the Hitler we all know and have learned about. As Ian Kershaw explains, Hitler and the German people found common ground which he used to spread his ideals and sadly many more joined his campaign. Germany’s cities and economy was devastated after the war and there was a growing feeling of resentment among many people that Hitler had picked up on. He had picked up on anti-semitism, the search/need for a scapegoat for the war, the anger, and the suffering of the people.

The articles and stories written about Hitler are like shows and articles written nowadays to keep people informed about their favorite celebrities drama and how they live their daily lives. They entertain people and in a way also let them take a sneak peak about what goes on in their head. Hitlers, whose modest house and garden he loved, probably interested many people who had similar houses or other politicians who wanted to know more about his life for whatever reason. Articles and stories about celebrities (and for criminals) are interesting because others can see not only how the other side live, but specifically how “trending” people live their lives. They don’t all have to be artists or an influencer - they can be criminals too. Regardless of who they are, people will always be interested to see and know what they have, where they live, and love to find out how they go about their day.

The big “takeaways” are that the Hitler we know and always look in the textbooks became that after a hard time in his life. Although in the article “Hitler’s Mountain Home” it talks about how he was always described as being a “droll raconteur” when hosting others in his house. But other than being an awkward host, everything he did, like be a vegetarian and his questionable friendships, he did nothing out of the order, especially knowing what he did later on in his lif. While there is still many blank spot that I wish we could know, I understand him a bit better now and I think it is interesting to find out more, but unless someone can find the “why” behind it all and explain the spots left blank (very, very, very hard) then it is not worthwhile. It is however important to learn about him and his regime to hopefully avoid it in the future, but I do still think it is necessary for us to see how Hitler was a regular person and even regular people can do horrible things.

I agree with the sentiment about the majority of people only knowing about Hitler to the extent of what he did. Barely anyone knew about his life before that. I don't know if learning about specific facts necessarily lead to understanding Hitler better, but I agree with that it is interesting to learn about. I also agree that it isn't very worthwhile without knowing the "why".

Originally posted by Steely Gibbs on March 09, 2023 21:55

History is made of what ifs. Ms. Freeman pointed this out to me in class today. There’s always another way that something could have happened. Imagine what the world would be like today if Hitler became a painter. In Hitler’s case, I think that he is the biggest what if. What if he chose a different group to target? What if he went about it a different way? What if people condemned him instead of following him?

I think it makes sense to be interested in Hitler and his character. Seeing him in the picture from the cigarette book in class made him look a bit naïve. This is incredibly contrasting to how he is portrayed later in his life. Without getting down to nitty gritty psychology, just trying to understand his motives are hard to do. The idea of Hitler kind of seems sensationalized, something so out of this world and not an immediate part of the present day. Trying to figure out what would drive someone to do such a thing is hard. There is no real rhyme to reason. He did what he did, but never really gave a good reason why.

Hitler’s earlier life didn’t seem bad. No tragic backstory, no Batman origin, nothing. Hitler’s house when he was an adult was the norm. Wasn’t destroyed, but it also wasn’t a palace. Hitler seemed like a commoner. He had a very similar story to many others, denied from an art school and wounded in the war. This wasn’t unique. This does propose the idea that a monster can be created from nothing. That may be the real reason why Hitler is so talked about.

I don’t think I generally understand Hitler better. I don’t know how knowing that he was a vegetarian or the fact that he loved his mom gives me a better insight to who he was. Knowing that his house looked over Austria and talked to gardeners everyday doesn’t help me or answer any of my questions. There’s a deeper layer that just wasn’t talked about. It just seems like Hitler was patriotic and wanted to help Germany by any means possible, to the extent of exterminating the Jews.

I think it is worthwhile to try and understand Hitler for the sake of history not repeating itself. Learning and studying makes it preventable. I think that is the biggest reason to learn.

I think that the most important thing is that there isn’t one set reason for Hitler turning out the way he did. There’s no excuse or loophole that permits the transformation of a citizen to the devil incarnate.

I definitely agree that part of the reason why people are so fascinated with Hitler today is because of how ordinary he initially seems, but then becomes "a monster" out of nothing. The articles from the 1930s were interesting in that they are an actual depiction of how Hitler tried to present himself to the world, but, as you said, they didn't really seem to deepen my understanding of what his actual motivations were, or how he arrived there, and still seemed to include a lot of conjecture about what he was actually like.

Originally posted by SillyGoblinMan178 on March 10, 2023 07:15

I think that trying to fully understand every minute detail of Hitler's personality and life, while not at all harmful, is ultimately less important than understanding how he came to be the leader of the most horrific regime in history. I did learn that Hitler was an extreme minimalist in his personal life, eating only porridge, bread, and occasionally a cake on a regular basis; not smoking or drinking; committing to celibacy; and being able to get ready in the morning in 15 minutes. I was also reminded of his utterly fragile ego, as he banned all party members from taking even the slightest comedic dig at him. Although these small facts and tidbits are intriguing, the far more important parts of Hitler's life were how he orchestrated a fascist takeover in one of the most progressive countries of the 1920s. This is largely credited to his unfortunate skill at oration and organization, as he was able to turn the six-member Munich division of the DAP into the largest fascist movement in history. It is important to know how Hitler rose to power so that someone like him can never gain as much influence as he did.

It is definite a ongoing problem in society in that people will tend to focus on figures that gained some sort of prominence due to capitalizing on, or exacerbating, societal trends, rather than on the trends or problems themselves that allowed them to rise to that position. This definitely also seems to be the case in the articles that we read which, as you said, mainly focused on odd details of Hitler's personal life, with occasional summaries of his career progress, and ignored looking into the motivations and reasoning behind the many ordinary citizens and/or fellow Nazi Party members that ended up supporting his rise to power.

The readings on Hitler offer a fascinating look into the personality and life of one of history's most notorious people. There are a number of potential responses to the intriguing topic of why we are so fascinated with Hitler. Maybe it's the pull of evil, our fascination with history's greatest villain, or our curiosity about how someone so vile and destructive could have risen to power. Whatever the reason, the works on Hitler provide insight into his character and the environment he lived in. The New Yorker's Hitler profile by Janet Flanner is an insightful piece of reporting. Hitler is portrayed by Flanner as a fascinating and incredibly unsettling individual. She goes into great detail about his features, including his piercing blue eyes and his oddly formed mustache. Hitler's oratory abilities are also noted by Flanner, who says that he possesses "a voice of extraordinary carrying force and range." She labels him as "occupied with the concept of opponents," but she is also alarmed by the way he talks about his political adversaries. Hitler is shown in Flanner's portrayal in a sophisticated manner that takes into account both his attributes and flaws. The focus of Ignatius Phayre's piece on Hitler's mountain retreat is more on the setting than on the individual. Phayre gives a lovingly detailed account of Hitler's residence in the Bavarian Alps, pointing out the numerous rooms and their furnishings. He also observes the location's creepy character due to the empty rooms and gloomy ambiance. The piece by Phayre provides a look into the lavish yet confining environment that Hitler fashioned for himself. The most insightful of the three pieces is perhaps Ian Kershaw's chat with Charlie Rose. Hitler expert Kershaw offers priceless insights into the man and his reasons. Hitler, according to Kershaw, was a "compulsive liar" who was always reinventing himself. He also mentions how paranoid Hitler was, thinking there was a plot against him. The interview with Kershaw paints a picture of a man who was profoundly flawed but also extremely intelligent and deadly. What are the key lessons to be learned from these readings? First off, it's obvious that Hitler was a complicated, varied person. He wasn't just a monster; he was a real person with good points and bad points like everyone else. Second, it is obvious that studying Hitler is worthwhile because doing so can help us comprehend the circumstances that contributed to his ascent to power and the horrors he committed. The most crucial fact about Hitler is that he was a deeply damaged person who inflicted unimaginable anguish and suffering. We can learn more about the sinister forces that might motivate people to commit horrific crimes by analyzing his life and character. The readings on Hitler provide a fascinating look into the personality and life of one of history's most notorious people, in conclusion. By researching Hitler, we can learn more about the motivations that lead people to do bad things, and ideally, we can learn to spot such motivations and stop them from gaining power in the future.

I think the intrigue with Hitler is primarily due to the mystique around his persona. It's hard for people to believe that someone artistic (which we normally associate with free-thinking "liberal" ideas), and of a seemingly average background could be so evil. I think there's also just a natural human fascination with horror, the question of why and how someone could grow to do something as terrible as the Holocaust. I wouldn't say it's akin to our fascination with celebrities or political figures like Trump, but It's a similar ballpark. The sort of ideation of a lifestyle we can't understand, having never experienced it ourselves. Celebrities are fawned over because we almost naturally place them above ourselves; living their dramatic, luxurious lives (or so we think). I don't believe he was responsible for everything bad that happened during World War II, he mostly just served as the face of it all. He did play a major part in the actions of the Nazi party around that time and has rightfully been held accountable for that, but I think that blaming it all on Hitler brushes aside other important events that occurred during that time that might not have been related to him. There were and could very well be more people who walked free after World War II having committed numerous crimes against humanity themselves.

The articles written about Hitler's home and land felt awfully reminiscent of an Architectural Digest article or a "73 questions with Vogue" YouTube video. I don't think I realized how much he was treated as a celebrity as opposed to a radical extremist political group leader at the time of his popularity. They speak of his home decor and interior design as if he didn't commit mass genocide. I don't think trying to "understand" Hitler is a worthwhile pursuit. You can know everything about someone, their struggles, mental illnesses, disabilities, but it does not excuse their actions. Almost every serial killer or truly evil person struggled with something, but just because they struggled or they lived "simply" or "just like us" does not mean they did not do the things they did. I think the most important thing to know about Hitler is that he was a very troubled person, he dealt with constant rejection and isolation his entire life, and decided to take out that anger and sadness on the rest of Europe. In my eyes, in a craze of revenge-seeking. However, his misfortune in early life did not give him the right to do the things he did, and it cannot be used to excuse them. Struggle is a part of living, everyone experiences it in their own time and their own way, but not everyone turns that pain into atrocity.

Originally posted by RockPigeon on March 08, 2023 22:52

Even before the beginning of World War II, Hitler was a uniquely fascinating political figure. As suggested by the articles by Janet Flanner and “Ignatius Phayre,” Hitler differed from other world leaders of the time not only in the process of his rise to power, but also in the way he presented himself to the general public. As described by Ian Kershaw, perhaps the foremost historical expert on Hitler’s rise and fall, Hitler was remarkably successful in creating a cult of personality, the influence of which is partially responsible for his political success during his time, and for the lasting interest that he has inspired in historians and researchers in the decades since.

Part of this image revolved around the ways in which he tried to depict himself as both similar to, and removed from, “ordinary” citizens. The Flannery article suggests that not all of that was intentional image-making: his “slight formal education” and family history consisting of “intermarrying pious Roman Catholic peasants” come in for some ridicule by Flanner. She also remarks on several additional oddities of his personal life, including his vegetarianism and supposed sobriety. The New Yorker article collection spends more than a few paragraphs exclusively focusing on his sexual life, or lack thereof, and spends scarcely a few paragraphs on the causes of his rise to power. This sort of media treatment, along with the Home & Gardens feature, is consistent with the way many celebrities, rather than serious political figures, are treated today. Hitler also seems to have tried to present himself as sort of an idealized version of a regular citizen, much in the way that many modern celebrities do today. This aspect of his persona, Ian Kershaw theorized, is also partially responsible for the historical interest in him, for unlike Stalin — a dictator who came from and was in effect trained by a line of dictators — Hitler was a seemingly ordinary person who attained great power, and then chose to use it to commit unfathomable atrocities.

Another part of the reason Hitler rose to power so quickly was his ability to effectively speak on the fear and anger, whether based in fact or fiction, that prevailed in Germany and Austria in the years after World War I. Anti-Semitism was a common theme, exacerbated by many public figures who tried to use the Jewish people of Germany as a scapegoat for their defeat in the war. Hitler’s repetition of these ideas may have also been inspired by his time in Vienna, one of the most anti-Semitic cities in Europe during the early twentieth century, where he spent time attempting to become an artist prior to his enlistment in World War 1. At the end of the war, he was also selected by the German government to be trained as a “demagogue” as part of an effort to limit the influence of socialism and communism on recent veterans. This messaging quickly morphed into a form of nationalism, which later played a central role in the propaganda created by the Nazis to promote their world view.

The Nazi Party grew out of the Deutsche Arbeiter Partei in Munich, later renamed the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei, and was initially one of many “little groups of men, each with a new brand of patriotism, which … [claimed] to be the country’s single salvation.” This proliferation of ethno-nationalism across Germany, due to resentment and economic hardships that resulted from the loss of World War I, was another significant factor in Hitler’s popularity and rapid rise to power. It is perhaps this “popularity” in the early stages of his career that it is most important to examine. How exactly did a dogmatic Austrian, with strange personal habits, limited formal education, and few pre-existing political connections, gain control of all of Germany? What shifts in German, and Austrian, society allowed this to happen? The chaotic conditions of post-war Germany, and the dismal economic state of the Weimar Republic, surely contributed to the establishment of Hitler’s dictatorship more than any personal qualities or abilities that he may have had.

I find it interesting how you mentioned Hitler's perception of himself as both one of but also removed from the "ordinary citizen." I think this can be attributed to the rejection and extreme isolation he experienced throughout his early life, leading him to live a daily life similar to that of everyone else, but all the while being deeply lonely.

I think that the fact that Hitler was an enigma, and the human desire to solve every mystery is what made (and still makes) people intrigued by him. Even before WWII, he was a person of mystery that people wanted to know everything about- as the sheer amount of information included in the Janet Flanner article shows. The level of detail put into that article was confusing to me, because it didn’t seem like there was a purpose to it. It felt more like a list of various things than the portfolio of a character, and many of the details especially didn’t seem like they matched with Hitler’s characterization through history.

I think that the present day fascination surrounding Hitler is driven by the same curiosity that we treat celebrities with, but the reason for that curiosity is much different. In the case of celebrities now, we tend to be intrigued by their rise to fame and the things that make them interesting, like their talents and personalities. With Hitler it’s different because people now want to know why he did what he did. The fascination stems from how hard it is to comprehend the atrocities that he perpetuated and confusion about how anyone could possibly do anything like that. Looking for a motive is important so that we can understand the factors and conditions that made him who he was, but at the same time it’s almost more important to consider that someone like him isn’t even worth exploring at such depth because, as seen in his own rhetoric, there will never be one clear answer to the question of motive.

My takeaways from this assignment are that Hitler isn’t worth the amount of attention that people give him. After reading all of these documents, I’m even more confused by Hitler. I don’t understand how he made so many hypocritical statements, especially with targeting people who had things in common with him. It’s astounding to me how he could be so opinionated but then hold himself in a regard as the exception. I think that this, as well as his political rise are some of the more important things to know because they provide a lot of insight into how he was able to exert so much power in such a short amount of time.

I am intrigued by Hitler because I have never seen a man with so much hate come to such a high position of power and act upon his hatred in the way that he did. You can draw similarities between Hitler and Trump, however nothing Trump did was in the stratosphere of the way Hitler acted towards Jewish people. I don't think we see him as the "ultimate bogeyman", I think we seem him as the pinnacle of real life evil. There is truly no other way to describe Hitler. Hitler is directly responsible for the horrors of World War II, but I do not think he is responsible for the war in general. The rest of the world didn't take his pre-war actions seriously, and I think that a lot of conflict could have been avoided if the world had paid closer attention. I believe his ideas fascinate so many because almost no one has seen ideas so blatantly unreasonable and unbearable.

My big takeaways about Hitler are that his personality was complex and multifaceted. While he could be charming and charismatic, he was also prone to fits of rage and had a tendency towards paranoia. His worldview was rooted in a virulent form of anti-Semitism, which he used to justify his genocidal policies towards Jews and other minority groups. His rise to power was not inevitable, and was contingent on a range of political and historical factors, including the aftermath of World War I, economic instability in Germany, and the weakness of other political parties.

In terms of whether I understand Hitler any better, I think that I have gained some insight into his personality and interests, but his worldview remains fundamentally alien to me. I also think that trying to understand him is a worthwhile pursuit, as it can help us to better understand the causes and consequences of the Holocaust, as well as the dangers of another Nazi-like regime.

I think the most important thing to know about Adolf Hitler is that he was a genocidal dictator who presided over one of the most horrific atrocities in human history. Understanding his motivations and psychology is important, but we must also recognize the immense harm that he caused and work to ensure that such atrocities never happen again.