Hitler
As He Knows Himself

Part I

Hitler has always been extremely secretive in all his dealings.
Hanfstangl tells us that this trait is carried to such a degree that he
never tells one of his immediate associates what he has been talking about
or arranged with another. His mind is full of compartments, Hanfstangl
says, and his dealings with every individual are carefully pigeon-holed.
What has been filed in one pigeon-hole is never permitted to mix with that
in another. Everything is scrupulously kept locked up in his mind and is
only opened when he needs the material.

This is also true of himself. We have already seen how he has
steadfastly refused to divulge anything about his past to his associates.
This, he believed, was something which did not concern them in any way and
consequently he has kept the pigeonhole tightly closed. He talks almost
continually about everything under the sun - except himself. What really
goes on in his mind is almost as great a mystery as his past life.

Nevertheless, it would be helpful, and interesting to open this
pigeon-hole and examine its contents. Fortunately, a few fragments of
information concerning his past life have been unearthed in the course of
time and these are extremely valuable as a background for understanding
his present behavior., Then, too, we have records of attitudes and
sentiments expressed in speeches and writings. Although these utterances
are confined to a rather limited area, they do represent the products of
some of  his mental processes and consequently give us some clue to
what goes on behind those much discussed eyes, of which Rauschning writes:

"Anyone who has seen this man face to face, has met his uncertain
glance, without depth or warmth, from eyes that seem hard and remote,
and has then seen that gaze grow rigid, will certainly have experienced
the uncanny feeling: 'That man is not normal.'"

In addition, we have descriptions of his overt behavior in the face of
varied circumstances. We must assume that these, too, are the products of
his psychological processes and that they reflect what is going on behind
the scenes. All of this, however, would be insufficient data for an
adequate picture of Hitler, as he knows himself, in everyday life.
Fortunately, patients with behavior patterns, tendencies and sentiments
very similar to those that Hitler has expressed are not unknown in
psychoanalytical practice. From our knowledge of what goes on in the minds
of these patients, together with a knowledge of their past histories, it
may be possible to fill in some of the gaps and make some deductions
concerning his extraordinary mode of adjustment.

We have learned from the study of many cases that the present character
of an individual is the product of an evolutionary process, the beginnings
of which are to be found in infancy. The very earliest experiences in the
lifetime of the individual form the foundation upon which the character is
gradually structured as the individual passes through successive stages of
development  and is exposed to the demands ant influences of the
world around him. If this is true, it would be well for us to review
briefly Hitler's past history, as far as it is known, in the hope that it
may cast some light upon his present behavior and the course he is most
likely to pursue in the future. Such a review of his past is also
pertinent to our study insofar as it forms the background through which
Hitler sees himself. It is a part of him he must live with, whether he
likes it or not.

There is a great deal of confusion in studying Hitler's family tree.
Much of this is due to the fact that the name has been spelled in various
ways: Hitler, Hidler, Hiedler and Huettler. It seems reasonable to
suppose, however, that it is fundamentally the same name spelled in
various ways by different members of what was basically an illiterate
peasant family. Adolph Hitler himself signed his name Hittler on the first
party membership blanks, and his sister at the present time spells her
name Hiedler. Another element of confusion is introduced by the fact that
Adolph's mother's mother was also named Hitler which later became the
family name of his father. Some of this confusion is dissipated, however,
when we realize that Adolph' s parents had a common ancestor (father's
grandfather and mother's great-grandfather), an inhabitant of the
culturally bakcward [sic] Waldviertel district of Austria.

Adolph's father, Alois Hitler, was the illegitimate son of Maria Anna
Schicklgruber. It is generally supposed that the father of Alois Hitler
was a Johann Georg Hiedler, a miller's assistant. Alois, however, was not
legitimized, and bore his mother's name until he was forty years of age
when he changed it to Hitler. Just why this was done is not clear, but it
is generally said among the villagers that it was necessary in order to
obtain a legacy. Where the legacy came from is unknown. One could suppose
that Johann Georg Hiedler relented on his deathbed and left an inheritance
to his illegitimate son together with his name. However, it is not clear
why he did not legitimise the son when he fineally married the mother
thirty-five years earlier. Why the son chose to take the name Hitler
instead of Hiedler, if this is the case, is a mystery which remains
unsolved. Unfortunately, the date of the death of Hiedler has not been
established and consequently we are unable to relate these two events in
time. A peculiar series of events prior to Hitler's birth leaves plenty of
room for speculation.

There are some people who seriously doubt that Johann Georg Hiedler was
the father of Alois. Thyssen and Koehler, for example, claim that
Chancellor Dollfuss had ordered the Austrian police to conduct a thorough
investigation into the Hitler family. As a result of this investigation a
secret document was prepared which proved that Maria Anna Schicklgruber
was living in Vienna at the time she conceived. At that time she was
employed as a servant in the home of Baron Rothschild. As soon as the
family discovered her pregnancy she was sent back to her home in Spital
where Alois was born. If it is true that one of the Rothschilds is the
real father of Alois Hitler, it would make Adolph a quarter Jew. According
to these sources, Adolph Hitler knew of the existence of this document and
the incriminating evidence it contained. In order to obtain it he
precipitated events in Austria and initiated the assassination of
Dollfuss. According to this story, he failed to obtain the document at
that time, since Dollfuss had secreted it and, had told Schuschnigg of its
whereabouts so that in the event of his death the independence of Austria
would remain assured. Several stories of this general character are in
circulation.

Those who lend credence to this story point out several factors which
seem to favor its plausibility:

(a) That it is unlikely that the miller's assistant in a small village
in this district would have very much to leave in the form of a legacy.

(b) That it is strange that Johann Hiedler should not claim the boy
until thirty-five years after he had married the mother and the mother had
died.

(c) That if the legacy were left by Hiedler on the condition that Alois
take his name, it would not have been possible for him to change it to
Hitler.

(d) That the intelligence and behavior of Alois, as well as that of his
two sons, is completely out of keeping with that usually found in Austrian
peasant families. They point out that their ambitiousness and
extraordinary political intuition is much more in harmony with the
Rothschild tradition.

(e) That Alois Schicklgruber left his home village at an early age to
seek his fortune in Vienna where his mother had worked

(f) That it would be peculiar for Alois Hitler, while working as a
customs official in Braunau, should choose a Jew named Prinz, of Vienna,
to act as Adolph's godfather unless he felt some kinship with the Jews
himself.

This is certainly a very intriguing hypothesis and much of Adolph's
later behavior could be explained in rather easy terms on this basis.
However, it is not absolutely necessary to assume that he had Jewish blood
in his veins in order to make a comprehensive picture of his character
with its manifoid traits and sentiments. From a purely scientific point of
view, therefore, it is sounder not to base our reconstruction on such slim
evidence but to seek firmer foundations. Nevertheless, we can leave it as
a possibility which requires further verification.

In any event, Maria Ann Schicklgruber died when he was five years of
age. When he was thirteen he left the Waldviertel and went to Vienna where
he learned to be a cobbler. The next twenty-three years of his life are
largely unaccounted for. It seems probable that during this time he joined
the army and had perhaps been advanced to the rank of non-commissioned
officer. His service in the army may have helped him to enter the Civil
Service as Zellamtsoffizial later on.

His married life was stormy. His first wife (born Glasl-Hoerer) was
about thirteen years older than himself. She is alleged to have been the
daughter of one of his superiors and seems to have been in poor health. In
any event, the marriage turned out badly and they finally separated since,
as Catholics a complete divorce was not possible. His first wife died in
1883.

In January, 1882, Franziska Matzelsberger gave birth to an illegitimate
son who was named Alois. After the death of his first wife on April 6,
1883, Alois Hitler married Franziska Matzelsberger on May 22, 1888 and
legitimized his son,. On July 28, 1883 his second wife bore him another
child, Angela, and a year later, on August 10, 1884, she also died. During
the time of his first marriage the couple had taken as a foster-daughter
Klara Poelzl, Alois Hitler' s second cousin, once removed. He had reared
her up to the time of the separation from his first wife when she went to
Vienna as a servant. During the last months of the life of his second
wife, Klara Poelzl returned to his home to look after the invalid and the
two children. She remained in his home as housekeeper after the death of
his second wife and on January 7, 1885 he married her.

On May 17, 1885 she gave birth to a son who died in infancy. It is
alleged by William Patrick Hitler that an illegitimate child was born
previously, but we have no other record of this. In any event, at least
one child was conceived out of wedlock. Four more children were born of
this union. This is certainly a tempestuous married life for a customs
officer - three wives, seven or possibly eight children, one divorce, at
least one birth and possibly two before marriage, two directly after the
wedding, one wife thirteen years older than himself and another
twenty-three years younger, one the daughter of a superior, one a
waitress, and the third a servant and his foster-daughter. All of this, of
course, has never been mentioned by Hitler. In MEIN KAMPF he gives a very
simple picture-of conditions in his father's home.

Very little is known about Alois Hitler's character. It seems that he
was very proud of his achievements in the Civil Service and yet he retired
from this service at the astonishing age of fifty-six, four years after
Adolph was born. In very rapid succession the family moved into several
different villages and the father tried his hand at farming. It is said,
however, that he always wore his customs official's uniform and insisted
on being addressed as Herr Oberoffizial Hitler. According to reports, he
liked to lord it over his neighbors whom he may have looked down upon as
"mere" peasants. In any event, it seems quite certain that he enjoyed
sitting in the tavern and relating his adventures as a customs official
and also in discussing political topics.

He died on his way to the tavern in Leonding from a stroke of apoplexy
in 1903.

He is generally described as a very domineering individual who was a
veritable tyrant in his home. William Patrick Hitler says that he has
heard from his father, Adolph's elder half-brother, that he used to best
the children unmercifully. On one occasion it is alleged he beat the older
son into a state of unconsciousness and on another occasion beat Adolph so
severely that he left him for dead. It is also alleged that he was
somewhat of a drunkard and that frequently the children would have to
bring him home from the taverns. When he reached home a grand scene would
take place during which he would beat wife, children and dog rather
indiscriminately. This story is generally accepted and yet there is little
real evidence in favor of it except what Hitler himself tells us in MEIN
KAMPF.

Heidan, who interviewed a number of the villagers in places where the
family lived, had nothing of this sort to report. They found the old man
rather amusing and claimed that his home life was very happy and quiet
except when his wife's sister came to visit with the family. Why this
should be a disturbing factor is unknown. Heiden suspects that the legacy
was a bone of contention.

There is some doubt about the complexion of Alois Hitler's political
sentiments. Hanisch reports "Hitler heard from his father only praise of
Germany and all the faults of Austria." According to Heiden, more reliable
informants claim that the father, though full of complaints and criticisms
of the government he served, was by no means a German nationalist. They
say he favored Austria against Germany and this coincides with William
Patrick Hitler's information that his grandfather was definitely
anti-German just as his own father was.

Mother Klara Poelzl, as has been said, was the foster-daughter of her
husband and twenty-three years his junior. She came from old peasant
stock, was hard-working, energetic and conscientious. Whether it was due
to her years of domestic service or to her upbringing, her home was always
spotlessly clean, everything had its place and not a speck of dust was to
be found on the furniture. She was very devoted to her children and,
according to William Patrick Hitler, a typical step-mother to her
step-children. According to Dr. Bloch who treated her, she was a very
sweet and affectionate woman whose life centered around her children and
particularly Adolph, who was her pet. She spoke very highly of her husband
and his character and the happy life they had together. She felt it was a
real deprivation for the children to have lost their father while they
were still so young.

One could question her background. Her sister is married and has two
sons, one of whom is a hunchback and has an impediment in his speech. When
we consider that Klara Poelzl may have lost one child before her marriage
to Alois Hitler, another son born in 1885 who died in 1887, another son
born in 1894 who died in 1900, and a girl who was born in 1886 and died in
1888, one has grounds to question the purity of the blood. There is even
cause for greater suspicion when we learn from Dr. Bloch that he is
certain that there was a   daughter, slightly older than Adolph, who
was an imbecile. He is absolutely certain of this because he noticed at
the time that the family always tried to hide the child and keep her out
of the way when he came to attend the mother. It is possible that this is
Ida who was born in 1886 and who is alleged to have died in 1888, except
that Dr. Bloch believes that this girl's name was Klara. He may, however,
be mistaken in this particularly since both names end in "a" and he never
had any close contact with her. There is no other record of a Klara
anywhere in the records.

The younger sister, Paula, is also said to be a little on the stupid
side, perhaps a high-grade moron. This is certainly a poor record and one
is justified in suspecting some constitutional weakness. A syphilitic
taint is not beyond the realm of possibility. The mother died following an
operation for cancer of the breast on December 21,1907. All biographers
have given the date of her death as December 21, 1906 but Dr. Bloch's
records show clearly that she died in 1907 and John Gunther's record of
the inscription on her tombstone corroborates this. The last six months of
her life were spent in extreme pain and during the last week it was
necessary to give her injections of morphine daily.

It is often alleged that she was of Czech origin and spoke only a
broken German and that consequently Adolph may have been ashamed of her
among his playmates. This is almost certainly untrue. Dr. Bloch reports
that she did not  have any trace of an accent of any kind nor did she
show any Czech characteristics. Alois Hitler's first wife was of Czech
origin and later writers may have confused her with Adolph's mother.

Siblings

Alois, Jr

Alois Hitler, Jr. was born January 13, 1882, the illegitimate son of
the father's second wife born during the lifetime of the first wife. He is
the father of William Patrick Hitler, one of our informants. He seems to
have taken very much after his father in some respects. He left the
parental home before the death of his father because, according to his
son, he could tolerate it no longer. His step-mother, according to the
story, made life very difficult for him and continually antagonized her
husband against him. It seems that Alois, Jr. had considerable talent for
mechanical pursuits and his father had planned on sending him to a
technical school for training as an engineer. Until his third marriage the
father was very fond of his oldest boy and all his ambitions were wrapped
up in him. But the step-mother systematically undermined this relationship
and finally persuaded the father that Alois, Jr. was unworthy and that he
should save his money for the education of her son, Adolph. She was
finally successful and Alois, Jr. was sent away from home as an apprentice
waiter.

Evidently the profession of waiter did not intrigue him, for in 19OO he
received a five-months' sentence for thievery and in 1902 he was sentenced
to eight months in jail for the same reason. He then went to London where
he obtained a position as a waiter and, in 1909, married Bridget Dowling,
an Irish girl. In 1911 William Patrick Hitler was born and in 1915 his
father deserted the family and returned to Germany. The family was not a
happy one and broke up several times in the course of these four years. It
is alleged that the father drinks quite frequently and would then come
home and create tremendous scenes during which he frequently beat his wife
and tried to beat the small infant. During these four years when his
mother and father had separated for a time, his father did go to Vienna.
This would agree with Hanfstangl's conviction that Alois, Jr. was in
Vienna at the same time that Adolph was there.

In 1924 Alois, Jr. was brought before the court of Hamburg charged with
bigamy. He was sentenced to six months in prison but since his first wife
did not prosecute the sentence was suspended. He has an illegitimate child
by the second wife who lives in Germany. During all these years he has
never sent any money for the support of his first wife or child. Up until
the time of the inflation it is alleged that he had a very successful
business in Germany. The business failed and he has had various jobs up
until 1934 when he opened a restaurant in Berlin which became a popular
meeting-place for S.A. men.

According to the son, Alois, Jr. heartily disliked Adolph as a boy. He
always felt that Adolph was spoiled by his mother and that he was forced
to do many of the chores that Adolph should have done. Furthermore, it
seems that Adolph occasionally got into mischief which his mother would
blame on Alois and Alois would have to take the punishment from his
father. He used to say as a boy he would have liked to have wrung Adolph's
neck on more than one occasion and considering the circumstances this is
probably not far from the truth. Since Hitler came to power, the two
brothers have practically no contact with each other. They have come
together a few times but the meeting is usually unpleasant, with Adolph
taking a very high-handed attitude and laying down the law to the rest of
the family. Alois, Jr. is not mentioned in MEIN KAMPF and only a few
people in Germany know of his relationship to Hitler.

William Patrick Hitler

He is a young man of thirty-two, the son of Alois, Jr., who has not
amounted to much. Before his uncle came to power he worked as a bookkeeper
in London. When his uncle became famous he obviously expected that
something would be done for his family. He gave up his job in London and
went to Germany where he had some contact with Adolph Hitler. The latter,
however, was chiefly interested in keeping him under cover and provided
him with a minor job in the Opal Automobile Company. It is my impression
that William Patrick was quite ready to blackmail both his father and his
uncle but that things did not work out as planned. He returned to England
and, as a British subject, came to this country where he is a professional
speaker. He is also engaged in writing a book about his associations and
experiences in Hitler Germany.

Angela

She is an elder half-sister of Adolph. She seems to be the most normal
one in the family and from all reports is rather a decent and industrious
person. During her childhood she became very fond of Adolph despite the
fact that she had the feeling that his mother was spoiling him. She is the
only one of the family with whom Adolph has had any contact in later years
and the only living relative Hitler ever mentioned. When his mother died
in 1907 there was a small inheritance which was to be divided among the
children. Since the two girls had no immediate means of earning a
livelihood the brothers turned over their share to help the girls along.
Adolph turned his share over to Angela while Alois turned his over to a
younger sister, Paula. Angela later married an official named Raubal in
Linz who died not long afterwards. She then went to Vienna where, after
the war, she was manager of the Mensa Academica Judaica. Some of our
informants knew her during this time and report that in the student riots
Angela defended the Jewish students from attack, and on several occasions
beat the Aryan students off the steps of the dining hall with a club. She
is a rather large, strong peasant type of person who is well able to take
an active part.

After Adolph was discharged from the army at the close of the last war,
it is alleged that he went to Vienna and visited Angela with whom he had
had no contact for ten years. While he was confined in Landsberg she made
the trip from Vienna to visit him. In 1924 she moved to Munich with her
daughter, Geli, and [Page
106] kept house for Adolph. Later, she took over the management of
Berchtesgaden. In 1936 friction developed between Adolph and Angela and
she left Berchtesgaden and moved to Dresden where she married Professor
Hamitsch. It is reported by William Patrick that the cause of the break
was the discovery by Hitler that she was in a conspiracy with Goering to
purchase the land adjoining Hitler' s house at Berchtesgaden. This enraged
Hitler to the extent that he ordered her from the house and has had little
contact with her since. In any case, Adolph did not attend her second
wedding.

Geli Raubal

Hitler's relationship with Geli, Angela's daughter, has already been
described in the previous section. She died in 1930.

Leo Raubal

It has been generally assumed that Geli was the only child of Angela.
William Patrick Hitler, however, reports that there is also a son named
Leo. Not much is known of him except that he refused to have anything to
do with his uncle Adolph after the death of Geli. He had a job in Salzburg
and frequently came to Berchtesgaden to visit his mother when Hitler was
in Berlin, but would leave again just as soon as word was received that
Hitler was on his way there. According to William Patrick, he openly
accused Hitler of causing Geli's death and refused to speak to him again
as long as he lived. Word has been received that he was killed in 1942
while in the Balkans.

Paula Hitler

Paula Hitler, or Hiedler, is Adolph's real sister and is seven years
younger. What happened to her after her mother's death is a mystery until
she was discovered living very poorly in an attic in Vienna where she has
a position addressing envelopes for an insurance company. She now lives
under the name of Frau Wolf (Hitler's nickname is Wolf) and is alleged to
be very queer and to receive no one in her home. Dr. Bloch went to visit
her in the hope that she might intercede with her brother and obtain
permission for him to take some money out of the country when he was
exiled. He rapped on her door a number of times but received no answer.
Finally, the neighbor on the same landing came to the door and asked who
he was and what he wanted. The neighbor explained that Frau Wolf never
received anyone and intimated that she was very queer (other writers have
also reported this). She promised, however, to deliver any message he
might give her. Dr. Bloch explained his predicament in detail. The next
day when he returned, hoping that he would have an opportunity of speaking
to Paula Hitler personally, the neighbor reported that Paula was very glad
to hear from him and that she would do everything she could to help him.
Nothing more.

During her childhood, according to William Patrick Hitler, she and
Adolph did not get on very well together. There seems to have been
considerable friction and jealousy between them, particularly since Alois
Jr. was always taking her side. As far as is known, Hitler had no contact
with her whatever from the time his mother died until 1955 when he became
Chancellor. He has never mentioned her anywhere, as far as can be
determined. It is alleged that he now sends her a small allowance each
month to alleviate her poverty and keep her out of the limelight.
According to William Patrick Hitler, his uncle became more interested in
her as the friction with Angela increased. It is said that he has had her
visit him at Berchtesgaden and William Patrick met her at the Bayreuth
Festival in 1939 where she went by the name of Frau Wolf, but Hitler did
not mention to anyone that it was his sister. He said she is a little on
the stupid side and not very interesting to talk to since she rarely opens
her mouth.

This is Adolph Hitler's family, past and present. It is possible that
there is another sister, Ida, an imbecile, who is still living, but if so
we have no knowledge of her whereabouts. On the whole, it is nothing to be
proud of and Hitler may be wise in keeping it well under cover.

If we let our imaginations carry us back into the early '90s it is not
difficult to picture what life was like for Adolph in his earliest years.
His father was probably not much company for his mother. Not only was he
twenty-three years older but, it seems, he spent most of his spare time in
the taverns or gossiping with the neighbors. Furthermore, his mother knew
only too well the past history of her husband, who was also her
foster-father, and one can imagine that for a twenty-five year old woman
this was not what might be called a romantic marriage. Moreover, Klara
Hitler had lost her first two children, and possibly a third, in the
course of three or four years. Then Adolph arrived. Under these
circumstances, it is almost inevitable that he became the focal point in
her life and that she left no stone unturned to keep him alive. All of the
affection that normally would have gone to her husband and to her other
children now became lavished on this newly born son.

It is safe to assume that for five years little Adolph was the center
of attraction in this home. But then a terrible event happened in Adolph'
s life - another son was born. No longer was he the center of attraction,
no longer was he the king of the roost. The new-comer usurped all this and
little Adolph, who was on his way to growing up, was left to shift more or
less for himself - at least, so it probably seemed to him. Sharing was
something he had not learned up to this time, and it was probably a bitter
experience for him as it is for most children who have a sibling born when
they are in this age period. In fact, in view of the earlier experiences
of his parents it is reasonable to suppose that it was probably more acute
in his case than it is with the average boy.

For two years he had to put up with this state of affairs. Then matters
went from bad to worse - a baby sister was born. More competition and
still less attention for the baby sister and the ailing brother were
consuming all of his mother' s time while he was being sent off to school
and made to take care of himself. Four years later tragedy again visited
the Hitler household. When Adolph was eleven years old (in 1900) his baby
brother, Edmund, died. Again we can imagine that Adolph reaped an
additional harvest of affection and again became the apple of his mother's
eye.

This is certainly an extraordinary series of events which must have
left their mark on Adolph' s immature personality. What probably went on
in his mind during these years we shall consider later on. It is
sufficient at the moment to point out the extraordinary sequence of events
and the probably [sic] effects they had on the members of the family and
their relations with each other.

When Adolph was six years old he was sent off to school. The first
school was a very small Volkschule where three grades met in the same room
and were taught by the same teacher. In spite of the fact that he had to
change schools several times in the course of the next few years, due to
the fact that his father kept buying and selling his.property and moving
from one place to another, he seems to have done quite well in his
studies. When he was eight years old he attended a Benedict Monastery in
Lamback. He was very much intrigued with all this - it gave him his first
powerful impression of human achievement. At that time his ambition was to
become an abbot. But things did not work out very well. He was dismissed
from the monastery because he was caught smoking in the gardens. His last
year in Volkschule was in Leonding where he received high marks in all his
subjects with the occasional exception of singing, drawing and physical
exercises.

In 1900, the year his brother Edmund died, he entered the Realschule in
Linz. To the utter amazement of all who knew him his school work was so
poor that he failed and had to repeat the class another time. Then there
was a gradual improvement in his work, particularly in history, free-hand
drawing and gymnastics. In these subjects he was marked "excellent"
several times. Mathematics, French, German, etc., remained mediocre,
sometimes satisfactory, sometimes unsatisfactory. On "Effort" he was
frequently marked "irregular". When he was fourteen years of age his
father died suddenly. The following year he left the Realschule in Linz
and attended the one in Steyr. We do not know why this change was made.
Dr. Bloch is under the impression that he was doing badly toward the end
of the year in the Linz school and was sent to Steyr because it had the
reputation of being easier. But his performance there was very mediocre.
The only two subjects in which he excelled were in free-hand drawing, in
which he was marked "praise-worthy" and gymnastics, in which he received
the mark of "excellent". In the first semester "German Language" was
"unsatisfactory" and in "History" it was "adequate".

All this is beautifully glossed over in Hitler's description of these
years. According to his story he was at odds with his father concerning
his future career as artist and in order to have his own way he sabotaged
his studies - at least those he felt would not contribute to an artist's
career, and History - which he says always fascinated him. In these
studies, according to his own story he was always outstanding. An
examination of his report cards reveals no such thing. History, even in
his last year in Realschule is adequate or barely passing, and other
subjects which might be useful to an artist are in the same category. A
better diagnosis would be that he was outstanding in those subjects which
did not require any preparation or thought while in those that required
application he was sadIy lacking. We frequently find report cards of this
type among our patients who are very intelligent but refuse to work. They
are bright enough to catch on to a few of the fundamental principles
without exerting themselves and clever enough to amplify these
sufficiently to obtain a passing-grade without ever doing any studying.
They give the impression of knowing something about the subject but their
knowledge is very superficial and is glossed over with glib words and
terminology.

This evaluation of Hitler's school career fits in with the testimony of
former fellow students and teachers. According to their testimony he never
applied himself and was bored with what was going on. While the teacher
was explaining new material, he read the books of Karl May (Indian and
Wild West stories) which he kept concealed under his desk. He would come
to school with bowie knives, hatchets, etc., and was always trying to
initiate Indian games in which he was to be the leader. The other boys,
however, were not greatly impressed by him and his big talk or his
attempts to play the leader. On the whole, they preferred to follow the
leadership of boys who were more socially-minded, more realistic in their
attitudes - and held greater promise of future achievements than Hitler
who gave every indication of being lazy, uncooperative, lived in a world
of fantasy, talked big but did nothing of merit.

He probably did not improve his standing with the other boys when, in
his twelfth year, he was found guilty of a "Sittlichkeitsvergehen" in the
school. Just what the sexual indiscretion consisted of we do not know but
Dr. Bloch, who remembers that one of the teachers in the school told him
about it, feels certain that he had done something with a little girl. He
was severely censured for this and barely missed being expelled from
school. It is possible that he was ostracized by his fellow students and
that this is the reason he changed schools the following year.

In September, 1905, he stopped going to school altogether and returned
to Leonding where he lived with his mother and sister. According to his
biographers, he was suffering from lung trouble during this period and had
to remain in bed the greater part of the time. Dr. Bloch, who was the
family doctor at this time is at a loss to understand how this story ever
got started because there was no sign of lung trouble of any sort. Adolph
came to his office now and then with a slight cold or a sore throat but
there was nothing else wrong with him. According to Dr. Bloch, he was very
quiet boy at this time, rather slight in build but fairly wiry. He was
always very courteous and patiently waited for his turn. He made no fuss
when the doctor looked into his throat or when he swabbed it with an
antiseptic. He was very shy and had little to say except when spoken to.
But there was no sign of lung trouble.

During this time, however, he frequently went with his mother to visit
his aunt in Spital, Lower Austria where he also spent vacations. The
doctor who treated him there is alleged to have said to the aunt: "From
this illness Adolph will not recover." It is assumed that he referred to a
lung condition but it seems that it must have been very slight because it
was not reported to Dr. Bloch when he returned to Leonding a few months
later and his records show no entry which would even suggest such an
ailment.

Although the mother's income was extremely modest, he made no attempt
to find work. There is some evidence that he went to a Munich art school
for a short time during this period. Most of his time was evidently spent
in loafing around and daubing paints and water colors. He took long walks
into the hills, supposedly to paint, but it is reported that he was seen
there delivering speeches to the rocks of the country in a most energetic
tone of voice.

In October, 1807, he went to Vienna to prepare himself for the State
examinations for admission as student to the Academy of Art. He qualified
for admission to the examination but failed to be accepted as a student.
On the first day of the examination the assignment was: "The Expulsion
from Paradise" and on the second day: "An Episode of the Great Flood". The
comment of the examiners was "Too few heads".

He returned home to Linz but there is no indication that he
communicated to anybody the results of the examination. It was undoubtedly
a severe blow to him for he tells us himself that he couldn't understand
it, "he was so sure he would succeed." At this time his mother had already
undergone an operation for cancer of the breast. She was failing rather
rapidly and little hope was held for her recovery. She died on December
21, 1907 and was buried on Christmas Eve. To preserve a last
impression,.he sketched her on her deathbed. Adolph, according to Dr.
Bloch, was completely broken: "In all my career I have never seen anyone
so prostrate with grief as Adolph Hitler." Although his sisters came to
Dr. Bloch a few days after the funeral, and expressed themselves fully,
Adolph remained silent. As the little group left, he said: "I shall be
grateful to you forever." (29) After the funeral he stood at her grave for
a long time after the sisters had left. The bottom had obviously fallen
out of his world. Tears came into Dr. Bloch's eyes as he described the
tragic scene. "His mother would turn over in her grave if she knew what he
turned out to be." (21) This was the end of Adolph Hitler's family life.

LATER EXPERIENCES

VIENNA

Shortly after his mother's death the family broke up and Adolph went to
Vienna to make his way in the world as his father had done before him.
This was early in 1908. How much money, he took with him, if any, is not
know [sic]. The records here are very vague particularly since all
biographers have gone on the supposition that his mother died a year later
than she actually did. This leaves an entire year unaccounted for since
the next thing we hear of Adolph, he has again applied for admission to
the examination for the Academy of Art. One of the conditions for
re-examination was that he submit to the Board some of the paintings he
had done previously. This he did but the Board was not impressed with them
and refused to allow him to enter the examination. This, it seems, was
even a greater shock than his failure to pass the examinations a year
earlier.

After he had received notification to the effect that his work was of
such a nature that it hid not warrant his admission to the second
examination, he interviewed the Director. He claims that the Director,
told him that his drawings showed clearly that his talents lay in the
direction of architecture rather than pure art and advised him to seek
admission to the Architectural School.

This he applied for but was not admitted. According to his story
because he had not satisfactorily finished his course in the RealSchule.
To be sure, this was one of the general requirements but exceptions could
be made in the case of boys who showed unusual taIent. Hitler's rejection,
therefore, was on the grounds of insufficient talent rather than for
failure to complete his school course.

He was not without hope. All his dreams of being a great artist seemed
to be nipped in the bud. He was without money and without friends. He was
forced to go to work and found employment as a helper on construction
jobs. This, however, did not suit him.

Hitler
as He Knows Himself, Part II

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Document compiled by Dr S D Stein
Text Scanning by The Nizkor Project
Last
update12/10/98
[email-masked]
©S D
Stein

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