 | |  | |  | |  |
Adolf lacked nothing, especially maternal affection from Klara Hitler who was a very sweet person with a gentle look as German men always relished them and as shows the opposite photograph. Klara Hitler who lost three of her kids before Adolf's birth will always feed him with a devouring affection and great care and will try to make up for her husband's severity to Adolf by displaying a certain weakness in favor of Adolf. Alois Jr. will resent this even if he pretends the contrary in the book he wrote in the 30s. Alois Sr. who was more or less the typical father figure of the XIXth century might however have been more severe than the situation demanded and than Hitler's own misdeeds justified. Long and frequent sessions of baton beating might have ended the day of young Adolf although friends of the family, like Josef Mayerhofer, will always assure that "Alois never physically abused Adolf." At some stage however, after his retirement, Alois got frustrated by his idle life and the boreness of life on the farm, and grew extremely impatient and violent. His outbursts of temper and anger provoked the flight-from-home of young Alois Jr. and his anger turned towards Adolf who was only 7. Un enfant terrible According to his sister Paula, who always maintained a real affection for him, Adolf was some sort of " enfant terrible " in the sense that he was a spoiled brat and he felt allowed to stand his ground against the will of his domineering father who resented any form of rebellion or contradiction, especially when it came to education. She also stated to the American officer that she did not believe that "my brother ordered the crime committed to innumerable human beings in the concentration-camps or that he even knew of these crimes." She passed away in 1960 childless and forgotten by all. With her death, the name of Hitler became extinct but remains on her grave tone. Some observers estimated that she was too simple to be taken seriously. It is possible that her IQ was not high enough to meet the expectations of those smart historians who write history. But she was only 9 years when Alois Sr passed away in 1903 and her recollections can be doubted. She told the interrogator that Hitler was not a "family man" but he always helped and supported her when she needed it, notably with a monthly allowance of some 500 Marks. |
| Once Chancelor Hitler liked to show himself with the Great and the Good of Germany especially the Wagners |
| Anyway even if the baston beatings have been frequent it did not dissuade Hitler to refer to his father in Mein Kampf as the "dear old man" and to say that he loved him. In the 30s, Paula however confessed to her sister-in-law Bridget that Alois Sr. once caught teenager Hitler painting some watercolors in the fields and that he almost strangled him out of fury. According to Alois Jr., Alois's Sr. brutality was a myth and Alois Sr. was only as severe as the average Austrian "pater familias" of the times. But Alois Jr. was too subject to feats of rage and violence and his testimony must be taken with a pinch of salt. It seems that Alois Jr. and Paula's testimonies did not meet historians expectations and conclusions and nothing is worse than a witness who does not tell what historians want to hear. An amicable young boy Furthermore some historians underlined the fact that Alois Jr. was only Hitler's half brother and that he terribly resented the unfair treatment that he and Paula were receiving compared to Adolf. In his "Memoirs" published in 1930, no mention of such a resentment was made: "Hitler, wrote Alois Jr., was an amicable young boy, very committed and preoccupied with his own business, he did not pay too much attention to other people affairs but could be very generous." The truth is that Alois Jr. was writing in order to gain some help from his brother who was the rising political star of Germany and for the German public. He will not regret his complacency as he was able to open a very up-market restaurant in the 30s where la crème de la crème of the nazis used to show off. Alois Sr. seems to have been genuinely concerned with Alois Jr. and the future of this illegitimate son: he would have encouraged his ambitions to graduate as an engineer- but Klara would have talked him out of it and convinced him that Alois Jr. was a good-to-nothing- eventually she persuaded her husband to keep his money for the education of Adolf, whom she used to nickname "Adi". |
| m |
| Alois Jr. grew weary of this favoritism and left home in 1896, some time before Paula's birth, to take on a job of servant in a restaurant from where he finally fled for causes of troubles with the Justice and he took shelter in England. There he married a young Irish girl called Bridget Dowling. In 1909, they had a son named William Patrick but, four years later, Alois abandoned wife and child and came back to Germany. He never had anything more to do with them and according to William Patrick Hitler, he was a violent man, an alcoholic and prone to baton beatings. Adolf had also a half sister called Angela, born in 1883 from the wedlock of Alois Sr. and Franziska who passed away in 1884 from tuberculosis, aged 23. After the death, Klara Poezl, grandaughter of Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, came back to the Hitlers's home to look after the kids Alois and Angela. She seems to have been a very good stepmother. Very little is known about the childhood relationship of the three kids, Alois, Angela, Paula and Adolf : the latter once referred to the girls as those "stupid geese" and he certainly disliked his half-brother. It might have been not so good a relationship in so far as, after Klara's death, Hitler had to relinquish in Court his part of the inheritance to the benefit of Paula who was supported by Angela. Later Angela married a civil servant named Raubal who despised Adolf but who died in 1910 : they had two daughters named Angelika (Geli) and Elfriede and a boy called Leo who hated his uncle Adolf. Very little is known about him except that he strangely looked like his uncle and was made POW in Stalingrad. After the war he served 15 years as POW in Russia and was liberated at the insistence of Chancellor Adenauer. After that, he lived in Linz in Austria, home region of the Hitler family. |
On 1895 May 1, Adolf Hitler
entered elementary school
at Fischlham
entered elementary school
at Fischlham
| Adolf had no sympathy for Alois who tried later to capitalize on his half brother's notoriety |
| The Nazis especially Albert Speer loved to impress the young Germans with their cathedral of light |
| Playing Indians and Cowboys Young Hitler was an indecisive boy not really committed to priesthood and his faith was probably as indecisive although he always showed a great determination in playing cops & robbers or Indians and cowboys, insisting on being the Chief. He became a sort of ring leader in the neighborhood and very young already displayed the qualities and the stamina that will fascinated millions of Germans some years later. His passion for playing "Indians and Cowboys" developped to a point that he became an avid reader of James Fenimore Cooper and of Karl May, the German equivalent of Cooper with less poetic visions and more violent descriptions. Even Chancelor, Hitler will read passages of Karl May's poor literature. In 1900, after the death of his brother Edmond, he joined the RealSchule in Linz but his achievements were weak and he had to repeat the grade. His marks were not good : for 12 disciplines, one of his school report cards mentions an under average for 3 disciplines, correct for 4, irregular for 1, very insufficient for 1, good for 1 (drawing), very good for 1 (morality, sic), excellent for 1 (sport). However, due to the influence of a Pr. Leo Poetsch, teacher in history who symbolized the drama of the separation between Germany and Austria (see Mein Kampf), Hitler developed a real passion in History : Pr. Poetsch was an ardent pan-germanist and his inflammatory views enthused young Adolf. Until 1903, year of his father's death, he however obtained very mediocre marks and his years in the Realschule (1900-1905) were a disaster. His teacher in German and French in Linz, a Pr. Huemer, once remembered about Hitler :" He reacted with ill-concealed hostility whenever a teacher reproved him or gave him some advice. At the same time, he demanded the unqualified subservience of his fellow-pupils, fancying himself in the role of a great leader, and of course playing many small harmless pranks, which is not unusual among immature youngsters." Some historians dated Hitler's anti-semitism from this period where he would have been extremely jealous. Although Hitler was effectively of a very jealous nature, this assumption seems more than doubtful. However the destiny of both men could not have been more different. Adolf disliked also most of his teachers whom he judged "sloppy with dirty collars and unkempt beard." |
On the way to freedom Alois Sr. passed away on the 3rd of January 1903 from an pleural hemorrhage while having a drink in a local inn. His death left a big void in the Hitlers' home but gave to Adolf the freedom he has always longed for. He will not make a good use of it. Alois did not leave the family in financial straits : Klara was entitled to draw half of his pension (i.e. annually 1200 Kr.) and to receive for each child 240 Kr. per year until they were 24 old. The first year lump payment was 1930 Kr. Her capital after the death of Alois was estimated at 3700 Kr. To give an idea of her wealth, an Austrian district doctor had in 1910 an income of 2500 Kr/year. |
| It's the fault to Daddy In Mein Kampf, Hitler explained that his father objection to him entering an artistic career threw him in an attitude of reject of school and studies. It was a stupid attitude that he bitterly regretted all his life but it is certainly the reality of what happenened. Adolf won against his father's will to be a civil servant with high diplomas but in the end he quit school without any skills or sufficient grades, not yet an adult and not any more a child. This expulsion indeed followed him constantly: in 1908, he was barred from taking the test to the exam for admission to the Architecture Academy of Vienna because he had not graduated from an OberrealSchule. In the summer of 1905, he fell "sick with pneumonia" (according to Mein Kampf) ; some historians affirm he actually contracted meningitis but the illness did not develop even if later in his life he showed some signs of it, as tremor of the arm, migraines and outbursts of anger. In any case, he simply chose not to return to school in the fall. Klara gave up and let him live a life of oisivity and lazyness probably convinced that her son would not be admitted into the Oberrealschule. |
| Leo Raubal died on August 10, 1910. According to an OSS profile of the Hitler family, Angela then moved to Vienna and, after World War I became manager of Mensa Academia Judaica, a boarding house for Jewish students and, at one point, defended their charges against anti-Semitic rioters. Angela had not been in contact with Adolf for a decade when he re-established contacted with her in 1919. In 1928 she and Geli moved to Munich where she became his housekeeper. She was later put in charge of the household at Hitler's retreat Berchtesgaden until he fired her under suspicion she had tried to buy a piece of adjacent land to the lair with the help of Hermann Goering. Angela is reported to have strongly disapproved of Hitler's subsequent relationship with Eva Braun (though some report that she tried to warn Eva Braun of the dangers of getting involved with Hitler). She left Berchtesgaden and moved to Dresden. Adolf Hitler broke off relations with her and did not attend her wedding to Professor Hamitsch. Angela died in 1949. Adolf had another brother, little Edmond who passed away aged 9 in 1900 whom he loved. His death was the watershed in Hitler's personality because he started to grew uninterested in school and from a nice little kid he became a sulky individual, prone to pranks and arguments. Paula, in spite of an attractive look and slim silhouette, never married and will lead a modest existence in Germany and after the war in Austria where she secured small jobs in art shops. After the war, she compared Hitler to a little rogue, always late at nite, very often beaten up by their father and declared that he was a moderately good student. A mediocre student Judging by his school grades, Hitler was indeed a mediocre student more at ease in disciplines not demanding a lot of thinking and concentration, like drawing in which he excelled and in gymnastic. However during his first years at the Volksschule (elementary school) he was considered as a good element and was successful. Thus, until the death of his younger brother in 1900, Hitler showed some application in school even in difficult disciplines ; Edmond's death snapped something inside the 10 years old Adolf. From a happy, good-natured, cocky, fun-loving boy, he was transformed into a morose, moody, nervous child to whom study became a bore and detestation. Furthermore, Edmund's death left him as the only man in the family and Alois Sr. diverted all his future ambitions upon Adolf. Hitler became under greater pressure to achieve at the time he entered Realschule where competition and expectations were much higher. Adolf began to adopt the attitude that will be a linchpin of his adolecence : escapism. He will withdraw from reality and constraints by imagining what could be his life as a great artist. From a cheerful little boy he turned into a morose, agressive, spoiled brat who even fell out of love with the Catholic Church blaming God for his misery. At some stage before the death of Edmund, Alois Sr. got him a place in the choir of Lamback's monastery whose coat of arm was a Swastika and Hitler even expressed the desire to become a priest but he was expelled from the choir after having been caught red handed smoking in the gardens. |
HITLER LITTLE ROGUE
His teachers however did not appreciate this
side of his personality and rather complained
about his lack of self-control. To say the
least, he was considered "argumentative,
autocratic, self-opinionated and
bad-tempered, and unable to submit to
school discipline." In Linz, he was at the
same school as the future jewish
philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein who was
born six days after him. Wittgenstein was
from a very wealthy family who befriended
celebrities like Pablo Casals, Gustav Mahler
and Bruno Walter who gave concerts in his
parents' mansion.
side of his personality and rather complained
about his lack of self-control. To say the
least, he was considered "argumentative,
autocratic, self-opinionated and
bad-tempered, and unable to submit to
school discipline." In Linz, he was at the
same school as the future jewish
philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein who was
born six days after him. Wittgenstein was
from a very wealthy family who befriended
celebrities like Pablo Casals, Gustav Mahler
and Bruno Walter who gave concerts in his
parents' mansion.
Born in 1896, Paula was a rather pretty young person but she never had long standing
relations with her brother; after the war, she declared to an interrogating officer: "he
challenged my father to extreme harshness and got his sound thrashing every day. He
was a scrubby little rogue, and all attempts of my father to thrash him for his rudeness
and to cause him to love the profession of an official of the estate were in vain. How often
on the other hand did my mother caress him and try to obtain with her kindness, were the
father could not succeed with harshness!".
relations with her brother; after the war, she declared to an interrogating officer: "he
challenged my father to extreme harshness and got his sound thrashing every day. He
was a scrubby little rogue, and all attempts of my father to thrash him for his rudeness
and to cause him to love the profession of an official of the estate were in vain. How often
on the other hand did my mother caress him and try to obtain with her kindness, were the
father could not succeed with harshness!".
Given the relative wealth secured by Alois Hitler's salary as a civil servant, the life of Adolf and his siblings was as happy as could be kids in an Austrian family at the end of the XIXth century. |
| Angela Raubal Hamitsch, born Angela Hitler (July 28, 1883 - October 30, 1949), was the elder half-sister of Adolf Hitler. She was born in Braunau, Austria, the second child of Alois Hitler and his second wife, Franziska Matzelberger. She had good relations with her brother until the early 30s. They fell off and they never saw each other again. |
Hitler who hated school discipline as a teenager will enslave German youth in a way never seen before. There was no escape to the Hitler's Youth Movement. |
In Mein Kampf, Adolf did not mention his half brother and he had no contacts with him
during his brief reign of 12 years. Alois passed away forgotten by all in 1956: after the
war, he tried once more to cash on Hitler's bad fame by offering signed posters of the
Fuehrer. Alois was an ambitious man of modest abilities, a mediocre person but he
managed well to convince others that he had visions and talents. Hitler never
nourished any good feeling for his half brother but the similarities between the two
half-brothers are striking.
His sisters, the stupid geese
| This young neo-nazi may look like Hitler at the same age : severe, timid under an arrogant attitude, however Hitler was very much a young man of his own, persuaded to have a great destiny |
After the death of his father, Hitler's marks got worse and if eventually he got his passing
grade after a make-up exam in September, it was only to the condition that he would not
return to the school : some historians affirm that he was expelled from Linz school for
"sittlichkeitsvergehen" (immoral behavior). Klara then put him in an easier Realschule in
Steyr where he displayed what would become his main characteristics -arrogance and
insolence- to the point that his teachers let him now that he could never get into an
Oberrealschule (College). Hitler dislike the city of Steyr that he judged "conservative and
clerical". In 1905, after another make-up exam in September, the schoold administrators
gave him his final certificate out of pity for his admirable mother.
grade after a make-up exam in September, it was only to the condition that he would not
return to the school : some historians affirm that he was expelled from Linz school for
"sittlichkeitsvergehen" (immoral behavior). Klara then put him in an easier Realschule in
Steyr where he displayed what would become his main characteristics -arrogance and
insolence- to the point that his teachers let him now that he could never get into an
Oberrealschule (College). Hitler dislike the city of Steyr that he judged "conservative and
clerical". In 1905, after another make-up exam in September, the schoold administrators
gave him his final certificate out of pity for his admirable mother.
Hitler took the paper and went out to celebrate the end of classroom drudgery in wine.
When he woke up the next morning, the certificate was missing and he went to the
school director to get a new one. Surprise ! The director had the piece of paper in his
hand but it was actually two pieces : it has been torn apart and used as a toilet paper. It
is impossible to know who did the trick : Hitler out of rage and alcohol to show his
teachers what he made of this diploma or some of his colleagues whom he had
alienated during his school years and who played that prank on him. The outcome was
that Hitler never got his certificate back and this cruelly lacked to him some years later
when he applied to the Academia of Architecture in Vienna.
When he woke up the next morning, the certificate was missing and he went to the
school director to get a new one. Surprise ! The director had the piece of paper in his
hand but it was actually two pieces : it has been torn apart and used as a toilet paper. It
is impossible to know who did the trick : Hitler out of rage and alcohol to show his
teachers what he made of this diploma or some of his colleagues whom he had
alienated during his school years and who played that prank on him. The outcome was
that Hitler never got his certificate back and this cruelly lacked to him some years later
when he applied to the Academia of Architecture in Vienna.
Hitler had left Steyr mortified and bitter. Over the last three years he
had ruined all his chances to achieve something in professional
life and he knew it. He was then only 16 years old and can be
considered as a drop out, probably half illiterate and suffering great
gaps in his preparation. Always hoping to spur his talents and
ambitions, Klara nevertheless agreed to pay the fees of a drawing
school in Munich under the direction of a Pr. Graeber, period that
Hitler depicted in Mein Kampf as a "dream time", an assertion very
dubious in so far as the dream lasted only four months and in
Spring of 1906 the great artist was back home with Mama reading,
writing, dreaming but never working or showing intention to do so.
had ruined all his chances to achieve something in professional
life and he knew it. He was then only 16 years old and can be
considered as a drop out, probably half illiterate and suffering great
gaps in his preparation. Always hoping to spur his talents and
ambitions, Klara nevertheless agreed to pay the fees of a drawing
school in Munich under the direction of a Pr. Graeber, period that
Hitler depicted in Mein Kampf as a "dream time", an assertion very
dubious in so far as the dream lasted only four months and in
Spring of 1906 the great artist was back home with Mama reading,
writing, dreaming but never working or showing intention to do so.
Musician, yes but without the scales In May, he spent one month in Vienna at his mother's expenses of 100 Kr. from where he came back enthusiastic and determined to become an Art student. He heard Wagner's "Tristan" conducted by Mahler on May 8th 1906), "The Flying Dutchman", on October 13th, he attended the "Merry Widow" by Franz Lehar and he was enthusiastic about it. After the fall of Leningrad in 1943, it is the only Opera he could listen to. In August 1905, at the Linz's theatre standing room, he had met his only friend, the young August Kubizek, an aspiring musician, whose dreams of grandeur equalled those of Hitler. At the Fall of 1906, Hitler convinced Klara to buy a grand piano and to pay for lessons (5 Kr./month) with Pr. Josef Prevratsky, Kubizek's piano teacher, but Hitler did not like the discipline of "scales" and gave up after four months to the great disappointment of his new friend. The winter of 1906-07 was spent dreaming, going to the Opera with "Kubi" who continued to learn piano, arguing and uttering visions of grandeur or platitudes about architecture, his new passion, that Kubi, always a docile and good friend, listened to in awe and admiration. |
In January 1907, Klara consulted the "poor people"
doctor, a Jew called Dr. Edmund Bloch, about a pain
in the breast. She was diagnosed with a malignant
tumor and was operated two weeks later by a Dr. Karl
Urban. In September, knowing probably that she
would not make it, she gave Hitler his patrominy (650
Kr. i.e. enough to live a year) because he wanted to
apply to the Academy of Visual Arts in Vienna. This
Academy was then considered by talented painters
like Oskar Kokoschka as a hotbed of conservatism,
mainly attended by wealthy kids, whereas the much
looked after school and more progressive was the
School of Arts and Crafts that Oskar attended until
1906 when he was kicked out of it for "rebellious
nature".
doctor, a Jew called Dr. Edmund Bloch, about a pain
in the breast. She was diagnosed with a malignant
tumor and was operated two weeks later by a Dr. Karl
Urban. In September, knowing probably that she
would not make it, she gave Hitler his patrominy (650
Kr. i.e. enough to live a year) because he wanted to
apply to the Academy of Visual Arts in Vienna. This
Academy was then considered by talented painters
like Oskar Kokoschka as a hotbed of conservatism,
mainly attended by wealthy kids, whereas the much
looked after school and more progressive was the
School of Arts and Crafts that Oskar attended until
1906 when he was kicked out of it for "rebellious
nature".
| The question to know whether Hitler was already an anti-semite when he was in school has not been answered |
Before to leave Linz, Hitler sent an anonymous letter to the love of his youth, a certain
Stefanie Rabatsch asking her to wait for him to graduate and then to marry him : the
young woman did not know his admirer and never knew his identity until well after world
war 2. She got engaged to an Austrian officer in 1908. After the war, Stefanie got the
schock of her life when she was told that the author of the billet doux was Adolf Hitler
himself. Some days later, he went to Vienna, rented a room at #31 Stumpergasse from
the Czech Frau Maria Zakreys, a tailor ; at #17 were the offices of the Pan-German daily
Alldeutsches Tagblatt which fought for the anschluss of Austria and Germany. On the
1st and 2th of October, Hitler took the test at the School of Visual Arts. The first day the
choice for the exam subjects was 1- Expulsion from Paradise, 2- Hunting, 3- Spring, 4-
Construction workers, 5- Death, 6- Deluge. Hitler chosed the first one. Was it a sinister
wince of fate or the result of some masochistic choice ? The second day, Hitler worked
on "Deluge".
Stefanie Rabatsch asking her to wait for him to graduate and then to marry him : the
young woman did not know his admirer and never knew his identity until well after world
war 2. She got engaged to an Austrian officer in 1908. After the war, Stefanie got the
schock of her life when she was told that the author of the billet doux was Adolf Hitler
himself. Some days later, he went to Vienna, rented a room at #31 Stumpergasse from
the Czech Frau Maria Zakreys, a tailor ; at #17 were the offices of the Pan-German daily
Alldeutsches Tagblatt which fought for the anschluss of Austria and Germany. On the
1st and 2th of October, Hitler took the test at the School of Visual Arts. The first day the
choice for the exam subjects was 1- Expulsion from Paradise, 2- Hunting, 3- Spring, 4-
Construction workers, 5- Death, 6- Deluge. Hitler chosed the first one. Was it a sinister
wince of fate or the result of some masochistic choice ? The second day, Hitler worked
on "Deluge".
The jury decided that Hitler was not totally
deprived of some talent but nevertheless its
members were not impressed. The official
verdict rendered was : "your composition of
the Deluge is cruelly lacking of human
bodies and features." Effectively Hitler's
drawings of the human body have been
constantly poor and weak during all his life
as the sketch of Geli's body below profusely
shows. Of 113 candidates however, only 28
were accepted.
deprived of some talent but nevertheless its
members were not impressed. The official
verdict rendered was : "your composition of
the Deluge is cruelly lacking of human
bodies and features." Effectively Hitler's
drawings of the human body have been
constantly poor and weak during all his life
as the sketch of Geli's body below profusely
shows. Of 113 candidates however, only 28
were accepted.
This nude by
Hitler of his
mistress and
niece Geli
Raubal is a
good indication
of the reasons
why he was not
accepted at the
School of Fine
Arts
Hitler of his
mistress and
niece Geli
Raubal is a
good indication
of the reasons
why he was not
accepted at the
School of Fine
Arts
| Adolf was devastated by the failure but this time he did not go back to Mom and stayed in Vienna with his small patrimony, taking refuge with his favorite mistress, escapism. In October, he was told by aunt Johanna the hunchback to rush back home because Klara was very sick. Until her death on the 21th of December, he cared for her, sleeping beside her bed and cursing the doctors who could do nothing for her except inflicting on the poor woman an expensive and painful state-of-the-art treatment based on iode. Klara died in agonizing pain with Adolf Hitler to her side. The dream of being a great artist had turned into a nightmare and his artistic ambitions then looked seriously thwarted. Adolf was devastated and Dr. Bloch said later that he had never seen in his long career such a pitiful grief. |
| This watercolour of V ienna by Adolf is not exactly what one wishes to hang on the wall of one's livingroom |
The reality of Hitlers's artistic talents is discussed in greater details in another page of
this site but one can already estimate that the young boy enjoyed limited artistic gifts that
were not well encouraged by his father for whom artistic life was synonymous of lust,
debauchery, laziness and depravation. We must bear in mind that we were still in
Victorian times and that the influence of great liberals thinkers like Freud or painters like
Kandinsky was still in budding phase. For Alois Hitler, going artist was a no-no issue.
He even shouted to his son : "Artist-painter? On my dead body!". Another possibility is
that Alois -who was an intelligent man but probably rather conservative- has judged
Hitler's talent for what it was -limited and conformist- and decided that his son would be
better off in a more conventional profession. Or that he rightly guessed that Hitler was
too indecisive and not up to the rigors and duress of a real artistic life.
A civil servant, moi ? Nein, nein, nein
However in his book published in 1930, Alois Jr. denied those views and affirmed that
Alois and Klara always supported Hitler's aspirations and did all what they could to help
Hitler in this way. Whom to believe? Adolf or Alois Jr. ?
One can think that the truth is in the middle as one can question the credibility of Alois Jr.
memories; after all, he was only 13 years old when he left home and he never again
lived with his whole family. On another hand, one can guess that Alois Sr. hostility to
Adolf's ambitions was not as harsh and determined than most historians have
assumed. This hostility was put ahead by lots of people to explain Hitler's subsequent
behavior and burning desire of revenge. Hitler did not want to be a "civil servant" as he
said in Mein Kampf :" No speeches or severe reproves could triumph of my reticences. I
would not be a civil servant, nein, nein und nein !!! ... It made me nauseated only to think
that I could be one day the prisoner of an office." We can assume that it is the key to the
hostility between son and father.
this site but one can already estimate that the young boy enjoyed limited artistic gifts that
were not well encouraged by his father for whom artistic life was synonymous of lust,
debauchery, laziness and depravation. We must bear in mind that we were still in
Victorian times and that the influence of great liberals thinkers like Freud or painters like
Kandinsky was still in budding phase. For Alois Hitler, going artist was a no-no issue.
He even shouted to his son : "Artist-painter? On my dead body!". Another possibility is
that Alois -who was an intelligent man but probably rather conservative- has judged
Hitler's talent for what it was -limited and conformist- and decided that his son would be
better off in a more conventional profession. Or that he rightly guessed that Hitler was
too indecisive and not up to the rigors and duress of a real artistic life.
A civil servant, moi ? Nein, nein, nein
However in his book published in 1930, Alois Jr. denied those views and affirmed that
Alois and Klara always supported Hitler's aspirations and did all what they could to help
Hitler in this way. Whom to believe? Adolf or Alois Jr. ?
One can think that the truth is in the middle as one can question the credibility of Alois Jr.
memories; after all, he was only 13 years old when he left home and he never again
lived with his whole family. On another hand, one can guess that Alois Sr. hostility to
Adolf's ambitions was not as harsh and determined than most historians have
assumed. This hostility was put ahead by lots of people to explain Hitler's subsequent
behavior and burning desire of revenge. Hitler did not want to be a "civil servant" as he
said in Mein Kampf :" No speeches or severe reproves could triumph of my reticences. I
would not be a civil servant, nein, nein und nein !!! ... It made me nauseated only to think
that I could be one day the prisoner of an office." We can assume that it is the key to the
hostility between son and father.
In many respects, young Adolf was a spoiled brat and maybe thwarted in his artistic
ambitions but all testimonies do not give the picture of a total rejection by his family. One
does not see there the royal way towards psychological disorders, schizophrenia or
personality troubles. Adolf Hitler was not an unhappy child because of his parents
incapacity to understand or help him. If he was unhappy as a child it is for his own sake,
for his lack of discipline, his instability, his nonchalance and his boring tendency to
lecture everybody and their brother. In this, he was more or less the carbon-copy of
numerous children of all times and it does not make him the ideal candidate to become
a deranged and mad Fuhrer.
If, instead of confronting his father about his artistic ambitions, he had accepted to make
his grades in the Realschule and then to the Oberrealschule, it is possible that Alois
would have let him choose his way and opt for the profession he really loved. But he
stubornly challenged the man, defied the establishment, despised the hard working
men ("Of course I do not work", he said once to Kubizek who was enquiring) and
eventually took shelter in an imaginary world. Even in his most tender years Adolf got his
colleagues yawning with his endless speeches about the world around him and his
limitless capabilities. If we must describe in one word the young Adolf Hitler the term of
"braggart" is probably the most convenient and accurate.
Was this braggart side of Hitler's personality ingrained in the deepest of his soul or was
it developed by Alois Sr. refusal to encourage his artistic ambitions, the loss of a
beloved young brother and the cruel loss of his mother? This is the $64 millions
question and personally I will opt for the first answer. I am convinced that Adolf Hitler
was a member of the fraternity of braggarts, indecisive but ambitious people who give
up in front of the first hurdles. Four years of war, running from the headquarters to the
trenches in a dirty and perilous job of estafette, turned him into a mad and vicious man
and transformed these traits of character into pathological monstrosities.
ambitions but all testimonies do not give the picture of a total rejection by his family. One
does not see there the royal way towards psychological disorders, schizophrenia or
personality troubles. Adolf Hitler was not an unhappy child because of his parents
incapacity to understand or help him. If he was unhappy as a child it is for his own sake,
for his lack of discipline, his instability, his nonchalance and his boring tendency to
lecture everybody and their brother. In this, he was more or less the carbon-copy of
numerous children of all times and it does not make him the ideal candidate to become
a deranged and mad Fuhrer.
If, instead of confronting his father about his artistic ambitions, he had accepted to make
his grades in the Realschule and then to the Oberrealschule, it is possible that Alois
would have let him choose his way and opt for the profession he really loved. But he
stubornly challenged the man, defied the establishment, despised the hard working
men ("Of course I do not work", he said once to Kubizek who was enquiring) and
eventually took shelter in an imaginary world. Even in his most tender years Adolf got his
colleagues yawning with his endless speeches about the world around him and his
limitless capabilities. If we must describe in one word the young Adolf Hitler the term of
"braggart" is probably the most convenient and accurate.
Was this braggart side of Hitler's personality ingrained in the deepest of his soul or was
it developed by Alois Sr. refusal to encourage his artistic ambitions, the loss of a
beloved young brother and the cruel loss of his mother? This is the $64 millions
question and personally I will opt for the first answer. I am convinced that Adolf Hitler
was a member of the fraternity of braggarts, indecisive but ambitious people who give
up in front of the first hurdles. Four years of war, running from the headquarters to the
trenches in a dirty and perilous job of estafette, turned him into a mad and vicious man
and transformed these traits of character into pathological monstrosities.
The cruel disillusion of a spoiled brat
In any case, after Klara's death, Hitler is
desperate and material life looks rather gloomy.
Unfortunately, it was in this psychological and
material background that Vienese artistic and
academic world denied to the aspiring artist any
form of talent and slammed the doors of the
School of Visual Arts onto Hitler's face, giving a
late but terrible approval to Hitler's father doubts
about his son's artistic genius.
Some observers have concluded from this period
that Hitler would have assimilated this rejection
as the ultimate treachery and treason in so far as
he was absolutely convinced that he would be
accepted by the School (in Mein Kampf):
effectively, of 113 candidates however, only 28
were accepted. Hitler was then met with the
cruelest disappointment of his entire life as he
said in Mein Kampf : "This day, I doubted of myself
for the first time in my life."
In any case, after Klara's death, Hitler is
desperate and material life looks rather gloomy.
Unfortunately, it was in this psychological and
material background that Vienese artistic and
academic world denied to the aspiring artist any
form of talent and slammed the doors of the
School of Visual Arts onto Hitler's face, giving a
late but terrible approval to Hitler's father doubts
about his son's artistic genius.
Some observers have concluded from this period
that Hitler would have assimilated this rejection
as the ultimate treachery and treason in so far as
he was absolutely convinced that he would be
accepted by the School (in Mein Kampf):
effectively, of 113 candidates however, only 28
were accepted. Hitler was then met with the
cruelest disappointment of his entire life as he
said in Mein Kampf : "This day, I doubted of myself
for the first time in my life."
| Hitler Fuehrer paused as an intellectual and an orator whereas he was in school a spoiled brat who refused to learn and knew better. Later he was coached by Eckart and van Hussen. |
| It was indeed for this young spoiled brat devoid of all sense of reality a very tough day. After this first failure, he tried his luck with the School of Architecture only to meet a second rejection and another huge disappointment. This time, he was not even permitted to take the exam as he did not have the certificate from the RealSchule in Steyr. All his dreams suddenly collapsed leaving him with the bleak reality of no money, no family, no diplomas and nowhere to go. The awakening was more than tough : it was horrible. This double failure in the wake of his mother'ss death, the only person who has always supported and understood him, represented for Adolf Hitler the end of a world. A door was closed on a promising past and another was opened on a future of gloom, destitution and solitude. Hitler briefly allowed the past to resurrect in 1923/24 during the writing of "Mein Kampf." Then he buried it again for ever and he transformed himself into a restless, compassionless, pitiless leader impervious to any form of human sentiments. Effectively, in the meanwhile, Hitler will have tasted the joys of "the decadent, incestuous, bourgeoise, judiastic" (in Mein Kampf) Vienna of pre-WWI, will have rotted in the trenches of a horrific conflict, been gazed, wounded and eventually put to jail after an abortive coup in 1923. The man who came out of the trenches did not any longer look like a scrubby little rogue : but he had not forgotten a childhood whose traces in his mind seemed to have been more durable than usually in a century of tough education and no-permissiveness. They have left lasting effects. In that regard and that regard only, Hitler might have been an artist, extremely sensitive and fragile, but in another hand he lacked the commitment, the imagination and the strength that make real artists. Above all, he lacked the talent and the training. He eventually acknowledged it in Mein Kampf but he drew from this standpoint the wrong conclusion : "providence then showed me the way, he wrote, it was politics." Unfortunately for the rest of the world, Hitler was not any more gifted in politics than in painting. Or if he had any talents, they were devilish. He had some genius for demagoguery but not for politics. In final, once can assume that Adolf Hitler was a failure with great ambitions : he tried to find in politics what he was incapable to achieve in arts and in love. After all, politics and arts comply with the same criteria : everything is a matter of subjectivity, prejudices, projections, aspirations and patronage. Alas, Hitler was not the Monet or the Shakespeare of Germany. He was his forger, a master of falsification and his ultimate executioner. The "artiste maudit" who bloddied and buried the illusions of a nation. |
| The future Chancellor of Germany had a tendency to view himself as a great artist, a great leader and was seen by his comrades at school as a boring braggart |
| Hitler's native city and home emblazoned with Nazi banners in the 30s |
| Some historians supported the theory that Hitler's mother spoiled his character. I think that the child was a lost cause. |