Hitler As His Associates Know Him
Part I
The picture the Nazi propaganda machine has painted of Hitler certainty
seems like an extravagant one. Even if we ignore the deifying elements it
seems like the fantasy of a superman - the paramount of all virtues.
Extraordinary as it may seem, however, there are times at which he
approximates such a personality and wins the respect and admiration of all
his associates.
At such times he is a veritable demon for for work and often works for
several days on end with little or no sleep. His powers of concentration
are extraordinary and he is able to penetrate complex problems and reduce
them to a few simple, fundamental factors. He prides himself on this
talent and has said to various people:
"I have the gift of reducing all problems to their simplest
foundations ...A gift for tracing back all theories to their roots in
reality."
And he really has it. Unencumbered with abstract theories or
traditional points of view and prejudices he is able to look at complex
problems in a rather naive way and pick out the most salient and
significant elements and apply them to the present situation in a fairly
simple and workable manner. To be sure, he never solves the entire problem
in this way but only the human elements involved. Since this is the part
which interests him most and produces immediate results, it has been rated
very highly and has won the admiration of his close associates from the
earliest days of his political career.
During these periods of activity Hitler is wholly consumed by the task
confronting him. He has an amazing power of concentration. His judgements
are quick and decisive. He is impatient to get things done and expects
everyone to apply himself with an ardor equal to his own. He, therefore,
demands great sacrifices from his associates.
At such times, however, he is also very human. He shows an unusual
degree of considerateness towards them and a certain tolerance of their
weaknesses. When he calls a halt for meals he will not eat until his
entire staff has been served. When an overzealous servant insists on
serving him before others he will often get up and take the plate over to
one of his lowly assistants. During all of this he is in the best of
spirit and jokes with everyone around him.
He has an extraordinary memory and continuously recalls amusing
incidents from the past lives of those around him. These he tells to his
staff at large. He is an excellent mimic and often plays out the roles of
the individual involved to the great amusement of the staff while the
individual must sit by and witness the performance much to his own
embarassment. Nevertheless he is thoroughly flattered that the Fuehrer
should single him out and remember in such detail. During these periods
Hitler is also the soul of kindliness and generosity. He acts more like a
big brother to his staff than as a Fuehrer and manages to endear himself
to each and every one of them.
But, underneath, he is every inch the Fuehrer. He displays
extraordinary courage and determination. He shows a great deal of
initiative and is willing to assume full responsibility for the wisdom of
the course he has mapped out. He is very persuasive and is able to muster
and organize his people into an efficient smooth-running unit. Personal
frictions disappear, for the time being, and everybody has a single
thought in mind: To do what the Fuehrer wishes.
He works with great certainly and security and appears to have the
situation entirely in hand. All kinds of facts and figures relevant to the
problem flow from him without the slightest hesitation or effort, much to
the amazement of those about him. He can cite the tonnages of ships in
various navies:
"He knows exactly what kind of armament, the kind of armor plates.
the weight, the speed, and the number of the crew in every ship in the
British navy. He knows the number of rotations of airplane motors in
every model and type existant. he knows the number of shots a machine
gun fires in a minute, whether it is a light, medium, or heavy one,
whether it was made in the United States, Czecho-Slovakia or France."
(Russell, 747)
Then, too, his staff has learned from past experience, that when Hitler
is in one of these moods he approximates infallibility particularly when
the support of the people is needed to carry through the project on which
he is engaged. This may seem like an unwarranted statement but, if our
study is to be complete, we must appraise his strengths as well as his
weaknesses. It can scarcely be denied that he has some extraordinary
abilities where the psychology of the average man is concerned. He has
been able, in some manner or other, to unearth and apply successfully many
factors pertaining to group psychology, the importance of which has not
been generally recognized and some of which we might adopt to good
advantage. These might be briefly summarized as follows:
(1) Full appreciation of the importance of the masses in the success of
any movement. Hitler has phrased this rather well in MEIN KAMPF:
"The lack of knowledge of the [unreadable] driving forces of
[unreadable] led us to an insufficient evaluation of the importance of
the great masses of the people; from this resulted the scant interest in
the social position, the deficient courting [unreadable] soul of the
nation's lower classes...." (p. 138)
(2) Recognition of the inestimable value of winning the support of
youth; realization of the immense momentum given a social movement by the
wild fervor and enthusiasm of young people as well as the importance of
early training and indoctrination.
(3) Recognition of the role of women in advancing a new movement and of
the fact that the reactions of the masses as a whole have many feminine
characteristics. As early as 1923, he said to Hanfstaengl (902):
"Do you know the audience at a circus is just like a woman (Die
Masse, das Volk is wei ein Weib). Someone who does not understand the
intrinsicly feminine character of the masses will never be an effective
speaker. Ask yourself: 'What does a woman expect from a man?' Clearness,
decision, power and action. What we want is to get the masses to act.
Like a woman, the masses fluctuate between extremes .... The crowd is
not only like a woman, but women constitute the most important element
in an audience. The women usualy lead, then follow the children and at
last, when I have already won over the whole family - follow the
fathers."
And in MEIN KAMPF, he writes:
"The people, in an overwhelming majority, are so feminine in their
nature and attitude that their activities and thoughts are motivated
less by sober consideration than by feeling and sentiment." (p.237)
(4) The ability to feel, identify with and express in passionate
language the deepest needs and sentiments of the average German and
present opportunities or possibilities for their gratification.
(5) Capacity to appeal to the most primitive, as well as the most ideal
inclinations in man, to arouse the basest instincts and yet cloak them
with nobility, justifying all actions as means to the attainment of an
ideal goal. Hitler realized that men will not combine and dedicate
the,selves to a common purpose unless this purpose be an ideal one capable
of survival beyond their generation. He has also perceived that although
men will die only for an ideal their continued zest and enterprise can be
maintained only by a succession of more immediate and earthly
satisfactions.
(6) Appreciation of the fact that the masses are as hungry for a
sustaining ideology in political action as they are for daily bread. Any
movement which does not satisfy this spiritual hunger in the masses will
not mobilize their whole-hearted support and is destined to fail.
"All force which does not spring from a firm spiritual foundation
will be hesitating and uncertain. It lacks the stability which can only
rest on a fanatical view of life. (MK 222)
"Every attempt at fighting a view of life by means of force against
it represents the form of an attack for the sake of a new spiritual
direction. Only in the struggle of two views of life with each other can
the weapon of brute force, used continuously and ruthlessly, bring about
the decision in favor of the side it supports." (MK 223)
(7) The ability to portray conflicting human forces in vivid, concrete
imagery that is understandable and moving to the ordinary man. This comes
down to the use of metaphors in the form of imagery which, as Aristotle
has said, is the most powerful force on earth.
(8) The faculty of drawing on the traditions of the people and by
reference to the great classical mythological themes evoke the deepest
unconscious emotions of the audience. The fact that the unconscious mind
is more intensely affected by the great eternal symbols and themes is not
generally understood by most modern speakers and writers.
(9) Realization that enthusiastic political action does not take place
if the emotions are not deeply involved.
(10) Appreciation of the willingness, almost desire, of the masses to
sacrifice themselves on the altar of social improvement or spiritual
values.
(11) Realization of the importance of artistry and dramatic intensity
in conducting large meetings, rallies and festivals. This involved not
only an appreciation of what the artist - the writer, musician and painter
- can accomplish in the way of evoking emotional responses but also the
leader's recognition of the necessity of his participation in the total
dramatic effect as chief character and hero. Hitler has become master of
all the arts of high-lighting his own role in the movement for a Greater
Germany. Shirer (157) describes this very well:
"A searchlight plays upon his lone figure as he slowly walks through
the hall, never looking to right or left, his right hard raised in
salute, his left hand as the buckle of his belt. He never smiles - it is
a religious rite, this procession of the moderm Messiah incarnate.
Behind him are his adjutants and secret service men. But his figure
alone is flooded with light.
"By the time Hitler has reached the rostrum, the masses have been so
worked upon that they are ready to do his will...."
[Transcription note: Bracketed [Page] links provide access to the
individual images from which these transcriptions were made]
(12) A keen appreciation of the value of slogans, catchwords, dramatic
phrases and [unreadable] epigrams in penetrating the deeper levels of the
psyche. In speaking to Hanfstaengl on this point he once used the
following figure of speech:
"There is only so much room in a brain, so much wall space, as it
were, and if you furnish it with your slogans, the opposition has no
place to put up any pictures later on, because the apartment of the
brain is already crowded with your furniture." Hanfstaengl adds that
Hitler has always admired the use the Catholic Church made of slogans
and has tried to imitate it." (899)
(13) Realization of a fundamental loneliness and feeling of isolation
in people living under modern conditions and a craving to "belong" to an
active group which carries a certain status, provides cohesiveness and
gives the individual a feeling of personal worth and belongingness.
(14) Appreciation of the value underlying a hierarchical political
organization which affords direct contact with each individual.
(15) Ability to surround himself with and maintain the allegiance of a
group of devoted aides whose talents complement his own.
(16) Appreciation of winning confidence from the people by a show of
efficiency within the organization and government. It is said that foods
and supplies are already in the local warehouses when the announcement
concerning the date of distribution is made. Although they could be
distributed immediately the date is set for several weeks ahead in order
to create an impression of super-efficiency and win the confidence of the
people. Every effort is made to avoid making a promise which cannot be
fulfilled at precisely the appointed time.
(17) Appreciation of the important role played by little things which
affect the everyday life of the ordinary man in building up and
maintaining the morale of the people.
(18) Full recognition of the fact that the overwhelming majority of the
people want to be led and are ready and willing to submit if the leader
can win their respect and confidence. Hitler has been very successful in
this respect because he has been able to convince his followers of his own
self-confidence and because he has guessed right on so many occasions that
he has created the impression of infallibility.
(19) This was largely possible because he is so naturally a tactical
genius. His timing of decisions and actions has almost been uncanny. As
Thyssen puts it:
"Sometimes his intelligence is astonishing... miraculous political
intuition, devoid of all moral sense, but extraordinarily precise. Even
in a very complex situation he discerns what is possible and what is
not."
(20) Hitler's strongest point is, perhaps, his firm belief in his
mission and, in public, the complete dedication of his life to its
fulfillment. It is the spectacle of a man whose convictions are so strong
that he sacrifices himself for the cause which appeals to and is able to
arouse similar convictions in others that induces them to follow his
example. This demands a fanatical stubbornness which Hitler possesses to a
high degree.
"Only a storm of glowing passion can turn the destinies of nations,
but this passion can only be roused by a man who carries it within
himself."
(21) He also has the ability to appeal to and arouse the sympathetic
concern and protectiveness of his people, to represent himself as the
bearer of their burdens and their future, with the result that he becomes
a personal concern to individuals and many, particularly the women, feel
tenderly and compassionately about him. They must always be careful not to
inflict undue annoyance or suffering on the Fuehrer.
(22) Hitler's ability to repudiate his own conscience in arriving at
political decisions has eliminated the force which usually checks and
complicates the forward-going thoughts and resolutions of most socially
responsible statesmen. He has, therefore, been able to take that course of
action which appeals to him as most effective without pulling his punches.
The result has been that he has frequently outwitted his adversaries and
attained ends which would not have been as easily attained by a normal
course. Nevertheless, it has helped to build up thte myth of his
infallibility and invincibility.
(23) Equally important has been his ability to persuade others to
repudiate their individual consciences and assume that role himself. He
can then decree for the individual what is right and wrong, permissible or
impermissible and can use them freely in the attainment of his own ends.
As Goering has said: "I have no conscience. My conscience is Adolph
Hitler."
(24) This has enabled Hitler to make full use of terror and mobilize
the fears of the people which he evaluated with an almost uncanny
precision.
(25) He has the capacity for learning from others even though he may be
violently opposed to everything they believe and stand for. The use of
terror, for example, he says he learned from the Communists, the use of
slogans from the Catholic Church, the use of propaganda from the
democracies, etc.
(26) He is a master of the art of propaganda. Ludecke writes:
"He has a matchless instinct for taking advantage of every breeze to
raise a political whirlwind. No official scandal was so petty that he
could not magnify it into high treason; he could ferret out the most
deviously [unreadable] corruption in high places and plaster the town
with the bad news." (159)
His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit
a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy;
never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one
enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will
believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it
frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
(27) He has the "never say die" spirit. After some of his severest
set-backs he has been able to get his immediate associates together and
begin making plans for a "come-back". Events which would crush most
individuals, at least temporarily, seem to act as stimulants to greater
efforts in Hitler.
These are some of Hitler's outstanding talents and capacities. They
have enabled him to attain a position of unprecedented power in an
incredibly short perios of time, over a rarely used route. No other Nazi
in a high position possesses these abilities in any comparable degree and
consequently they could not displace him in the minds of the masses.
His associates recognize these capacities in Hitler and they admire and
respect his extraordinary leadership qualities, particularly the influence
he has over people. In addition they love him for his very human qualities
when he is at his best and is engaged in some important undertaking. These
are aspects of Hitler's personality we should never lose sight of when
evaluating his hold on his associates or on the German people. He has a
magnetic quality about him which, together with his past accomplishments,
wins the allegiance of people and seems to rob them of their critical
functions. It is a bond which does not easily dissolve even in the face of
evidence that he is not always what he pretends to be - in fact is more
often than not, the exact opposite.
We have reviewed Hitler's strength and briefly portrayed his character
when he is at his best. It is now time to look at the other side of his
personality - the side which is known only to those who are on fairly
intimate terms with him.
Perhaps the truest words that Goebbels ever wrote are:
"The Fuehrer does not change. He is the same now as he was when he
was a boy" (387)
If we glance at his boyhood we find that Hitler was far from a model
student. He studied what he wanted to study and did fairly well in these
subjects. Things which did not interest him he simply ignored even though
his marks were "unsatisfactory" or "failing". For over a year before his
mother died, he did nothing, as far as can be determined, expect lie
around the house or occasionally painting a few water-colors. Although
they were in difficult financial circumstances he did not seek work or try
to improve himself in school. He was self-willed, shy and inactive.
In Vienna, after his mother died, he continued this pattern even though
he was frequently on the verge of starvation and reduced to begging on the
streets. Hanisch, who was his flop-house buddy, reports that "he was never
an ardent worker, was unable to get up in the morning, had difficulty in
getting started and seemed to be suffering from a paralysis of the will."
As soon as he had sold a picture and had a little money in his pocket he
stopped work and spent time listening to parliament, reading newspapers in
the cafes, or delivering lengthy political dissertations to his fellows in
the hostel. This behavior he justified on the grounds that "he must have
leisure, he was not a coolie." When Hanisch asked him one day what he was
waiting for, Hitler replied: "I don't know myself."
As an adult he is still this little boy when he is not in one of his
active moods. In 1931 Billing wrote:
"Die inneren Schwierigkeiten einer Regierung Hitlers werden in der
Person Hitler selbst liegen. Hitler wird nicht umhin koennen, sich an
eine geregelte Geistige faetigkeit zu gowoehnen." (586)
Ludecke (168) also wrote:
"He had a typical Austrian 'Schlamperei'. He suffered from an
all-embracing disorderliness. Naturally this grew less in time but in
the beginning it was apparent in everything."
It was indeed so apparent that early in the history of the movement the
party engaged a secretary whose duty it was to keep track of Hitler and
see to it that he fulfilled his duties and obligations. The move was only
partially successful, however; "Hitler was always on the go but rarely on
time" (Ludecke, 168). He is still rarely on time and frequently keeps
important foreign diplomats, as well as his own staff, waiting for
considerable periods of time.
Hitler as His
Associates Know Him, Part II
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