Hitler

I think Hitler became a greatly disturbed individual, but a brilliant leader and orater.

It's so interesting to think about how far he came in his lifetime, going from an artist with radical ideals, to prisoner, to author, to the leader of the most terrifying country of his time. And his people, other than the minorities which he persecuted, loved him and were devoted to him and his vision.

I believe that he was very, very intelligent and probably quite corrupt. I don't think he could have come up with the whole terrible thing on his own, but think that he was, to an extent, controlled by the powerful figures that had helped him become Dictator.

I think he and his view of the 'Aryan race' were used more often than not as an outlet for very sick individuals who enjoyed belittleing and torturing people.

Eh, that's just me ^^

Personally, I was always super interested back in school when we'd study Hitler-related parts of history.

Napolean:

I don't think he could have come up with the whole terrible thing on his own, but think that he was, to an extent, controlled by the powerful figures that had helped him become Dictator.

You're quite right. The SS, Himmler, and commandants of the various camps came up with the majority of actions that made up the "Final Solution." Hitler, although he hated Jews, originally wanted to deport them all to German controlled places like in North Africa.

thirst.:

Napolean:

I don't think he could have come up with the whole terrible thing on his own, but think that he was, to an extent, controlled by the powerful figures that had helped him become Dictator.

You're quite right. The SS, Himmler, and commandants of the various camps came up with the majority of actions that made up the "Final Solution." Hitler, although he hated Jews, originally wanted to deport them all to German controlled places like in North Africa.

That's really interesting, I didn't know that!

Although he was a cruel and obviously evil man, I can't help but feel a little respect for him for being the very powerful leader of a very powerful nation, at least for a short time. No doubt that the pressure and stress of war made him go mad (even madder than he was already, really) but for a while there, it really seemed like he could take over all of Europe. I think if he had thought more carefully on his strategies that I think he could have Luckily for the entire world, he wasn't so careful and crafty as he could have been. The way he handeled being leader, although wrong, was fascinating.

I honestly wonder sometimes how things would go if, instead of the 30s and 40s, Hitler rose to power now. Hopefully he wouldn't still have the funny 'stache.

Hitler was a very good public speaker. And at the time, people thought the commhnists would bankrupt Germany further. They elected him to choose the 'lesser of two evils'. And even if they wanted to act, Hitler had become illegal to remove from power. There was no stopping him. I you did, he would have got the S.S to murder you. Simple as.

There are many theories to his predjudice. His mother, who died of cancer, was treated by a Jewish doctor. He was rejected from art school by a Jewish man. And after the great war (WWI) which he served in and became homeless after, another soldier blamed the Jewish.

What he did was horrifying, and that mass of genocide cannot be seen as anything but.

acid martyr:

I honestly wonder sometimes how things would go if, instead of the 30s and 40s, Hitler rose to power now. Hopefully he wouldn't still have the funny 'stache.

Interesting fact, Hitler had that mustache because the larger Kaiser-style mustache would not fit under the gas masks during WWI

That is interesting. I never knew that. Those kinds of facts just really aren't the kind they teach you in history class.

Yeah, most of the the information history teachers will give you about Hitler would be that he was a monster (which of course he was), but I don't think they talk enough about his past or why the people of Germany followed him like sheep.

My history teacher went over why people believed in him and followed him, which I understand, but never about his past, other than he was in WWI. I think he's got an interesting life. I've said that if only he wanted to do good I bet he could be a fine contribution to society.

Exactly. I think that because his past is not something that is gone over in school, people misunderstand his hate for the Jewish people.
He probably would have been an excellent member of society, had he not held the grudges he did. Just the way he spoke could have made so many changes for the better, if only that was the side he was on.

Yah, it really bothered me that most of my history teachers refused to teach anything about Hitler and his Nazis other than that they were all monsters who persecuted Jews and the mentally ill for no reason whatsoever.

It's ridiculous.

He was a person as well and had thoughts and feelings like everyone else, there are answers to all the 'why's and 'how's...

*sighs*

It just gets frustrating.
History is written by the winners.

Napolean:

Yah, it really bothered me that most of my history teachers refused to teach anything about Hitler and his Nazis other than that they were all monsters who persecuted Jews and the mentally ill for no reason whatsoever.

It's ridiculous.

He was a person as well and had thoughts and feelings like everyone else, there are answers to all the 'why's and 'how's...

*sighs*

It just gets frustrating.
History is written by the winners.

Where you learned must suck, because I spent 4 months on JUST Hitler and the Third Reich.

^ Seriously?
My class spent the 3rd quarter covering WWII, which not only includes Hitler and Germany, but also Japan, the Soviet Union, etc. We spent the longest learning about Hitler and the Holocaust, but the only background information my teacher gave us was that he was in WWI.

I only learned about the negative.

Did he do anything positive?

He gave Germans a bit of hope before he went drastic asswipe on the Jews and everyone else he deemed unworthy.

The only "positive" thing he did was bring Germany back from ruins and into power after WWI.

thirst.:

The only "positive" thing he did was bring Germany back from ruins and into power after WWI.

Which is a hell of a lot of positive, actually. Those 6 first years of his government are probably up there with the most amazing economical recoveries of all time. Which of course led to people trusting him too much...

One_Truth:

Which is a hell of a lot of positive, actually. Those 6 first years of his government are probably up there with the most amazing economical recoveries of all time. Which of course led to people trusting him too much...

Oh definitely. People trusted him because he gave them direction when their country was in ruins.

^ Not to mention how charismatic he was as a leader, which is a huge part of conformity to a leader.

A few people are saying that no one teaches the "positive" of Hitler as a person. Well..that's because the negative is pretty overpowering. I mean, Hitler could have been a great friend and he most definitely was a potent leader, but the fact that he was responsible for so much evil and destruction is what's definitive of him. The other stuff is, in a way, canceled out by that one really big disaster.

I do think it's important to examine Hitler as a man when trying to understand how he came to his end and why he did what he did, but his campaign against the jews (and blacks and homosexuals) was his defining moment. It overshadows anything else (good or bad) he might have done in his life.

Anywho, in my high school (and in history course in college), when we covered WWII, the Nazi party, and Hitler, we did also learn about Hitler's life. In fact, in the college course, we were assigned to read "Mein Kampf". It provides great insight into his mind and helps us to understand more.

I can understand, however, why more on Hitler's life wouldn't be delved into in the regular high school course. Like with any other figure in history, there just isn't enough time in the semester to do a thorough job of exploring that. I don't really think it's any particular predjudice against Hitler. For me, in high school history classes, we very briefly went over the personal history of any figure and really only focused on their legacy.

If anything, I think that Hitler was a brilliant public speaker. We watched a video that showed him in front of a crowd right after he became Chancellor. He thought he had good intentions for his country because he saw it at one of its lowest points.

When the economy is down and the country is suffering, radical parties tend to become very strong. No doubt, Hilter was a horrible, sick man, but he did give a broken country hope and helped restore business.

My teacher brought up how worn out he was, especially the months before his death. Fighting a two-front war no doubt made his mindset weaken.