Adolf Hitler's medical health

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Adolf Hitler's medical health has long been a subject of popular controversy. There has also been speculation regarding his mental health.

Contents

[edit] Diet

Related article: Vegetarianism of Adolf Hitler.

Although beginning in the early 1930s, Hitler gradually reduced his meat intake and more or less eschewed alcohol until the war went badly (when he used it to aid his sleep), his eating habits in general could be unhealthy and irregular. He reportedly had a sweet tooth and as a result ate large amounts of chocolate and pastries, sometimes to the exclusion of a balanced diet. According to the Wagner family, for example, he added at least seven teaspoons of sugar to every cup of tea he drank. Combined with his refusal to engage in any regular exercise aside from walking, Hitler put on weight as he aged.

His penchant for sweets seems to have contributed to bad dental health. By the 1930s, Hitler had many bridges and fillings (which were used by the Soviets to identify his body in 1945). Some observers have offered this as one reason why Hitler rarely smiled in public and when laughing often covered his mouth with one hand.

[edit] Syphilis

Hitler's tremors and irregular heartbeat during the last years of his life could have been symptoms of tertiary syphilis.[1] Along with another doctor, Morell diagnosed them as such by early 1945 in a joint report to SS head Heinrich Himmler. Some historians have also cited Hitler's discussion of syphilis across fourteen pages of Mein Kampf, which he called a "Jewish disease," leading to speculation he may have had the disease himself, since it may be difficult to imagine another reason for such a tirade.

Since the 1870s, however, it was a common rhetorical practice on the völkisch right to associate Jews with diseases such as syphilis. Historian Robert Waite claims Hitler tested negative on a Wassermann test as late as 1939 although this does not prove that he did not have the disease as the Wasserman test was prone to false-positive results. Regardless of whether he actually had syphilis or not, Hitler lived in constant fear of the disease and took treatment for it no matter what doctors told him.

In his biography of Doctor Felix Kersten, called The Man with the Miraculous Hands,[2] journalist and Académie française member Joseph Kessel wrote of how in the winter of 1942 Kersten heard of Hitler's medical condition. Consulted by his patient, Himmler, as to whether he could "assist a man who suffers from severe headaches, dizziness and insomnia," Kersten was shown a top secret twenty-six page report. It detailed how Hitler had contracted syphilis in his youth and was treated for it at a hospital in Pasewalk, Germany. However, in 1937, symptoms re-appeared, showing the disease was still active, and by the start of 1942, signs were evident that progressive syphilitic paralysis (Tabes dorsalis) was occurring. Himmler advised Kersten that Morell was in charge of Hitler's treatment, and that it was a state secret. The book also relates how Kersten learned from Himmler's secretary, Rudolf Brandt, that at that time, probably the only other people privy to the report's information were Nazi Party chairman Martin Bormann and Hermann Göring, the head of the Luftwaffe.

[edit] Parkinson's disease

It has also been speculated Hitler had Parkinson's disease. Newsreels of Hitler show he had tremors in his hand and a shuffling walk (also a symptom of tertiary syphilis, see above) which began before the war and continued to worsen until the end of his life. Morell treated Hitler with an agent commonly used to treat this condition in 1945, although Morell is viewed as an unreliable doctor by most historians and any diagnoses he may have made are subject to doubt.

A more reliable doctor, Ernst-Gunther Schenck, who worked at an emergency casualty station in the Reich Chancellory during April of 1945, also claimed Hitler might have Parkinson's disease. However, Schenck only saw Hitler briefly on two occasions and, by his own admission, was extremely exhausted and dazed during these meetings (at the time, he had been in surgery for numerous days without much sleep). Also, some of Schenck's opinions were based on hearsay from Dr. Haase.

Some doctors dismiss his ailments as hypochondria, pointing out the apparently drastic decline of Hitler's health as Germany began losing World War II.

[edit] Mental health

As debated as Hitler's physical medical issues may be, his mental health is a minefield of theories and speculation. This topic is very controversial, as many believe that if a psychological cause can be found for Hitler's behavior, it may serve as an excuse for his atrocities.

Waite, who authored an extensive psychohistory of Hitler, concluded that he suffered from borderline personality disorder, which manifested its symptoms in numerous ways and would imply Hitler was in full control of himself and his actions. Others have proposed he may have been schizophrenic, based on claims that he was hallucinating and delusional during his last year of life. If true, this might be explained by a series of brief reactive psychoses in a narcissistic personality which could not withstand being confronted with reality (in this case that he was not the "superman" or "savior of Germany" he envisioned, as his plans and apparent early achievements collapsed about him). However, Hitler never visited a psychiatrist, and under current methodology, any such diagnosis is speculation.

[edit] Sexual Orientation

Questions about Hitler's sex life present similar problems. In 1943, the Allied Office of Strategic Services (OSS) published "A Psychological Analysis of Adolf Hitler: His Life and Legend." In the course of the 281-page report, the authors describe Hitler "(1) as he appears to himself, (2) as he has been pictured to the German people, and (3) how he is known to his associates."[1] Using this information, they then perform a "psychological analysis ... in which an attempt is made to understand Hitler as a person and the motivations underlying his actions."[1] On page 138, Hitler is described as "an extreme masochist who derives sexual pleasure from having a woman squat over him while she urinates or defecates in his face."[2] According to interviews with Otto Strasser, Hitler made his niece, Angela Raubal (whom he called Geli), "squat over his face ... [and] demanded that she urinate on him and this gave him sexual pleasure."[3] However, this conclusion is not without its detractors. In Hitler and Psychohistory, Hans Gatzke argues that many of the report's conclusions are "based on nonexistent, unreliable, or misinterpreted evidence" that "historians would not accept ... as valid."[4] Journalist Ron Rosenbaum, in his book Explaining Hitler, actually made a point of tracking down the psychologists who contributed to this OSS report (but whom Langer did not directly acknowledge), and found that they denied ever making such diagnoses or claims about Hitler's paraphilias. According to his interviews, Rosenbaum found that much of the claims in the OSS report were apparently made up by its author, Langer. Rosenbaum suggested that Langer may have written such claims for entertainment value, noting that in the preface of the original report, Langer himself admitted that by the time he wrote it (1943), the Allies already considered the war against the Axis won, and as such, the report may not have had much strategic value.

In 1945 a Jewish historian by the name of Samuel Igra published "Germany's National Vice"[3] (homosexuality was known as "the German vice" across Europe in the 1920s and 30s), in which Igra, who escaped from Germany in 1939, alleged that Hitler "had been a male prostitute in Vienna at the time of his sojourn there, from 1907 to 1912, and that he practiced the same calling in Munich from 1912 to 1914" (Igra:67). None of Hitler's supposed former clients are known to have come forward during his rise to power or later. In addition, Hitler's friends from his Vienna days claim that he was vociferously opposed to prostitution. Somewhat more credible arguments that Hitler may have been homosexual were put forward in a book by Lothar Machtan, based primarily upon the "Mend Protocol," a series of allegations made to the Munich Police in the early 1920s by a former soldier colleague of Hitler's. In 2004, an American documentary film based on Machtan's theory was produced by HBO titled Hidden Fuhrer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality.

In Explaining Hitler, Rosenbaum sarcastically remarked that theories concerning Hitler's mental state and sexual activity shed more light on the theorists than on Hitler.

Jack Nusan Porter, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, writes: Did Hitler despise homosexuals? Was he ashamed of his own homosexual or asexual identity? These are areas of psychohistory that are beyond known knowledge. My own feelings are that Hitler was asexual in the traditional sense and had bizarre sexual fetishes.

[edit] Autopsy comment on anatomy

Soviet doctor Lev Bezymenski, allegedly involved in the Soviet autopsy, stated in a 1967 book that Hitler's left testicle was missing, (see Hitler Has Only Got One Ball). Bezymenski later admitted it was falsified. Since Hitler, just like Goebbels, was burned (carbonized, to be exact) after his suicide, there hardly could be much left for autopsy after his death. Hitler was routinely examined by many doctors throughout his childhood, military service and later political career, and no clinical mention of any such condition has ever been discovered. Records do show he was wounded in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, and some sources describe his injury as a wound to the groin. Hitler's World War I company commander said a VD exam found that Hitler had only one testicle, but this individual was known to be politically critical of Hitler, and no documentation of the exam seems to exist.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Langer, Walter; Henry Murray, Ernst Kris, Bertram Lewin (1943). Preface (GIF). A Psychological Analysis of Adolf Hitler: His Life and Legend. Office of Strategic Services. Retrieved on 2006-03-23.
  2. ^ Langer, Walter; Henry Murray, Ernst Kris, Bertram Lewin (1943). Page 138 (GIF). A Psychological Analysis of Adolf Hitler: His Life and Legend. Office of Strategic Services. Retrieved on 2006-03-23.
  3. ^ Hitler and Geli Raubal. Retrieved on 2006-03-23.
  4. ^ Gatzke, Hans (April 1973). "Hitler and Psychohistory". The American Historical Review 78 (2): 399–400.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Medical books

  • Bezymenski, L. (1968). The Death of Adolf Hitler: Unknown Documents from Soviet Archives. Harcourt Brace. ISBN 0-7181-0634-2
  • Doyle, D. (2005). Hitler's Medical Care PDF File
  • Heston, L. (1980). The Medical Casebook of Adolf Hitler: His Illnesses, Doctors, and Drugs. Stein & Day Pub. ISBN 0-8128-2718-X
  • Heston, L. (2000). The Medical Casebook of Adolf Hitler. Cooper Square Press. ISBN 0-8154-1066-2
  • Heston, L. (1999). Adolf Hitler: A Medical Descent That Changed History His Drug Abuse, Doctors, Illnesses. Baypoint Pr. ISBN 0-9665852-9-1
  • Langer, W (1943). A psychological analysis of Adolph Hitler: His life and legend. M.O. Branch, Office of Strategic Services. ASIN B0007F56QQ
  • Morell, Dr. T. et al. (1983). Adolf Hitler : The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. PDF File Focal Point Publications. ISBN 0-283-98981-5
  • Schwaab, E. (1992) Hitler's Mind: A Plunge into Madness. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-94132-9
  • Victor, G. (1999). Hitler: The Pathology of Evil. Potomac Books. ISBN 1-57488-228-7
  • Zalampas, S. (1990). Adolf Hitler: A Psychological Interpretation of His Views on Architecture Art and Music. Bowling Green State Univ Popular Pr. ISBN 0-87972-488-9

[edit] Other

[edit] External links


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