The Hidden Hitler

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The Hidden Hitler is the English language title for the 2001 book Hitlers Geheimnis. Das Doppelleben eines Diktators by German professor and historian Lothar Machtan. It was published in Germany in its original language by Alexander Fest Verlag, while the English-translated version was published by Basic Books in New York City. (ISBN 0-465-04308-9)

Contents

[edit] Allegations

Machtan's research brought him to the conclusion that Hitler had a homosexual relationship with August Kubizek, whom he met in Linz, Austria in late 1905. Among the details, evidence showed that their close relationship lasted from 1905 to 1908, during which time the two lived together, sharing a single bed in a room they rented on the Stumpergaße in Vienna. In his post-war book, Young Hitler, the Story of Our Friendship, Kubizek wrote that during their time together Hitler "always rejected the coquettish advances of girls or women. Women and girls took an interest in him in Linz as well as Vienna, but he always evaded their endeavors." In Kubizek's 1953 book, he also wrote that Hitler had a great love for a girl named "Stefanie" and wrote her countless love poems but never sent them to her. Instead, the book says, Hitler read his poem "Hymn to the Beloved" to Kubizek. Several scholars have claimed that evidence shows that parts of Kubizek's book were fabricated, and the extensive research by one stated that while the Stefanie girl definitely existed, some of the 1953 writing was a deliberate "heterosexualizing" of Hitler in retrospect.

Machtan also reveals that, in February 1919, Hitler spent the night at a railway hotel with a young farmer named Josef Neumeier and had the boy feed him for the next eight days. In 1937, when Hitler was Chancellor of Germany, the two began writing, Neumeier requested a short private visit with him, saying in his letter "after you have been so close to me once before in my life." In 1939, Hitler met his old friend in Bayreuth.

Machtan refers to scores of historical documents to support his conclusions while alleging that there was a concerted effort during the 1920s to eradicate all evidence of Hitler's homosexual relationships. In 1915, during World War I, Hitler was a dispatch rider at the Front in France. Years later, one of his former comrades, Hans Mend, claimed that Hitler actively carried on a homosexual relationship during the war. Mend wrote in his memoirs: "At night, Hitler lay with Schmidl, his male whore." Schmidl, otherwise known as Ernst Schmidt, and Hitler were "inseparable lovers" for five years, according to Machtan. He says that Hitler's military service notes read that as a result of the love affair there was a reluctance among senior officers to promote him.

The Hidden Hitler reveals such things as police reports from Munich after World War I which suggest that Hitler was being investigated for illegal sexual activities. Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow, who took part in suppressing the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch said he accumulated Hitler's records and kept the Munich police file for years for self-protection in the event Hitler ever made a move against him. The police documents were published after the war in Rome by Hitler's Italian interpreter, SS Colonel Eugen Dollmann. Erich Ebermayer, a lawyer, playwright and poet who viewed Hitler's military files is quoted as saying that "Despite his bravery towards the enemy, because of his homosexual activity he lost out on a promotion to non-commissioned officer." After the failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, Ernst Röhm spent 15 months in prison, during which time he and Hitler became close, personal friends. William L. Shirer wrote that Lieutenant Edmund Heines, whom Röhm had appointed first as his deputy and then later as leader of the Munich branch of the S.A., was not only a homosexual but a convicted murderer. Machtan says that former Freikorps men knew "a lot about Hitler's homosexuality from back in Munich." For example, Machtan alleges that Hitler had a liaison with Edmund Heines, whom he says was also one of Röhm's lovers. When Hitler publicly condemned homosexuality as Chancellor, Heines remarked, "Adolf hasn't the slightest reason to open his trap so wide - one word from me, and he'll shut up for good!" (p.212)

Machtan says that Hitler was particularly drawn to Rudolf Hess, whose contemporaries nicknamed him "Fraulein Hess," "Fraulein Paula," and "Black Emma." (p.143) Following their release from Landsberg prison in 1924, the two enjoyed a close personal relationship that Hess called a "most beautiful human experience." Hess never left his side from then on, and became his private secretary from 1925 on. While Hess eventually married (at Hitler's suggestion), Machtan wrote that his wife, Ilse Prohl Hess, later complained that her life with him was much like that of a "convent schoolgirl." (p.149)

Machtan details in his book that Hitler initially protected Röhm and others within his circle whom he knew to be homosexual, but eventually ordered the execution of several high-ranking SA Nazis after reports of their homosexuality began to surface in the media. Details of the circumstances leading to these executions (following the Night of the Long Knives) may be found in Peter Padfield's biography of Heinrich Himmler. So outrageous and boisterous had homosexual debauchery become in countless Berlin SA barracks, including the open practice of sex with underage youth (pederasty), that hundreds of complaints were filed by Berlin citizens with the police. The Nazis were beginning to be recognized in Berlin for what they were: a militant homosexual rabble. This alone wasn't the reason SA homosexual officers were shot. It was Himmler's charge to Hitler that these people were about to depose him as head of the Nazi Party that got them shot.

A film about the book, titled Hidden Fuhrer: Debating the Enigma of Hitler's Sexuality, aired on HBO's Cinemax.

Major English-language newspapers including the The Times, The Scotsman, The Guardian [1], The Observer [2], reviewed or wrote about the book. In his May 2002 article in The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide magazine, gay author Charles Stone makes a case for Hitler's early homosexual proclivities, and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Paula Martinac reported on it at Q-online. The book received considerable international publicity and has been deemed of significance enough to be acquired by the University of Oxford, Faculty of History Library [3] and the Lavender Library, Archives and Cultural Exchange of Sacramento, Inc. [4], Sacramento, California, amongst others.

[edit] Industry reviews

  • Booklist - "This professor of modern history at Bremen University in Germany argues, with persuasive power, that to fully understand the Third Reich, one must realize that Hitler was homosexual and understand the homoerotic nature of the Nazi movement."
  • Library Journal - "Machtan is able to provide evidence for his assertions as well as a nuanced and readable study of Hitler's sexuality."

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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