The Hidden Hitler, Lothar Machtan. (Hardcover 0465043089)

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The Hidden Hitler
Author: Lothar Machtan

As an intimate portrait of Hitler and as a surprising portrait of the homoerotic nature of the early Nazi movement, The Hidden Hitler is a major and certainly controversial contribution to the biographical literature. — Adolf Hitler. No other figure in contemporary history is associated with such far-reaching historical impact and such monstrous ... more »crimes. His name alone is emblematic of world war and Holocaust. If only because of the barbarity for which he is responsible, Adolf Hitler has become an anxiety neurosis, a vision of horror. And that is why he remains even now as he was to many of his contemporaries: an incomprehensible mystery. In the half century since his death, he has been the subject of over 120,000 publications, and yet the historian John Lukacs, who has tried to impose some sort of order on the chaotic jumble, comes to the significant conclusion that "We are far from done with Hitler."

What Hitler did in history has been amply documented in the monumental work of historians and biographers such Alan Bullock, Joachim Fest, Hans Mommsen and Ian Kershaw. Who Hitler was, however, as a person, what anchored him emotionally, has either eluded or been of little interest to writers who often burden themselves with the search for the origin of his evil as the explanation for his life and its consequences. Drawing from a wealth of archival sources, much of which has been long overlooked by historians, The Hidden Hitler focuses on Hitler the man. Lothar Machtan's controversial thesis is that Adolf Hitler was homosexual, and that one cannot begin to understand him, his entry into politics, and the early Nazi movement without a clear understanding of this aspect of his identity.

The Hidden Hitler documents the homosexual milieu in which the young Hitler lived and thrived from his early years in Vienna, through the beginnings of his political career in Munich, and during his years as the Fuhrer. Machtan documents a succession of homosexual and homosexually inclined men among Hitler's most intimate friends and supporters, including August Kubizek, Rudolf Husler, Reinhold Hanisch, Ernst Schmidt, Ernst Rˆhm, Dietrich Eckart, Rudolf Hess, Emil Maurice, "Putzi" Hanfstaengl and Kurt Ludecke. Of these, Eckart and Rehm were pivotal to his entry into politics. Machtan also unearths surprising new documents that attest to Hitler's homosexuality in those early years. Of particular importance is the "Mend Protocol," portions of which appear for the first time in this book. While it is doubtful that Hitler was sexually active in any way (gay or straight) after 1933, his homosexual past, nevertheless, was his Achilles' heel. It threatened him politically and left him open to blackmail by his most intimate associates. The assassination of Ernst Rˆhm, along with roughly 150 other men over a four day period in 1934, served as a chilling message to all with knowledge, or access to knowledge, about the Fuhrer's past life.

Recent books on the Nazi movement have argued that the Third Reich was a fundamentally sordid regime. Machtan provides powerful new evidence in support of this view. This side of Hitler and his "Munich clique," as Goebbels put it, has never been so vividly evoked. As an intimate portrait of Hitler and as a surprising portrait of the homoerotic nature of the early Nazi movement, The Hidden Hitler is a major and certainly controversial contribution to the biographical literature. Anyone who has read any previous biographer of Adolf Hitler will read The Hidden Hitler and wonder, "how could they have missed entirely the homosexuality of Hitler and his entourage?"

ISBN-13: 9780465043088
ISBN-10: 0465043089
Publication Date: 10/2001
Pages: 434
Rating:

Currently 2.8/5 Stars.

2.8 stars, based on 2 ratings

Publisher: Basic Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
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Jennifer G. (isaiahcalvin) reviewed The Hidden Hitler on 4/23/2006 + 37 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Historical perspective on the personal life of Hitler.

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Jon C. reviewed The Hidden Hitler on 6/10/2020 + 99 more book reviews

Incredibly interesting treatment of the Fuhrer and the background to his mania. The writing is pedantic, but the content is a new approach to Hitler, and one which bears attention.

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Thomas F. (hardtack) - , reviewed The Hidden Hitler on 10/22/2014 + 2555 more book reviews

This is a hard book to review.

You would like to believe that, homosexual or not, "dear sweet" Adolf had some kind of sexual inadequacy that made his life unfulfilling. After all, he made life so terrible for millions of people, so why shouldn't he have been unhappy too.

The fact that Hitler's "tragic flaw," whatever his sexual problem was, eventually led to death for 50 million people, and horror for tens of millions more, is an historic tragedy.

We'll probably never know, as he took great pains to destroy all evidence of his personal life.

This book has been criticized as being unfounded. The truth is there is evidence of homosexuality in many who were leaders of the Nazi party. Some of the criticism made be due to the fact that homosexuality is no longer considered politically IN-correct for many, and to brand Hitler as a homosexual may brand homosexuals as evil too.

Still, as one homosexual quoted in the books states, just because one homosexual is evil, doesn't mean all are.

The real tragedy is that there are still people today who believe Hitler was right in doing what he did.

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