Day 147 – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Hitler: A Biography by Ian Kershaw is a book I started way back on Day 59… then I got engrossed in the Romanov books, so Hitler got set aside for a few weeks. Well, I’m digging back into it and find it completely fascinating.

Before I get into a few things, I want to let you know that unless you’re very familiar with Germany history and its governmental hierarchy prior to Hitler’s dictatorship, it can be a difficult read. Just trying to keep who’s who straight in my head is a challenge! If you do decide to read this book, I suggest reading alongside of, or right after reading Hitler’s own Mein Kampf. Having just finished Hitler’s book a few weeks ago, it makes reading this biography more interesting – seeing how Hitler had envisioned things in his book, then seeing how things happened in the biography.

Okay, onto the story! I’ve read about seven chapters since my last entry on this book. These cover the years from about 1918 to 1933 when Hitler is finally given the Reich Chancellorship.

Kershaw goes into great detail about how Hitler’s charismatic speeches are what got him attention and how his use and mastery of propaganda landed him the position as the “Leader” of the NSDAP (the political party of which he was a member). Kershaw talks about the speeches themselves, some eyewitnesses of the “events” and pulls information from people who kept memoirs/journals while working for/with Hitler.

He talks about how the government, early on, didn’t see Hitler or the NSDAP as a political threat. This was due to many factors, but one of which was that Hitler, though powerful when speaking to an audience, was very much the opposite. He was viewed as a simple, uncultured, common man. But slowly through the years, speech after speech, he captured the awe of the German people.

Interestingly, Hitler did not view himself as the one to lead the German people. He saw his greatest achievement as being the one to stir up the masses for the “national movement.” It wasn’t until after his imprisonment (where he wrote Mein Kampf) that Hitler viewed himself as a leader. This was partly due to taking full responsibility of the putsch which landed him in prison as well as the fact that the NSDAP was internally becoming more and more divisive. Most people believed that Hitler was the only one to bring the party back together.

Soon, Hitler began to be seen as the Fuhrer (which technically just means ‘leader’) – and the Fuhrer cult was born.

Little by little Kershaw chips away at Hitler’s rise to power. His speeches, his propaganda, his supporters, his enemies, his cult following are all laid out. He talks about how Hitler met Joseph Goebbels who became Hitler’s propaganda director. He also gives us a glimpse of Heinrich Himmler – at the time a former agricultural student who reared chickens. Like Hitler, he wasn’t seen as much of a threat. But as history shows us, underneath his seemingly common exterior lay the cold, ruthless overlord of the SS.

Some other items of interest was the fact that Hitler, as he became more influential within the NSDAP, became more withdrawn. He would hide out in his “dressing room” prior to a speech, he rarely took guests, he’d make appointments only to break them, and the like. Of course, most of this was to make his seem more important – more mysterious.

He was also a very indecisive person. Kershaw states that Hitler would avoid making decisions, but that when he had to, it was all-or-nothing. But for the most part, instead of making a decision, he would give whomever he was talking to, a nice long monologue about his idealogy – many lasting more than an hour.

He also seemed to have a split personality. Kershaw quotes many people who had spent time with Hitler in the early years – saying that one minute he’d be out of his mind with rage and the next he’d be quiet and calm as if nothing had happened. Some claimed it was all an act; others weren’t so sure.

Another interesting little tidbit was that Hitler, at least up to the point that he became Reich Chancellor, never really had a plan on how to accomplish his lofty goals. He would give his staff one of his monologues about his ideas and they would have to figure out how to accomplish the task.

Oh, another thing that was interesting was the fact that Hitler wasn’t a German citizen. Kershaw talks about the frenzy that took place trying to get him his citizenship when at the last moment, he decided to run for president.

As I wrapped up chapter 9, Kershaw shows how it was America’s Wall Street crash in 1929 that had the biggest impact on Hitler’s rise to the chancellorship… and as America’s depression began to affect Germany’s economy, the German people became more frustrated with their government. Hitler’s propaganda machine was in full gear – and though it took nearly three and a half years, he was finally named Reich Chancellor of Germany.

His rise to Reich Chancellor was technically done legally, but Kershaw goes in depth about the machinations and manipulations that went on behind the scenes to get him there.

Well, now he’s Reich Chancellor, I’m on chapter 10 (of 28) and still have about 700 pages to go. I still can’t believe that this is the abridged version of Kershaw’s work.