Day 155 – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

I’ve been cranking through Ian Kershaw’s Hitler: A Biography and finding out a lot of interesting things. He talks about Hitler detesting physical exercise, which is completely contradictory to Hitler’s view he presents in Mein Kampf. If I remember correctly, Hitler actually wanted to change the education system to focus more on the physical than the mental. And if I wasn’t so lazy, I’d actually look it up (though I do know I commented on it in a previous blog on the book).

Another interesting tidbit is that Hitler was incredibly popular… I mean over the top popular. In 1938, Kershaw reports that, “When the results were announced on 10 April, 99.08% in the ‘Old Reich,’ and 99.75% in ‘Austria’ voted ‘yes’ to the Anschluss and to the ‘list of the Führer.'” He goes on to say that, “Whatever the undoubted manipulative methods, ballot-rigging, and pressure to conform which helped produce it, genuine support for Hitler’s action had unquestionably been massive” (page 414).

But even that summer, as Hitler planned to destroy Czechoslovakia, people in high positions began to oppose him.

Kershaw continues to talk about Hitler’s indecisiveness, how he’d waver from day to day on a position – but once he did make a decision, there was no turning back. Through Munich, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland… Hitler would change his mind on whether or not to invade… or when. It still surprises me that he was that indecisive.

Throughout what I’ve read thus far, Kershaw repeatedly points out how much Charles Darwin’s work influenced Hitler’s racial supremacy ideology (social darwinism). And even though in 1939 there was still no “Final Solution” Hitler allowed the “euthanasia action” – the “mercy killing” of the mentally ill and the incurably sick.

Also from what Kerhsaw states, Hitler rarely put things in writing. Most of his orders were verbal. I suppose this is so that he wouldn’t be held accountable for any atrocity.

Besides Hitler’s indecisiveness, I think the other thing that has really interested me is the fact that Hitler never (or rarely) had specific ideas on how to carry out something. He just gave a broad overview of what he wanted (solutions to the Jewish question, the church question, the Austrian question, the Czech question, the Polish question, etc)… and gave sort of a blanket approval to whatever happened. Only when things started to make him look bad did he put a stop to things. Mind you, this is all before the Holocaust.

The way Kershaw writes suggests that the “brains” behind the brutality were those of people like Himmler, Heydrich, Goebbels and so on. Those with power wanted more and used Hitler’s popularity and his radical ideology to implement their own schemes and plans.

Hitler knew what was going on, he was kept well informed (Kershaw even shows how Hitler knew about those in the higher ranks who were in opposition to him), so though others may have thought of and carried out the horrors, Hitler certainly knew about them and allowed them, and even encouraged them.

Well, I’m about 2/3 of the way through the book… and I’m up to where he’s planning his invasion of the Soviet Union (with whom he recently signed a non-aggression pact); and Winston Churchill just came into the picture. Things should get even more interesting.