Adolf Hitler and his place in History

As a young man, I was not interested in history.  As for the events of World War II, I accepted the conventional wisdom of the events and personages involved.  In recent times I have become interested in alternative historical views, particularly concerning Germany and Adolf Hitler.

It cannot be denied that Adolf Hitler is probably the most important figure of the 20th Century.  Visiting Berlin for the first time filled me with awe as I stood where so many recent world-changing events had occurred or been conceived .

Me in Berlin, November 2012 (second visit)

 

I can also remember the trepidation I felt when I decided to read Hitler's "Mein Kampf" (translation: "My Struggle"), together with the shock I received when it appeared not to be the ravings of a psychotic lunatic but a reasoned work of literature.

 

Certain things became clear to me when I began to examine Hitler with an open mind.

 

• The conventional, historical portrayal of Hitler as a psychologically damaged psychopath does not accord with the facts.
• Hitler came from relatively modest working/middle-class beginnings.
• He clearly felt that he had a destiny to liberate Germany from a period of destitution and defeat.
• Those close to him saw him as a "Messiah" figure rather than just a political leader.
• From 1933 to 1939, he achieved what could only be described as economic and social miracles within Germany, a country impoverished after defeat in World War I

 American historian, Russell Stolfi, has recently attempted to present a more reasoned biography of Hitler with his "Hitler: Beyond Evil and Tyranny".

 

 

The other aspect that all students of Hitler and National Socialism will encounter is occultism.  There is no doubt that Hitler had close associations with many individuals with serious occult and mystical interests.  See Peter Crawford's blog for an in-depth examination of occultism and the Third Reich.     

 

 

Perhaps it is only now that the public at large are beginning to realise that the true story of Adolf Hitler is not what mainstream historians have told them

 

I was pleasantly surprised to read comments under an article seeking to label Israeli Zionists as "Nazis" which admonished the author for making such a trivial link between Nazism and evil.

 

Perhaps the skill of critical thinking is returning to the world at large...