HITLER'S WAR RECORD
"I FELL ON MY KNEES AND THANKED GOD!"
When the 1914-1918 war broke
out, a war described by Field-Marshall Lord Allenby as a lengthy period of
general insanity', Hitler, believing the war would set everything to right
expressed himself thus: "For me it was a deliverance. I am not ashamed to say
it today: I fell on my knees and thanked God.'
Ordinarily Hitler need not have been destined for the armed forces as for many
years he had been afflicted with tuberculosis. However on the 5th February
1914, months before war broke out and without there being any necessity for
him to take up arms in defence of his country the twenty-four year old Adolf
Hitler applied for military service and was turned away as 'Unfit for the army
or auxiliary corps. Too weak. Rejected.'
Passionate as always about the unification of German blood then spanning the
artificial state of Austria, the landlord of his Munich lodgings, Herr Popp,
recalled the small plaque posted over his young lodger's bed. It read 'Freely
with open heart we are waiting for you/Full of hope and ready for action/We
are expecting you with joy/Great German Fatherland, we salute you'.
THE UNKNOWN STUDENT
Here he lived in perfect obscurity, happy to spend his none labouring hours
absorbed in studying, reading, composing poetry, and of course sketching,
drawing and painting. The address was 34 Schliesshimerstrasse. One of the
interesting quirks of history is that at number 106 lived the equally unknown
(and unknown to each other) Ilyitch Ulyanov (Lenin).
Doing everything in his power to overturn this rejection, Adolf Hitler on the
3rd August 1914 sent a personal letter to the King of Bavaria begging him to
be allowed to enlist as a volunteer. His plea was accepted and he joined the
6th battalion of the 2nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment.
On 20th October 1914, during the German advance on France and confrontation
with the equally belligerent 2,000,000 strong British army of the empire,
Hitler in a letter to Frau Popp his landlady confessed: "I find it hard to
contain my enthusiasm. How many times have I wished to test my strength and
prove my national faith?"
FOUR YEARS ON FRONTLINE STRUGGLE
For four long years Hitler fought along the frontline trenches of the Western
Front's most furiously contested battlefronts. These apocalyptic conflicts
included the names of places still renowned for their valour and sheer scale
of lives lost. All grace the colours of many a regiment. Yser, Ypres, Flanders,
Neuve Chapelle, La Bassee, Arras, Artuis, Somme, Fromelles, Alsace Lorraine,
Aillette, Montdidier, Soissons, Rheims, Oise, Marne, Champagne, Vosle, Monchy,
Bapaume.
During those terrible years the future leader of the German people displayed
exemplary courage in a conflict that involved more than forty battles. He was
wounded on 5th October 1916 and hospitalised for two months. Then he was back
at the front until 15th October 1918 when he was hospitalised again, this time
for gas poisoning.
Throughout the course of the war he was cited for valour and distinguished
conduct in the field. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class on 2nd December
1914. He was also awarded the Bavarian Military Medal 3rd class with bar, and
later the Iron Cross 1st class. He received, as did all wounded soldiers, the
Cross of Military Merit.
"A MODEL OF COOLNESS AND COURAGE."
Lieutenant Colonel Godin, in his official request that Hitler be awarded the
Iron Cross 1st Class, stated: "He was a model of coolness and courage in both
trench warfare and assault combat. He was always ready to volunteer for
carrying messages in the most difficult and dangerous situations."
On awarding this recognition Colonel Anton Tubeuf further stated: "He was
always ready to help out in any situation, always volunteered for the most
difficult and most arduous, and the most dangerous missions, and to risk his
life and wellbeing for the Fatherland. On a human level, I felt closer to him
than to any of the other men."
Of him World War One veteran Colonel Spatny, then in command of the 16th
Regiment, was equally affirmative: "Hitler inspired all his comrades. His
fearless courage and devotion to duty, particularly in combat impressed them.
His qualifications, modesty, and his admirable sobriety earned him the
greatest respect of his comrades and superiors alike."
Werner Maser, former head of the Institute of Contemporary History at the
University of Munich, has written a large neutral biography called Hitler,
Legend, Myth and Reality (Harper and Row, 1971). The objective record is
clear: "Hitler's wartime record - campaigns, decorations, wounds, periods in
hospital and on leave, is fully documented. In addition there is evidence to
show that he was comradely, level headed and an unusually brave soldier, and
that a number of his commanding officers singled him out for special mention.
In 1922, at a time when Hitler was still unknown, General Friedrich Petz
summarised the High Command's appreciation of the gallant and self-effacing
corporal as follows: Hitler was quick in mind and body and had great powers of
endurance. His most remarkable qualities were his personal courage and daring
which enabled him to face any combat or perilous situation whatsoever."
Even those historians least favourably disposed towards Adolf Hitler, such as
Joachim Fest, conceded that 'Hitler was a courageous and efficient soldier and
was always a good comrade.' The same historian noted: "The courage and the
composure with which he faced the most deadly fire made him seem invulnerable
to his comrades. As long as Hitler is near us, nothing will happen to us, they
kept repeating. It appears this made a deep impression on Hitler and
reinforced his belief that he had been charged with a special mission."
John Toland, another respected but hardly revisionist historian wrote: "In the
course of the preceding months he had escaped death on innumerable occasions.
It was as though he had been wearing a good luck charm."
THE NEAR CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH PREMIER
The noted French historian, Raymond Cartier ruefully mused that "Corporal
Hitler was in all probability one of the German soldiers who got closest to
Paris in 1918." In another of history's ironies Adolf Hitler was one of a
patrol that nearly captured the French Premier Clemenceau, but that is another
story.
The times that Hitler cheated death became a legend that has baffled
historians ever since. Typically in one corner of conflict the troops of List
Regiment were held down in shell craters, the trenches having already been
destroyed, among the ruins of a village called Le Barque. Of the nine
regimental couriers seven had just been killed. In the command post, such as
it was, there were ten officers and two couriers. Suddenly a British bomb
exploded at the entrance to the refuge. There was just one survivor, Adolf
Hitler.
During his years at the front, as many pictures testify, Adolf Hitler far from
being a loner was very comradely. Ever his own man his daily routines were
characterised by civility. He never was known for embracing trench crudities
or brothel humour, and was generous to a fault. Yet despite having a
personality that usually draws disdain the soldier Adolf Hitler was highly
respected by his comrades.
THE TIRELESS SOCIALIST
Even Sebastian Haffner, a Jewish writer and fanatical Hitler hater, was forced
to admit "Hitler had a fierce courage unmatched by anyone at the time or since."
Another Jew by the name of Karl Hanisch, who shared lodgings with Hitler,
recalled him as 'a pleasant and likeable man who took an interest in the
welfare of all his companions.'
He late recalled that his fellow lodger "was neither proud nor arrogant, and
he was always available and willing to help. If someone needed fifty hellers
to pay for another night's lodging, Hitler would always give whatever he had
in his pocket without another thought. On several occasions I personally saw
him take the initiative and pass the hat for such a collection."
Hitler's war heroism is a matter of record and it was only when he entered
politics, in a bid to stem his rising popularity, that is was ever questioned.
Typically however detractors were forced to recant and pay damages. Historians
have noted that Adolf Hitler was born poor and died poor. In fact he was the
only statesman who never had a bank account.
HITLER'S ANTI-SEMITISM?
Anti-Semitism is considered to be anything that even mildly criticises Israeli
policy or the methods employed by Jews in their aspirations. Thus, the Jewish
politician, entrepreneur or upwardly mobile can get away with anything knowing
that no one – for fear of being labelled anti-Semitic – will expose or
challenge him. Ironically, those who suffer the most at the hands of Israel
are the Arabs – who are of course Semites! This is how the Israelis hi-jack a
term to their own advantage. They are the biggest anti-Semites of all, and
curse others with their affliction.
Under Hitler's regime, Jews in common with other non-Germans, lost their equal
status to nationals. Yet in some regards they were better off in Germany than
they were in Great Britain. By the same token Israelis in occupied Palestine
are higher up the pecking order than Germans (and Palestinians) who might care
to live there – now there's a thought. Racism or what?
Hitler was certainly hostile to international Jewry that had been the first to
declare war on his nation; a rather predictable outcome. He was however a
great lover of classical music and whenever he could he would attend Gustav
Mahler orchestrations. Mahler was of course Jewish. Emile Maurice was not only
a comrade from the earliest days but was a founder member of the NSDAP, and in
fact shared imprisonment with the future fuehrer. He too was of Jewish lineage.
Adolf Hitler's family doctor (as a youngster) was Dr. Eduard Bloch of Linz.
The doctor was a good practitioner who tended to waive substantial parts of
his bill. He also treated the German leader's mother who sadly died in
excruciating agony from the effects of breast cancer. His care was always
appreciated and even as the leader of the German nation Adolf Hitler enquired
as to Doctor Bloch's good health.
The doctor later said, "Some have put him down as harsh-voiced, defiant, and
untidy; as a young ruffian who personified all that was unattractive. This is
simply not true. As a youth he was quiet, well- mannered and neatly dressed.
His eyes – inherited from his mother – were large, melancholy and thoughtful.
To a very large extent this boy lived within himself. What dreams he dreamed I
do not know."
Many Jews continued there professions throughout the Reich not only through
the years leading up to Churchill's war but through it too. In fact, many
served; faithfully it must be said, in the German armed forces.