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{{short description|2001 book by Lothar Machtan}}
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{{Infobox book
⚫ '''''The Hidden Hitler''''' is the ] title for the 2001 book ''Hitlers Geheimnis. Das Doppelleben eines Diktators'' by ] professor and historian ]. It was published in Germany by Alexander Fest Verlag and the English translated version by Basic Books in ]. (ISBN 0465043089)
<!-- |italic title = (see above) -->
| name = The Hidden Hitler
| image = File:The Hidden Hitler, German edition.jpg
| caption = Cover of the first edition
| author = ]
| title_orig = Hitlers Geheimnis: Das Doppelleben Eines Diktators
| translator = John Brownjohn
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country =
| language = German
| series =
| subject = ]
| publisher = ]
| pub_date = 2001
| english_pub_date = 2001
| media_type = Print (])
| pages = 434 pp
| isbn = 0-465-04308-9
| oclc =
| dewey = 943.086/092 B
| congress = DD247.H5 M235 2001
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}


⚫ '''''The Hidden Hitler''''' ({{langx|de|Hitlers Geheimnis. Das Doppelleben eines Diktators}}; literally "Hitler's Secret: The Double Life of a Dictator") is a 2001 book by German professor and historian ]. The German original was published by Alexander Fest Verlag, while the English-translated version was published by ] in ] ({{ISBN|0-465-04308-9}}).
Professor Machtan spent five years doing research, uncovering extensive evidence to support his theory that Hitler, as well as a large number of his closest friends and generals, were gay. Machtan's extensive research brought him to the conclusion that Hitler had a homosexual relationship with ] whom he met in ], ] in late 1905. Among the details, evidence showed that their close relationship lasted from 1905 to 1908 during which time the two lived together, sharing a bed in a room they rented on the Stumpergasse in Vienna. . In his post-war book, ''Young Hitler, the Story of Our Friendship'', Kubizek wrote that during their time together Hitler "always rejected the coquettish advances of girls or women. Women and girls took an interest in him in ] as well as ], but he always evaded their endeavors." In Kubizek's 1953 book he also wrote that Hitler had a great love for a girl named "Stefanie" and wrote her countless love poems but never sent them to her. Instead, the book says, Hitler read his poem "Hymn to the Beloved" to Kubizek. Several scholars have claimed that evidence shows that parts of Kubizek's book were fabricated, and the extensive research by one stated that while the Stefanie girl definitely existed, some of the 1953 writing was a deliberate "heterosexualizing" of Hitler in retrospect.


The book discusses ]. Machtan argues that Hitler was a ] ]. Among the evidence, he cites the allegedly ] nature of his friendship with ] during Hitler's youth in ]. The book was not well received by historians, who dispute Machtan's conclusion that Hitler was homosexual.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whisnant |first1=Clayton J.|authorlink=Clayton J. Whisnant |title=Queer Identities and Politics in Germany: A History, 1880–1945 |date=2016 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-939594-10-5 |language=en|pages=208, 285|quote=To be clear, there are few reputable historians today who would argue that Hitler was gay, and their arguments have not been seen as persuasive... Lothar Machtan’s The Hidden Hitler (New York: Basic Books, 2001) has not generally been well received by historians.}}</ref>
Professor Machlan also reveals that in February of 1919 Hitler spent the night at a railway hotel with a young farmer named Josef Neumeier then had the boy feed him for the next eight days. In 1937, while Hitler was ], the two began writing and Josef Neumeier requested a short private visit with him saying in his letter "after you have been so close to me once before in my life." In 1939, Hitler met his old friend in ].


==Reviews==
Professor Machtan Machtan refers to scores of historical documents to support his conclusions while pointing out that there was a concerted effort during the 1920s to eradicate all evidence of Hitler's homosexual relationships. In 1915, during ], Adolf Hitler was a dispatch rider at the ] in France. Years later, but at a time before Hitler became notorious, one of his fellow soldiers named Hans Mend claimed that Hitler actively carried on a homosexual relationship during the war. Hans Mend wrote in his memoirs: "At night, Hitler lay with Schmidl, his male whore." Schmidl, otherwise known as Ernst Schmidt, and Hitler were "inseparable lovers" for five years, according to Machtan. He says that Hitler's military service notes read that as a result of the love affair there was a reluctance among senior officers to promote him. According to Erich Ebermeier, a lawyer and writer who viewed Hitler's military files years later: "Despite his bravery towards the enemy, because of his homosexual activity he lost out on a promotion to non-commissioned officer."
The review in '']'' (12/16/01) said "he biggest problem with Machtan's book ... isn't the reliability of his sources but his mode of argumentation. He accepts what fits his thesis and rejects what doesn't. One feels, at times, that one is reading an internal ] report from the ] era rather than an evenhanded work of scholarship in which the author is ready to be led by the facts. To interpret evidence his way, Machtan employs innuendo and insinuation ..."


However, the review, written by Walter Reich, a psychiatrist and former director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, also concedes that "though Machtan doesn't succeed in proving that Hitler was an active homosexual, he does demonstrate that his life, in both the personal and the political spheres, was suffused with homosexual themes and personalities. In some odd way, this may actually serve to humanize Hitler. But it doesn't serve to explain him."
''The Hidden Hitler'' reveals such things as police reports from ] after ] suggest that Hitler was being investigated because of his illegal sexual activities. ] General ] who took part in suppressing Hitler in the 1923 ] said he accumulated Hitler's records and kept the Munich police file for years for self-protection in the event Hitler ever made a move against him. The police documents were published after the war in ] by Hitler's Italian interpreter, SS Colonel ]. Erich Ebermayer, a ], ] and ] who viewed Hitler's military files is quoted as saying that "Despite his bravery towards the enemy, because of his homosexual activity he lost out on a promotion to non-commissioned officer." After the failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, ] spent 15 months in prison, during which time he became a close, personal friend of ]. ] wrote that Lieutenant ], whom ] had appointed first as his deputy and then later as leader of the Munich branch of the S.A., was not only a homosexual but a convicted murderer. Professor Machtan says that former ] men knew "a lot about Hitler's homosexuality from back in Munich," for instance, his liaison with young Edmund Heines whom he says was also one of Ernst Röhm's lovers whose response to Hitler's criticism of his lifestyle was as follows: "Adolf hasn't the slightest reason to open his trap so wide - one word from me, and he'll shut up for good!" (p.212)


⚫ ==See also==
Professor Machtan says that Hitler was particularly drawn to the effeminate ] whose contemporaries nicknamed him "Fraulein Hess," "Fraulein Paula," and "Black Emma." (p.143) Following their release from ] in 1924, the two enjoyed a close personal relationship that Hess called a "most beautiful human experience." Rudolf Hess never left his side from then on." (p.143) and became his private secretary from 1925 on. Although at Hitler's suggestion Hess eventually married , Professor Machlan wrote that his wife later complained that her life with him was much like that of a "convent schoolgirl." (p.149)
*'']''

*]
Professor Machtan claims in his book that Hitler initially protected Ernst Röhm and others but eventually ordered the deaths of several high-ranking Nazis to prevent the secret of his homosexuality from surfacing after reports of their homosexuality began to surface in the media in response to the Nazi party hardliners asserting ].
*The '']'' character "Gay Hitler" possibly based on Machtan's book at ]

*Discussion of '']'' in the 1968 film '']''
As to why the Nazis began to persecute homosexuals, sending hundreds of thousands of them to their deaths in labor camps and the gas chambers, Professor Machtan wrote that Hitler never personally condemned homosexuality and allowed the persecution of gays in order to disguise his own true colors.
*], also known as the Gay Nazi Party

*]
Major English-language newspapers including the ], ], ] , ] , reviewed or wrote about the book. In his May 2002 article in ] magazine, gay author ] finds a convincing case for Hitler's early homosexual proclivities and ]-winning author ] reported on it at Q-online . The book received considerable international publicity and has been deemed of significance enough to be acquired by the ], Faculty of History Library and the Lavender Library, Archives and Cultural Exchange of Sacramento, Inc. , Sacramento, California, amongst others.


==Peer reviews:==
*] - This professor of modern history at Bremen University in Germany argues, with persuasive power, that to fully understand the Third Reich, one must realize that Hitler was homosexual and understand the homoerotic nature of the Nazi movement.
*] - Machtan is able to provide evidence for his assertions as well as a nuanced and readable study of Hitler's sexuality


==References==
{{reflist|2}}


==External links== ==External links==
* ] (10/7/2001) said: "the distinguished German historian Dr Lothar Machtan presents compelling evidence that Adolf Hitler was a homosexual." * '']'' (10/7/2001) said: "the distinguished German historian Dr Lothar Machtan presents compelling evidence that Adolf Hitler was a homosexual."
* Q-online article by ], a ]-winning author * Q-online article by ], a ]-winning author
* ] ] was critical of the book, saying that Machtan's biggest problem "isn't the reliability of his sources but his mode of argumentation." * '']'' ] was critical of the book, saying that Machtan's biggest problem "isn't the reliability of his sources but his mode of argumentation."
* ] said "the author presents extensive evidence that Hitler was a ] and that his fear of his sexual identity being exposed shaped several of his political decisions and key historical events during the ] era." * '']'' said "the author presents extensive evidence that Hitler was a ] and that his fear of his sexual identity being exposed shaped several of his political decisions and key historical events during the ] era."
* '']'' review by historian ], : "Lothar Machtan's thesis that Adolf Hitler was a homosexual is scientifically neither tenable nor fertile."
⚫ *Lothar Machtan authorized "''The Hidden Hitler''" to be scanned in full by ] to facilitate search referencing.
* '']'' (10/13/2001) review by historian ],

⚫ * Lothar Machtan authorized "''The Hidden Hitler''" to be scanned in full by ] to facilitate search referencing.

{{Authority control}}
⚫ '''See also:'''
*] {{DEFAULTSORT:Hidden Hitler, The}}
]

] ]
] ]
] ]
]

Latest revision as of 07:28, 31 October 2024

2001 book by Lothar Machtan
The Hidden Hitler
Cover of the first edition
AuthorLothar Machtan
Original titleHitlers Geheimnis: Das Doppelleben Eines Diktators
TranslatorJohn Brownjohn
LanguageGerman
SubjectSexuality of Adolf Hitler
PublisherBasic Books
Publication date2001
Published in English2001
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages434 pp
ISBN0-465-04308-9
Dewey Decimal943.086/092 B
LC ClassDD247.H5 M235 2001

The Hidden Hitler (German: Hitlers Geheimnis. Das Doppelleben eines Diktators; literally "Hitler's Secret: The Double Life of a Dictator") is a 2001 book by German professor and historian Lothar Machtan. The German original was published by Alexander Fest Verlag, while the English-translated version was published by Basic Books in New York City (ISBN 0-465-04308-9).

The book discusses Adolf Hitler's sexuality. Machtan argues that Hitler was a closeted homosexual. Among the evidence, he cites the allegedly homoerotic nature of his friendship with August Kubizek during Hitler's youth in Vienna. The book was not well received by historians, who dispute Machtan's conclusion that Hitler was homosexual.

Reviews

The review in The New York Times Book Review (12/16/01) said "he biggest problem with Machtan's book ... isn't the reliability of his sources but his mode of argumentation. He accepts what fits his thesis and rejects what doesn't. One feels, at times, that one is reading an internal F.B.I. report from the J. Edgar Hoover era rather than an evenhanded work of scholarship in which the author is ready to be led by the facts. To interpret evidence his way, Machtan employs innuendo and insinuation ..."

However, the review, written by Walter Reich, a psychiatrist and former director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, also concedes that "though Machtan doesn't succeed in proving that Hitler was an active homosexual, he does demonstrate that his life, in both the personal and the political spheres, was suffused with homosexual themes and personalities. In some odd way, this may actually serve to humanize Hitler. But it doesn't serve to explain him."

See also

References

  1. Whisnant, Clayton J. (2016). Queer Identities and Politics in Germany: A History, 1880–1945. Columbia University Press. pp. 208, 285. ISBN 978-1-939594-10-5. To be clear, there are few reputable historians today who would argue that Hitler was gay, and their arguments have not been seen as persuasive... Lothar Machtan's The Hidden Hitler (New York: Basic Books, 2001) has not generally been well received by historians.

External links

Categories: