Newspaper article about Hitler in WWI

[Liam]

I didn't write this, it's an article from a newspaper...


THE world remembers him as a strutting demagogue who held millions in his thrall as he plunged mankind into unparalleled bar-barity. But an amazing find in a German archive now sheds new light on Adolf Hitler as a trench- fighter in the First World War.

Hitler’s years in the German army during the Great War have long been a mystery because of the lack of first- hand accounts. Now a memoir written by a forgotten Ger-man author has been rediscovered. It paints a picture of a madman in the mak-ing – a warrior who braved shells and bullets but who even amid the destruction and pri-vations found time to rail against the English and all other enemies.

These words were written by Alexander Moritz Frey, a young medical assistant in the army of the Kaiser, the first time he set eyes on the man who would later lead his country: “ A pale, tall man tumbled down into the cel-lar after the first shells of the daily evening at-tack had begun to fall, fear and rage glowing in his eyes. At that time he looked tall, be-cause he was so thin. A full moustache … cov-ered the ugly slit of his mouth. “ He sat there panting. His yellow face grew red ... and he resembled a gobbling turkey as he began to rant about the English. “ I immediately had the same impression that many had of him later – that he took the military manoeuvres of the enemy person-ally, as if they wanted to take his precious life in particular.”

Frey’s writings – in the form of essays and fiction – were eventually forgotten. Histori-ans have spent the decades since the Nazi dic-tator took his life in his Berlin bunker at the end of the Second World War trying to deci-pher the Hitler enigma. But nobody really knew what Hitler the soldier was like. Until now. German journalist Stefan Ern-sting recently rediscovered the work that Frey, who served alongside Hitler in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment, left behind.

Ernsting’s new biography of Hitler’s fellow soldier, The Fantastic Rebel Alexander Moritz Frey, republishes Frey’s eyewitness ac-counts of the man who would change 20th century history. It is the first reliable, first-person account by someone who served alongside Hitler. Ernsting, whose book is due to be pub-lished in English next year, said: “ Two or three of his former comrades tried to cash in on having known Hitler during the war, but their testimonies were not useful for histori-cal research because you couldn’t separate facts from fiction and most of it was just nos-talgia anyway.”

Of that night that he first met Hitler, Frey went on: “ We gave him something to drink, he calmed down a little and then he got worked up again about the ‘ impertinence’ and ‘ stupidity’ of the enemy. Finally he stuck his head carefully outside, listened around, and, seeing that everything was calm, the shelling long over, he disappeared with an ill- tempered farewell. “ When people claim he had been a cow-ard, that’s not true. He spoke, ranted, boasted and distorted the true state of affairs with a certain cunning talent back then as a lowly private, just as he would do 25 years later – to all intents and purposes with the same words – as the holder of unlimited power. “ But he also wasn’t brave, he lacked the composure for that. He was always alert, ready to act, back- stabbing, very concerned about himself.”

On one occasion he was in a train with Frey and Max Amann, his sergeant and later a Nazi party functionary. Frey recalled: “ Hitler sat opposite us, sleep-ing with his mouth open… He slept with his chin hanging down and had stretched out his feet in such a way that Amann was wedged in … He gave the sleeping man a kick against the shinbone. Hitler gave a start. “‘ Kindly keep your joints to yourself!’ said the sergeant in a commanding tone. Hitler understood, then he went red. For a moment he looked liked he wanted to lunge at the other man, but he said nothing. “ Amann said, in a sarcastically pacifying tone: ‘ Yes, I mean you, Private Hitler’,” Frey recalled .

“ After the end of the war, in Munich, where we both lived, I often saw Hitler, although I never spoke to him again. I often ran into him in the Maximilianstrasse. He bought his newspapers at the same stand as I did. He bought a lot of newspapers … The news-paper woman appreciated him as one of her best customers. “ We ran into each other sometimes in Café Heck. Hitler would sit there together with a half- dozen confidants. He always greeted me hastily, the blood rising quickly in his face, probably because of his antipathy to-wards me because I did not share his politics. “ As fate would have it, I met Hitler on the evening before his putsch in the Bürger-bräukeller.” This so- called Blood Putsch was when he tried to seize power, failed and ended up with a five- year jail term.

“ It was in Maximilianstrasse again… No-body appeared to recognise Hitler … the evil, fanatical stare was directed into the empty air, which meant he was walking along in the abundance of his demonical visions. “ He was walking along, not wearing a hat, his permanently oily, shimmering black hair was combed very precisely, and he was wear-ing a yellow raincoat.”

Ernsting stumbled on the trail of Frey’s eye- witness accounts of Hitler while reading an anthology of essays about early German science fiction and fantasy writing. “ One essay about Frey mentioned in pass-ing that he had fought alongside Hitler in the First World War,” Ernsting recalls. “ I thought, wait a minute. I have to check this out.” Ernsting began searching for information and struck gold when he found Frey’s essay The Unknown Private – Personal Memories of Hitler in an archive in Marbach.

Writer: Alan Hall

[Doktor Krollspell]

Hello Liam!

The book you're referring to is just released in Germany. Follow link for some information:
http://www.amazon.de/phantastische-Rebe ... 638&sr=1-6


http://www.amazon.de


Could be interesting...

Krollspell

[Annelie]

Yes interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Goes to show you that people do not really change but
are the same character most of their lives. I guess he
was born with that attitude. Of course he knew he was
destined for "greater" things early in his life I believe
I read?

[jamesjack]

Give us a break! took a long time for Herr Frey to be re-discovered.
Just a re-hash of what we already know by someone on the make.

Adolf Hitler served the whole war as a ''trench pig'', his bravery and dedication have never been questioned, even by his most vehement detractors.

Did the cosmic sadist let him survive, or was it arbitary luck?
Whatever, you could'nt make it up.

[Doktor Krollspell]

Hello Jamesjack!

You're probably right when it comes to this kind of new, or recently "discovered" books about the "young" Hitler, the "unknown" Hitler, the "whatever" Hitler etc. etc. Sensationalist biographical writing is apparently very popular and sells well. I still remember that plain bad book by Lothar Machan a cople of years ago that argued for, or tried to promote the "homosexual" Hitler. What rubbish it was! (Yes, I did read it... and bought it... ).

I looked arond for reviews and comments on the "Frey" book by Stefan Ernsting and found mostly partly negative and critical ones...


Regards,

Krollspell

[jamesjack]

Well said Doctor Krollspell. The bullshit written about Hitler is beyond belief.

As you have been on this forum a long time, perhaps you can help me in my quest to obtain the lyrics of[IMO] the best song of the nazi era, ie
Deutsche Arbeitsfront Lied.

Regards.
Jamesjack.

[Uli]

I didn't write this, it's an article from a newspaper...


THE world remembers him as a strutting demagogue who held millions in his thrall as he plunged mankind into unparalleled bar-barity. But an amazing find in a German archive now sheds new light on Adolf Hitler as a trench- fighter in the First World War.

Hitler’s years in the German army during the Great War have long been a mystery because of the lack of first- hand accounts. Now a memoir written by a forgotten Ger-man author has been rediscovered. It paints a picture of a madman in the mak-ing – a warrior who braved shells and bullets but who even amid the destruction and pri-vations found time to rail against the English and all other enemies.

These words were written by Alexander Moritz Frey, a young medical assistant in the army of the Kaiser, the first time he set eyes on the man who would later lead his country: “ A pale, tall man tumbled down into the cel-lar after the first shells of the daily evening at-tack had begun to fall, fear and rage glowing in his eyes. At that time he looked tall, be-cause he was so thin. A full moustache … cov-ered the ugly slit of his mouth. “ He sat there panting. His yellow face grew red ... and he resembled a gobbling turkey as he began to rant about the English. “ I immediately had the same impression that many had of him later – that he took the military manoeuvres of the enemy person-ally, as if they wanted to take his precious life in particular.”

Frey’s writings – in the form of essays and fiction – were eventually forgotten. Histori-ans have spent the decades since the Nazi dic-tator took his life in his Berlin bunker at the end of the Second World War trying to deci-pher the Hitler enigma. But nobody really knew what Hitler the soldier was like. Until now. German journalist Stefan Ern-sting recently rediscovered the work that Frey, who served alongside Hitler in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment, left behind.

Ernsting’s new biography of Hitler’s fellow soldier, The Fantastic Rebel Alexander Moritz Frey, republishes Frey’s eyewitness ac-counts of the man who would change 20th century history. It is the first reliable, first-person account by someone who served alongside Hitler. Ernsting, whose book is due to be pub-lished in English next year, said: “ Two or three of his former comrades tried to cash in on having known Hitler during the war, but their testimonies were not useful for histori-cal research because you couldn’t separate facts from fiction and most of it was just nos-talgia anyway.”

Of that night that he first met Hitler, Frey went on: “ We gave him something to drink, he calmed down a little and then he got worked up again about the ‘ impertinence’ and ‘ stupidity’ of the enemy. Finally he stuck his head carefully outside, listened around, and, seeing that everything was calm, the shelling long over, he disappeared with an ill- tempered farewell. “ When people claim he had been a cow-ard, that’s not true. He spoke, ranted, boasted and distorted the true state of affairs with a certain cunning talent back then as a lowly private, just as he would do 25 years later – to all intents and purposes with the same words – as the holder of unlimited power. “ But he also wasn’t brave, he lacked the composure for that. He was always alert, ready to act, back- stabbing, very concerned about himself.”

On one occasion he was in a train with Frey and Max Amann, his sergeant and later a Nazi party functionary. Frey recalled: “ Hitler sat opposite us, sleep-ing with his mouth open… He slept with his chin hanging down and had stretched out his feet in such a way that Amann was wedged in … He gave the sleeping man a kick against the shinbone. Hitler gave a start. “‘ Kindly keep your joints to yourself!’ said the sergeant in a commanding tone. Hitler understood, then he went red. For a moment he looked liked he wanted to lunge at the other man, but he said nothing. “ Amann said, in a sarcastically pacifying tone: ‘ Yes, I mean you, Private Hitler’,” Frey recalled .

“ After the end of the war, in Munich, where we both lived, I often saw Hitler, although I never spoke to him again. I often ran into him in the Maximilianstrasse. He bought his newspapers at the same stand as I did. He bought a lot of newspapers … The news-paper woman appreciated him as one of her best customers. “ We ran into each other sometimes in Café Heck. Hitler would sit there together with a half- dozen confidants. He always greeted me hastily, the blood rising quickly in his face, probably because of his antipathy to-wards me because I did not share his politics. “ As fate would have it, I met Hitler on the evening before his putsch in the Bürger-bräukeller.” This so- called Blood Putsch was when he tried to seize power, failed and ended up with a five- year jail term.

“ It was in Maximilianstrasse again… No-body appeared to recognise Hitler … the evil, fanatical stare was directed into the empty air, which meant he was walking along in the abundance of his demonical visions. “ He was walking along, not wearing a hat, his permanently oily, shimmering black hair was combed very precisely, and he was wear-ing a yellow raincoat.”

Ernsting stumbled on the trail of Frey’s eye- witness accounts of Hitler while reading an anthology of essays about early German science fiction and fantasy writing. “ One essay about Frey mentioned in pass-ing that he had fought alongside Hitler in the First World War,” Ernsting recalls. “ I thought, wait a minute. I have to check this out.” Ernsting began searching for information and struck gold when he found Frey’s essay The Unknown Private – Personal Memories of Hitler in an archive in Marbach.

Writer: Alan Hall

"Hitler's years in the German army during the Great War have long been a mystery...."

Hitler earned an Iron Cross during the war; no mystery here.

"A pale, tall man tumbled down into the cel-lar...."

5'8" is tall?

"A full moustache...covered the ugly slit of his mouth...."

Comely Eva Braun didn't find Hitler 'ugly,' and neither did his adoring niece, Geli. For that matter, he was known to have conducted relationships with actress Inge Ley, Austrian beauty Susi Liptauer, and Martha Dodd, daughter of an American ambassador. In the Twenties, Frau Helene Bechstein gave him objets d'art and costly pieces of jewelry to help him and his fledgling Nazi Party survive. Frau Magda Goebbels, a seriously nice-looking dish of womanhood who might've had any man of her choosing throughout Central Europe, was absolutely devoted to Hitler.

[phylo_roadking]

and Martha Dodd, daughter of an American ambassador

...although strangely enough her diaries don't mention that...

[Uli]

and Martha Dodd, daughter of an American ambassador

...although strangely enough her diaries don't mention that...

I can't confirm that information, phylo: I received it in 1976 from British author George Bruce.

In any regard, it's unlikely her diaries would indeed mention it out of postwar political expediency.

[phylo_roadking]

....nor any of the biographies or autobiographies of any of their contemporaries they crossed paths with. Have you seen Metcalfe's "1933"? It's a culling of her diaries, Rudolf Diels, Bella Fromm's and Putzi Hanfstaengel's. It's clear there that any little interest came purely from AH's side, wasn't physically expressed, and wasn't returned.

[Jock]

Haha, Uli, you make me laugh.

Would that be his niece Geli, who by most accounts commited suicide because of Uncle Adi's infatuation towards her?

Or if you have another reason, pray tell. Perhaps she thought she was fat? Or was just so distraught about Schalke losing the Pokal?

Clown.

[phylo_roadking]

There's always been a school of thought that reckoned her "suicide" was as much a suicide as a James-Forrestal-out-the-window-of-Bethesda-Naval-Hospital jobbie...

[Jock]

Purely playing devil's advocate, but...

What advantage would her death have to Hitler? Surely if she was about to go public, he could have ridiculed any suggestions beyond belief, especially at that time?

From what I hear, Geli had no way out, and took the only way out.

[phylo_roadking]

Yes, she could have been shouted down, but sh1t stinks....and sticks. And going by some of the recorded events of his sex life, THIS time what would hit the fan would be the more masochistic side of BDSM (AH being the sub....) with more than a whiff of incest.

[Uli]

Here's another bit of seeming confusion on the part of the aforementioned newspaper article and the author's questionable recollection:

"We gave him [Hitler] something to drink," noted the author--"and he calmed down a little and...."

Truth is, Hitler was a staunch teetotaler, a rigid vegan who lived on mineral water and only occasionally indulged in a post-dinner dessert of Bavarian creamcakes--these cakes potentially his lone culinary vice.

Born in a land where the world's finest beer and schnapps are produced, it's hard to imagine that Hitler didn't at least periodically intake these savory spirits, but in all my years of reading on the man I've never once encountered a passage in which Hitler was noted to have imbibed in alcoholic beverage.

At any rate, here's one for the rest of us!