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The Hidden Hitler is the English language title for the 2001 book Hitlers Geheimnis. Das Doppelleben eines Diktators by German professor and historian Lothar Machtan. It was published in Germany by Alexander Fest Verlag and the English translated version by Basic Books in New York City. (ISBN 0465043089)
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 August Kubizek whom he met in Linz, Austria 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 Linz as well as Vienna, 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.
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 Chancellor of Germany, 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 Bayreuth.
Professor Machtan Machtan refers to scores of historical documents to support his conclusions while pointing out that there was a concerted effort during the 1920s to eradicate all evidence of Hitler's homosexual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 World War I, Adolf Hitler was a dispatch rider at the Front 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 Hidden Hitler reveals such things as police reports from Munich after World War I suggest that Hitler was being investigated because of his illegal sexual activities. Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow who took part in suppressing Hitler in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch 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 Rome by Hitler's Italian interpreter, SS Colonel Eugen Dollmann. Erich Ebermayer, a lawyer, playwright and poet 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, Ernst Röhm spent 15 months in prison, during which time he became a close, personal friend of Adolf Hitler. William L. Shirer wrote that Lieutenant Edmund Heines, whom Ernst Röhm 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 Freikorps 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)
Professor Machtan says that Hitler was particularly drawn to the effeminate Rudolf Hess whose contemporaries nicknamed him "Fraulein Hess," "Fraulein Paula," and "Black Emma." (p.143) Following their release from Landsberg prison 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 Paragraph 175.
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.
Major English-language newspapers including the London Times, The Scotsman, The Guardian , The Observer , reviewed or wrote about the book. In his May 2002 article in The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide magazine, gay author Charles Stone finds a convincing case for Hitler's early homosexual proclivities and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Paula Martinac reported on it at Q-online Q-online. The book received considerable international publicity and has been deemed of significance enough to be acquired by the University of Oxford, Faculty of History Library and the Lavender Library, Archives and Cultural Exchange of Sacramento, Inc. , Sacramento, California, amongst others.
Peer reviews:
- Booklist - 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.
- Library Journal - Machtan is able to provide evidence for his assertions as well as a nuanced and readable study of Hitler's sexuality
External links
- Sunday Telegraph (10/7/2001) said: "the distinguished German historian Dr Lothar Machtan presents compelling evidence that Adolf Hitler was a homosexual."
- Q-online article by Paula Martinac, a Lambda Literary Award-winning author
- New York Times Walter Reich was critical of the book, saying that Machtan's biggest problem "isn't the reliability of his sources but his mode of argumentation."
- Washington Post said "the author presents extensive evidence that Hitler was a homosexual and that his fear of his sexual identity being exposed shaped several of his political decisions and key historical events during the Nazi era."
- Lothar Machtan authorized "The Hidden Hitler" to be scanned in full by Amazon.com to facilitate search referencing.
See also: