The Hidden Hitler by Lothar Machtan Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.99 You Save: $14.96 (75%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.71 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Hidden Hitler
Book Review: Good But Not Great
Summary: 3 Stars
I have enjoyed reading The Hidden Hitler and when I turned to the Amazon reviews I found several reviews to be unfairly negative and the positive reviews to be brief and not helpful so I decided to make a few comments of my own on this useful book.
My comments here are critical but should not discourage the reader from approaching the book, which is accessible.
First, Machtan's thesis is not nearly so new or so ignored as he likes to present it. Konrad Heiden, one of Hitler's earliest biographers, goes over much of the same material but reaches totally different conclusions. Heiden notes that rumors of Hitler's homosexuality were rife in the 20's and 30's. Other biographers have reached different conclusions than Machtan does, which does not necessarily mean that Hitler's (alleged) homosexuality has been ignored. I note that Machtan totally ignores Heiden, except to list him in the bibliography, and perhaps the fact that Heiden, who was a contemporary of Hitler and published in 1944, disputes the homosexuality of Hitler prompted this otherwise curious omission.
As a second point, Machtan makes a mess of the Geli Raubal mystery. I know of few people who think her death was a suicide as Machtan strongly implies. He is right that facts are scarce but she died in 1931 about two years after her alleged lover was driven from the scene. Most accounts of her death recognize the central importance of letters to her written by Hitler. The letters were hunted down and the holders killed. Their contents are unknown but by inference were explosive - and they were between Hitler and Geli. A conservative thesis is that Hitler revealed himself, not as a homosexual, but as a man with sexual intentions toward her that shocked her. Machtan discusses Geli in a few short pages and does not report any of the inferences that do not support his thesis. Instead, he makes her out to be a sort of "trophy wife" or camouflage to hide his male dalliances. Again, I have not read any other account that argues that Hitler was not in love (as he defined it) with her and was not devastated by her death.
A Third point must be made. Some of the reviewers here accuse Machtan of poor sourcing and use of inference over facts. This is unjust. I believe Machtan marshals his sources as well as anyone can in this mystery. Please remember that Hitler, like Stalin, was at great pains to revise his biography and that both men considered murder a proper form of editing. Almost one hundred years after the fact it is extremely difficult to reach facts without inferring them from actions. The startling difference in interpretation is the central issue.
My final point is two-fold. First, that although Machtan tries hard not to pigeonhole Hitler, the use of the very loaded term homosexual in fact narrows the discussion, and does not broaden it.
The second point is that, to return to Heiden's analysis, there is more than one way to read the same material. Heiden explicity rejects homosexuality as a part of Hitler's makeup. Instead, he makes four points: 1) Hitler's reserve around women was an aspect of extreme shyness 2) that Hitler's view of women was an extreme case of the Madonna/Whore duality and he was alternately attracted to women and repelled by their "dirtiness." 3) that his actual sexuality, though direct primarily at women, defied a simple name and included sadism and masochism, dominance and fetishes that appalled Geli and other women. My point is not to agree or disagree with Heiden's assessment but to point to the fact that the same evidence can be interpreted in a number of ways. Finally, 4) Heiden and Machtan are in apparent agreement about the chameleon nature of Hitler and his ability to mimic his surroundings. Hitler was perfectly capable of knowingly surrounding himself with homosexual men, such as Rohm, discarding them when they ceased to be of value and then acting shocked when he "discovered" their proclivities. I think Machtan is on firm ground when he discusses the attraction to certain homosexuals of the Nazi movement and its forerunners. The cult of masculinity, if you will, would be a great attraction to some homosexual men and it is not in itself surprising that Hitler would use them for his own advancement.
In sum, I think Machtan actually narrows the understanding of Hitler by his thesis which seems to me to try and Put Hitler into a specific milieu and keep him there. I think the reality is much broader.
Book Review: Homosexuality Linked with Nazism
Summary: 5 Stars
Until a group of ranting homosexuals raided and disrupted the 1973 APA convention, psychiatrists understood that there were and are qwirks in the thinking and behavior of men who practice homosexuality. Romans chapter 1 teaches this, and I believe it is true. Lothar Machtan has done the work of a historian to show just how prevalent homosexuality was in the lives of prominent Nazi leaders. That is an undisputed fact of history. Now what remains is for honest psychiatrists, psychologists and sociologists to take off their blinders, and look again at what all the gay drama, gay-on-gay violence, etc. is really all about, and how such can and has influenced history in negative and hurtful ways. We have a great case history in Hitler and the Nazi Party. While it is difficult to say for certain if Hitler practiced homosexual behavior, from the testimonies of those who knew him, who have testified of witnessing his rolls in the hay with other men, and even in just looking at the photos of the other young men his age who were thought to be his gay lovers, I tend to believe that Hitler was in fact a practicing homosexual. The Eva Braun thing was very likely just a contrived cover story to make him look good to the rest of the world and to his more morally conservative supporters. He was after all terribly abused by his brutal father as a child, and was estranged from him, and was close to his mother, and was as a youth sent off to a boarding school. He fits the pattern and I believe it led to his emotional and mental disorder, or was it caused by it, or both? The facts may not be kind to the current and I hope passing rave of politically correctness, but we need to be honest scholars and not just ideologues lest we repeat the history that happened in Nazi Germany. I recommend reading The Pink Swastika by Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams to learn more how the occult and even demon possession also played into this whole picture.Book Review: Lacking and ill concieved
Summary: 1 Stars
The only thing this book really proves is that Hitler will never cease to be an endless fount of repulsion and morbid fascination and that ultimately he will always remain an unknowable mystery (but always good for turning a buck!). Machtan's case for Hitler's alleged homosexuality is based entirely on agenda serving assumptions and doubtful speculation derived entirely on unreliable circumstantial evidence completely lacking in sustained credibility. The book begins promisingly by reexamining the often repeated notion that Hitler was an "unperson" whose life was devoid of normal close/intimate social relations,(especially physical/sexual ones) a man whose entire life was devoted to and built around a larger than life persona that he had created for himself and that he always remained hidden and ultimately imprisoned behind that image. In terms of love and sexuality it is commonly believed that in his younger days he was a celibate prude that viewed such things with disgusted contempt developed in part to mask the fact that he could not confront his own profound feelings of impotence and inadequacy and that in his later years his only source of physical/sexual gratification was through degraded acts of perversion with unsuspecting well intentioned women. This is the most commonly accepted view held by most notable Hitler scholars who attempt to delve into the psyche of der fuhrer. Machtan's book proceeds by rejecting and dismissing this concept outright and this is where it goes astray. The book does not present a balanced set of possibilities concerning the sexual orientation of Hitler the man, the homosexual angle being only one theory (a dubious and farfetched one at that!) being presented and considered. Instead the book seems to proclaim as fact (in so many words)that Hitler WAS GAY!, unfortunately Machtan's reasoning is faulty and his "evidence" remains unpersuasive. Considering the homosexual embracing social climate and the current media love affair with all things gay it is not surprising that a homo Hitler should arrive on the scene (as arguably the most hated man in history he has certainly been slanderously accused of this and much worse before!)what does remain unclear is Machtan's motive in trying to propogate this agenda. This book can easily be dismissed as wild sensationalism combining two taboo subjects in a provocative mix sure to stir up controvery but ultimately it's lack of scholarly weight diminishes it's impact even on that superficial level. Mr. Machtan can believe what ever he chooses to believe even while grasping at straws to support his unsubstantiated convictions as for me I don't find it difficult to believe (along with the authors of a majority of much better books)that Hitler was in terms of his sexuality an extremely unhappy, bitter and repressed individual who could only relate to his(hetero)sexual urges by abusing compliant subservient women.Book Review: Possible but no real factual evidence..
Summary: 3 Stars
Hitler is a true historic enigma. His was such a contradictory life that biographers can easily read just about anything into it. He was somehow both monstrous and banal at the same time but was he a homosexual?Machtan seems to think that he was. But what constitutes proof of such a claim? Hitler was a historical figure, much has been written about him even during his life. There is a wealth of documentation for just about every facet of his personality, his day to day existence as both a private and very public figure.
So where's the proof? Machlan offers very little hard factual evidence that can be independently verified. Most of his proof are 'edited' interpretations of memoirs that are ambiguous at best. There just is no 'smoking gun' presented here just the same kind of innuendo that hints at everything and proves nothing.
Was Hitler a raging heterosexual then? No. He seems, to me, to have been more asexual then anything else. There was some sort of emotional 'relationship' between him and his niece.. was it a sexual one as well? Eva Braun ..kept carefully hidden from the German public.. was considered his sexual mistress by most of his closest companions...was that all just a cover? There is much more verifiable proof that his sexual drive was both heterosexual (and low).
So the thesis of this book? "Unproven" but probably not true is the best I can do. There are just too many blanks and too few hard facts given here to prove it.
Book Review: Short Story topic stretched into a 450-pg book
Summary: 1 Stars
I read this book, as I do all other historical works, to fill voids and/or add different perspective to my knowledge of, in this instance, Nazi Germany. Machtan presents his argument (evidence) in vacuum form. In other words, the book reads like numerous single subject short bios in rapid fire form - there is very little text to give the reader his bearings. Well, after wading through the entire book, I can only be sure of one thing: the author left no stone unturned or rabbit trail unexplored. The exhaustive work put into this book cannot be disputed. While the hard work is admirable, the book quickly bogs down into trite short bios on various men with connections, however, far removed, to Hitler. With the introduction of each man from Hitler's past, we are presented with the same litany of circumstantial evidence and hearsay upon hearsay designed to make a case for that particular man's homosexuality. Certain men, Ernst Rohm, for example, were known as members of the gay community. Machtan offers nothing to make any substantial nexus between Hitler and Rohm regarding alleged physical relations. Rohm is one of the exceptions to those studied in detail. A majority of the men were not openly gay. As a result, Machtan first has to establish a case for the individual's homosexuality. Then, Machtan repeatedly makes the huge leap of "now that I've shown this man was likely gay - he was often close to Hitler ..." Every bio on men from Hitler's past read the same: the man was probably gay because his landlady said he was odd (or he was a poet) and then insert some connection to Hitler. The author also overlooks the fact that Hitler was, among many other things, a master of surrounding himself with those who had a secret, the keeping of which, they were reliant upon Hitler. This was by design and gave Hitler additional power over his subjects - forced loyalty. An obvious result of such a tactic was Hitler's close relations to men with "dirty little secrets". History makes a much stronger argument that Hitler deemed such men useful to his ultimate goal. As the book inadvertently details, history lends no hard evidence to the notion Hitler was smitten with numerous men during his years. Lastly, Machtan plays on the "well, just because nobody thought they were gay does not mean they were not - heck, nobody admits to being gay - not in those days at least." Well, if that were the case, why the long book? They were all gay and so was Hitler. No thanks. I will stick with Kershaw's Hubris and Nemesis as both works more than detail what Machtan attempts to "reveal". Kershaw allows the reader to reach his own conclusion. This is a great read if you like historical fiction and spoon-feeding.
More The Hidden Hitler reviews:
1 2
1 2