HITLER: THE PRIVATE MAN (TV)
Summary
A documentary about the personal life of dictator Adolf Hitler, told through interviews and rare film footage.
Hitler was born in the small town of Branau am Inn in Austria-Hungary, where by his own admission he led a “mischievous” childhood. He had aspirations of being an artist, but this met with his father Alois’s disapproval. When Alois died from a stroke, Hitler moved to Linz to pursue his artistic ambitions, and later applied to the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna, from which he was rejected. In 1907, at the age of eighteen, Hitler began to seize upon the Austrian fear of foreigners, particularly Jews, although his hatred was not yet fully formed at this stage. That was the same year his mother Klara died from cancer. He again applied to the Academy of Fine Arts and was again rejected. A few years later he ended up at a hostel for the homeless in Vienna, and eventually fled Vienna in 1910 to avoid conscription into the military and the cosmopolitan mingling of various ethnicities. He ended up in Munich and made a living painting postcards of images from the city scenery; he became something of a recluse at this time.
Soon thereafter, the first World War began, and Hitler enlisted in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, eager to go to war on Germany’s behalf. His regiment was sent to the Western front to engage in long, brutal trench warfare battles. He was commended for his bravery in battle and was awarded the Iron Cross, although he did not rise above the rank of Lance Corporal. He was seen as something of an eccentric by his fellow soldiers for his refusal to take drugs of any kind, and for his strained socialization with them. By the Spring of 1918 both sides of the conflict were exhausted of morale, and the German Reich achieved a cease-fire on the Eastern front; they launched a final attack on the Western front in order to consolidate their position with the Russians. Hitler was rendered blind temporarily by a gas attack from the Allies, and the assault failed to achieve any success.
World War I drew to a close and Germany was declared a republic, inciting revolution across the nation. Hitler and his regiment marched at a funeral procession for a murdered Bavarian governor in 1919. During this time, Hitler gains sympathy for the German Socialist party and becomes attached to their cause. A Bolshevik revolution sees the establishment of a Soviet dictatorship in Munich in April 1919, and representatives from military units are elected to represent them for the new republic. Hitler wins one such representative seat, but this proves to be short-lived as Reich soldiers re-capture Munich in May 1919. He joins up with a political movement, the Reichswehr, and renounces his former affiliation with the Soviets. A former superior officer gives him a job in the Reichswehr’s propaganda unit in order to sway the people against the Bolshevists. It is during this time that Hitler’s own personal political feelings crystallize into true anti-Semitism, and three months later he publishes a pamphlet specifically denouncing the Jewish people.
Throughout 1919 Hitler is sent to spy on political rallies for other political parties. He speaks at one such rally, and his talent for public speaking is discovered. He begins holding rallies himself and forms the NSDAP (the National Socialist German Worker’s Party), attracting a growing movement with his far-right reactionary political speeches. In 1923, Hitler organizes the Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt to kidnap key figures of the Munich government. The attempt fails and leads to a shootout on the streets of Munich; nineteen are killed and Hitler is wounded. He contemplates committing suicide, but uses his trial as a platform for his political ideas, gaining widespread recognition. His prison sentence is commuted down to five years, and he presents himself as a hero of the Reich, believing himself to be the one chosen to save Germany from ruin. He is given special treatment in prison, receiving visitors and perfecting his political rhetoric. It is during this time that he writes his memoirs, entitled “Mein Kampf.” He is released after nine months, becoming something of a minor celebrity.
Despite his growing number of followers, Hitler has few friends at this time and makes visits to rural Berchtesgaden. In 1925 he has a brief romance with a young woman, but by 1928 he distances himself from her. At this point he becomes attracted to his much younger half-niece Geli Raubal, and dotes on her frequently. Geli is uncomfortable with Hitler’s jealous and controlling nature. The economic downfall of 1929 provides Hitler with a means of spreading his message across Europe, taking advantage of people’s fear and financial ruin. Geli is often left alone and is distraught by Hitler’s ever-changing affections. She commits suicide in September 1931 at Hitler’s flat at the Prinzregentenplatz. Hitler is emotionally devastated by her death and idolizes her as the one great love of his life. However, he soon meets the young Eva Braun, with whom he becomes quite taken. On January 30th, 1933, Hitler is elected Reich Chancellor, and soon he becomes known for his ruthlessness, eliminating anyone whom he perceives to be a failure or traitor.
His tenure is marked by a shift in thinking away from the worth of the individual and to the worth of society, and he enacts plans to effect this line of thinking as a means of forming a new type of community for the future. Those who worked closely with Hitler recall how he disliked physical contact and interpersonal relationships. In 1935, his vacation home in Berchtesgaden is turned into the Berghof, a lavish estate representing his ideal community. Braun moves in to the Berhof with him, although Hitler keeps his distance from her as he did with Geli. Braun becomes miserable at their tumultuous relationship, as revealed by her diaries at the time. She makes several unsuccessful suicide attempts, and Hitler becomes closer to her as a result, although Hitler continues to conceal their relationship from the public eye. A small ring of secretaries and advisors becomes Hitler’s “surrogate family” in the Berghof, and hang about to serve as his “audience.” Hitler enjoys the company of children, supposedly because they do not contradict him. He often expounds upon his beliefs for hours to an almost literal captive audience.
Hitler’s popularity among the German people continues to grow, and he becomes obsessed with maintaining a seemingly constant and unchanging public image. His approval becomes required for every piece in every German art exhibition; such pieces are copied and maintained everywhere throughout Germany, so that it is the same in all places. In the Berghof he secretly makes plans to wage war, and on April 20th, 1939, his 50th birthday, Hitler feels a compulsion to carry his plans to fruition. Five months later, he begins his war by invading Poland, and in the coming months Germany wins victories throughout the European theatre, asserting its dominance in World War II. He thinks of these victories are revenge for the failed assault on the Western front in 1918. He then sets his sights on the east and his troops march into Russia. However, he commits a strategic error and his troops are unable to advance against the Russians. Shaken by this blunder, Hitler locks himself away and refuses to acknowledge the truth of his inevitable defeat.
During this time, the mass murder of millions of European Jews takes place, although Hitler never personally visits any of the concentration camps in which they are held. Some Germans oppose these actions, but Hitler is unwilling to listen to any opinion differing from his own. By April 1942, Hitler outwardly shows signs of confidence in a German victory, but this does little to comfort the German people, who despair at the notion of a seemingly unwinnable conflict. He continues to entertain his “surrogate family” at the Berghof, and refuses to accept the reality of Germany’s situation. He becomes even more reclusive and eventually finds himself dug in to a bunker in Berlin as the Soviets close in around him. His health begins to fail, and he marries Braun in secret before committing suicide with her on April 30th, 1945. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: The History Channel
- DATE: November 30, 1999
- RUNNING TIME: 0:46:56
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 120405
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: TV - Public affairs/documentaries
- SERIES RUN: The History Channel - TV, 1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Guido Knopp … Executive Producer, Created by
- Andrew McDonald … Producer
- Maurice Philip Remy … Director, Writer
- Sebastian Dehnhardt … Researcher
- Klaus Doldinger … Music by
- Roger Mudd … Host
- Egon Hanfstaengel … Interviewee
- Reinhard Spitzy … Interviewee
- Augustin Kubizek … Interviewee
- Elisabeth Popp … Interviewee
- Hans Barkhausen … Interviewee
- Margarete Roloefs … Interviewee
- Traudl Junge … Interviewee
- Walter Frentz … Interviewee
- Karl Krause … Interviewee
- Willi Schneider … Interviewee
- E.G. Schenck … Interviewee
- Eva Braun
- Adolf Hitler
- Alois Hitler
- Klara Hitler
- Geli Raubal
- Henriette von Schirach