This man, who turned out to be an outsider in the global geopolitical confrontation in the spring of 1945, had already lost one Great War. Then he was a corporal, showed courage and heroism in battles, shed his blood and wondered how Germany could concede to the countries of Western democracy.
Was it not this resentment and thirst for power that led Adolf Hitler to the idea of revenge, which is why World War II broke out? …
In 1908, the future Fuehrer of Germany, and then still a citizen of Austria-Hungary, Adolf Schicklgruber failed the exams at the Vienna Academy of Arts and began to evade conscription. As he later explained this, he hated the idea of having to serve side by side with the Slavs and Jews.
Was a dodger, volunteered
For several years he was engaged in self-education, painted and sold his paintings, often changed his place of residence. In 1913 he moved to Munich, where he was detained by the police at the request of the Austrians. The evader was deported, but the Fuehrer somehow managed to make him at the examination so that he was found unfit for service.
The more was the surprise of his acquaintances when the not particularly belligerent Hitler, with the outbreak of the First World War, volunteered for the German troops, writing to King Ludwig III of Bavaria himself. The young man was enrolled in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, with which he went to the Western Front in October 1914. According to historians, Hitler decided to become a war hero and thus increase his social status in society.
The Bavarians were caught in the midst of a battle on the Isère River. Here, the remnants of the Belgian army and the French marines, supported by British naval monitors, fought with the Germans.
Promotional video:
On October 23, 1914, the German reserve troops hurrying to help crossed the Belgian border with the shouts of "hurray". According to Hitler's recollections, in his book "Mein Kampf", his first baptism of fire looked like this - their 16th Infantry Regiment under the command of Colonel Julius List on October 29 with a song burst into the village of Geluvelt, which is located in Flanders. Later he wrote about this to his friend in a letter: “We are moving quickly through the fields, and after bloody fights we knock out enemies from one trench after another. Many raise their hands. We kill those who do not lift. Then we dig in …”In four days of fighting, the regiment suffered heavy losses, and on October 31, even the regiment commander was killed. After that, part of them began to be called the List Regiment.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote pompously about those days: "Perhaps the volunteers from the List Regiment have not yet learned how to fight, but they have learned to die like real soldiers." He distinguished himself in battles, and on November 1 he was awarded the rank of corporal. It's strange, but later, no matter how many feats Adolf Hitler performed, he was not promoted in rank …
The corporal's combat path
On November 9, 1914, the newly-made corporal was transferred to the regiment headquarters as a liaison. Nevertheless, going with reports from the regiment commander to the battalion commanders on the front line, the future Fuhrer was exposed to mortal risk during shelling, and sometimes entered into battle against the enemy along with various units. For the distinction in the battle on December 2, 1914 at the village of Vitshet, he was awarded the Iron Cross of the II degree.
Then there were battles in French Flanders, near Neuve Chapelle, La Bass and Arras in 1915. And in July 1916, Corporal Hitler nearly died at Le Bergur, during the Battle of the Somme, when a British infantryman threw a grenade at him. Its shrapnel Adolf was seriously wounded in the thigh. Tommy raised his rifle and was about to finish off the wounded man, but for some reason changed his mind … I wonder if this Briton survived the war, and if so, did he later recognize his unbroken German in Hitler and did he regret his deed afterwards?
The corporal was found and carried out of the battlefield by their orderlies. The future Fuhrer healed a serious wound for a long time in a hospital near Potsdam. On his return to the front in March 1917, he found himself on the front line: there was a shortage of soldiers due to huge losses. He fought again at Arras, in Artois, Flanders and Upper Alsace. For military successes he was awarded the Bavarian Cross "For Military Merit" III class with swords.
In 1918, Hitler fought in northern France. He was awarded a regimental diploma for outstanding bravery in the battle of Fontana, as well as the Iron Cross of the 1st class for saving his infantry from shelling of his own artillery in especially difficult conditions, delivering a report on time. And in one of the battles Hitler, armed only with a pistol, captured 12 French soldiers. Later they will even write about this in German textbooks.
The war ended like this for Adolf - on October 15, 1918, a chemical projectile exploded next to him and his comrades. Three comrades did not have time to put on gas masks, and Hitler, albeit belatedly, did. As a result, his colleagues were killed, and the corporal was taken to the hospital with temporary loss of vision and poisoning. Then he learned about the surrender of Germany. This was a shock for the future Fuhrer - after all, it seemed to him that a little more - and France could be defeated. The soldiers on the front line were hiding the sad state of affairs at the fronts and in the country itself …
What was he like?
The memoirs of Hitler's fellow officers only confirm the image of a real front-line soldier, a brave soldier, an honest and reliable comrade.
Major General Friedrich Petz, former commander of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, Major General Friedrich Petz: “Hitler demonstrated great mental alertness, physical agility, strength and endurance. He was distinguished by energy and reckless courage with which he went to meet danger in difficult situations and in battle."
Colonel Spatney: “Hitler was a model for everyone around him. His personal energy, exemplary behavior in any battle situations had a strong impact on his comrades. Since all this was combined in him with modesty and amazing unpretentiousness, he was deeply respected by commanders and soldiers."
In the presentation for the awarding of the future Fuhrer with the Iron Cross of the 1st degree, Lieutenant Colonel von Godin wrote: “Hitler showed an example of composure and courage in the conditions of both positional and mobile warfare and was always volunteered to deliver the necessary orders in the most difficult situations with the greatest danger to life. When all communication lines were cut off in heavy battles, the most important messages, despite all the difficulties, were delivered to their destination thanks to the tireless and courageous activity of Hitler. And Lieutenant Colonel Count Anton von Taube, who later presented the corporal with the award, spoke of him as follows: “He was tireless in his service and was always ready to help. There was no such situation that he did not volunteer for the most difficult and dangerous business,demonstrating a constant willingness to sacrifice their lives for the sake of others and for the peace of the homeland. As a human being, he was closest to me among the soldiers, and in personal conversations I admired his unparalleled love for his homeland, decency and honesty in his views.
What else can you add to this? …
but on the other hand
… Perhaps only that all of the above could only be the result of the work of Nazi propaganda in the 30s of the last century.
The "portrait" of the hero-front-line soldier Adolf Hitler was then "blinded" from pieces of truth, an admixture of inventions and additions of fraud.
But the British historian Thomas Weber, in his book Hitler's First War, provides a number of facts that refute this image. According to the researcher, he was on the front line for only 10 days, after which he was a liaison at the headquarters until the end of the war. All the awards Hitler received thanks to his closeness to his superiors.
The capture of prisoners was attributed to him, but in reality it was a feat of Lieutenant Hugo Gutman, a Jew by nationality. And the most "terrible" - it was this Jew who represented the future Nazi No. 1 to the Iron Cross of the 1st degree, since the corporal actually saved his infantry from "friendly" artillery fire! Subsequently, Gutman had to flee Germany, and his fellow soldiers helped him. But, of course, not Hitler.
Yes, and fellow soldiers, according to the memoirs found by Thomas Weber, it turns out, considered Adolf a "rear rat" and "too helpful to the authorities." For his craving for drawing and modesty the corporal was nicknamed "The Artist" and was rarely called to the soldiers' drinking.
However, when the Artist became Fuehrer, their statements changed dramatically. Well, those who did not want to "remember" Hitler as a hero went to concentration camps.
Magazine: Mysteries of History №37. Author: Oleg Taran