Was Private Hitler a hero?

jonniebgood1

Was Hitlers role in WWI that of a hero as Nazi propaganda portrayed it, or was it greatly exagerated as post WWII allied analysis and contemporary studies portrays it?

In August 1918, after the failure of the massive German offensive, Hitler received his
fifth and sixth medals. One was the Military Service Medal, 3rd class, for outstanding
service, the other was The Iron Cross, 1st Class, "for personal bravery and general
merit." Colonel von Tubeuf commented about Hitler, “There was no circumstance or
situation that would have prevented him from volunteering for the most difficult,
arduous and dangerous tasks, and he was always willing to sacrifice his safety and
life and tranquility for his fatherland and for others.”

The recommendation for Hitler's Iron Cross First Class was signed on July 17, 1918
by Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Freiherr von Godin and read: “As a runner his
coolness and dash in both trench and open warfare have been exemplary, and
invariably he has shown himself ready to volunteer for tasks in the most difficult
situations and at great danger to himself. Whenever communications have been
totally disrupted at a critical moment in a battle, it has been thanks to Hitler's
unflagging and devoted efforts that important messages continued to get through
despite every difficulty.” The man who put forward the paperwork for the hardware
was the regimental adjutant, Captain Hugo Guttman, a Jew. Put more simply, one can
think that Hitler found during the war many opportunities to indulge in his Wagnerian
taste for heroics and death.

http://schikelgruber.net/war.html

or alternative view:

'Hitler's First War' by German historian Thomas Weber has revealed that the Nazi leader's alleged heroic exploits were an invention of the Nazi propaganda machine, reports the Daily Mail.

Hitler served as a messenger on the western front during the war and was awarded the Iron Cross for carrying messages.

He had claimed in his autobiography 'Mein Kampf' that he risked death 'probably every day' while he served as a messenger on the western front.

However, Weber has found evidence that Private Hitler was often stationed outside of the most dangerous areas and was rarely in the 'midst of the bombardment', as he claimed.

He also showed that the National Socialists deliberately fabricated accounts of Hitler's bravery from 1925 onwards as the party built a cult of personality around their leader.

Weber drew his conclusions after he examined military documents and letters detailing the history of the 16th List Bavarian reserve infantry, Hitler's unit during the 1914-1918 war.

http://www.sify.com/news/hitler-s-heroic-exploits-in-world-war-i-were-a-nazi-propaganda-myth-news-international-ldooucecjdj.html

Morlar

What are your thoughts on it ?

The claim that he was 'often stationed outside of the most dangerous areas' doesn't amount to much. Regiments were rotated and moved around, areas became less dangerous or more dangerous at different times, so 'often being outside the most dangerous areas' means very little. He certainly risked his life, was wounded and gassed, and a WWI private being awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class would indicate that the conservative German army of the time felt he deserved it. The opposing side of the argument smacks of opportunistic revisionism, with not much to show for it.

MajorMax

Hitler considered the award of the Iron Cross 1st Class as one of the proudest moments in his life. They didn't award this medal lightly, I would assume that he earned it.
In theory the award was available to all ranks but in practice it was reserved for Officers and senior NCOs. It was unusual for it to be awarded to a mere Gefreiter. Keep in mind from 1914 - 1918 this medal was only awarded approximately 145,000 times. The medal was pinned to his chest by Luetnant Hugo Gutmann, a German Jew
Later in life he can be seen in pictures wearing a simple quasi-military tunic unadorned except for his Nazi party pin and his Iron Cross. In the 30s Jews who were awarded the medal often wore it next to their required yellow star of David as it could sometimes deflect the harrasment and attacks from SA Stormtroopers
In 1939, when the Second World War began the Nazi government re-issued the iron cross. It is somewhat larger and had a swastika in the middle. On the bottom the year 1939 was engraved. This cross was mailed to all holders of the first iron cross a few days after the invasion of Poland. Jews were included in this distribution because the German post office did not know who the Jewish winners had been

FiSe

He was wearing Wound medal and Iron Cross on his chest and NSDAP pin on the collar or on the cravat, but it doesn't matter.
The thing is, that even during the following war those weren't thrown at people for just wearing uniform.

Not sure how about in the Kaiser's Army, but in the Austro-Hungarian army the bravery awards were handed for more and more courageous actions as the war progressed. In another words, the winners of those medals from the 1914-15 would get far less or nothing at all for their actions only a year or two later.

jonniebgood1

Morlar wrote: »

What are your thoughts on it ?

My thoughts are that he was awarded it at a time before he came to prominence so there is no reason to doubt that he deserved it. The matter can though be explored in more detail, and given what was to happen later, all aspects of Hitlers life get put under the microscope.

There are a few points of interest leading from it. It is strange that he was recognised on several occasions with medals, yet he was'nt promoted past his relatively junior rank. I would be curious about the referenced books authors motives- it is well known that putting a swastika or hitler reference multiplies book sales. I read recently that a swastika on a book cover almost guarantees a certain number of sales. That said thought the book has decent reviews and also attempts to delve into accounts of Hitlers contemporaries who were around him in WWI. He suggests that the ist class iron cross was sometimes awarded to runners who had contact with more senior officers. My knowledge of senior officers of this era is that they were very much aloof from their troop on both sides of the war. So long as the evidence is from accounts that cant be influenced by events that happened after say 1925 I think they should be fair.
Guardian review of said book - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/16/new-evidence-adolf-hitler

mikemac

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

He suggests that the ist class iron cross was sometimes awarded to runners who had contact with more senior officers.

Back in the Napoleonic wars, a favored junior officer would be given the task of reporting a victory and would be rewarded for this task.
Giving the credit to the messenger who bears good news I suppose

Anyway back ontopic I've no reason to doubt he was nothing less then a brave and dedicated soldier and deserved his medal.

Morlar

There is also a and generally informed and generally critical thread on the subject of this book here :

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=170318

including the author attempting to defend his work.

HellsAngel

Interesting topic. I suppose he was, a private doesn't get the Iron Cross for nothing.