The Hidden Hitler

Rating:
Summary: Possible but no real factual evidence..
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: hidden hitler
Review: I knew it! this book prooves everything that I knew and believe.

Rating:
Summary: Machtan's Missing Hitler
Review: In the years leading up to the Nazi seizure of power, there was a little known Kultural conflict in Germany which simmered and flared throughout the Wiemar era (1919 - 1933). For reasons which may be evident to many in today's circle of homoerotic "friends," there were/are two opposing or antagonistic elements within the homosexualist community - one "gay," the other homosexual. During the Weimar period, Germany's militant "gays" were led by Adolf Brandt. The Brandt faction published their own newspaper called the Eigene', meaning, Community of The Special or Elite, which became the German, then eventually American, Society for Human Rights. The "Elite" held pederasty as superior - an even `higher' form of love and a sexual aspect of superior leadership. Members imagined themselves superior to "breeders" or "heterosexuals," and certainly FAR ahead of effeminate homosexuals whom they considered emasculated gossips.

During the 1920's and early 30's, the German homosexual movement was headed by the effeminate Jewish homosexualist and political activist, Dr. Magnus Hirshfeld. Hirshfeld founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee for the emancipation of German homosexuals plus the Berlin based Institute of Sexology. And whereas American sexologist Alfred Kinsey likely patterned his Bloomfield Indiana based sex Institute after Hirshfeld's example, because of the nature of his "work," Kinsey would more likely have "resonated" better with Brandt.

Hirshfeld worked for the repeal of section 175 of the German penal code, relating to homosexual crimes, which included pederasty, meaning the seduction and sexual molestation of young boys. And whereas Hirshfeld advocated homosexuals were members of a third sex or gender, i.e., a woman in a man's body, Brandt's clique would have nothing of this. In fact Brands followers were proud of their ultra-masculine connection between "friends," and they largely despised Hirshfeld for his condemnation of pederasty, or man/boy "love." Brandt's group traced its roots back to Sparta and other homoerotic warrior cults which today finds seminal expression in NAMBLA, an acronym for The North American Man Boy Love Association. Indeed, many dynamics of America's homosexualist Kulture are revealed in Chauncey's book, Gay New York, wherein the author describes the competition on the docks between the effeminate "homosexual" Drag Queens and female prostitutes for the New York "seafood" (sailor) trade. Important to know is this . . . Self-identified effeminate homosexual drag queens strive mostly to seduce heterosexual men, not bugger young boys. And whereas this crucial distinction may be obscure, it is THE key factor to our understanding of how Hitler, and his cult of homoerotic followers could at once be "gay" while simultaneously brutalizing some, but not all, homosexuals. The truth of this riddle, understandably absent in the main theme of Lothar Machtan's book The Hidden Hitler, is that for identification purposes, Hitler WAS NOT a homosexual. Like most, if not all of Hitler's close associates, Hitler was a militant "gay" and a fellow traveler in the brutally violent, homofascist Community of The Special.

Like Germany between the flames and today in America, most violent crime committed against effeminate homosexuals is likely perpetrated by "ubermenchen" militant "gay" pederasts. For the record, acts of "gay" violence have often been unjustly stamped on the backs of the so-called "straight" community by a mostly naive and often complicit media. Indeed, as Dr. Judith Reisman, author of Kinsey: Crimes & Consequences documents, and in what flies in the face of "embedded" popular notions, it is the militant "gay" pederast who disproportionately shares in America's sex crime statistics. It is also worth knowing how Brandt's militant "gay" faction became the largest "gay" rights movement in Germany, and that in 1933 Brandt's faction eclipsed and destroyed Hirshfeld's Institute. In fact, the first book burning in Germany in May of 1933, was to destroy evidence held by Hirshfeld of sexual deviance among the Nazi rank and file.

The struggle in Germany between self-identified "third sex" homosexuals and "ubermenchen" militant "gay" pederasts is further documented in, The Pink Swastika: Homosexuality In The Nazi Party, first published in 1995, and now available in a newly updated and expanded 2002 fourth edition.

Cordially,

Kevin E. Abrams....

Rating:
Summary: Sensationalism and Surmise
Review: Lothar Machtan's opus is certainly interesting but nothing within convinced me that Hitler was a homosexual or that his sexual proclivities had any bearing on the conduct of his regime.
Perhaps it is because both Hitler's crimes and his accomplishments were so great that the matter of his sexuality has been seen by other historians as utterly unimportant. Or perhaps that the present world's obsession with sex ensured that a book on Hitler's sexuality was inevitable. The fact remains, out of the thousands of books written about Der Fuehrer and his government, no author has expended much ink on the subject until now.
This book seems aimed more at a US audience than a European one. Some of the "signs" of Hitler's homosexuality as explained to us by Machtan would be considered perfectly normal behavior in the Central European context of Hitler's times. Lots of close male friends? So what? Hitler liked the opera? So did millions of heterosexual European men of his day! ... Shy around women? So are millions of other straight men.
Hitler did have an array of strange people around him, some of those were gay. In his early days, he expressed tolerance for those who were gay on their own time as long as they performed their duties while they were on the clock. Today, that is considered the PC view and is accepted by the majority. So how does his tolerance of the homosexuality of others make him gay too?
Machtan points at the several attempts at blackmailing Hitler by former cronies and at Hitler's secrecy about his youth as definitive evidence of Hitler's homosexuality. The blackmail is never spelled out, so it must be of a sexual nature, right? To me its all sensationalism and surmise.
Read the book, yes, but read it with eyes wide open and take it with a large grain of salt

Rating:
Summary: Hidden Agenda?
Review: Machtan told Die Welt daily in an interview "there was also no
irrefutable proof that Hitler was gay. "

Machtan's speculation about Hitler's sexual orientation is, of course, just that. By his own admission Machtan's research and, indeed, the premise for his assumptions are without proof or empirical verification.

Machtan said in one interview I read, that it is because no documented evidence exists that Hitler had a sexual encounter with a woman, that the conclusion therefore must be that Hitler was gay.

There is no documented proof of any of my sexual relations with any women either, so I guess if he does my life story, he will find me to be a homosexual too.

He also took out of context many quotes from the out of print book: "The Young Hitler I Knew" which I have a copy of and have read.
Seeing his quotes from the book, and knowing the parts he purposely left out show this man is purposely wanting to spread lies that he knows are lies. He makes no mention of chapter 7, titled, and dedicated entirely to Stefanie, the girl Hitler was obsessed with at the time and said one day he would marry.

He also tries to suggest that Kubizek and Hitler were homosexual lovers, when in fact, if you read the book written by Kubizek, you find this:

For, in fact, this man had slipped Adolf a card without my noticing it, on which he had scribbled an invitation to visit him at the Hotel Kummer.

"He's a homosexual," explained Adolf in a matter of fact manner. I was startled. I had never even heard the word, much less had I any conception of what it actually meant. So Adolf explained this phenomenon to me.
Naturally this, too, had long been one of his problems and, as an
abnormal practice, he wished to see it fought against relentlessly, and he himself scrupulously avoided all personal contact with such men.

The visiting card of the famous manufacturer from Vocklabruck
disappeared into our stove.

It seemed to me quite natural that Adolf should turn with disgust and repugnance from these and other sexual aberrations of the big city.

That from the very book this "historian" read and comes to the
conclusion that not only is Hitler gay, but Kubizek too?

Machtan falsly quotes:
He got it when Kabizek went to join art student Hitler in Vienna and was greeted at the train with "joyful excitement," and a big old kiss,

Here is the actual text from my copy of the book:

He was obviously delighted to see me and greeted me warmly and, AS WAS THEN THE CUSTOM, kissed me lightly on the cheek.

This can be found on page 143, in the very first paragraph of Chapter 14 of The Young Hiter I knew.

Wrote Kabizek of the incident, "He lay down naked on the cloth. And I wrapped him up. He was greatly amused by the adventure - the whole romantic conclusion pleased him greatly."

Again, taken so out of context for the exact purpose to make it look as if something from out of a gay porno. This was the early 1900's, they were on a nature hike miles from home, got caught in a rainstorm, found an abandoned cabin to take cover in, and removed their wet clothes as anyone would have back then, and slept separately (not together)until morning to make the trip back home.

The use of the phrases like: "romantic" in this book are nothing more than a case of words having had different meanings than they do today, just as the word: "gay" meant something quite different only a few decades ago. If you read this book, you will realize that. In fact, throughout the entire book, Kubizek is constantly mentioning the obsession Hitler has with his love Stefanie. When ever Hitler would leave town he made Kubizek promise to watch her and report and write to him everything about her that was happening, just like a typical boy obsessed with a girl would do.

Machtan even goes so far as to suggest these two are gay because they would go to the opera together. There were no rock concerts back 100 years ago, this was the popular music of the day!

"Was fear of being outted the reason Hitler had thousands and thousands of gay men thrown into concentration camps?"

Sounds like something a homosexual would do, doesn't it? Have all other homosexuals killed. Just like how a heterosexual would want to have all heterosexuals killed. Makes absolutely no sense.

Anyone who just reads the book: "The Young Hitler I Knew" by August Kubizek, you will see that Machten could not have overlooked or made a mistake when he takes the quotes he does out of context and you will see there is no way any one could make the mistake of thinking Hitler was a homosexual from this book as Machten wants us to believe.

(...)

Rating:
Summary: Hidden Agenda?
Review: The author rightly points out that the main biographies of Hitler portray him as an "unperson" with no real personality beyond a political facade. I agree that this could not possibly be correct. The author then tries to show that Hitler was either homosexual or had homoerotic tendencies. The evidence presented is suggestive but not at all convincing. We are left not knowing. The book is of value in pointing out that Hitler regarded homosexuality as a private affair that should not be of concern to the state. His stance, at least in public, only changed when it became politically expedient for him to change it.

Rating:
Summary: A Rather Convincing Case
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Sound Methodogy, Accurate Character Assessment
Review: Using a wide and complete variety of archival records, Lothar Machtan has reconstructed the milieu of Hitler's early adulthood, intellectual and political formation, and salient actions in his bellicose and genocidal maturity. Machtan's methodology and interpretation of evidnce is the standard stock of modern history. There are no unreasonable reaches beyond the evidence. Nor does Machtan condemn homosexuality as a life style. Simply put: Machtan presents a strong case that Hitler was gay. The main point of his thesis is that Hitler hiding his homosexuality was part of a larger dominant behavioral pattern of Hitler having fabricated a falsified persona as Germany's all-knowing, multi-talented and invincible "Fuehrer." Machtan concludes that Hitler was a superb liar and spellbinding public speaker who deceived the German people and led them into a disastrous period of the near total destruction of Germany and Europe.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating reappraisal
Review: With the literally thousands of books and articles about Hitler that have appeared over the last half century, it is nothing short of remarkable that no one has ever thought to examine the wealth of documentary evidence suggesting that Hitler was homosexual, or to analyze the impact his sexuality may have had on some of his actions. Machtan's well-researched book should open a whole arena in the Hitler studies.
Obviously this book has upset many. It's thesis seems particularly offensive to many gay people, afraid that the revelation of Hitler's possible homosexuality will lead to a simple equation that Hitler was evil because he was gay.
But Machtan is careful not only to avoid such simplistic reductionism, but to point out instead the immense damage Hitler did to gay people in Germany in his apparent attempts to cover up his history of homosexuality and destroy those who knew about it. As a result, Machtan throws a whole new light on the homophobia of the Nazis, the destruction of the SA, the persecution of Magnus Hirschfeld and the roundup of gay Germans.
This book is a bit dry at times, and loaded with footnotes. But that's no vice in a work of such a potentially sensational nature. Machten avoids prurient sensationalism and outrageous or unsubstantiated claims, preferring to quietly focus on the conclusions that can be culled from the admittedly murky sources.
All told, a major contribution, well researched and thoughtfully rendered.