History – 220 pages – my copy borrowed from the University of Plymouth Library and read during November 2011
- 3 nods out of 5 -
Another book on Hitler? The author, Milan Hauner, is the first to put his hands up, commenting: ‘Thousands of books have been written about Adolf Hitler, and yet more will be written.’ But why outpouring after outpouring? Hauner is keen to point to another author’s statement that: ‘We are not finished with Hitler yet.’ Yes, not finished by a long chalk.
The Worm, like many others out there in Book-Reading-Land, has done more than his fair share of Hitler-reading, including the good, the bad and the ugly. But something always draws us back for more. An explanation of how it came to be, analysis of Hitler as a man and a leader. It is the great human quest to continue to ask: WHY?
Hauner is one of many thousands of other authors who have attempted such explanation. However, where this book deviates is its complete lack of descriptive narrative and analysis; but rather a mere chronology of events and facts. At first, the reader may ask what is the point in such a task? In the words of W.G. Hoskins, it is the mere meat and potatoes of History; and not the finalised cooked meal. But the Worm argues that it is just this reason that makes Hauner’s book so readable and worthy. It is down to the reader to analyse, to investigate, and see the woods for the trees.
And to be fair, it is not a mere, drab recording of Hitler’s life (from day one as a baby to the cyanide death in the Berlin bunker), but rather a fantastic collection of quotes and events. We, the reader, are with Hitler, day by day, as he jets off to campaign for more votes across Germany, as he calls in the generals for the invasion of Soviet Russia, and in his manic, rabble of an end as he spits against those who have conspired against him.
For example, here a couple of selected quotes from the mind of Hitler that Hauner sees fit to place in the book:
23 May 1939
Hitler tells Raeder he recognises three kinds of secrets:
‘The first is between you and me, the second I keep secret to myself, and the third concerns problems of the future which even I have not completely thought through to their logical conclusion.’
3 September 1939
Britain and France declare war on Germany. Paul Schmidt describes Hitler’s reaction:
‘Hitler sat immobile, gazing before him. He was not at a loss, as was afterwards stated, nor did he rage as others allege. He sat completely silent and unmoving. After an interval, which seemed an age, he turned to Ribbentrop… “What now?”’
11 August 1941
‘I shall no longer be there to see it, but I rejoice on behalf of the German people that one day we will see England and Germany marching together against America… They have an exampled cheek, these English! It doesn’t prevent me from admiring them. In this sphere, they still have a lot to teach us.’
And perhaps the most ghastly and horrifying of all:
17 October 1941
‘We’ll take away its character of an Asiatic steppe, we’ll Europeanise it. With this object, we have undertaken the construction of roads that will lead to the southernmost point of the Crimea and to the Caucasus. These roads will be studded along their whole length with German towns, and around these towns our colonists will settle… I shall no longer be here to see all that, but in twenty years the Ukraine will already be home for 20,000,000 inhabitants besides the natives. In 300 years the country will be one of the loveliest gardens in the world. As for the natives, we’ll have to screen them carefully. The Jew, the destroyer, we shall drive out… We shan’t settle in the Russian towns, and we’ll let them fall to pieces without interrupting. And, above all, no remorse on the subject! We’ll confine ourselves, perhaps, to setting up a radio transmitter under our control. For the rest, let them know just enough to understand our highway signs, so that they won’t get themselves run over by our vehicles! For them the word “liberty” means the right to wash on feast days. If we arrive bringing soft soap, we’ll obtain no sympathy.. There’s only one duty: to Germanise this country by the immigration of Germans and to look upon the natives as Redskins. If these people had defeated us, Heaven have mercy! All those who have the feeling for Europe can join us in our work. In this business I shall go straight ahead, cold-bloodedly. What they may think about me, at this juncture, is to me a matter of complete indifference. I don’t see why a German who eats a piece of bread should torment himself with the idea that the soil that produces this bread has been won by the sword. When we eat wheat from Canada, we don’t think about the despoiled Indians.’
These quotes and events – the entirety of Hitler’s life summed up into two hundred pages – gives a fresh insight into the mind of the man; its development and its projection on the entire world. Hauner’s selection is terse to the point, but yet it opens a window of discussion, of debate, and reflection that is expansive and wide.
For those who cannot get enough of the Nazi period and cannot resist asking the question: WHY, Hauner’s chronology is a must-buy for the book shelves. An enjoyable and worthwhile read; if not the cooked meal of Hoskins’ statement, then a well arranged and colourful plate of informed and seasoned salad.
Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.ca/Hitler-Chronology-his-Life-Time/dp/0230202845
