Abuse of Hitler as a Child - Thesis Example

? and Section # of How Hitler’s abuse as a child and early life strongly shaped how he ruled as Fuehrer INTRODUCTION Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany during the period 1933 to 1945, when he established the Nazi state known as “Third Reich”; He was famously known as Der Fuhrer. During his reign of power he was accepted as the savior of Germany since he brought the nation out of its economic depression resulting from the World War 1. The greatest industrial expansions, infrastructural development and civil improvements throughout Germany hiked in this period. Germany had never witnessed so much development, such that it almost reached its full employment level. Apart from the goodness of his rule, Hitler also unleashed his malevolence upon the nation, this depiction of evil is known as ‘the Holocaust’, and through this he pursued his dream of an anti-Semitic nation and a racially pure nation. The Jews, whom Hitler declared to be the ‘anti-race’ were excluded from all university placements, jobs, and even their shops were boycotted, they were proudly declared by Hitler as the ‘subjects’ of Germans rather than citizens of Germany. Then he inflicted upon them the terror of Genocide, which claimed almost 6million lives. During his tenure as the Fuhrer, Germany was in alliance with Italy and Japan, and thus started the World War 2 against the diametrically opposite Allied Powers from 1942 to 1944. Hitler nearly escaped death at the hands of the bomb planted by Claus Von Stauffenberg, under Operation Valkyrie; the Fuhrer managed to escape and married his Eva Braun, with whom he had a silent affair for sixteen years. Ultimately, Hitler died of his own accord, by consuming a capsule of cyanide and a bullet in head. Thus the world saw the demise of an evil genius who inflicted terror upon the people of the opposite race, and yet amazed the world with his genius maneuvers (Emagzin, 2010). The way Adolf Hitler ruled as a Fuhrer was not out of the blue, it is claimed by that his personality traits were shaped by the life he spent in his early years, and most importantly the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, which molded his character such that he became a tyrannical ruler whose actions were identical to incidents from his early life. This paper highlights upon four important factors presented by his early life which shaped his rule as the Fuhrer of Germany, and then these factors are discussed in detail in accordance with their relevance (Craun Kids, 2010). Hitler’s interaction with his friends in Early Childhood This is perhaps the least important factor which shaped Hitler’s rule as a Fuhrer, yet it is significant with regards to his tactics and plans for Germany’s expansion and the annihilation of the anti-race. As a child in his early years, Adolf Hitler was extremely fond of playing outdoors, and it is known that he spent most of his days playing outside of house with his friends, since he had very minute amount of work assigned to him to complete at home in elementary school. He substantiated this fact in his autobiography ‘Mein Kampf’ that: “School work was ridiculously easy, leaving me so much free time that the sun saw more of me than my room” (Hitler 8). This is not just a mere fact of a child’s pastime, but it carries immense importance when analyzed in collaboration with the activities of that boy as a grown up. One of the most common games that Hitler was fond of and enjoyed playing with his friends was ‘Cowboys versus Indians’. The frequency of this game being played and enjoyed by Hitler speaks of a characteristic inherent in the young kid’s personality, which is love of war. Hitler enjoyed the game because it was a depiction of war, thus translating into the fact which the world witnessed as he grew older and became the Fuhrer of Germany. The enjoyment derived from the game, the sharpness of mind in a warrior like manner and the tactics learned through this game set a precedent for his later life, as he brought the whole world into a state of war, most importantly the Second World War. This is precisely why his interaction with his childhood friends is a significant factor as his life activities later on were identical to his activities as a kid, which were shaped by his interactions with friends (Johnson, 2011). Hitler’s schooling Adolf Hitler’s early years spent at school also play an important part in his rule as the Fuhrer of Germany later; hence schooling is another example of factors which serve as a reason to some the events in his adulthood. Hitler was a very anti-social child, which was unlike the other children at school of his age. He also had problems doing his schoolwork because he was so anti-social and thus could not take help from others, he therefore left school right after it ended and headed straight home, which was many miles away from school. This rushing off to home as soon as school ended did not allow him to interact with other children at school and therefore Hitler became increasingly aloof, he therefore became more anti social. This incident of the past was repeated when he was imprisoned, in his years n prison before he rose to the power of dictatorship was lonely and he spent most of his time in solitude, not having any acquaintances in jail and therefore not interacting with anybody. However, Adolf Hitler was not a child who would remain stuck on a position of inferiority, thus he gradually began to rise in class and in his second year in the same grade, he became a leader of his class, such that he became popular instantly and others came to him for advice regarding studies at school. This is also replicated in his rule as a dictator; when Hitler’s imprisonment ended, he rose to the position of dictatorship and power, just like he became the leader of the class, herein he became the leader of the nation. Adolf Hitler’s schooling is very much like the rest of his life, since he transformed from being a completely unknown individual to a popular and powerful leader, both in school in early years and in Germany as a Fuhrer in his adulthood. This shows how schooling in early years plays a significant part in shaping Hitler’s rule as a Fuhrer (Johnson, 2011). Hitler’s Ancestry Hitler’s ancestry has always been a dilemmatic phenomenon of his history, since it has not been established with reasonable justification and proofs that what his real ancestry was. There have been repeated speculations pertaining to his ancestry which determine that his father was an illegitimate child of Maria Anna Schicklgruber while his paternal lineage is unknown. However, with help of DNA testing of Hitler’s relatives, years later and through timely discoveries of historical documents and records, it has been claimed that Hitler had a Jewish ancestry which he was trying to hide all the while. In order to hide the historical record which could prove the Fuhrer as partial Jew, and therefore not a pure German through descent, Hitler inflicted upon the Jews his hatred. He had the entire race exterminated so that the proof of his ancestry won’t surface, as it would have put his entire position in jeopardy. It would not have been acceptable for him to be declared an anti race and not a part of a desired pure race German descent. This claim initially came into the limelight when Hitler’s nephew, William, tried to borrow some money from Hitler for gambling, and at being refused, he broke the news of his Jewish ancestry to the media. This became a major news outbreak and thus led to investigations, which too were conducted under the power of Hitler’s government, hence it had all the reason to be biased. Furthermore, by that time Hitler had all the proof destroyed and the Jews suppressed so that the news won’t surface, therefore there was no evidence to prove William’s claim, and thus Hitler was declared a pure race on no solid ground. Some later discoveries were also made in this regard, when Hitler’s attorney, Hans Frank was awaiting his execution. Frank confessed that when he was on the mission of investigating Hitler’s lineage, and his claim of being a pure race, Frank did an in depth study and search of William’s accusation, and surprisingly discovered that the nephew was actually stating the facts and not just mere comebacks. It was found that the grandmother of Adolf Hitler worked at the house of Graz, thus at a Jewish place, owned by the Frankenbergers, and during her pregnancy Maria received constant financial support from the elder Frankerberger who acknowledged in his letters that the child was fathered by his 19 year old son, the junior Frankenberger, the letters which had this proof were never found, which was an understandable fact, since Hitler had all the proof destroyed which could declare him an anti-race. Therefore, Hitler’s need to destroy proofs of his ancestry and thus his early life played a significant part in his destruction of the Jewish race later on (Thomas, 2011; McKenna, 2011; Three World Wars, 2011). Hitler’s abusive childhood and his relationship with his Parents It has been observed by psychologists that the character of the father is a major determining factor of a child’s character, in Hitler’s case, the model of the father was that of a destructive and an abusive man, and this unconsciously reflected in young Adolph’s character as well. Hitler’s older brother left home in early life, thus making him the subject of abuse at his father’s hand then onwards. His father was brutal, unjust and inconsiderate, he did not respect anybody, nor yielded any respect, and the world was an unfit place according to him, and no matter how much Hitler hated his father, these traits also formed part of his character. Since the home is the world for a child and he judges the outer world from this perspective, it provided a very dismal and bleak picture to young Adolph, he began hating the world as a whole later on his life, except the motherland ‘Germany’. Now this is very surprising, the reference Hitler makes to Germany as motherland in his autobiography ‘Mein Kampf’ is as ‘my motherland’ while in rest of the world Germany is referred to as ‘fatherland’. This can be explained through his relationship with his mother, Hitler was a favorite child of his mother, and thus showered extensively with love and care, such that he began believing that his mother cared for him over and above the rest of the siblings, therefore he considered himself protected from harm. His love for his mother was heightened proportionate to his increasing hatred for his father, and thus he became victim to the concept which Freud describes as the ‘Oedipus Complex’, his fanciful desire for his mother made him loathe his father and he wanted to remove him from the surrounding. When Hitler realized that this desire cannot be fulfilled, he transformed all the love and affection he nurtured for his mother towards his nation, Germany, which he then on referred to as motherland. In addition, his loathsome feelings which he nested for his father were reverted to Austria. Thus he hated Austria and also went on war with it; he makes this connection visible in his book in the following words: "...an intense love for my native German-Austrian country and a bitter hatred against the Austrian state." Once on discovery of an intercourse between his mother and father, Hitler was so deeply affected that he referred to the incident as Germany being raped by Austria, and this reference can be seen constantly in his books: "...by what wiles the soul of the German has been raped." And he again stated: "...our German pacifists will pass over in silence the most bloody rape of the nation." These statements by the Fuhrer himself show his sentiments clearly, it can be seen that he drew mental analogies between his mother and Germany, and his father and Austria, in constant references to all in his book. This greatly shaped the way Hitler planned his rule as the Fuhrer. His deep hatred towards his father, which was partially due to the abuse he suffered from his father, and partially because of the rivalry and jealousy of sharing his mother with the man, all this was suppressed in him as a child, but these feelings remained and needed to vent out. Later on, when he considered Austria to be analogous to his father, and he himself was in power as head of state and the army, it gave the adult Hitler an opportunity to vent out his long nurtured hatred and impose upon the nation of Austria all the hatred which he could muster, as a revenge of separating him from his mother. This also served as the reason for him to show deep feelings for his mother, which he now saw in his motherland ‘Germany’, thus his very affectionate sentiments and sensitivity when it came to the nation of Germany. The hysterical blindness which Hitler went through in this revenge phase made him the Fuhrer he was which the world feared for centuries to come (Jewish Virtual Library, 2011). CONCLUSION Adolf Hitler was a Fuhrer that the world remembers till current times, he carved his name in the history of time, whether in black words or golden depends on the activity under consideration. His tenure of power reaped great fruit for Germany with regards to development and expansion, making it the most progressive period for the nation so far. However, this same period marked the pages of history with the worst form of genocide known as ‘the Holocaust’ which aimed at the annihilation of the Jews in order to make Germany a pure race nation. His rule as a Fuhrer and his actions were a result of the personality traits which were shaped in his early year. His interaction with his friends showed to him his personal preference for war and evil plans; his school life and his transformation from an unknown kid to a popular child is identical to his life in prison and the rise to power; his ancestry which was marred by illegitimate relations developed in him the aversion towards anti-races and thus he planned to make Germany a pure-race, and furthermore how Jews played a significant part in the extinction of his ancestry is important with regards to his hatred towards the Jews; and last but not the least, his abusive childhood and the torture inflicted upon him by his father developed in him hatred and frustration, and the love of his mother developed in him the extremism of the sense of ownership and love, which translated into his love for his motherland ‘Germany’ and hatred towards ‘Austria’, thus it is by far the most important factor which shaped the way Adolf Hitler ruled as the Fuhrer of Germany along with the aforementioned factors, thereby proving why his abusive childhood and early life is significant with regards to his later actions as a ruler. Works Cited Craun Kids. How Hitlers Childhood Connects to the Halocaust. 2010. May 29, 2011 from < http://craunkids.pbworks.com/w/page/32150920/How-Hitlers-Childhood-Connects-to-the-Halocaust> Emagzin. Adolf Hitler- The Fuhrer. 2010. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from Jewish Virtual Library. A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler His Life and Legend- Psychological Analysis and Reconstruction. 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from Johnson. M. A Time of Terror: Hitler’s Childhood. 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from McKenna. Racial Purity and Hitler’s DNA. 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from < http://wegoworldwars.blogspot.com/2011/04/racial-purity-and-hitlers-dna.html> Thomas. L. Hitler’s Jewish Ancestry. 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from Three World Wars. The Real Adolph Hitler- Tell me More About Adolf Hitler and WWII. 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011 from http://www.threeworldwars.com/world-war-2/adolf-hitler.htm Read More