Hitler's Table Talk - if a Man Has Little Money, He Has a Lot of Common Sense - Book Report/Review Example

Hitlers Table Talk Book Hitler’s table Talk is a collection of wartime monologues and conversations given by then German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. These were recorded between 1941 and 1944, with most of the recording done at the Wolfsschanze and Werwolf. The remarks made by Hitler and recorded in this book were transcribed by Martin Bormann, Henry Picker, and Heinrich Heim. After their discovery, they were published in three languages under various titles and by various editors. It was his private secretary, Martin Bormann who persuaded him to let a select group of vetted officers record his monologues and private conversations in shorthand for posterity. From July of 1941 to March 1942, Heinrich Heim, a lawyer, took notes, to be replaced by Henry Picker from March to August of 1942. From then, Bormann and Heim took over recording in turns up to 1944. The recordings dealt with Hitler’s personal aspirations and attitudes towards philosophy, culture, religion, and emotions towards both friend and foe. They also dealt with foreign affairs and war. This paper seeks to distill the book for the positive things that Hitler talks about in the recordings. On 5th of July 1941, Hitler is recorded talking about the world’s petroleum and coal reserves. He contends that while he still believes that there still exists petroleum in many undiscovered places, coal as a natural reserve was being reduced. By reduction of the coal reserves, man was leaving gaps in the earth’s sub-soil. However, he contends that petroleum is being renewed constantly from reservoirs invisible to man. Hitler goes on to say that, man has proven to be the most dangerous imaginable microbe on earth. By exploiting the earth that lay beneath him, he does not care whether he is using products that other regions find indispensable for their survival. This is what he concludes that could be the cause of catastrophes occurring on the surface of the earth periodically. Between 11th and 12th of July 1941, Hitler talks about not teaching his people to believe in atheism. He speaks about the feeling in man of the existence of God, an all mighty being, the dominion in the whole universe of natural laws. He speaks out against priests who have exploited this feeling, and claims that children brought up to fear the dark is ruled by dread all his life while the one raised intelligently is free of this dread. He says he is not a believer in man seeking refuge in places where he can find help when unhappy and consolation, and that if humanity goes along this path it is because of habit and tradition alone. He uses the Russians as an example of people who have no God but are not scared when facing death. It is this point that he uses to stress the futility of teaching atheism. On November 5, 1941, Hitler discusses how he thought the penal system was a mess. He supports the return of the corporal system of punishment to replace prison sentences and avoid contact between young delinquents and hardened criminals, which could lead to their corruption. A hiding for such a boy will not do him much harm and could be considered enough punishment in most cases. He gives the example of a young man in Landsberg jail who was imprisoned for eight months because he advised a young girl to consult an abortionist. While this boy would be, in his words, have chopped off is hand rather than stolen, he was cast into prison with hardened criminals. Hitler does agree that some sort of punishment was necessary, but the system should have given the boy corporal punishment instead of putting him in with ordinary criminals. Hitler, on the evening of November 5th 1941, talked about the questions of diet. He contends that man lives for a shorter time than he did before because of changes in diet. Ancient philosophers already regarded the change to bread from black gruel as a decadent sign. Humans in the old days lived longer than today, and Hitler hypothesized that the turning point came about when man began to sterilize his food. Hitler uses the disparity between man’s short term in adulthood and his growth period. While a dog, on average, lives nine to eleven times longer than the time it takes to grow up. In Bulgaria, where the diet entails taking yoghurt and polenta, men survive for longer than in places where the diet is sterilized. He goes on to say that one of cancer’s great cause is the harm caused by cooked food, which nourishes the body in a debased manner. While the cause of cancer was then unknown, he concludes that since we all breathe microbes that cause colds and TB and are not all suffering from these diseases, it is possible that the causative agents of cancer find a suitable terrain in organisms that are not well nourished. On 16th November 1941, Hitler talks about decentralization of administration. He advocated, for the reorganization of German and European administration, to effectively, make use of the region’s best men. He claimed that it was a travesty to attempt to control all expenditure to the provinces from Berlin. What was needed was to check expenditure, with authorization from the central authority. Promotions of officials, say from grade two to grade one should be done in the place where he will be serving not from Berlin, in consultation with the ministries of finance and the interior. Renewal of equipment at the Weimar theatre should be done locally, and not via a request to Berlin. Acting any different is encouraging forgetfulness of responsibility by the people. He goes off on officials who have been trained not to take initiative, account for all things, and be subject to hierarchical superiors. Hitler also talks on the prerogative of mercy. He contends that judges and officers are supposed to be the defenders of society’s conception. However, they have too much discretionary power that allows them the magistrature to make use of the tiniest signs to make them believe that they understand the people. He uses examples to illustrate this. One is where he encountered a young man of whom he was asked to show clemency for drowning a young girl because he was afraid of fathering an illegitimate child. He was expected to do this because hundreds of others had been pardoned for analogous crimes, despite this being a horrible crime. He was also asked to pardon a young girl guilty of being a traitor on the premise that she was a philosopher. He declined, saying that if he could consider the girl an imbecile, then he could bring himself to do it. He concludes by saying that the Reich, under such laws is in decadence. Hitler discusses the quality of optimism in this collection, saying that young people are by nature optimists. The inclination he believed should have been encouraged, especially faith in life. There is usefulness in the ability to compare events, he said, and when he was faced by strenuous situations, he remembered the events of 1933. Inclination on optimism is not adequate without throwing some youthfulness in to the bargain. He claimed that the worst that could befall men in war was a commanding officer who was pessimistic. This kind of person had the ability to paralyze all effort put in by the army and at a certain stage stopped being a pessimist and became a defeatist. In an army unit, humor and ability for laughter are indispensable since it gives men the belief that they can move mountains. It allows for successful operations. Talking about wealth and common sense, Hitler says that after gaining power, most people, believed that inflation was inescapable. Hitler had instituted a policy that put emphasis on exports and remittance of property looted by the soldiers back to the Wehrmacht. However, at the time, only the workers appreciated this policy and Hitler says he had warned them that their wages could only increase if they raised their productivity. He firmly laid out the fact that he thought that when man had little money, he had a lot of common sense. Additionally, Hitler thought that the richest are often the least capable of reason, and are mostly liable to becoming misers. Work Cited Hitler A. Hitlers table talk, 1941-1944 : his private conversations. New York: Enigma Books, 2008. Print. Read More