The Psychopathic God

The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler
	Cover of the first edition
Author	Robert G. L. Waite
Language	English
Subject	Adolf Hitler
Publication date	1977
Media type	Print
LC Class	DD247.H5

Last updated February 28, 2019

The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler is a 1977 book by Robert G. L. Waite. It was republished in 1993 by Da Capo Press of New York.

Robert George Leeson Waite was a historian, psychohistorian, and the Brown Professor of History (1949–1988) at Williams College who specialized in the Nazi movement, particularly Adolf Hitler.

Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers. As of 2009 it had additional offices in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Emeryville, California. Da Capo Press had net sales of over $2.5 million in 2008.

Psychohistory is an amalgam of psychology, history, and related social sciences and the humanities. It examines the "why" of history, especially the difference between stated intention and actual behavior. Psychobiography, childhood, group dynamics, mechanisms of psychic defense, dreams, and creativity are primary areas of research. It works to combine the insights of psychology, especially psychoanalysis, with the research methodology of the social sciences and humanities to understand the emotional origin of the behavior of individuals, groups and nations, past and present. An incredible amount of work in the field has been done in the areas of childhood, creativity, dreams, family dynamics, overcoming adversity, personality, political and presidential psychobiography. There are major psychohistorical studies of studies of anthropology, art, ethnology, history, politics and political science, and much else.

Adolf Hitler was a German politician and leader of the Nazi Party. He rose to power as Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and later Führer in 1934. During his dictatorship from 1933 to 1945, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland in September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust.

Jewish ancestry

While questions have lingered as to whether Hitler had Jewish ancestry, and subsequent history has cast great doubt on the idea, Waite proposes that Hitler's own doubts as to this question was a fundamental catalyst of the dictator's political actions. The author attempts to show that Hitler was unaware as to the truth of this matter, made great efforts to covertly shed light on his ancestry, and was deeply affected by the lingering question. Waite's presents a plethora of evidence to consider: Hitler's fixation on blood (both his own and in his speeches on the topic of purity), craniometry, a law banning Jewish employers from having pre-menopausal German handmaidens (as was the situation of Hitler's grandmother), etc.

Craniometry is measurement of the cranium, usually the human cranium. It is a subset of cephalometry, measurement of the head, which in humans is a subset of anthropometry, measurement of the human body. It is distinct from phrenology, the pseudoscience that tried to link personality and character to head shape, and physiognomy, which tried the same for facial features. However, these fields have all claimed the ability to predict traits or intelligence.

Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in most women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause typically occurs between 49 and 52 years of age. Medical professionals often define menopause as having occurred when a woman has not had any vaginal bleeding for a year. It may also be defined by a decrease in hormone production by the ovaries. In those who have had surgery to remove their uterus but still have ovaries, menopause may be viewed to have occurred at the time of the surgery or when their hormone levels fell. Following the removal of the uterus, symptoms typically occur earlier, at an average of 45 years of age.

Maria Anna Schicklgruber was the mother of Alois Hitler, and the paternal grandmother of Adolf Hitler.

Origin of the Title

The title is taken from a passage in W. H. Auden's poem, "September 1, 1939":

Wystan Hugh Auden was an English-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form and content. He is best known for love poems such as "Funeral Blues", poems on political and social themes such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles", poems on cultural and psychological themes such as The Age of Anxiety, and poems on religious themes such as "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae".

"September 1, 1939" is a poem by W. H. Auden written on the occasion of the outbreak of World War II. It was first published in The New Republic issue of 18 October 1939, and was first published in book form in Auden's collection Another Time (1940).

Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz,
What huge imago made
A psychopathic God:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

The title of Auden's poem refers to the date that Hitler's tanks rolled into Poland. This date is generally acknowledged as the beginning of World War II.

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Citation

Waite, Robert G. L. (1977). The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-06743-3

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

Related Research Articles

Mein Kampf is a 1925 autobiographical book by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926. The book was edited by Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess.

Psychobiography aims to understand historically significant individuals, such as artists or political leaders, through the application of psychological theory and research.

Alois J. Hitler Sr. was an Austrian civil servant and the father of German dictator and leader of the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler.

Message to Adolf, known in Japan as Adolf ni Tsugu and known in earlier English versions as Adolf, is a manga series made by Osamu Tezuka. The story is set before, during, and after World War II and is centered on three men with the name Adolf. Adolf Kamil is an Ashkenazi Jew living in Japan. His best friend Adolf Kaufmann is of both Japanese and German descent. The third Adolf is Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany. Adolf also features Sohei Toge, a Japanese reporter, and his quest for documents that could turn the tide of the war. The work explores the themes of nationality, ethnicity, racism, and war, and includes elements of coming of age, spy fiction, and historical drama.

Adolf Hitler's health has long been a subject of popular controversy. Both his physical and mental health have come under scrutiny.

Emil Maurice was an early member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party and a founding member of the Schutzstaffel (SS). He was Hitler's first personal chauffeur, succeeded first by Julius Schreck and then Erich Kempka. He was one of the few persons of mixed Jewish and ethnic German ancestry to serve in the SS.

The Hidden Hitler is a 2001 book by German professor and historian Lothar Machtan. The German original was published by Alexander Fest Verlag, while the English-translated version was published by Basic Books in New York City. (ISBN 0-465-04308-9)

Adolf Hitler's religious beliefs have been a matter of debate; the wide consensus of historians consider him to have been irreligious, anti-Christian, anti-clerical and scientistic. In light of evidence such as his fierce criticism and vocal rejection of the tenets of Christianity, numerous private statements to confidants denouncing Christianity as a harmful superstition, and his strenuous efforts to reduce the influence and independence of Christianity in Germany after he came to power, Hitler's major academic biographers conclude that he was irreligious and an opponent of Christianity. Historian Laurence Rees found no evidence that "Hitler, in his personal life, ever expressed belief in the basic tenets of the Christian church". Ernst Hanfstaengl, a friend from his early days in politics, says Hitler "was to all intents and purposes an atheist by the time I got to know him". However, historians such as Richard Weikart and Alan Bullock doubt the assessment that he was a true atheist, suggesting that despite his dislike of Christianity he still clung to a form of spiritual belief.

Johanna Wolf was Adolf Hitler's chief secretary. Wolf joined Hitler's personal secretariat in the autumn of 1929 as a typist, at which time she also became a member of the Nazi Party. Wolf went on to serve as Hitler's chief secretary until the night of 21–22 April 1945, when she was ordered to fly out of Berlin to safety. She died on 5 June 1985.

<i>The Castle in the Forest</i> novel by Norman Mailer

The Castle in the Forest is the last novel by writer Norman Mailer, published in the year of his death, 2007. It is the story of Adolf Hitler's childhood as seen through the eyes of Dieter, a demon sent to put him on his destructive path. The novel explores the idea that Hitler was the product of incest. It forms a thematic contrast with the writer's immediately previous novel The Gospel According to the Son (1999), which deals with the early life of Jesus. It received a good deal of praise, including a glowing review from Lee Siegel of The New York Times Book Review, and was the New York Times Bestseller for 2007.

The Mind of Adolf Hitler: The Secret Wartime Report, published in 1972 by Basic Books, is based on a World War II report by psychoanalyst Walter C. Langer which probed the psychology of Adolf Hitler from the available information. The original report was prepared for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and submitted in late 1943 or early 1944; it is officially entitled A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler: His Life and Legend. The report is one of two psychoanalytic reports prepared for the OSS during the war in an attempt to assess Hitler's personality; the other is Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler by the psychologist Henry A. Murray who also contributed to Langer's report. The report eventually became 1000 pages long.

Josef Greiner was an Austrian writer. He supposedly knew Adolf Hitler during Hitler's time in Vienna and later published two memoirs on this topic, for which he is best known.

The possibility that Adolf Hitler had only one testicle has been a fringe subject among historians and academics researching the German leader. The rumour may be an urban myth, possibly originating from the contemporary British military song "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball". Nevertheless, research, eyewitness testimony and historical study have not been able to prove or disprove the suggestion.

Adolf Hitler and Stefanie Rabatsch Object of teenage Adolf Hitlers love

Stefanie Rabatsch was an Austrian woman who was allegedly an unrequited love of then-teenage Adolf Hitler, a claim made by Hitler's childhood friend August Kubizek. Her Jewish-sounding maiden name, Isak, has been subject to speculation in this context. However, there is no evidence apart from Kubizek that Hitler ever had such an attachment.

The psychopathography of Adolf Hitler is an umbrella term for psychiatric literature that deals with the hypothesis that the German Führer and Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler suffered from mental illness. Both during his lifetime and after his death, Hitler has often been associated with mental disorders such as hysteria, megalomania or paranoid schizophrenia. Psychiatrists and psychoanalysts who have diagnosed Hitler as having mental disturbance include well-known figures such as Walter C. Langer and Erich Fromm. Other researchers, such as Fritz Redlich, have concluded that Hitler probably did not have these disorders.

The Psychopathic God

Contents

Jewish ancestry

Origin of the Title

Citation

See also

Related Research Articles