Adolf Hitler's sexuality

Adolf Hitler's sexuality has been the subject of much speculation and controversy. Some historians argue that Hitler was completely heterosexual, others argue that he was either homosexual or bisexual or asexual. The reason for this great deal of speculation may be the fact that Hitler presented himself publicly as a man without an intimate domestic life, dedicated to his political mission.

In 1943, the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) published "A Psychological Analysis of Adolf Hitler: His Life and Legend", compiled by Walter C. Langer and other leading psychoanalysts. In the course of the 281-page report, the authors describe Hitler "(1) as he appears to himself, (2) as he has been pictured to the German people, and (3) how he is known to his associates."cite web | last=Langer | first=Walter | coauthors=Henry Murray, Ernst Kris, Bertram Lewin | url=http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi?people/h/hitler.adolf/oss-papers/images/gif/00010006.gif| title=Preface | format=GIF | work=A Psychological Analysis of Adolf Hitler: His Life and Legend | publisher=Office of Strategic Services | year=1943 | accessdate=2006-03-23] Using this information, they then perform a "psychological analysis ... in which an attempt is made to understand Hitler as a person and the motivations underlying his actions." All the OSS report authors concluded that Hitler was an impotent coprophile. [Walter C. Langer, "The Mind of Adolf Hitler: The Secret Wartime Report", ISBN 0465046207 / ISBN 978-0465046201] The authors also describe Hitler as having, "possibly even a homosexual streak in him."

Other arguments that Hitler may have been homosexual were put forward in a book by historian Lothar Machtan called "The Hidden Hitler", based primarily upon the "Mend Protocol", a series of allegations made to the Munich Police in the early 1920s by a former soldier colleague of Hitler's. In 2004, HBO produced a documentary film based on Machtan's theory, titled "". Mend was a convicted fraudster, and historian Anton Joachimsthaler (TV interview for BBC2 in 2002) is among those who regard the protocol as unreliable.

A controversial book, "The Pink Swastika", authored by the writers Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams and released in 2002, dealt with similar topics. A line-by-line rebuttal, "The Annotated Pink Swastika", outlines in detail numerous factual inconsistencies in Lively and Abrams' book. [ [http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/8706/ The Annotated Pink Swastika] ]

Jack Nusan Porter, from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, [http://chgs.umn.edu/educational/homosexuals.html writes] : "Did Hitler despise homosexuals? Was he ashamed of his own homosexual identity? These are areas of psychohistory that are beyond known knowledge. My own feelings are that Hitler was asexual in the traditional sense and had bizarre sexual fetishes."

Incest claims

There have been claims that Hitler had an incestuous affair with his half-niece, Geli Raubal. This has been fuelled partly by the fact that Hitler's own mother Klara was his father Alois' niece. Geli died young, either by suicide or an assassination, and this has caused much speculation.

The 2005 film "Uncle Adolf", [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418271/ IMDb] .] starring Elaine Cassidy as Geli and Ken Stott as Adolf Hitler, is about Hitler in the Führerbunker reminiscing about his relationship with Geli. In this fictional portrayal, it is suggested that there was a sexual element.

References

* Rosenbaum, Ron. "Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil". New York: Harper Perennial, 1999. ISBN 006095339X.

External links

* [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/hitleross5.html A Psychological Analysis of Adolf Hitler: His Life and Legend]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/TheYoungHitlerIKnew Download "The Young Hitler I Knew"] on archive.org