Austrian historian Roman Sandgruber’s new book “Hitler’s Father’s Family Letters – How Did His Son Become Dictator? recently published in Austria, has sparked much interest in the German media. According to the author, Hitler’s father had an important influence on Hitler’s psychological development. Both had authoritarian, domineering and headstrong personalities.
The letters Sandgruber cites in the book are 31 previously unpublished letters written by Hitler’s father, Alois Hitler (1837-1903), to Josef Radlegger from January 1895 to July 1895. The recently retired naval officer purchased a farmhouse from Radlegger. Although Alois Hitler had never had any experience of rural Life, he always wrote in his letters as if he were a “high, all-knowing country gentleman. He took his two children from his first wife, his current third wife Clara, and Hitler (1889-1945), whom he had with Clara, and another child to live on a farm, which he intended to run in his later years. But the business failed, and in 1897 Alois had to sell the farm again and move with his family to a rented house in the small city of Lambach.
The weekly magazine Focus commented on the book that a new perspective on the path of dictator Hitler’s life has now been added. New sources show that his father had a significant influence on him. Both father and son were highly narcissistic and despised authoritarianism. According to historian Sandgruber’s analysis, Hitler’s father had a greater influence on his son than is known. Hitler led an unstable life as a young man. In the 18 years following Hitler’s birth, the Hitler family moved 18 times. In addition, Alois Hitler had violently beaten his son. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Sandgruber said that Alois was a terrible, authoritarian father who also beat his son Hitler. This was common at the Time. But in beating Hitler, he should have hit too much. For Hitler’s brother was a petty criminal who had been sentenced to six months in prison for stealing. The father, Alois, stormed out because of this and became especially harsh to his young son. In addition, both father and son scorned the authority and stayed away from church and faith.
According to the German newspaper Die Welt, what Sandgruber reads in the letter is that Alois Hitler fancied himself an “omniscient autodidact”. He gained all the knowledge he needed from lectures, newspapers and books. But when he boasted in front of experienced peasants, no one took him seriously. All thirty-one letters clearly show this. His son Hitler also had this character and thought he knew everything. But unlike his father, because of the power he possessed, he could point the finger at the deer with impunity.
The second question of concern is where did Hitler’s anti-Semitic tendencies come from? Die Welt argues that Sandgruber’s newly discovered sources do not provide convincing evidence on this point. So far, evidence of Hitler’s Jew-hatred before 1919 is still lacking. Nonetheless, Sandgruber’s new book is of historical value.
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