The vagabond, Adolph Hitler, was politically astute. He was twenty-five years of age at the start of the conflict and was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Although an Austrian, he was allowed to join the German army. He felt that his life would now have meaning and he could participate in the development of a Greater German State worthy to take its place as the leader of the world. By this time he had unknowingly prepared himself for the future by steeping himself in political philosophy and geography.
Albert and Sam had only a peripheral understanding of international affairs, wrapped up as most eighteen year olds were in graduating high school and planning their next academic step. With the start of war, that would all change for the two boys—as well as for Adolph…
FIRST, Adolph.
In 1909, Hitler was still in Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, barely supporting himself with his paintings and odd jobs. By now both his parents were dead and what little inheritance he had was gone.
Vienna’s anti-Semitic environment molded his thinking even more in the direction of anti-Semitism which he vigorously embraced. Plus the dangerous geopolitical international situation in the world convinced him that democracies were doomed to failure. Countries could only prosper under strong leadership by one man: a dictatorship. He viewed Germany and Austria as failed states and preached the unification of Germany and Austria under one strong leader. He is quoted in his rambling treatise Mein Kampf (my struggle), written in 1923, as saying: “My inner aversion to the Hapsburg State was increasing daily. “This was a motley of Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Ruthenians, Serbs and Croats, and always the bacillus which is the solvent of human society—the Jew.” As was obvious, he had an early start on his future deadly course.
SECOND Albert and Samuel
With relationships between countries the way they were in the first part of the twentieth century, conscripted armies became an essential part of government policy. Young men were registered in case it became necessary to send them to war. This became a mindset for teen agers who realized their lives could take a sudden turn...
And that is exactly what happened to Albert and Samuel while sitting in class one day in 1914. The classroom door opened and a stern looking man entered and handed the teacher a note. When the teacher finished reading, he looked up at the classroom and solemnly announced, “Gentlemen, Germany is at war!” The class, along with Albert and Sam leaped up as one and rushed outdoors to join the hordes celebrating on the streets. They knew they would soon be called up to serve and reflected this enthusiasm to their frightened parents who were powerless to do anything but pray that they would not be sacrificing their sons to an unknown future…
The next four years of this expected “short war” would be hell on earth for millions of young men.
CHAPTER 7
Adolph Hitler—World War I…1914-18
Immediately Hitler came forward to volunteer for military service. Now he had a chance for glory and fame. When screened in Austria, he was found to be unfit. Undaunted, he petitioned to serve in the German Bavarian forces in Munich “I came to love that city more than any other place known to me; a German city, how very different than Vienna.” He asked for and received permission to serve in a German Bavarian regiment, and as he describes later in his famous autobiography, Mein Kampf, he wrote, “I opened the document with trembling hands. No words of mine can describe the satisfaction I felt. I sank down upon my knees and thanked Heaven out of the fullness of my heart.”
He was accepted and became a member of the German List regiment named for Colonel List.
After preliminary training, he became actively involved in the First Battle of Ypres on October, 1914; a battle memorialized by the title Kindermord bei Ypren (Massacre of the Innocents) where 40,000 men were killed within three weeks. The accuracy and force of the newer weaponry surprised even seasoned veterans. The French fought with passion, and casualties were much greater than expected. During the battle, Hitler and another man rescued a wounded officer. For this, he was awarded an Iron Cross. Only 600 men out of 3500 survived the battle. Colonel List was one of the fatalities. Of Hitler’s company of 250 there were only 42 left. Hitler was promoted from Schutze to Gefreiter (private first class to corporal) and was assigned to become a regimental messenger assuring him even greater dangers as he had to “run” messages from one part of the front to another.
By the end of 1914, a Christmas truce was held when opposing German and French soldiers got together on the front lines and celebrated. Hitler refused to participate in this truce. Historical perspective might allow one to interpret this inaction as the mindset of a future fanatic.
The next battle was against Great Britain. Trench warfare was the predominant strategy on the battlefield in which the protagonists launched murderous back and forth attacks which resulted only in more casualties, many resulting from the first use of poison gas.
Through these early times of battle, Hitler proved himself to be a totally dedicated warrior. As a messenger, he was forced to run through heavy barrages to deliver messages from one formation to the next. He began to believe in his own invincibility. While shells and bullets flew through the air, Hitler remained unscathed and obsessed with the idea that divine intervention was acting on his behalf. He describes an event that in his mind confirmed this thesis: moments after a “mysterious voice” told him to leave a crowded trench, an incoming artillery shell killed all of the trench’s occupants. This presumed divine intervention was yet one more contributor to his burgeoning fanatical and narcissistic mind-set.
Toward the end of 1916, Hitler received a severe leg wound from a shell burst, which earned him a convalescent leave at Beelitz near Berlin. When he visited Berlin, he was struck by the low morale of its inhabitants who were undergoing shortages of food and other hardships. This experience would only steel his resolve. His reaction to what he witnessed in the civilian population was disgust, and he labeled them as traitors and cowards. Upon return to the front lines, he was quoted as saying, “In spite of our big guns, victory would be denied us, for the invisible foes of the German people were a greater danger than the biggest cannon of the enemy.”
In the next hard fought battle against Great Britain, Hitler was awarded several more medals for bravery.
World War I was fought on two fronts: (Germany vs. France and Great Britain), and (Germany vs. Russia). When the Bolsheviks (Communists) deposed the Czar, Russia was in disarray enabling Germany to defeat and impose their terms on Russia. This renewed the hopes of the Germans fighting France and Great Britain because all the armaments from the Russian front could be deployed against Britain and France.
Alas, it was not to be. America had entered the war greatly bolstering defenses against Germany and providing more offensive push. The Germans now knew their cause was hopeless unless they could knock out the expanded forces now levied against them. With this in mind, Germany unleashed a massive offensive, but it was not enough.
Hitler never despaired and continued to fight. He received an Iron Cross First class (Germany’s highest honor) when he captured a group of French soldiers by crawling up to a shell hole where a number of French troops were huddled. Hitler lied that they were surrounded and told them to surrender. They did.
This brave act, by one man, was not enough of course, and the German lines began to fall apart as the Americans and British troops attacked vigorously. On October, 1918 the war was over for Hitler because he fell victim to a British gas attack, which temporarily blinded and immobilized him. He was sent to Pasewak hospital for treatment. Most of the patients in this hospital had hysterical blindness