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The Hidden Hitler
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- The Hidden Hitler
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Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsWell-researched, with previously unexplored insights.
Bytommy jonqon April 22, 2018
Terribly well-researched book into Hitler's personal life, including his early years and closest (and least well-known) political friends.
Top critical review
One person found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsIntriguing idea but no hard evidence.
ByAmazon Customeron September 25, 2017
Machtan has done a lot of research and posited an altogether believable theory that Hitler was a homosexual. Unfortunately there is absolutely no hard evidence of this and Machtan overplays his hand by suggesting circumstantial homoeroticism into every relationship or friendship Hitler ever had. That seemed over the top to me and ultimately made me mentally groan with what I perceived as Machtan's overreach to make his point again and again and again. Despite its flaws, Machtan's book is a more scholarly approach to a possible element of Hitler's character that has been overlooked or only suggested at in a more scandalous way in other publications. Even if we accept Machtan's claim of Hitler's homosexuality, Machtan himself is unable to provide any suggestion of how it may have influenced Hitler's beliefs, politics or policies. He only suggests it informs of Hitler's pathological desire to control his image and what people knew about him. And it does seem clear that Hitler worked very hard to destroy hard evidence of his early years that did not embellish the Hitler myth. Clearly Hitler was a man of secrets and fear of some kind of "outing." Whether homosexuality was the thing may never be known. Machtan himself admits we may never have hard evidence or have to wait for some long forgotten Swiss safe deposit box to be opened for scholarly review. If Machtan is correct, one has to marvel that so many of his close confidants and household staff that survived him kept his secret or their own doubts about him to the grave also.
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ByAmazon Customeron September 25, 2017
Machtan has done a lot of research and posited an altogether believable theory that Hitler was a homosexual. Unfortunately there is absolutely no hard evidence of this and Machtan overplays his hand by suggesting circumstantial homoeroticism into every relationship or friendship Hitler ever had. That seemed over the top to me and ultimately made me mentally groan with what I perceived as Machtan's overreach to make his point again and again and again. Despite its flaws, Machtan's book is a more scholarly approach to a possible element of Hitler's character that has been overlooked or only suggested at in a more scandalous way in other publications. Even if we accept Machtan's claim of Hitler's homosexuality, Machtan himself is unable to provide any suggestion of how it may have influenced Hitler's beliefs, politics or policies. He only suggests it informs of Hitler's pathological desire to control his image and what people knew about him. And it does seem clear that Hitler worked very hard to destroy hard evidence of his early years that did not embellish the Hitler myth. Clearly Hitler was a man of secrets and fear of some kind of "outing." Whether homosexuality was the thing may never be known. Machtan himself admits we may never have hard evidence or have to wait for some long forgotten Swiss safe deposit box to be opened for scholarly review. If Machtan is correct, one has to marvel that so many of his close confidants and household staff that survived him kept his secret or their own doubts about him to the grave also.
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Bytommy jonqon April 22, 2018
Terribly well-researched book into Hitler's personal life, including his early years and closest (and least well-known) political friends.
ByKindle Customeron October 7, 2014
a great insight into a side of hitler which is usually ignored
ByKevin Donnellyon May 26, 2016
A well documented presentation of Hitler's homosexuality and its impact on history.
ByD. Martinon July 6, 2014
The item was as described. The price was great. It arrived shortly. A good resource.
5.0 out of 5 starshe had done (prior to the war) a lot of good for the Germans when the rest of the world ...
ByRichardon November 14, 2014
It was disturbing to read about Hitler's supposed homosexuality since, he had done (prior to the war) a lot of good for the Germans when the rest of the world suffered under the great depression. Machtan, like a modern Sherlock Holmes, takes pieces and tidbits of Hitler's life, his associates, their associates, the social milieu which gives all of this an insightful context, eyewitness testimony by wives of associates, and people generally in Hitler's circle, his childhood friends and their motives for speaking "nicely" about Hitler, for which they were well rewarded with pensions, posts. No proof can be expected short of compromising pictures. Just like there is no solid evidence that the mafia had compromising photos of J Edgar Hoover, against the fact that he denied the mafia existed for decades. Much circumstantial evidence is analyzed an you must be compelled to think that Hitler might in fact have been a homosexual. The extent he went to seize police records of the time he wandered Vienna, the inconsistencies of how he was able to survive decently without a proper job, cannot be from the sales of painted postcards. He lived far beyond that. Read and decide for yourself. I am not saying Hitler was homosexual, but this books makes a very strong case. Machtan picked over seemingly small clues that led to bigger ones, till a trail of questions begs for an answer. Machtan was like a dogged detective, following every clue, not tossing them aside after only a superficial look. He goes deeper and connects the dots in a brilliant manner, Enjoy this stimulating book and it will give you a fresh outlook. The Nazi hierarchy was filled with homosexuals. Where there is smoke is a possible (note I say possible) fire
Contrary to the abundant negative reviews of Lothar Machtan's THE HIDDEN HITLER there is something to be gained by reading this at times lugubrious treatise on the impact of Hitler's implied homosexuality in attempting to understand the singular horror of his existence. That "something" is a heightened understanding of the times and the events and the state of development of psychology that could produce such a beast. And after all is said and written, Hitler never could have existed in a vacuum: there were needs birthed by politcal and sociological climes that somehow needed a promised (read "messianic") figure.
If astute writers such as Christopher Isherwood were able to observe and report the decadence of Berlin, the "roaring 20's" atmosphere not unlike that concurrently throbbing in the USA, then the milieu in which the young misfit artist Adolf and his bohemian comrades seems conducive to the development of early indicators that the gay life was not to be ignored. The author of this historically based biography merely substantiates and documents evidences of Hitler's private life, later assigning some of the Fuhrer's bizarre rantings and misdeeds as attempts to conceal a factor that could have dethroned him and his Nazi Party.
Is the author saying that Hitler was a beast because he was homosexual? No, and as a matter of fact the extent to which this book is footnoted and referenced really ends up a seemingly pointless process without premise. Yes, it is interesting to explore the psyches of the monsters of history. But what, in the end, is the point? We are not enlightened as to why this man could become a genocidal maniac, and even more frustrating, we are not given clues as to why the gays of the period were incarcerated, tortured and burned in the same camps and ovens with the Jews.
This is probably a minor but meaningful addition to the exploration of Hitler and his time, but it is only for those who have a high tolerance for ambiguous minutia.
If astute writers such as Christopher Isherwood were able to observe and report the decadence of Berlin, the "roaring 20's" atmosphere not unlike that concurrently throbbing in the USA, then the milieu in which the young misfit artist Adolf and his bohemian comrades seems conducive to the development of early indicators that the gay life was not to be ignored. The author of this historically based biography merely substantiates and documents evidences of Hitler's private life, later assigning some of the Fuhrer's bizarre rantings and misdeeds as attempts to conceal a factor that could have dethroned him and his Nazi Party.
Is the author saying that Hitler was a beast because he was homosexual? No, and as a matter of fact the extent to which this book is footnoted and referenced really ends up a seemingly pointless process without premise. Yes, it is interesting to explore the psyches of the monsters of history. But what, in the end, is the point? We are not enlightened as to why this man could become a genocidal maniac, and even more frustrating, we are not given clues as to why the gays of the period were incarcerated, tortured and burned in the same camps and ovens with the Jews.
This is probably a minor but meaningful addition to the exploration of Hitler and his time, but it is only for those who have a high tolerance for ambiguous minutia.
BySceptic Jimon April 20, 2017
Very interesting book!
ByRandyHon May 2, 2015
Hitler did his very best to hide his homosexual history.After reading The Hidden Hitler and The Pink Swastika a very clear picture exposes Hitler and his lovers. I keep asking myself how could the world not have known. Lothar Machtan has done a great job of enlightening us with this book.
This was not a subject that I desired to read about. It is thoroughly disgusting to me. However it is extremely important to know and understand how homosexuals are effecting not only history but our future as well. The world is now being desensitized by people who practice homosexual sex. The subject is not pretty. It is not only crucial to know how it was involved in history, but who and how it is involved in shaping our current world.
Great book.
This was not a subject that I desired to read about. It is thoroughly disgusting to me. However it is extremely important to know and understand how homosexuals are effecting not only history but our future as well. The world is now being desensitized by people who practice homosexual sex. The subject is not pretty. It is not only crucial to know how it was involved in history, but who and how it is involved in shaping our current world.
Great book.
This book is a primary source for "The Pink Swastika", written by Scott Lively and also reviewed by me. "The Hidden Hitler" is a far better book, with more thorough documentation and no hidden agenda outside of seeking the Truth. As history is explained and documented in this book, a lot of other things fall into place. I never did believe there was a homosexual holocaust, it just didn't make sense in the scheme of what I know about the Nazi motivation for a Master Race. They were far too self-centered to care about so-called "morality" -- and far too immoral, at that. That said, the "Night of the Long Knives" apparently was a homosexual slaughter based on internalized homophobia (my words) and the self-centered narcissism of Hitler and his obsession for the preservation of his historical image. That, to me, makes sense, in its own perverted way.
It is difficult to be clear about the difference between homosexuality and pederasty even today, and it certainly would have been difficult back then. Surely there was overlap, as there is today, particularly for gay men. Very few gay men are rapists, but there are clearly men who rape boys. Rape, however, is not the issue in this book. Power is. And, then again, rape is about power, isn't it?
Given that, the Hitler Youth makes sense as well. Seduction, betrayal, secrets, power, and the Lebensborn homes, where women were nothing more -- nor less -- than breeders (again, based on my own research) speaks to me of a brilliant homosexual coup d'etat that makes "don't ask, don't tell" a monument to efficiency. After all, how can one control one's entourage without secrets?
This is not about the gay "community." There is no gay "community," in fact, and there certainly wasn't one then. There was a sub-culture, as there always has been, but they did not then, and they do not now, speak with one voice. The oppression, narcissism and self-loathing they lived with, however, could definitely contribute to a perverse distortion of power and control and a terrorizing ab-reaction against the masses should someone of such proclivities actually make it to the apex.
The anti-Semitism is a given, and had little to do with the homosexuality. Many people were (and are) anti-Semitic, Germany did not corner the market on that. Nor did they corner the market on medical experimentation. They did, however, corner the market on efficiency, expediency, and drama. The epitome of Queendom, if there ever was one.
It is difficult to be clear about the difference between homosexuality and pederasty even today, and it certainly would have been difficult back then. Surely there was overlap, as there is today, particularly for gay men. Very few gay men are rapists, but there are clearly men who rape boys. Rape, however, is not the issue in this book. Power is. And, then again, rape is about power, isn't it?
Given that, the Hitler Youth makes sense as well. Seduction, betrayal, secrets, power, and the Lebensborn homes, where women were nothing more -- nor less -- than breeders (again, based on my own research) speaks to me of a brilliant homosexual coup d'etat that makes "don't ask, don't tell" a monument to efficiency. After all, how can one control one's entourage without secrets?
This is not about the gay "community." There is no gay "community," in fact, and there certainly wasn't one then. There was a sub-culture, as there always has been, but they did not then, and they do not now, speak with one voice. The oppression, narcissism and self-loathing they lived with, however, could definitely contribute to a perverse distortion of power and control and a terrorizing ab-reaction against the masses should someone of such proclivities actually make it to the apex.
The anti-Semitism is a given, and had little to do with the homosexuality. Many people were (and are) anti-Semitic, Germany did not corner the market on that. Nor did they corner the market on medical experimentation. They did, however, corner the market on efficiency, expediency, and drama. The epitome of Queendom, if there ever was one.
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