Krishna
So, most people know a lot about him. One of the definitive works on his life was The Rise and Fall of Third Reich by William Shearer, who, according to this book, was living in and chronicling Nazi Germany as events unfolded. But to date, the two books written by Ian Kershaw are considered to be collectively the best biography on the dictator, of which this is one.
The books are certainly weighty – the first book, which covers Hitler’s rise to power, covers just the period from 1922 – 1935 in a thousand odd pages. This, the second part, talks about the conquests of Nazi Germany and the subsequent fall of Hitler and is another weighty 1100+ pages. So, this is not a weekend read.
But it offers plenty of interesting details of the course of history, and almost gives a ringside view of the history from the perspective of Hitler’s life. On the way there are many surprises.
I thought that everyone knew the details of Hitler’s life, given the magnitude of his notoriety. But not really so. For example, do you know when Hitler ordered the Jews exterminated? If you are looking for an explicit order, the real answer is `Never’! Hitler is surely responsible for and condoned the annihilation of the Jews but he was careful never to put his order in writing, nor talk about it except obliquely, in terms of the “prophesy” he had made that if Jews caused trouble again, like they did in World War I, the entire Jewry in the world will be exterminated. He was afraid of the might of the Jews, and thought that he ought to cover himself if they ever regained power later.
What trouble did they cause? In his mind, they had the temerity to fight back when he ordered his ruthless attack on Russia and England! (Yes, Russia was in his view controlled by Bolshevik Jews and America by Capitalist Jews).
So, was he not complicit in the genocide? He was. Even very minor offenses by his senior army leaders caused them to be chewed out by a hysterical Hitler and often resulted in dismissal. Regular reports of the mass killings reached him daily without any apparent repercussions. He simply did not want to be caught on paper ordering any killings, but was fully onside with the exterminations, which were strongly instigated by him through indirect suggestions.
What was his plan for Russia? It was the expansion space for Germany. German population increased and expanded and they needed `living space’. The other countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia and others) were inferior race and had to serve these people and kept under educated and unskilled to serve the master race. He did not hesitate to wipe out the entire populations to make way for Germans and to forestall any retaliation. This part, of course, is known. His plan for ruthless exploitation of every race other than German is frightening.
Even more frightening is the fact that he considered Asians and other races substantially different as subhuman (like Jews) and completely expendable. He was upset about the necessity of having to align with the Japanese against some of the white race out of necessity. So the supporters and Neo Nazis who now support him from some of the other countries would have stood no chance better than the Jews had he won the Second World War!
Next part of the quiz: Who witnessed the cremation of Hitler after he committed suicide? The surprising answer: No one. Not even Himmler, or Goebbels (who had also killed himself and his family) or Ribbentrop or even Hitler’s personal guards. His and Eva Braun’s bodies were burnt in the courtyard in front of his bunker and abandoned by all trying to escape the tightening noose of the Red Army while they burnt to cinders without a witness to the event. (All that could be recovered were some dentures, kept in a cigar box and presented as evidence of his death!
The book is filled with many such surprises. If you have the patience to trawl through the 1100+ pages, you will be rewarded with an excellent narrative, powerful arguments, full details and excellent narrative style. This is the story that will keep you engaged right to the end, even though you know already what happens at the end!
I would give it a 8/10
— Krishna