He is unable to maintain any kind of a working schedule. His hours are 
most irregular and he may go to bed any time between midnight and 
seven o'clock in the morning and get up anywhere from nine o'clock in 
the morning and two in the afternoon. In later years the hours tended 
to get later and it was unusual, just before the war, for him to go to 
bed before daybreak. The night, however, was not spent in working as his 
propaganda agents allege, but in viewing one or two feature movies, 
endless newsreels, listening to music, entertaining film stars or just 
sitting around chatting with his staff. He seemed to have a violent 
dislike for going to bed or being alone. Frequently, he would ring for his
[00020062.GIF  Page 55] adjutants in the middle of the night after his 
guests had gone home and demand that they sit up and talk to him. It 
was not that he had anything to say and often the adjutants would fall 
asleep listening to him talk about nothing of importance. As long 
as one of them remained awake, however, he would not be offended. There 
was an unwritten law among his immediate staff never to ask a question 
at these early morning sessions because to do so might get Hitler off 
on another subject and force them to remain for another hour.

Hitler sleeps very badly and has been in the habit for some years 
of taking a sleeping powder every night before retiring. It is possible 
that he demands someone to be with him in the hope that the powder 
will take effect and he will be overcome with sleep. His behavior, 
however, is not in keeping with this hypothesis for he carries on a 
monologue and frequently gets very much stirred up about the topic. 
This is hardly conducive to sleep and we must suppose that there 
is some other reason for his late hours. Even after he has dismissed 
his adjutant and goes to bed he usually takes an armful of 
illustrated periodicals with him. These are usually magazines with 
pictures concerning naval and military matters and American magazines 
are usually included. Shirer (280) reports that he has been informed 
that since the war broke out Hitler has been keeping better hours 
and regularly has his first breakfast at seven A.M. and his second 
breakfast at nine A.M. This may have been so during the early days 
of the war but it is very doubtful that Hitler could keep up this 
schedule for any length of time.

[00010062.GIF Page 56]

Rauschning (275) claims that Hitler has a bed compulsion which demands 
that the bed be made in a particular way with the quilt folded 
according to a proscribed pattern and that a man must make the bed, 
before he can go to sleep. We have no other information on this 
subject but from his general psychological structure such a 
compulsion would be possible.

His working day before the war was equally disorderly. Rauschning 
reports, "he does not know how to work steadily. Indeed, he is 
incapable of working." He dislikes desk work and seldom glances at 
the piles of reports which are placed on his desk daily. No
matter how important these may be or how much his adjutants may urge 
him to attend to the particular matter, he refuses to take them 
seriously unless it happens to be a project which interests him. 
On the whole, few reports interest him unless they deal 
with military or naval affairs or political matters. He seldom sits 
in a cabinet meeting because they bore him. On several occasions 
when sufficient pressure was brought to bear he did attend but got 
up abruptly during the session and left without apology. Later it was 
discovered that he had gone to his private theater and had the 
operator show some film that he particularly liked. On the whole, he 
prefers to discuss cabinet matters with each member in person and 
then communicate his decision to the group as a whole.
 
He has a passion for the latest news and for photographs of himself. 
If Hoffmann, the official Party photographer, happens to appear or 
someone happens to enter his office with a newspaper he will interrupt 
the most inportant meeting in order to scan [00010063.GIF  Page 57]
through them Very frequently he becomes so absorbed in the news or in 
his own photographs that he completely forgets the topic under 
discussion. Ludecke (165) writes:
 
"Even on ordinary days in those times, it was almost impossible to 
keep Hitler concentrated on one point. His quick mind would run away 
with the talk, or his attention would be distracted by the sudden 
discovery of the newspaper and he would stop to read 
it avidly, or he would interrupt your carefully prepared report with 
a long speech as though you were an audience...."
 
And Hanfstaengl reports that "his staff is usually in despair on 
account of his procrastination.... He never takes their protests in 
this respect very seriously and usually brushes them aside by saying, 
'Problems are not solved by getting fidgety. If the time is ripe, 
the matter will be settled one way or another.'" (899)

Although Hitler tries to present himself as a very decisive individual 
who never hesitates when he is confronted by a difficult situation, he 
is usually far from it. It is at just these times that his 
procrastionation becomes most marked. At such times it is almost 
impossible to get him to take action on anything. He stays very much 
by himself and is frequently almost inaccessible to his immediate staff. 
He often becomes depressed, is in bad humor, talks little, and 
prefers to read a book, look at movies or play with architectural 
models. According to the Dutch report (656) his hesitation to act is 
not due to divergent views among his advisors. At such times, he 
seldom pays very much attention to them and prefers not to discuss 
the matter.

[0001064.GIF Page 58]

"What is known as the mastery of material was quite unimportant to 
him. He quickly became impatient if the details of a problem were 
brought to him. He was greatly adverse to experts and had little 
regard for their opinion. He looked upon them as mere hacks, as 
brush-cleaners and color grinders...." (269)

On some occasions he has been known to leave Berlin without a 
word and go to Berchtesgaden where he spends his time walking in 
the country entirely by himself. Rauschning, who has met him on 
such occasions, says:

"He recognizes nobody then. HE wants to be alone. There are times 
when he flees from human society." (275)

Roehm (176) frequently said, "Usually he solves suddenly, at the 
very last minute, a situation that has become intolerable and 
dangerous only because he vacillates and procrastinates."
 
It is during these periods of inactivity that Hitler is waiting for 
his "inner voice" to guide him. He does not think the problem through 
in a normal way but waits until the solution is presented to him. 
To Rauschning he said:

"Unless I have the incorruptible conviction: THIS IS THE SOLUTION, 
I do nothing. Not even if the whole party tried to drive me to action. 
I will not act; I will wait, no matter what happens. But if the voice 
speaks, then I know the time has come to act." (268)

These periods of indecision may last from a few days to several weeks. 
If he is induced to talk about the problem-solving this time he becomes 
ill-natured and bad-tempered. However, when the solution has been given 
to him he has a great desire to express himself. He then calls in 
his adjutants and they must sit and listen to him until he is 
finished no matter what time it hap-[00010065.GIF  Page 59]pens to be. 
On these occasions he does not want them to question him or even to 
understand him. It seems that he just wants to talk.

After this recital to his adjutants Hitler calls in his advisers and 
informs them of his decision. When he has finished they are free to 
express their opinions. If Hitler thinks that one of these opinions 
is worthwhile he will listen for a long time but usually these 
opinions have little influence on his decision when this stage has 
been reached. Only if someone succeeds in introducing new factors is 
there any possibility of getting him to change his mind. If someone 
voices the opinion that the proposed plan is too difficult or 
onerous he becomes extremely angry and frequently says:

"I do not look for people having clever ideas of their own but 
rather people who are clever in finding ways and means of carrying 
out my ideas." (654)

As soon as he has the solution to a problem his mood changes very 
radically. He is again the Fuehrer we have described at the 
beginning of this section.

"He is very cheerful, jokes all the time and does not give anybody 
an opportunity to speak, while he himself makes fun of everybody." 

This mood lasts throughout the period when necessary work has been 
done. As soon as the requisite orders have bean given to put the 
plan into execution, however, Hitler seems to lose interest in it. 
He becomes perfectly calm, ocoupies himself with other matters and
sleeps unusually long hours. (654)

[0010066.GIF  Page 60]

This is a very fundamental trait in Hitler's character structure. 
He does not think things out in a logical and consistent fashion, 
gathering all available information pertinent to the problem, 
mapping out alternative courses of action and then weighing the 
evidence pro and con for each of them before reaching a decision. 
His mental processes operate in reverse. Instead of studying the 
problem as an intellectual would do he avoids it and occupies 
himself with other things until unconscious processes furnish him 
with a solution. Having the solution he then begins to look for facts 
which will prove that it is correct. In this procedure he is very 
clever and by the time he presents it to his associates, it has the 
appearance of a rational judgment. Nevertheless, his thought processes 
proceed from the emotional to the factual instead of starting with the 
facts as an intellectual normally does. It is this characteristic of 
his thinking process which makes it difficult for ordinary people to 
understand Hitler or to predict his future actions. 
His orientation in this respect is that of an artist and not that 
of a statesman.

Although Hitler has been extremely successful in using this 
inspirational technique in determining his course of action (and we are 
reminded of his following his course with the precision of a 
sleep-walker) it is not without its shortcomings. He becomes 
dependent on his inner guide which makes for unpredictability on the 
one hand and rigidity on the other. The result is that he cannoy modify 
his course in the face of unexpected developments or [00010067.GIF  Page 61]
firm opposition. Strasser (297) tells us that:

"When he was then confronted by contradictory facts he was left 
floundering."

And Roehm says that there is:

"No system in the execution of his thoughts. He wants things his own 
way and gets mad when he strikes firm opposition on solid ground." (176)

This rigidity of mental functioning is obvious even in ordinary 
everyday interviews. When an unexpected question is asked, he is 
completely at a loss. Lochner (154) supplies us with an excellent 
description of this reaction:
 
"I saw this seemingly super-self-confident man actually blush when 
I broached the subject of German-American relations.... This 
evidently caught him off-guard. He was not used to having his 
infallibility challenged. For a moment he blushed like a school-boy, 
hemmed and hawed, then stammered an embarrassed something about 
having so many problems to ponder that he had not yet had time to 
take up America."
 
Almost everyone who has written about Hitler has commented on his 
rages. These are well known to all of his associates and they have 
learned to fear them. The descriptions of his behavior during these 
rages vary considerably. The more extreme descriptions claim that at 
the climax he rolls on the floor and chews on the carpets. 
Shirer (279) reports that in 1938 he did this so often that his 
associates frequently referred to him as "Teppichfresser". Not one 
of our informants who has been close to Hitler, people like 
Hanfstaengl, Strasser, Rauschning, Hohenlohe, Friedelinde Wagner, 
and Ludecke, have ever seen him behave in this manner. Moreover 
they all are firmly convinced that this is a gross [00010068.GIF  Page 62]
exaggeration and the informant of the Dutch Legation (655) says 
that this aspect must be relegated to the domain of "Greuelmaerchen."

Even without this added touch of chewing the carpet, his behavior 
is still extremely violent and shows an utter lack of emotional 
control. In the worst rages he undoubtedly acts like a spoiled child 
who cannot have his own way and bangs his fists on the tables and 
walls. He scolds and shouts and stammers and on some occasions 
foaming saliva gathers in the corners of his mouth. Rauschning, 
in describing one of these uncontrolled exhibitions, says:

"He was an alarming sight, his hair disheveled, his eyes fixed, 
and his face distorted and purple. I feared that he would collapse 
or have a stroke." (110)

It must not be supposed, however, that these rages occur only when he 
is crossed on major issues. On the contrary, very insignificant matters 
might call out this reaction. In general they are brought on whenever 
anyone contradicts him, when there is unpleasant news for which he 
might feel responsible, when there is any skepticism concerning his 
judgment or when a situation arises in which his infallibility might 
be challenged or belittled. Von Weigand (492) reports that among his 
staff there is a tactic [sic] understanding:

"For God's sake don't excite the Fuehrer - which means do not tell 
him bad news -- do not mention things which are not as he conceives 
them to be."

Voigt (591) says that:

[00010069.GIF  Page 63]

"Close collaborators for many years said that Hitler was always 
like this - that the slightest difficulty or obstacle could make 
him scream with rage...."

Many writers believe that these rages are just play acting. There is 
much to be said for this point of view since Hitler's first reaction 
to the unpleasant situation is not indignation, as one would 
ordinarily expect under these circumstances. He goes off into a rage 
or tirade without warning. Similarly, when he has finished, there is 
no aftermath. He immediately cools down and begins to talk about 
other matters in a perfectly calm tone of voice as though nothing 
had happened. Occasionally he will look around sheepishly, as if 
to see if anyone is laughing, and then proceeds with other matters, 
without the slightest trace of resentment.

Some of his closest associates have felt that he induces these 
rages consciously to frighten those about him. Rauschning (261), for 
example, says it is a:

"...technique by which he wouldthrow his entire entourage into 
confusion by well-timed fits of rags and thus make them more submissive."

Strasser (377) also believes this to be the case for he says:

"Rage and abuse became the favorite weapons in his armory."

This is not the time to enter into a detailed discussion concerning 
the nature and purpose of the rages. It is sufficient, for the 
present time, to realize that his associates are well aware that 
Hitler can and does behave in this way. It is a part of the
Hitler they know and are forced to deal with. 
We may point [00010070.GIF Page 64] out, however, that they are not 
conscious acting alone since it is quite impossible for an actor 
to actually become purple in the face unless he really is in an 
emotional state.

There are many other aspects of Hitler's personality, as it is known 
to his associates, which do not fit into the picture of the Fuehrer 
as it is presented to the German people. A few of the more 
important of these merit mention. Hitler is represented as
a man of great courage, with nerves of steel who always is in 
complete control of every situation. Nevertheless, he often runs 
away from an unpleasant, unexpected or difficult situation.

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