[00010193.GIF  Page 187]

From a consideration of all the evidence it would seem that Hitler's 
perversion is as Geli has described it. The great danger in gratifying 
it, however, is that the individual might get faeces or urine into his 
mouth. It is this danger that must be guarded against. 

Return to the womb.

Another possibility in infantile thinking presents itself in this 
connection. When the home environment is harsh and brutal, as it was in 
Hitler's case, the small child very frequently envies the position of 
passivity and security the unborn child enjoys within the mother. This, in 
turn, gives rise to fantasies of finding a way in to the longed for 
claustrum and ousting his rival in order that he may take his place. 
These fantasies are usually of very brief duration because, as the child 
believes, he would have nothing to eat or drink except faeces and urine. 
The thoughht of such a diet arouses feelings of disgust and consequently 
he abandons his fantasies in order to avoid these unpleasant feelings. In 
many psychotics, however, these fantasies continue and strive to express 
themselves overtly. The outstanding bit of evidence in Hitler's case that 
such fantasies were present is to be found in the Kehlstein or Eagle's Nest 
which he has built for himself near Berchtesgaden. Interestingly enough, 
many people have, commented that only a madman would conceive of such 
a place, let alone try to build it. From a symbolic point
[00010194.GIF  Page 188] of view one can easily imagine that this 
is a materialization of a child's conception of the return to the womb. 
First there is a long hard road, then a heavily guarded entrance, a trip 
through a long tunnel to an extremely inaccessible place. Then one can 
be alone, safe and undisturbed, and revel in the joys that Mother Nature 
bestows. It is also interesting to note that very few people have ever 
been invited there and many of Hitier's closest associates are either 
unaware of its existence or have only seen it from a distance. 
Extraordinarily enough, Francois-Poncet is one of the few people who 
was ever invited to visit there. In the French Yellow Book, he gives us 
an extremely vivid description of the place, a part of which may be 
worthwhile quoting:

"The approach is by a winding road about nine miles long, boldly cut 
out of the rock...the road comes to an end in front of a long underground 
passage leading into the mountain, enclosed by a heavy double door of 
bronze. At the far end of the underground passage a wide lift, panelled 
with sheets of copper, awaits the visitor. Through a vertical shaft of 
330 feet cut right through the rock, it rises up to the level of the 
Chancellor's dwelling place. Here is reached the astonishing climax. 
The visitor finds himself in a strong and massive building containing 
a gallery with Roman pillars, an immense circular hall with windows 
all around,... It gives the impression of being suspended in space, an 
almost overhanging wall of bare rock rises up abruptly. The whole, 
bathed in the twilight of the autumn evening, is grandiose, wild, 
almost hallucinating. The visitor wonders whether he is awake or 
dreaming." (943)

[00010195.GIF  Page 189]

If one were asked to plan something which represented a return to 
the womb, one could not possibly surpass the Kehlstein. It is also 
significant that Hitler often retires to this strange place to await 
instructions concerning the course he is to pursue.

Vegetarianism.

We can surmise from the psychological defenses Hitler has set up, that 
there was a period during which he struggled against these tendencies. 
In terms of unconscious symbolism meat is almost synonomous with faeces 
and beer with urine. The fact that there is a strict taboo on both 
would indicate that these desires are still present and that it is only 
by refraining from everything symbolizing them that he can avoid 
arousing anxieties. Rauschning reports that Hitler, following Wagner, 
attributed much of the decay of cur civilization to meat eating. That the 
decadence "had its origin in the abdomen -- chronic constipation, 
poisoning of the juices, and the results of drinking to excess." This 
assertion suggests decay (contamination, corruption, pollution, and 
death) as the resultant of constipation, that is, feaces in the 
gastro-intestinal tract, and if this is so, decay might be avoided 
both by not eating anything resembling feaces and by taking purges or 
ejecting as frequently as possible. It has been reported that Hitler 
once said that he was confident that all nations would arrive at the 
point where they would not feed any more on dead animals. It is
[00010196.GIF  Page 190] interesting to note that according to one 
of our most reliable informants Hitler only became a real vegetarian 
after the death of his niece, Geli. In clinical practice, one almost 
invariably finds compulsive vegetarianism setting in after the death 
of a loved object.

We may, therefore, regard Hitler's perversion as a compromise between 
psychotic tendencies to eat faeces and drink urine on the one hand, and 
to live a normal socially adjusted life on the other. The compromise is 
not, however, satisfactory to either side of his nature and the struggle 
between these two diverse tendencies continues to rage unconsciously. We 
must not suppose that Hitler gratifies his strange perversion frequently. 
Patients of this type rarely do and in Hitler's case it is highly 
probable that he has permitted himself to go this far only with his niece, 
Geli. The practice of this perversion represents the lowest depths of 
degradation. 

Masochistic gratifications.

In most patients suffering from this perversion the unconscious forces 
only get out of control to this degree when a fairly strong love 
relationship is established and sexuality makes decisive demands. In other 
cases where the love component is less strong the individual contents 
himself with less degrading activities. This is brought out cleariy in 
the case of Rene Mueller who confided to her director, Zeissler (921), 
who had asked her what was troubling her after spending an evening at 
the Chancelllory, "that the evening before she [00010197.GIF  Page 191] 
had been with Hitler and that she had been sure that he was going to have 
intercourse with her; that they had both undressed and were apparently 
getting ready for bed when Hitler fell on the floor and begged her to 
kick him. She demurred but he pleaded with her and condemned himself 
as unworthy, heaped all kinds of accusations on his own head and just 
grovelled around in an agonizing manner. The scene became intolerable 
to her and she finally acceded to his wishes and kicked him. This 
excited him greatly and he begged for more and more, always saying 
that it was even better than he deserved and that he was not worthy 
to be in the same room with her. As she continued to kick him he became 
more and more excited...." Rene Mueller committed suicide shortly after 
this experience.  At this place it night be well to note that Eva Braun, 
his present female companion, has twice attempted suicide, Geli was 
either murdered or committed suicide and Unity Mitford has attempted 
suicide. Rather an unusual record for a man who has had so few affairs 
with women.

Hanfstaengl, Strasser, and Rauschning, as well as several other 
informants, have reported that even in company when Hitler is smitted 
with a girl, he tends to grovel at her feet in a most disgusting manner. 
Here, too, he insists on telling the girl that he is unworthy to kiss 
her hand or to sit near her and that he hopes she will be kind to him, etc. 
From all this we see the constant struggle against complete
[0010198.GIF Page 192] degradation whenever any affectionate 
components enter into the picture. It now becomes clear that the only 
way in which Hitler can control these copraphagic tendencies or their 
milder manifestations is to isolate himself from any intimate 
relationships in which warm feelings of affection or love might assert 
themselves. As soon as such feelings are aroused, he feels compelled to 
degrade himself in the eyes of the loved object and eat their dirt 
figuratively, if not literally. These tendencies disgust him just as 
much as they disgust us, but under these circumstances they get out 
of control and he despises himself and condemns himself for his weakness. 
Before considering futher the effects of this struggle on his manifest 
behavior, we must pause for a moment to pick up another thread. 

Femininity.

We notice that in all of these activities Hitler plays the passive role. 
His behavior is masochistic in the extreme inasmuch as he derives sexual 
pleasure from punishment inflicted on his own body. There is every 
reason to suppose that during his early years, instead of identifying 
himself with his father as most boys do, he identified himself with his 
mother. This was perhaps easier for him than for most boys since, as we 
have seen, there is a large feminine component in his physical makeup. 
His mother, too, must have been an extremely masochistic individual or 
she never would have entered into this marriage nor would she have 
endured the brutal treatment from her [00010199.GIF Page 195] husband. 
An emotional identification with his mother would, therefore, carry him 
in the direction of a passive, sentimental, abasive and submissive form 
of adjustment. Many writers and informants have commented on his 
feminine characteristics - his gait, his hands, his mannerisms and ways 
of thinking. Hanfstaengl reports that when he showed Dr. Jung a 
specimen of Hitler's handwriting, the latter immediately exclaimed 
that it was a typically feminine hand. His choice of art as a profession 
might also be interpreted as a manifestation of a basic 
feminine identification.

There are definite indications of such an emotional adjustment later in 
life. The outstanding of these is perhaps his behavior towards his 
officers during the last war. His comrades report that during the four 
years he was in service he was not only over-submissive to all his 
officers but frequently volunteered to do their washing and take care 
of their clothes. This would certainly indicate a strong tendency to 
assume the feminine role in the presence of a masculine figure whenever 
this was feasible and could be duly rationalized. His extreme 
sentimentality, his emotionality, his occasional softness and his 
weeping, even after he became Chancellor, may be regarded as 
manifestations of a fundamental feminine pattern which undoubtedly had 
its origins in his relationship to his mother. His persistent fear of 
cancer, which was the illness from which his mother died, may also be 
considered as an expression of his early identification with her.

[00010200.GIF  Page 194]

Although we cannot enter into a discussion concerning the frequency of 
this phenomenon in Germany, it may be well to note that there is 
sociological evidence which would indicate that it is probably extremely 
common. If further research on the subject should corroborate this 
evidence, it might prove of extreme value to our psychological warfare 
program insofar as it would give us a key to the understanding of the 
basic nature of the German male character, and the role that the Nazi 
organization plays in their inner life. 

Homosexuality.

The great difficulty is that this form of identification early in life 
carries the individual in the direction of passive homosexuality. Hitler 
has for years been suspected of being a homosexual, although there is 
no reliable evidence that he has actually engaged in a relationship of 
this kind. Rauschning reports that he has met two boys who claimed that 
they were Hitler's homosexual partners, but their testimony can scarcely 
be taken at its face value. More condemning would be the remarks dropped 
by Foerster, the Danzig Gauleiter, in conversations with Rauschning. 
Even here, however, the remarks deal only with Hitler's impotence as far 
as heterosexual relations go without actually implying that he indulges 
in homosexuality. It is probably true that Hitler calls Foerster "Bubi", 
which is a common nickname employed by homosexuals in addressing their 
partners. This alone, however, is not adequate proof that he has actually 
indulged in homosexual practices with Foerster, who is known to be a 
homosexual.     

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