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~ Adolf Hitler
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Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 - 1962) was the Führer and former chancellor of the Greater Nazi Reich. He oversaw the birth of the Third Reich and led Germany through World War II. He was the Führer for about thirty years until his assassination by Reichsminister Martin Heusmann, whose crimes were later exposed by John Smith.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary on April 20, 1889. During his early years, he aspired to be an art student, although he was rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Hitler earned a living by selling his art in the streets of the German Empire, and also was decorated during his service in the German Army during World War I.
Rise to Power[]
Shortly after the end of World War I, Hitler joined the German Workers' Party, where his charisma and talent for public speaking made him well known. In 1921, the German Workers' Party was reformed into the radical National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party, for short), of which Hitler became the head. Hoping to restore German glory in the form of a third Reich, he attempted to overthrow the reigning Weimar Republic in an attempted coup known as the "Beer Hall Putsch." Hitler was arrested, and during his imprisonment, he wrote an autobiography titled Mein Kampf (My Struggle), which later formed the core of the Nazi ideology. In 1933, Hitler became the elected chancellor of the Weimar Republic and declared himself the absolute dictator- the Führer- soon after. Once his power in the newly formed "Third Reich" was secure, he began implementing his Nazi policies, which were focused on "racial hygiene," laws that were imposed on the Untermensch, or sub-humans, including Slavs, Jews, and the Romani.
World War II[]
As Führer, Hitler also implemented the Lebensraum, or Living Space, policy. He started by annexing nearby territories holding sizable ethnic German populations, including Austria and the Sudetenland (in Czechoslovakia). After Hitler launched an invasion on Poland in 1939, France and the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany. Within a year, France was soundly defeated, and the United Kingdom fell after fierce fighting. The United States, with a weaker war effort, failed to successfully help fight the Nazis. which enabled them to conquer all of Europe, along with much of the Soviet Union and Africa.
Once Europe and Africa had been subjugated, the Nazis and their Japanese allies set their sights on the Americas, specifically the United States. After years of war, the Nazis created a revolutionary atomic bomb capable on ending the war, dubbed the Heisenberg Device. This bomb was dropped on Washington, D.C., in late 1945, and the United States government officially surrendered. Despite their official surrender, a strong resistance held out for two more years until they were finally subjugated. By now, Hitler had seemed to achieve his goals of world domination.
Season One[]
Hitler's Headquarters in the Austrian Alps
By the events of The Man in the High Castle, Adolf Hitler in his early seventies, and is rumored to be in declining health. It is commented that Hitler is constantly shown on broadcasts across the Reich, with one of his few absences being during the 1952 V.A. Day celebration[1] .
Later in the season, Hitler is seen in-person at his mountain redoubt in Europe, where he is confronted by Rudolph Wegener, who intends to kill him at the behest of Reinhard Heydrich. Unfortunately for Heyrich, Hitler's mental health is perfect (despite rumors saying otherwise), and he is already aware that Heydrich sent Wegener to kill him. Hitler is able to convince Wegener that killing him would create a power vacuum, giving way to leadership who'd want to start a war with Japan that Wegener would be responsible for. Hitler then gives Wegener the choice to commit suicide in exchange for protection of his family and reputation. In the end, Hitler watches as Wegener commits suicide while Heydrich is arrested for treason by Obergruppenführer John Smith.
Though Hitler enforced a strict ban on the films distributed by the Man in the High Castle, he has an extensive collection of the films himself, and has come to realize that they show "what might have been". When Wegener arrives, Hitler is watching a film showing the siege and fall of Berlin. When Wegener mention's Tagomi's comment that "Fate is fluid," and that "Destiny is in the hands of men," Hitler responds, "He was almost right. Destiny is in the hands of very few men."
Season Two[]
Adolf Hitler's death
Adolf Hitler appears again in the first episode of Season 2, when John Smith delivers the latest film to him. Hitler then plays the films and is horrified by seeing Berlin under attack from Soviet shocktroopers that are bombarding the city. This gave him the implication that in these alternate worlds, the Reich surely fell, although he de;egated the finding of the Man in the High Castle to Smith to learn more about the films, and in the end, this alternate world.
Near the end of the season, Hitler collapses and goes into a coma. He dies shortly thereafter in his sleep. While it was originally believed that he died of natural causes, many in the Reich (such as Reichsminister Martin Heusmann) accused the Japanese of poisoning Hitler in an attempt to provoke war. This initial news was exposed by John Smith, and it led to the discovery that Hitler was actually poisoned by a faction of the Reich who was tired of peace with Japan. This same group also attempted to assassinate the Crown Prince of Japan. Shortly after Hitler's death, the plot was exposed, and its architect, Martin Heusmann, was arrested along with his son, Joe Blake. This discovery and arrest narrowly avoided nuclear war between the two great powers.
Appearance & Personality[]
Hitler is adept at creating an inspiring or even endearing presence. Though his aged physical appearance is no longer imposing, he appears to command complete obedience of his subordinates, and many Nazi officials remain fiercely loyalty to him. Beneath this facade, however, lies a sociopathic dedication to his National Socialist ideals, which has driven him to become one of the most, if not the most, brutal leaders in history. Sitting at the helm of a dictatorship that has conquered the world, he has proven himself to be a cold, cunning, calculating individual, while simultaneously proving to be a sentimental and logically driven man who will stop at nothing to achieve his ideal end.
Nevertheless, he is very intelligent to the point he is aware of things that can affect his life like anticipating a war with Japan would occur should his life end. He knows exactly when people may start a coup against him and warned about destiny.
He is also known in private to watch films from the Man in the High Castle in order to mastermind or think logically about future plans that benefit his country.
Relationships[]
- Adolf Hitler is married to Eva Braun Hitler, although she is rarely seen throughout the show.
Appearances[]
| Season One | ||||
| "The New World" Absent |
"Sunrise" Absent |
"The Illustrated Woman" Absent |
"Revelations" Absent |
"The New Normal" Absent |
| "Three Monkeys" Appears |
"Truth" Absent |
"End of the World" Absent |
"Kindness" Absent |
"A Way Out" Appears |
| Season Two | ||||
| "The Tiger's Cave" Appears |
"The Road Less Traveled" Absent |
"Travelers" Absent |
"Escalation" Absent |
"Duck and Cover" Absent |
| "Kintsugi" Absent |
"Land O' Smiles" Absent |
"Loose Lips" Appears |
"Detonation" Absent |
"Fallout" Absent |
Notes & Trivia[]
- Hitler is never seen in the novel. He is described as enfeebled and suffering from "syphilis of the brain." Though Adolf Hitler is de jure the Führer of the Greater Nazi Reich, the de facto leader of the Reich is the Reichskanzler (Chancellor), Martin Bormann, who acts as the protégé and voice of an aging Hitler. However, in 1962, Bormann dies, starting a power vacuum in the Nazi hierarchy. The reader is left to asume that Reinhard Heydrich will win the struggle and start World War III against the Japanese Empire (who, in the novel, as in the early series, don't possess the atomic bomb or the Heisenberg Device).
- Adolf Hitler is also mentioned in Philip K. Dick's novel "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" as a minor character. In this book, Adolf Hitler is captured by the British Empire, who after defeating Rommel in Africa, were able to help the Soviet Union to repel the German attack at Stalingrad, and in the final assault on Berlin. After his capture, the German Reich capitulated and Adolf Hitler was put on trial along with the others Nazis leaders and executed for crimes against humanity.
- In the real-world timeline, Adolf Hitler committed suicide with his spouse, Eva Braun, in the Battle of Berlin during the final days of World War II in Europe. He had retreated into his bunker, the Führerbunker, as the Allies and Soviet Red Army approached Berlin. Afraid that he would suffer a fate similar to the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (who was brutally executed just days before), he shot himself while Braun bit into a cyanide capsule.
- In this timeline Hitler, dies at the age of 73 years old, instead of 56 years old in the real-world timeline.
References[]
- ↑ Said by Ed McCarthy in the first episode.