Adolf

Hitler, fuehrer of the

people, commander of the third Reich, Dictator of Germany, all suitable and factual titles for the fascist NAZI leader. Hitler ruled over the country for a total twelve years. During this time a total 7 million civilians had been systematically murdered within the fuehrers slaughterhouses and concentration camps. This dictator was truly evil, but he was still a man. Modern texts, written or otherwise, have fallen into a lull, creating representations of the dictator as a psychopathic monster. Does this technique shield us from future evil, allowing us to emphasis with the character, is it really helping or is it just allowing ourselves to fall into a false sense of security? Maniac and daemonic lunatic are common representations of the dictator, frequently seen by audiences to be nothing more than Satins offspring with intent to maim and abolish. Creators of texts use this deliberately when depicting Hitler creating a portrayal that is not only socially acceptable but also expected by many audience members. Readers are handed a pair of blinkers so that they see nothing more than what they are shown, incapable of viewing the true evil that resided in the man. This is for a number of reasons. Anyone who attempts to create an accurate and factual representation of Hitler is not only dealing with a fragmented and debated history, but also

must face extreme criticism when portraying Adolf as anything but nonhuman. Producers of the docudrama Hitler Rise of Evil have chosen to reference from this technique within their film. His eyes are black, the voices in his head strangle his mind, his body convulsing with pain; just one example the captivating docudrama Hitler Rise of Evil uses to represent the dictator as being psychotic and evil. From the moment the movie begins it is obvious that the young Adolf Hitler is anything but normal. The burning of his fathers beehives and his unnerving behaviour resembles that of children in horror films such as The Ring. Low angle shots, an ominous soundtrack and supernatural effects are used by the film creators throughout accompanying a maniacal Hitler who, with saliva flowing, fulminates about a greater

Above
Hitler speaking at a NAZI rally in Lustgarten.

Germany. His appearance repulsive to the audience.

is

Another prime example is the scene after the mustard-gas attack and Hitler is left blinded, he resists the voices in his mind, swaying on his bunk, all the while clutching at his shadowed face. This clearly intellectual use of lighting allows us, the audience to see him as insane, crazed and cannot relate to him. This allows us to distance ourselves from the character, emphasising with his actions. A more truthful representation of the Fuehrer can be found in the award winning docudrama Downfall. By looking at the last days of Hitler and the fall of Berlin, the controversial German film Downfall has caused a significant uproar around the globe due to its humanization of Hitler. Humanizing Hitler, an article published to the highly

Left: Hitler Rise of Evil DVD cover. Right:

Hitler: Diagnosis of a Destructive Prophet Book cover.

merited World in Motion website has brought these complaints to light, explaining their validity and reasoning. The article begins by explaining how the audience is positioned to feel after the events of Downfall have concluded. The film itself is powerful [it] gives a powerful message. It is not only not wrong to humanize Hitler, but necessary. He was human. He had his good traits and his bad traits, but was not some kind of personification of pure evil or a daemonic presence. Says writer Scott Erb.

not some kind of

personification of pure evil or a daemonic presence.

humanize the fuehrer. He explains how the movie can be quiet sympathetic towards the NAZI soldiers but later goes onto to explain That is why dehumanizing Hitler is extremely dangerous... They appear normal, brilliant, moral and courageous at the time. [But] people wont recognize their capacity for evil in their state if they compare them to a mythologized monstrous de-humanizes caricature of the most successful German politician. Dehumanizing a character involves many techniques. The most prominent would be to display the character as daemonic (Black eyes, nonhuman features) but another method also adopted by Hitler Rise of Evil is to portray the character as totally and uncontrollably insane. One text that has chosen to further investigate the issue as to whether the dictator of Germany was truly insane is a psychological biography titled Hitler: Diagnosis of a Destructive

Prophet. Dr Redlich, professor emeritus of psychiatry at both Yale University and the University of California has created a convincing analysis of the fuehrers physical and psychological illnesses. In her NY Times article Insane or Just Evil? A Psychiatrist Takes a New Look at Hitler Erica Goode summarises the biography. She writes that whilst diagnosis of Hitler was undertaken Dr Redlich found it quiet difficult to blame one illness claiming Nothing fits, and everything fits. The doctor goes onto conclude that he was more a man of his pathology, entirely responsible for his actions. Further within the article it is mentioned that a number of civilians have protested the Jewish Doctors attempt to explain Hitler, claiming it was wrong and that understanding inevitably breeds to excuse. The doctor replied to these claims by saying Empathy is not the same as sympathy I tried to put myself as far as I could into Hitlers shoes to understand what makes him tick.

Empathy is not the

same as sympathy
The article concludes that Hitler, although suffering from a

Scott goes onto talk about how the film gained a large amount of criticism from the public, questioning its techniques to

number of mental disorders (including paranoia) was completely aware of his actions and their consequences. He was not the man that is seen all so often in films, insane and totally uncontrollable of his own actions. These representations are extremely dangerous and irresponsible. It is vital that when representing Hitler that we do not de-humanize him. He was a man, a very evil one and that is why there is so much controversy that surrounds Hitler and his regime. It is unthinkable that anyone one in their right mind could intentionally take the lives of millions. Hitler did not have completely black eyeballs, he wasnt possessed by an ancient demon and he didnt have tentacles and two dozen eyeballs. He was, put simply, a man. That is why its so dangerous; to represent him as anything he wasnt is to ignore that this was accomplished by a man, allowing empathy to flow through us. If we are unable to distinguish between the captivating future world leaders and future Hitlers what will happen to our future. It is necessary to humanize Adolf Hitler so that we do not become ignorant and allow genocide to reoccur. There is no doubt that Hitler; leader of the NAZI party is one of the most loathed men in history. His grotesque massacre of over 7 million civilians will forever be in the hearts of thousands of survivors. The representations

that have been constructed allow us to believe that this man was a true monster; we must not continue this development as it will only result in harm for future generations.

Below:
Portrait of Adolf Hitler

PLAYING DEVILS ADVOCATE

Written by Tom Sardeson