The sexual proclivities and addictions of Adolf Hitler
Introduction
Adolf Hitler, a symbol of evil. His life is shrouded in many mysteries.
Laura Frost: “We will continue to pursue his mystery.”
Introducing new perspectives on Hitler: bizarre sadomasochistic sexual habits, a dictator immersed in drugs, and the incurable disease that led Germany to defeat.
Dr. Abraham Lieberman: “He had Parkinson's disease.”
Exploring Hitler's mysteries. [Original title: Hitler MEDICAL SECRETS]
Hitler. History’s most ruthless and evil dictator. He massacred six million Jews, three million prisoners from the former Soviet Union, and hundreds of thousands of Roma, homosexuals, and people with physical disabilities. During the world war, Hitler also brought countless deaths to Germany. Even now, sixty years later, the search for the mysteries behind his glory and downfall continues. Its purpose is not to analyze his actions, but to unravel mysteries concerning his body and mind. They may have influenced the course of history.
Hitler's Relationship with His Mother
Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria, in 1889. Did his childhood experiences influence his twisted thinking? Hitler was a frail baby. His father Alois was extremely overbearing and apparently beat his son. His mother Klara tended toward depression. She sought comfort from her son Adolf, even sleeping in the same bed with him.
"The Hitler family's doctor said he had never seen a mother and son with such a close relationship." GEORGE VICTOR, Author, Hitler:The Pthology of Evil
In July 1907, his mother Klara was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy.While studying Hitler's youth, psychohistorian Rudolf Binion discovered the records of the Jewish doctor who treated Klara. They portray a seventeen-year-old Hitler clinging to a treatment whose safety had not been proven. Klara was given large doses of iodoform, a disinfectant that burns the skin and causes vomiting and hallucinations. The treatment was intensely painful.
“Large doses of iodoform caused poison to accumulate throughout his mother's body. Watching this seems to have been painful for Hitler. She died on December 21.” (Rudolf Binion)
Hitler sank into grief. He wrote in Mein Kampf: '—I suffered a terrible shock. I respected my father, but I loved my mother.'Binion says Hitler felt guilty about his mother's suffering. But he directed his anger at the Jewish doctor rather than himself. Minion believes this led to Hitler's antisemitism.
“There was no basis for his words. He began denouncing Jews as poisoners and profiteers because a Jew had caused the tragedy of his mother's death. He began directing his resentment at Jews as a whole.” RUDOLF BINION Author, Hitler Among the Germans
There is another curious point. Rudolph Binion believes Hitler’s distorted feelings toward his mother may also have affected his sense of himself as a man. According to Freudian psychology, the relationship with one’s mother has a profound influence on later sexual life.
Hitler's Sex Life
"Even in adulthood, Hitler shows no evidence of a sex life. Sexually attracted to his mother, he apparently could not separate himself from her, and his sense of himself as a man failed to develop fully." RUDOLF BINION Author, Hitler Among the Germans
In 1908, shortly after losing his mother, Hitler went to Vienna to pursue painting. His pictures reflect his impressions of the city. Viennese society was sexually permissive, yet Hitler avoided women.
There is no evidence that he had a sexual relationship with a woman during his five years in Vienna. Some historians believe he may have had sexual relationships with men.
“Hitler apparently once lived in an all-male institution in Vienna. One theory holds that it was a brothel. He is thought to have discovered homosexuality there.” LAURA FROST Author, Sex Drives:Fantasies of Fascism
The First World War and Rumors of Homosexuality
In 1914, at twenty-five, Hitler went to fight in the First World War. He apparently had relations with men at the front as well. There is testimony from someone who claimed to have seen him engaged in a sexual act with a fellow soldier. There is no conclusive proof that he was homosexual. But some psychologists suggest that his later persecution of homosexuals stemmed from his suppression of his own impulses.
In 1918, Germany suffered a humiliating defeat in the First World War. Unemployment and hyperinflation became problems at home. Hitler, then 29, joined what would later become the Nazi Party and began preaching nationalism and antisemitism. He wrote:‘—The military made one mistake. It failed to execute all the filthy Jews who led us to defeat in 1918. So now let us annihilate the Jews at German hands.’ Hitler became more famous with every speech he gave for the Nazi Party. He was still unmarried at this time.
The Relationship with His Niece
But in 1927, the 37-year-old Hitler formed the strangest relationship of his life with a woman: his niece, Geli Raubal. She was just eighteen. Yet it is said that he felt more at ease with her than with anyone else.
“Hitler enjoyed driving around the countryside with her. Whether she was his lover or simply his niece is another of the mysteries surrounding Hitler.” RON ROSENBAUM Author, Explaining Hitler
Hitler's Sexual Proclivities: Sadomasochism
Geli soon moved in with Hitler. Their sexual life is unknown. Throughout their five years together, they had separate bedrooms. But according to an American intelligence agency, there were reports that Hitler forced Geli to engage in sadomasochistic acts.
“Some writers say Hitler had unusual sexual tastes that troubled Geli. They were masochistic: Hitler could feel sexual excitement only when urine or feces were poured over him.” GEORGE VICTOR Author, Hitler: The Pathology of Evil
On September 18, 1931, Geli was found lying in blood on her bedroom floor with a gunshot wound to the chest. The weapon was Hitler's revolver. She died at twenty-three.
“The question is whether it was suicide. The prevailing theory is that she killed herself because she could no longer bear Hitler's sexual demands. She was driven to suicide.” LAURA FROST — Author, Sex Drives: Fantasies of Fascism
The truth remains a mystery. But his serious relationship with this woman ended in tragedy. Hitler was overcome with grief. After Geli's death, he seems to have lost the desire for personal relationships with women.
“His relationship with Geli was important to Hitler. Geli seems to have been a very free-spirited woman. If their relationship had continued, he might have remained normal. But after Geli's death, he took a path of inhumanity.” LAURA FROST Author, Sex Drives:Fantasies of Fascism
Orgasm During Speeches
After Geli’s death, Hitler poured all his energy into politics, practicing his sadomasochism on the world stage. Unable to get along with men as well as women, he ultimately became abnormally obsessed with possessing political power. That passion is evident in his speeches. Evidence has also been found suggesting that, for Hitler, politics was the same as sexual intercourse. He was sexually aroused by his own voice.
“Hitler told two doctors that he reached orgasm during his speeches. He was troubled by this and asked them to treat him so that he would not become sexually aroused while speaking. The doctors advised him to let nature take its course, because without that sexual excitement, his speeches would lose their persuasive power.” GEORGE VICTOR Author, Hitler: The Pathology of Evil
"Speaking was a sexual act. He directed all his energy at the German people and became intoxicated by his own vehement tone." RUDOLF BINION Author, Hitler Among the Germans
His speeches captivated the German people. Millions were overwhelmed by his words.
“Nowhere in the newsreels can you find an accurate sense of the effect Hitler had on people. They fainted at his words and spoke of him as if sexually aroused. And it was not just women.” RON ROSENBAUM — Author, Explaining Hitler
The Mysterious Injections Begin
Hitler admitted that women did not interest him and declared that Germany was his bride. Thus his antisocial personality became established.
His sadistic tendencies, his antisemitic ideas—everything came to be channeled into politics and power. A personality that would unleash the Second World War and mass murder was born. He would bring destruction to Europe. Driving it was a doctor, and a mysterious injection.
In 1935, Hitler became Germany’s most powerful man. He enacted the Nuremberg Laws, prohibiting Jews from marrying Germans and stripping them of political rights. He quickly built up armaments and marched into the Rhineland, violating the Treaty of Versailles.
Around this time Hitler began receiving treatment from a strange doctor named Morell. Morell injected him with a secret medicine of his own formulation. Over the next few years Hitler became the greatest military leader in history. Was it thanks to those injections? What did they contain?
Psychiatrist Leonard Heston focused on Hitler's health.
“I cannot identify the disease, but he was clearly ill. The symptoms are so puzzling that I cannot make a diagnosis.” LEONARD HESTON Author, Hitler: A Medical Descent
The greatest puzzle was the sudden change in his behavior. At first, Hitler was a strategist who planned carefully. Gradually, however, he became impulsive and unable to control his anger. Strangely, he was in high spirits even when facing difficulties.Heston is investigating why Hitler became so changeable in mood. Hitler was afraid of illness. Perhaps because of his mother's death, he had a phobia of cancer. He favored novel medicines made from natural ingredients.
"Hitler was deeply concerned about his health. He sought a body utterly free of impurity. The state was no different. His thinking was to eliminate every element he deemed unfit for the ideal state." LAURA FROST Author, Sex Drives:Fantasies of Fascism
Hitler wrote: 'Anyone without the strength to maintain his own health has no right to live in this world of suffering.'
Heston also investigated Dr. Morell, whose patients were mainly celebrities. In 1936 he began treating Hitler, who suffered from digestive problems. Heston believes the abdominal swelling and pain came from gallstones.
Morell prescribed a strange remedy: capsules containing live bacteria cultured from Bulgarian peasants’ excrement. Hitler was pleased with the effects of this scientifically unsubstantiated medicine. Over several years, Morell prescribed one drug after another: remedies for digestive disorders, dull pain, insomnia, and more. He used leeches to draw blood.
Around 1941, Morell began injecting a mysterious concoction. He said it was vitamins. Heston visited someone who had witnessed these injections: Hitler's attendant Heinz Linge.
“According to Linge, Hitler immediately became energetic after an injection and directed the fighting. The effect supposedly appeared at the very instant the needle went in. But a vitamin injection offers no medical explanation for that. It makes no sense at all.” LEONARD HESTON Author, Hitler: A Medical Descent
Stimulant Addiction
Heston decided to investigate the contents of these mysterious injections. There was microfilm at the National Archives and Records Administration: medical records written by Dr. Morell. He read them closely, but could not discover the truth. Eventually he learned of a doctor who had secretly analyzed Morell’s preparations during the war. But the report, with its unfavorable findings, had been destroyed by Hitler’s confidant Heinrich Himmler. The injections contained methamphetamine. Hitler was addicted to stimulants.
During the Second World War, German forces used amphetamine, a stimulant also called the Nazi drug. It increases dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. It heightens alertness, but also aggression, and can cause mental disorders. Nazi storm troopers used stimulants to press forward, Luftwaffe pilots to stay awake, and Hitler to maintain his power.
Medical records revealed that Hitler began taking stimulant tablets in the late 1930s. At that time, he was pursuing bold, intimidating diplomatic tactics. First he annexed Austria, then part of the former Czechoslovakia. No military force was used.
“Hitler used aggressive diplomacy to overwhelm politicians across Europe. He is thought to have taken amphetamine tablets while preparing for conferences.” LEONARD HESTON Author, Hitler: A Medical Descent
The Invasion of Poland and Nail-Biting
Hitler was always bold, and military action was no exception. In September 1939, he invaded Poland. His strategy was blitzkrieg: carefully choosing the target and launching a surprise attack. Within months, Nazi forces conquered the countries of Western Europe one after another.
In June 1941, Hitler made a mistake. His invasion of the Soviet Union triggered war. It was a rash decision. Heston suspects that this reckless judgment resulted from amphetamine’s effects.
At first the Germans held the advantage, but Soviet forces successfully turned the tide. They waited for the harsh winter to arrive. Temperatures fell to minus forty degrees Celsius. Hitler began feeling the stress of war for the first time. Heston believes it was around then that Dr. Morell switched his stimulant doses from tablets to injections.
“If you want to maintain a state of excitement, as Hitler did before the advance on Moscow, you have to take stimulants frequently. Hitler had an injection whenever bad news came.” LEONARD HESTON — Author, Hitler: A Medical Descent
But the body quickly becomes accustomed to the drug. More frequent injections are needed to achieve the same effect. Hitler was indeed taking quantities sufficient to cause addiction.
"After arriving at Stalingrad, Hitler began biting around his fingernails. This appears to have been a habit of his. But this behavior is characteristic of amphetamine users and deserves attention." LEONARD HESTON Author, Hitler: A Medical Descent
Fits of Rage
Sudden fits of rage are an amphetamine side effect. Hitler could no longer control his anger. Even Gestapo chief Himmler began saying his behavior was strange. Amphetamine seems to have affected Hitler’s thinking as well.
“Addiction makes thinking unnatural and prevents normal thought. It also destroys the flexibility needed to consider other options. Hitler showed all these symptoms. This was a very serious problem.” LEONARD HESTON Author, Hitler: A Medical Descent
In 1943, German forces faced a crisis in the Soviet Union. In the bitter winter cold, two German formations were encircled by Soviet troops. Their commanders called for surrender. Hitler, perhaps because of amphetamine abuse, refused to change his strategy. He forbade retreat and insisted they fight. As a result, Germany lost tens of thousands of soldiers.
Eventually they surrendered at Stalingrad. Hitler suffered a major defeat, and cracks appeared in the supposedly invincible German army.
Heston argues that a doctor and stimulant drugs changed history. His findings explained some of Hitler's behavior. The drugs made Hitler aggressive and later reckless: the effects of stimulants. Yet it was illness, not stimulants, that drove Hitler to everlasting ruin.
In 1940, Hitler had the strongest army and drew energy from amphetamines. He invaded the countries of Western Europe one after another. Nazi forces invaded Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Finally they conquered their greatest objective: France. But Hitler's momentum would not last.
Dr. Abraham Lieberman's Parkinson's disease theory
One researcher proposed a new theory: an incurable disease had brought about Hitler's downfall. Hitler had been defeated because he suffered from a particular illness.
The setting was Brooklyn. An American boy developed a strong interest in the brutal Nazis.
“When I was a boy in Brooklyn, Hitler was the devil. Why did Hitler want to kill me? Why did he want to kill Jews? Germany and Hitler were constantly on my mind.” ABRAHAM LIEBERMAN, M.D. National Parkinson Foundation
He continued thinking about it even after entering medical school. Becoming a Parkinson’s disease specialist did not diminish his interest. In 1992, the doctor learned of newsreel footage of Hitler.
Hitler was careful about his image. He concealed anything that suggested weakness. But one recording survived without being hidden. Dr. Lieberman examines it: Swedish footage from 1945. It reveals a side of Hitler previously seen only by his close associates.
“Hitler is walking. Look at his left hand. It appears relaxed, but you can see it trembling. He seems to be making small circles with his hand. This is clearly a symptom of Parkinson's disease.
A neurologist can see at a glance that he has Parkinson’s disease.” ABRAHAM LIEBERMAN,M.D. National Parkinson Foundation
It is a startling theory. Hitler, who had presented the image of a strong, healthy Aryan, may have suffered from a progressive neurological disease. Parkinson's disease is caused by damage to the substantia nigra in the midbrain. This produces dopamine, a neurotransmitter that assists bodily movement. Parkinson's is a disease caused by a decline in this dopamine. When dopamine is lacking, tremors appear first. Then thinking ability declines, and finally the muscles become completely rigid, leading to death. There was no treatment at the time, so the functioning of Hitler's brain and body steadily deteriorated.
The doctor searched for evidence that Hitler had this illness. First he looked for early symptoms of Parkinson's disease, then traced its progression. He collected 300 hours of Hitler footage and examined it chronologically with an investigator's eye.
“I began by examining a vast quantity of footage from the 1920s and 1930s. I found that, until 1932, Hitler gestured with both hands when making speeches.” ABRAHAM LIEBERMAN, M.D. — National Parkinson Foundation
After that, however, he stopped using his left hand. Usually he held it down with his right. Dr. Lieberman says this is an early symptom of Parkinson's disease. In other words, Hitler was already showing signs of Parkinson's at 43.Parkinson's disease mainly affects older people. Some, like Hitler, develop it before 50, but these cases account for only about 10 percent. This raises a question: why did those around him fail to notice his illness?
"Everyone must have noticed. Yet books by people who saw Hitler closely do not mention Parkinson's disease. Why not? That is the question." ABRAHAM LIEBERMAN,M.D. National Parkinson Foundation
The doctor believes Hitler concealed his symptoms so the public would not know he was ill. He released only photographs in which he looked impressive.
Hitler, who had gained immense power through speeches, gradually withdrew from public appearances to preserve his image as a pure Aryan.Hitler's personal physician (Morell, photo at left) diagnosed Parkinson's disease around 1940. To people at the time, Parkinson's meant death. There were no drugs such as L-dopa to restrain its progression.
“When Hitler learned that Parkinson's disease gave him only three or four years to live, he became impatient. There was not enough time. To conquer all of Europe, including the Soviet Union, he had to act immediately.” JOHN LATTIMER, M.D. Author, Hitler's Fatal Sickness
Hitler brought his original plans forward. He invaded the Soviet Union, recklessly starting a war there. As a result, he suffered his first major defeat, and the course of the war changed. Why did Hitler behave in such an uncharacteristic way? Amphetamines may have been responsible.But it is probably more reasonable to see it as the result of a seriously ill Hitler trying to overcome his own death. By this time, Hitler's persecution had also intensified considerably. Jews, homosexuals and Roma were sent to concentration camps. The sick and disabled were subjected to euthanasia. These actions may have sprung from Hitler's resentment of his own illness.
In 1944, Hitler could finally resist Parkinson's disease no longer. At fifty-five, he looked seventy. He trembled, staggered and dragged his feet. Still his faithful entourage kept the secret.
“His close associates, servants, secretaries, Eva Braun, Goebbels: all kept silent. No one close to Hitler spoke of Parkinson's disease.” ABRAHAM LIEBERMAN, M.D. National Parkinson Foundation
Progressing Illness and Irrational Decisions
Illness was leaving Hitler unable to make sound judgments. He became indecisive, and abnormalities appeared in his words and actions. Then he made a crucial mistake that would lead to defeat. June 6, 1944. Allied forces landed in Normandy, France. Hitler had anticipated a surprise attack, but at the wrong location. He insisted it would be Calais, some 240 kilometers from Normandy. Hitler had become slow to respond, probably because of Parkinson's disease. Military commanders requested that armored forces be sent in. Hitler refused. Some time later he approved their request, but it was too late. The Allies gained the upper hand and pressed forward toward the liberation of Europe.
Hitler may have been an excellent strategist. But he could not overcome the threat of Parkinson’s disease. It could be said that the Allies and illness drove Adolf Hitler to defeat. Yet illness was not the cause of his death. At last, the mystery of Hitler’s death is revealed.
In January 1945, Hitler was cornered. Soviet forces had come within little more than sixty kilometers of Berlin. British forces bombed the city. The Americans showed no mercy either. Most of the once-vibrant metropolis was reduced to rubble.
Hitler and his inner circle would take refuge in a bunker in Berlin. Built deep beneath the Reich Chancellery, it protected them from bombing.
Hitler's symptoms were severe. In addition to Parkinson's disease, he suffered strokes. Blood vessels in his brain and throughout his body had been damaged.
“Death was approaching. His physical condition was terrible. Toward the end, benches were placed every few meters so Hitler could move about.” JOHN LATTIMER, M.D. Author, Hitler's Fatal Sickness
“He was drooling. He was hunched over, and his hands would not stop shaking.He could no longer move around or shout at people as he had before. He was a very pathetic sight.” ABRAHAM LIEBERMAN,M.D. National Parkinson Foundation
The Decision to Commit Suicide; the Possibility of Impotence
Gradually losing his reason, Hitler realized there was no hope left and decided to kill himself. Facing death, he finally decided to marry Eva Braun, the woman who had been with him for fifteen years. It is uncertain whether he had a sexual relationship with her. They may not have had relations even on their wedding night. Parkinson's disease may have left Hitler impotent.
At 3:30 p.m. the day after the wedding, Hitler took his final action.
“Hitler and Eva Braun entered the study together, closed the door, and disappeared from view. They committed suicide…or so we are told. The truth remained a mystery for years.” DONALD McKALE Author, Hitler: The Survival Myth
The Soviet army announced that it had found Hitler's body in the bunker. But it had not actually seen it. Stalin said Hitler had probably escaped, leaving many mysteries behind.
「Soviet Investigators Find No Hitler Clew in Berlin Search」(Soviet investigators search Berlin but find no trace of Hitler.)
「Russians Believe Hitler Fled Berlin; Body Not Yet Found」(The Russians believe Hitler escaped from Berlin; his body has not been found.)
「Hitler Shot by General, Swiss Are Told」(Hitler was shot by the commander-in-chief; Swiss source)
「HITLER IS ALIVE」(Hitler is alive)
Now, sixty years after Hitler's death, what happened to his body is finally being revealed. Eyewitness testimony has emerged that after he shot himself, his body was doused in gasoline and burned for two and a half hours.
"When a human body burns, the heat melts the skin. The skull may explode. Fat and moisture are lost, and the body begins to shrink. What happens after another hour of burning? The whole body is charred black, and after two hours it turns to ash." DONALD McKALE Author, Hitler: The Survival Myth
No body was found. This was not because he had escaped, but because everything had turned to ashes. New perspectives on Hitler cannot rationally explain his evil deeds. But new truths about his health may be discovered, allowing us to reconsider his decisions from another angle.There are so many mysteries in Hitler's life that some treat it as myth. Yet the medical records speak clearly.
Hitler, the dictator described as a symbol of evil, became addicted to stimulants, suffered illness and finally killed himself.
〈End〉