[PeterG]

Originally Posted by Zoya

It is believed by some that Hitler contracted syphilis from a prostitute he visited as a young man in Austria, and that he was infected and never received any treatment. Have you read the book The Psychopathic God by Robert Waite? It goes into the ins and outs of Hitler's sexual life/preferences in some detail, and I was certainly surprised by some of his findings (not suitable for this forum I don't think!)

But if wrong Peter, of course I am happy to stand corrected!

Zoya

Over the years I have read a great deal about Hitler, including all the major biographies, those of Bullock, Domarus, Fest, Haman, Hauner, Kershaw, Spotts, and Toland. None of these eminent historians, both British and German, accept for a moment that Hitler had syphilis or any other venereal infection.

Hitler first visited Vienna in 1906 when he was 17. At that time he was infatuated with a 17 year old Linz girl called Stephanie, spending all his time writing poems to her yet he never dared to tell her or approach her. These initial weeks he spent in Vienna were taken up visiting museums and the theatre. He went to Vienna again in 1907 to prepare himself for the entrance examination to the Academy of Fine Arts, returning there for the third time in 1908 and stayed there until May 1913, when he left Austria for good and moved to Munich.

You also have to bear in mind that before WW2 syphilis was incurable. It has three stages and death was inevitable. In the second stage, which comes 1 to 6 months in untreated syphilis (but occasionally up to 2 years) after the primary infection, it is quite impossible to hide it. It is characterised by extensive ulceration of the feet and hands with a severe body rash. This is the very least of it, as there is constant fever, weight loss, severe headaches, and enlarged lymph nodes. The mercury treatment that was then thought to be beneficial actually made matters worse.

Tertiary syphilis came 1 to 10 years after the initial infection. This is characterised with unsightly soft tumour-like swellings known as gummas caused by a breakdown of the immune system. It is at this stage that insanity develops, followed by dementia, and death.

There is simply no way that a syphilitic man would have been accepted into the German army in 1914 and passed as fit for service. And anyone contracting a venereal disease during service, rendering himself unfit for front line duty, would have been severely punished.

I haven't read R.G.L. Waite's book, it belongs to a genre which is popular in America but frowned upon in Europe, the psychoanalysis of dead historical figures. I have read reviews of which this is a short one

Von Ein Kunde

... Waite's book is one of the reasons that psycho-history remains, undeservedly, on the fringes of the academic community. No, I'm not an academic, so please don't think I'm looking down on Waite's effort from that perspective. But even the most cursory reading of the literature about Hitler makes clear that Waite has taken only the most sensational, and almost totally unreliable, information that he could dredge up, and then molded it into an "analysis" of Hitler designed to sell books. It is sad to see the selective use of materials to produce a book like this. For those interested in a sober, exceptionally researched book on Hitler, which also happens to be very well written, Ian Kershaw's Hitler biography, "Hubris", is the perfect antidote to Waite's extremely flawed book.

and another here, as to his sources

This is the by-product of a psychological profile of Hitler done for the Allies during WWII. Waite interviewed Germans who were in Canadian and American prisons. Hoping to be released if they cooperated, they gave Waite what he wanted, fanciful tales that made Hitler sound like a absolute lunatic. The whole book is a farce and should be read as such. It's current popularity is due to the fact that it allows people to explain Hitler as a monster who was an anomaly that can never happen again.

For Hitler's pre-WWI years in Vienna I would recommend Hitler's Vienna - A Dictator's Apprenticeship by Brigitte Hamann. Also Hitler - A Chronology of his Life and Time, by Milan Hauner, is quite useful.

Peter