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Originally Posted by PeterG  Zoya
Just a final last word. If Hitler had syphilis it would follow that Eva Braun was also syphilitic. One would then have to explain how she managed to appear fit and healthy.
Best wishes,
Peter |
There are those who believe that Hitler and Eva did not have a 'normal' sexual relationship.
I was going to leave it there, too, but it is interesting to note that this was a focus of the The Royal College Of Psychiatrists Annual Meeting in Edinburgh in 2007:
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An encounter with a Jewish prostitute in Vienna in 1908 may have given Hitler neuro-syphilis and provided the 'deadly logic and blueprint for the Holocaust' as well as giving him a reason to attempt to eliminate the mentally retarded, according to evidence presented at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
That theory supported by 'ample circumstantial evidence though no final proof', according to a team led by Dr Bassem Habeeb, a psychiatrist at Hollins Park Hospital Warrington, in a paper presented to the Royal College of Psychiatrists' annual meeting in Edinburgh.
There has been speculation that Hitler had the infection since his personal doctor, Theo Morrell expressed his own suspicion in his private diary. But the theory has never been rigorously examined, say the researchers.
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I guess this question will continue to be debated, but cannot be answered with any certainty. I am certainly interested in the psychopathology of Hitler, because my field is psychotherapy.
I also want to make it clear that any belief that Hitler may have been suffering from syphilis is in no way an attempt to suggest he was not morally responsible for his actions. Neither is suggesting the possibility that he may have contracted syphilis fom a Jewish prostitute an attempt to minimise or over-simplify the holocaust. But, it could be said that this, if it were true, could have been one trigger for the many defence mechanisms which Hitler exhibited in his attitude towards the Jews (remembering also that there was also some uncertainty as to his own Aryan purity), for example
Distortion,
Delusional Projection,
Projection,
Displacement and
Reaction Formation to name a few.
I hope I have made myself clear!
Best wishes to you too!
Zoya x