The Confederate flag

[Schlosser85]

He should have stuck to politics. That was his biggest mistake.

Well that and declaring war on America. And that tiff with Russia.

Yep. And all of those came from his colossal ego. And the early successes of the Blitzkrieg only inflated that and he thought he could do no wrong.

 

[Thundercrack85]

East Germany was economically stagnant because of Communist policies.

And East Germany exists because a certain Austrian decided to start a land war in Asia.

 

[Mechanix]

Yeah fighting a two front war and sending soldiers into the pits of frozen Russian hell was really stupid.

 

[Schlosser85]

Yeah fighting a two front war and sending soldiers into the pits of frozen Russian hell was really stupid.

Hitler was so confident about conquering Russia (a vast territory) by the end of the summer that his troops weren't even supplied with winter uniforms.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Well let me put it this way, Hitler was not an idiot. But his overall chancellorship, can charitably be described as not good, what with the wholesale destruction the country both physically, economically and morally.

 

[Mechanix]

Hitler was so confident about conquering Russia (a vast territory) by the end of the summer that his troops weren't even supplied with winter uniforms.

A family member of mine was in the German army in Russia when the winter hit. He was caught, escaped, then walked back and got frost bite.

 

[Schlosser85]

In the early 1930s, many British and Americans admired Hitler, including Churchill, for how he reinvigorated a destitute Germany. Of course, the dark side wasn't fully known yet. Hitler had all the anti-Semitic posters in Berlin removed before the 1936 Olympics.

 

[Thundercrack85]

If you want to know Hitler, I recommend Kershaw if you're English speaking. Fest if you're German.

 

[Schlosser85]

I have Kershaw's Hitler biography. Also John Toland's. And Fest's book about the last days in the bunker.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Didn't know you was a student of history Schloss!

Have you read Antony Beevor's Fall of Berlin?

 

[Schlosser85]

Yep. Cornelius Ryan's books The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far, and The Battle of Berlin are great reads too.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Read Hitler's War?

 

[Schlosser85]

Is that the transcripts of his military conferences? If so, yes.

I've also read Hitler's Table Talk. Though....Hitler was a pretty boring conversationalist.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Nah, I was just checking to see if you were a Neo Nazi lol.

That's David Irving's now discredited Hitler biography. You know, the guy who said Hitler didn't know about the Holocaust. And then later said the Holocaust never happened.

It's an interesting read.

 

[Schlosser85]

I'm not interested in reading Irving. At one time, he was a legitimate historian who was great at ferreting out sources, but somewhere along the way he fell in with the wrong crowd.

I've got two Hitler biographies, a couple books about the last days in the bunker, Traudl Junge's memoirs, two Rommel biographies, a Himmler biography, a Patton biography, a book about the Battle of El Alamein, another about Stalingrad, memoirs of a German soldier on the Eastern Front, and a couple about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

I've also got the World at War documentary miniseries from the '70s, narrated by Laurence Olivier and with interviews of tons of people I'd never seen in interviews before, including Karl Doenitz (commander-in-chief of the German Navy), Albert Speer (Hitler's architect), Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, General Mark Clark, etc.

 

[Thundercrack85]

So I'm guessing you're either a history major, a Neo Nazi, or were applying for a job at the History Channel.

The World at War! Good series.

 

[Schlosser85]

History major. lol

 

[regwec]

That's airing on UK TV at the moment, though in one of those graveyard slots that cause it to lose out to drooping eyelids.

 

[Thundercrack85]

History major. lol

Oh. Well in that case please just ignore my PM invite to my Neo Nazi site.

 

[Thundercrack85]

That's airing on UK TV at the moment, though in one of those graveyard slots that cause it to lose out to drooping eyelids.

Seriously it's a great series. I wish they did more like that. Guess they really can't at this point.

 

[Schlosser85]

Best dramatic portrayal of Hitler's last days in the bunker (and probably best actor portrayal of Hitler, period) is Downfall starring Bruno Ganz.

 

[Schlosser85]

Seriously it's a great series. I wish they did more like that. Guess they really can't at this point.

Yea, a big part of what makes it fascinating to me is all the historical figures who were still alive at the time whom I'd never seen in interviews before.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Unfortunately many Nazis and senior Wehrmacht officials survived the war and lived fairly undisturbed lives thanks to West Germany's government.

It's a damn shame they didn't get a chance to torture- I mean, interrogate Himmler.

 

[Schlosser85]

Unfortunately many Nazis and senior Wehrmacht officials survived the war and lived fairly undisturbed lives thanks to West Germany's government.

It's a damn shame they didn't get a chance to torture- I mean, interrogate Himmler.

Himmler was an idiot. He shaved his mustache, put on an eyepatch, changed his name to "Heinrich Hitzlinger", and got himself arrested and put in a POW camp wearing a common soldier's uniform....and then started complaining about his cot being inadequate or some prissy **** and demanded to see the commandment....who took one look at him and recognized him. Himmler promptly bit his cyanide capsule hidden in his mouth.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I imagine even if they had gotten the cyanide out of his mouth he would have probably ended up killing himself later like Goering. Or we'd just hang him. But at least we'd have more documentation on the Holocaust, and names.

Some times I wish they would have imprisoned the Nuremberg bastards for life. But then the West Germans would have almost certainly released them, so dead is better.

Plus until the 70's, only really Jews cared about the Holocaust.