The 'Hitler myth': image and reality in the Third Reich

320 Pages·1987·10.855 MB·English

by  Ian Kershaw

IAN KERSHAW
THE ‘HITLER MYTH’
Image and Reality in the Third Reich
CLARENDON PRESS
RD
The personality of Hitler himself can scarcely
explain his immense popularity and political
effectiveness in the 1930s and 40s: his hold over the
German people lay rather in the hopes and
perceptions of the millions who adored him. In this
study of the Nazi state, based largely on the reports
of government officials, party agencies, and political
opponents, Dr Kershaw charts the creation,
growth, and decline of the ‘Hitler Myth’. He
demonstrates how the manufactured Fiihrer-cult
formed a crucial integrating force in the third Reich
and a vital element in the attainment of Nazi
political aims. Masters of the new techniques of
propaganda, the Nazis used them to exploit and
build on the beliefs, phobias and prejudices of the
day. Their successful ‘deification’ of the Führer in a
modem industrial state carries a far from
comfortable message.
This is a completely refashioned version of a
book originally written and published in Germany
under the title Der Hitler-Mythos. Volksmeinung und
Propaganda im Dritten Reich.
Ian Kershaw is a Senior Lecturer in Modem
History at the University of Manchester.
Jacket illustration: stylized portrait of Hitler by Fritz Erler, 1938 from
F. v. Grunfeld’s The Hitler File, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974; and a
crowd of ecstatic supporters. The Wiener Library.
iHö.m
KtKStUW
•308785
RTC
withdra
t'
40362

THE ‘HITLER MYTH
-fi
The ‘Hitler Myth’
Image and Reality in
the Third Reich
IAN KERSHAW
/
CLARENDON PRESS • OXFORD
x
1987
Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6DP
Oxford New York Toronto
Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi
Petalingjaya Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo
Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town
Melbourne Auckland
and associated companies in
Beirut Berlin Ibadan Nicosia
Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press
Published in the United States
by Oxford University Press, New York
© Ian Kershaw 7987
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior permission of Oxford University Press
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Kershaw, Ian
The ‘Hitler myth ’: image and reality
in the Third Reich
1. Fascism—Germany—History 2. Social
psychology
I. Title II. Kershaw, Ian. Hitler-Mythos
320-5 33 0I9 JC481
ISBN0-19-821964-4
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Kershaw, Ian.
The ‘Hitler myth.'
Translation of: Der Hitler-Mythos.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Germany—Politics and government—1933-1945.
2. Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945. 3. Public opinion—
Germany. 4. Propaganda, German—History—20th
century. I. Title.
DD256.5.K46513 1987 943.086 86-28583
ISBN 0-19-821964-4
Typeset by Joshua Associates Limited, Oxford
Printed in Great Britain
at the University Printing House, Oxford
by David Stanford
Printer to the University
fr&R
FOR TRAUDE