Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
,
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...
of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
from 1933 to 1945, has been represented in
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
ever since he became a well-known politician in Germany. His distinctive image was often parodied by his opponents. Parodies became much more prominent outside Germany during his period in power. Since the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
representations of Hitler, both serious and satirical, have continued to be prominent in popular culture, sometimes generating significant controversy. In many periodicals, books, and movies, Hitler and
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
fulfill the role of
archetypal
The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that o ...
evil
Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...
. This treatment is not confined to fiction but is widespread amongst nonfiction writers who have discussed him in this vein. Hitler has retained a fascination from other perspectives; among many comparable examples is an exhibition at the
German Historical Museum
The German Historical Museum (german: Deutsches Historisches Museum), known by the acronym DHM, is a museum in Berlin, Germany devoted to German history. It describes itself as a place of "enlightenment and understanding of the shared history ...
which was widely attended.
Depictions of Hitler during his lifetime
Numerous works in
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
and
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
feature Adolf Hitler prominently.
In Germany, before he gained power, Hitler was often portrayed satirically in newspaper cartoons and propaganda by political enemies. The
photomontagist John Heartfield
John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld; 19 June 1891 – 26 April 1968) was a 20th century German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Some of his most famous photomontages were anti-Nazi and anti-fascist statements. ...
regularly depicted Hitler in absurd ways in his anti-Nazi poster designs. After the Nazis came to national power in January 1933, Hitler was mostly depicted as a god-like figure, loved and respected by the German people, as shown for example in ''
Triumph of the Will
''Triumph of the Will'' (german: Triumph des Willens) is a 1935 German Nazi propaganda film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl. Adolf Hitler commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; his n ...
'', which Hitler co-produced.
An exception was the German film ''
Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse
''The Testament of Dr. Mabuse'' (german: Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse), also called ''The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse'', is a 1933 German crime-thriller film directed by Fritz Lang. The movie is a sequel to Lang's silent film ''Dr. Mabuse the Gambl ...
'' (''The Testament of Dr. Mabuse'') from 1933, which was banned by the
Nazi propaganda ministry. Many critics consider
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...
's depiction of a homicidal maniac masterminding a criminal empire from within the walls of a criminal asylum to be an
allegory of the Nazi ascent to power in Germany.
Outside Germany Hitler's persona was often parodied.
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's 1936 play ''
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
'' includes a caricature of Hitler as Herr Battler, appearing at an international tribunal with his friends Signor Bombardone (Mussolini) and General Flanco (Franco). There are numerous cartoons satirising his distinctive features, such as those by
David Low.
After the start of the war
Another early example of a cryptic depiction is in
Bertolt Brecht's 1941 play, ''
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (german: Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui, links=no), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago ...
'', in which Hitler, in the persona of the principal character Arturo Ui, a
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
racketeer
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit.
Originally and ...
in the
cauliflower trade, is ruthlessly
satirised. Brecht, who was German but left when the Nazis came to power, also expressed his opposition to the National Socialist and
Fascist movements in other plays such as ''
Mother Courage
Mother Courage (German ''Mutter Courage'') is a character from a Grimmelshausen novel ''Lebensbeschreibung der Ertzbetrügerin und Landstörtzerin Courasche'' (''The Runagate Courage'') dating from around 1670. The character had played a cameo r ...
'' and ''
Fear and Misery of the Third Reich
''Fear and Misery of the Third Reich'' (german: Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches), also known as ''The Private Life of the Master Race'', is one of Bertolt Brecht's most famous plays and the first of his openly anti-Nazi works. It premiered ...
''.
Outside Germany, Hitler was made fun of or depicted as a maniac. There are many notable examples in contemporary Hollywood films. Several
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeare ...
shorts
Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...
, the first being ''
You Nazty Spy!
''You Nazty Spy!'' is a 1940 comedy film directed by Jules White and starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard). It is the 44th short film released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedi ...
'' (1940), the very first Hollywood work lampooning Hitler and the Nazis in which the boys, with
Moe Howard
Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television ...
portraying "Moe Hailstone", as the Hitler character, are made dictators of the
fictional country
A fictional country is a country that is made up for fictional stories, and does not exist in real life, or one that people believe in without proof.
Sailors have always mistaken low clouds for land masses, and in later times this was given ...
of Moronika.
This short in particular implies that business interests were behind
Hitler's rise to power
Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...
, and was said to be Moe Howard's and
Larry Fine
Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges.
Early life
Fine was born to a Russian Je ...
's favorite Stooges short subject. A sequel was released a year later entitled ''
I'll Never Heil Again
''I'll Never Heil Again'' is a 1941 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges ( Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 56th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures s ...
''. This one illustrated the disagreements between Hitler and the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
. In other Three Stooges shorts, Hitler is referred to as "Schicklgruber" in reference to his father
Alois Hitler
Alois Hitler (born Alois Schicklgruber; 7 June 1837 – 3 January 1903) was an Austrian civil servant in the customs service, and the father of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945.
Alois Schicklgruber was born out of we ...
's birth name. First released some nine months after the Stooges' initial Nazi-lampooning short subject,
Charlie Chaplin made fun of Hitler as "Adenoid Hynkel," the buffoonish dictator of Tomainia, in his 1940 film ''
The Great Dictator
''The Great Dictator'' is a 1940 American anti-war political satire black comedy film written, directed, produced, scored by, and starring British comedian Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the o ...
''. This is one of the most recognizable Hitler parodies.
![Ww2 poster oct0404](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Ww2_poster_oct0404.jpg)
Especially during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Hitler was
caricatured in numerous animated shorts, including ''
Der Fuehrer's Face
''Der Fuehrer's Face'' (originally titled ''A Nightmare in Nutziland'' or ''Donald Duck in Nutziland'' ) is a 1943 American animated anti-Nazi propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, created in 1942 and released on January 1, ...
'', a 1942
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
wartime propaganda cartoon featuring
Donald Duck (inspired by
Spike Jones
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...
'
playing of the song written by
Oliver Wallace
Oliver George Wallace (August 6, 1887 – September 15, 1963) was an English composer and conductor.''Home Front Heroes: A Biographical Dictionary of Americans During Wartime'', Volume 3, ed. Benjamin F. Shearer (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 200 ...
), and the
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
cartoon ''
Herr Meets Hare'' featuring
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...
. However, Hitler's first appearance on a Warner Brothers cartoon was in ''
Bosko's Picture Show
''Bosko's Picture Show'' is a Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' animated short directed by Hugh Harman and Friz Freleng. It was the last ''Looney Tunes'' Bosko cartoon produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising for Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. ...
'' in 1932 in a short gag where Hitler is shown chasing after
Jimmy Durante with an ax.
George Grosz painted ''
Cain, or Hitler in Hell
''Cain, or Hitler in Hell'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by German American artist George Grosz, painted in 1944. It is one of the most known paintings of the years when Grosz lived in the United States, from 1933 to 1958, after leaving Germany, ...
'' (1944) showing the dead attacking Hitler in
Hell. The
photomontage
Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting composite image is photographed so that the final image ...
artist
John Heartfield
John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld; 19 June 1891 – 26 April 1968) was a 20th century German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Some of his most famous photomontages were anti-Nazi and anti-fascist statements. ...
made frequent use of Hitler's image as a target for his brand of barbed satire during Hitler's lifetime. In
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...
's 1941 movie ''
Man Hunt'', which opened in theaters before America's entry into the war, Hitler is seen in the scope of a British hunter's rifle. In
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...
's 1942 films ''
To Be or Not to Be To Be or Not to Be may refer to:
* ''To be, or not to be'', the soliloquy from ''Hamlet''.
Films and TV, theatre and books
* ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1942 film), directed by Ernst Lubitsch
* ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1983 film), a remake produced ...
'' (as well as in
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
'
remake in 1983), an actor from a
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
stage group impersonates Hitler to enable the escape of the troupe to England.
![INF3-335 Unity of Strength Together we shall strangle Hitlerism](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/INF3-335_Unity_of_Strength_Together_we_shall_strangle_Hitlerism.jpg)
One spoof of Hitler appeared in a short propaganda film created in 1942 by Charles A. Ridley of the
British Ministry of Information that had among other names, ''
Schichlegruber - Doing the Lambeth Walk
''Schichlegruber Doing the Lambeth Walk'' is a 1942 short propaganda film by Charles A. Ridley of the UK Ministry of Information. It consists of edited existing footage taken from Leni Riefenstahl's ''Triumph of the Will'' to make it appear as if ...
'' and ''Lambeth Walk – Nazi Style''.
The film features footage of Hitler and other Nazis taken from ''
Triumph of the Will
''Triumph of the Will'' (german: Triumph des Willens) is a 1935 German Nazi propaganda film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl. Adolf Hitler commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; his n ...
'' and edited in such a way to make it appear they are marching and dancing to "
The Lambeth Walk
"The Lambeth Walk" is a song from the 1937 musical '' Me and My Girl'' (with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay). The song takes its name from a local street, Lambeth Walk, once notable for its street mark ...
", a dance common at the time (including in Germany) but despised by the Nazis.
The use of the footage was intended to give audiences is Britain and other Allied countries a good laugh and make Nazis angry.
The film was distributed uncredited to various
newsreel
A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...
companies that gave the film other titles such as ''Hoch der Lambeth Valk: A Laugh-Time Interlude'', ''Lambeth Walk - Nazi Style'', ''Gen. Adolf Takes Over'' and ''Panzer Ballet''. The newsreel companies would supply their own narration for the clip.
When Nazi Propaganda Chief
Joseph Goebbels saw this film, he ended so enraged that he left the screening room kicking chairs and screaming profanities.
Apart from films, Hitler was the subject for several
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
superheroes who battled Hitler directly or indirectly in comics published during World War II. Superheroes that fought Hitler include
Superman,
Captain America, the
Shield, and
Namor the Sub-Mariner
Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc ...
. The front cover of ''Captain America Comics'' #1, the first Captain America comic showed Captain America hitting Hitler on the jaw.
Captain America's archenemy, the
Red Skull
The Red Skull is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and its predecessor Timely Comics. The first version, George Maxon, appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 and #4. The main ...
, was established as being an apprentice to Hitler. In ''
Superman'' #15 the dictator Razan appeared, who attempted to invade a nearby democratic nation.
Superman defeated his army, and Razan was shot while trying to escape.
One Superman story where Superman defeats Hitler is notable for triggering a response in an official Nazi media outlet. The story was called "How Superman would end the War" and was published not in a comic book but in
Look magazine in 1940. The story was published with the full cooperation of
Jerry Siegel
Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, i ...
and
Joe Shuster
Joseph Shuster (; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992), professionally known simply as Joe Shuster, was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in ''Action Comics'' #1 (c ...
, the creators of the Superman character. Both Siegel and Shuster happen to be Jewish and therefore are considered enemies by Nazi Germany so while the United States was still officially neutral, Siegel and Shuster were not. "How Superman would end the War" is acknowledged in the magazine itself as outside of normal Superman continuity and non-canon. As implied by its title, "How Superman would end the War" is a story detailing a hypothetical scenario in which Superman intervenes in World War II. The story starts in the
Siegfried Line where German soldiers see Superman flying towards them. Superman then lands and while the soldiers shoot at him, the bullets have no effect and bounce off. Superman puts an artillery gun out of service by using his super strength to tie a knot into the gun's barrel. After that, Superman flies away and when an airplane tries to stop him, he tears off the propeller, confusing the pilot. Superman continues his flight where he lands in Berlin and kidnaps Hitler (who complains about his kidnapping). Superman, while holding on to Hitler, flies to Moscow in the Soviet Union where he kidnaps another dictator,
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
(at this point not yet in the war, he was against Hitler starting from 1941 onwards) and flies them both to the
Palace of Nations
The Palace of Nations (french: Palais des Nations, ) is the home of the United Nations Office at Geneva, located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was built between 1929 and 1938 to serve as the headquarters of the League of Nations. It has served ...
, the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Hitler and Stalin are then both put on trial for war crimes including among others, the
Nazi-Soviet joint occupation of Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. This trial thus ends the war.
A Nazi in the United States had read the ''Look'' issue and Superman comic strip within it when it was published and alerted the
SS newspaper ''
Das Schwarze Korps
''Das Schwarze Korps'' (; German for "The Black Corps") was the official newspaper of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). This newspaper was published on Wednesdays and distributed free of charge. All SS members were encouraged to read it. The chief edit ...
'' to its contents. In April 1940, ''Das Schwarze Korps'' published an article condemning the comic strip, Superman and his co-creator Jerry Siegel personally. The article, titled "Jerry Siegel Attacks!" criticizes Superman as someone "with an overdeveloped body and underdeveloped mind" and in typical Nazi fashion, repeatedly uses anti-Semitic language to describe the story and denounce Siegel. Such language includes the opening sentence where Siegel is described as "an intellectually and physically circumcised chap". The article is also an attack on Siegel's own morals, claiming that he only created Superman to make money off him. Superman is further condemned when it mentions the scene of Hitler and Stalin handed over to the League of Nations and noting his superhero costume probably breaks the dress code in the building but that Superman ignores those rules "as well as the other laws of physics, logic, and life in general". The article ends with a final attack on Siegel where ''Das Schwarze Korps'' describes him as feeding "poison" on a daily basis to the hearts and minds of American children.
Hitler was mocked in satirical
folk songs
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...
such as "
Stalin Wasn't Stallin' or when new lyrics were created to old songs such as "
Hitler Has Only Got One Ball" (to the tune of the "
Colonel Bogey March
The "Colonel Bogey March" is a British march that was composed in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881–1945) (pen name Kenneth J. Alford), a British Army bandmaster who later became the director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth ...
").
Representations of Hitler after his death
![Adolf Hitler Wax Statue in Madame Tussauds London](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Adolf_Hitler_Wax_Statue_in_Madame_Tussauds_London.jpg)
After his death, Hitler continued to be depicted as incompetent or foolish. However, while Hitler's
anti-Semitic policies were well known during his lifetime, it was only after his death that the full extent of
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
and other Nazi atrocities became known.
This, coupled with Hitler no longer being a threat, has meant that the way he is depicted has resulted in Hitler being personified as evil.
The 2003 television film ''
Hitler: The Rise of Evil'' stars
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle (born 14 April 1961) is a Scottish actor. His film work includes '' Trainspotting'' (1996), ''The Full Monty'' (1997), ''The World Is Not Enough'' (1999), ''Angela's Ashes'' (1999), '' The Beach'' (2000), ''28 Weeks Later'' (20 ...
in the title role and depicts a semi-fictional account of Hitler's life.
''Moloch'' (1999), directed by
Alexander Sokurov, starring
Leonid Mozgovoy
Leonid (russian: Леонид ; uk, Леонід ; be, Леанід, Ljeaníd ) is a Slavic version of the given name Leonidas. The French version is Leonide.
People with the name include:
*Leonid Andreyev (1871–1919), Russian playwright a ...
, deals with Hitler's life on his ''
Berghof'' mountain retreat near
Berchtesgaden during the war, drawing heavily from
Hitler's Table Talk
"Hitler's Table Talk" ( German: ''Tischgespräche im Führerhauptquartier'') is the title given to a series of World War II monologues delivered by Adolf Hitler, which were transcribed from 1941 to 1944. Hitler's remarks were recorded by Heinrich ...
published after the war.
Hitler's last days have been depicted in several films, first in ''Der letzte Akt'' (1955), directed by
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Georg Wilhelm Pabst (25 August 1885 – 29 May 1967) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He started as an actor and theater director, before becoming one of the most influential German-language filmmakers during the Weimar Republic.
...
, starring Albin Skoda as the dictator; next was the fifth and final installment of the Soviet film series ''
Liberation
Liberation or liberate may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War
* "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode
* "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode
Gaming
* '' Liberati ...
'' (1969–72), directed by
Yuri Ozerov, starring
Fritz Diez
Fritz Diez (27 February 1901 – 19 October 1979) was a German actor, producer, director and theater manager.
Biography
Early life
Diez's mother was a servant, and raised her three children alone. To support his family, the child began working a ...
(an actor who commonly portrayed Hitler in a number of East German films from 1955 onwards). ''
The Death of Adolf Hitler'', a British (7 January 1973) made-for-television production, starring
Frank Finlay
Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''.
In 1983, Finlay was directed by Ital ...
in the title role, and ''
Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' (1973), directed by
Ennio de Concini, starring Sir
Alec Guinness were the first Western contributions. The fifth iteration was the U.S. television film ''
The Bunker'' (1981), directed by
George Schaefer, starring Sir
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
. Finally, there was the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
–nominated ''
Downfall'' (2004), directed by
Oliver Hirschbiegel
Oliver Hirschbiegel (born 29 December 1957) is a German film director. His works include ''Das Experiment'' and the Oscar-nominated '' Downfall''.
Life and career
Hirschbiegel was born in Hamburg, Germany. A Waldorf graduate, Hirschbiegel stu ...
and starring
Bruno Ganz
Bruno Ganz (; 22 March 1941 – 16 February 2019) was a Swiss actor whose career in German stage, television and film productions spanned nearly 60 years. He was known for his collaborations with the directors Werner Herzog, Éric Rohmer, Franc ...
as Hitler. Also depicting Hitler's final hour in the bunker, the short film ''Hundert Jahre Adolf Hitler - Die letzte Stunde im Führerbunker'' (1989), directed by
Christoph Schlingensief
Christoph Maria Schlingensief (24 October 1960 – 21 August 2010) was a German theatre director, performance artist, and filmmaker. Starting as an independent underground filmmaker, Schlingensief later staged productions for theatres and festivals ...
, starring
Udo Kier
Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, Kier has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He h ...
, cannot be considered a remake of the above films in the proper sense.
Hitler was portrayed in the television miniseries ''
Inside the Third Reich
''Inside the Third Reich'' (german: Erinnerungen, "Memories") is a memoir written by Albert Speer, the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942 to 1945, serving as Adolf Hitler's main architect before this period. It is considered to be one of the m ...
'' (1982) by Sir
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as ''Hamlet'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'', '' Macbeth'', ''Twelfth Night'', '' The Tempest'', ''Kin ...
, who wa
nominatedfor an Emmy Award for his performance. Hitler was also portrayed in the film ''
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997: ...
'' by
David Bamber
David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. He has worked in television and theatre. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Early years
Bamber was born in Walkden, Lancashire. By September 1973, he was ...
, which tells the story of the July 1944 bomb attempt on his life.
Another example of Hitler representations are comedy films such as
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
' comedy ''
The Producers'' featured a satirical play-within-a-play called ''
Springtime for Hitler
''Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp With Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden'' is a fictional musical in Mel Brooks' 1967 film '' The Producers'', as well as the stage musical adaptation of the movie, and the 2005 movie adaptation of the musical. It ...
'', featuring dancing Nazis and songs about the conquest of Europe. Brooks' later comedy, ''
History of the World, Part I
''History of the World, Part I'' is a 1981 American comedy film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, an ...
'', featured "Hitler on Ice."
Hitler has also been portrayed in experimental films. ''
Hitler: A Film from Germany'' (1978), a four part, 442-minute experimental film on Hitler, directed by
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg (born 8 December 1935) is a German film director, whose best known film is his lengthy feature '' Hitler: A Film from Germany''.
Early life
Born in Nossendorf, Pomerania, the son of an estate owner, Syberberg lived un ...
, starring
Heinz Schubert. A similar non-linear approach to Syberberg's, likening Hitler to a movie director as well, was used in the film ''
The Empty Mirror'' (1996), directed by
Barry J. Hershey Barry may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name
* Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 1950 ...
, starring
Norman Rodway
Norman John Frank Rodway (7 February 1929 – 13 March 2001) was an Anglo-Irish actor.
Early life
Rodway was born at the family home, Elsinore (named after the castle where Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' is set), on Coliemore Road, Dalkey, Dublin ...
, which speculates about Hitler surviving World War II, living in a secret subterranean bunker, and is today undergoing psychoanalysis conducted by
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
.
Kosovar
Emin Xhinovci has attracted considerable media attention for his striking resemblance to Hitler, and subsequent impersonation of him.
![HIM byMaurizio Cattelan in Warsaw Ghetto 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/HIM_byMaurizio_Cattelan_in_Warsaw_Ghetto_2013.JPG)
''Him'' (2001) is a sculpture resembling a schoolboy kneeling in prayer, except that the head has been replaced with the realistic likeness of
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. The sculpture was frequently displayed at the end of a long hallway or at the opposite end of a white room, turned away from the viewer so that they wouldn't be able to recognize the individual until they advanced close enough.
The
artist's proof
An artist's proof is an impression of a print taken in the printmaking process to see the current printing state of a plate while the plate (or stone, or woodblock) is being worked on by the artist. A proof may show a clearly incomplete image, ofte ...
of ''Him'' (2001) was sold at auction by Christie's in 2016 for $17,189,000.
Hitler in fiction
WorldCat lists 553 published books under this heading.
Novels
*
Ron Hansen's
historical fiction novel ''Hitler's Niece'' parallels Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s with his relationship with his niece (and secret mistress)
Geli Raubal
Angela Maria "Geli" Raubal (; 4 July 1908 – 18 September 1931) was an Austrian woman who was the half-niece of Adolf Hitler. Born in Linz, Austria-Hungary, she was the second child and eldest daughter of Leo Raubal Sr. and Hitler's half-sis ...
.
* In the novel ''
Young Adolf'' (1978) by English author
Beryl Bainbridge, the 23-year-old Hitler travels to Liverpool to visit his English relatives.
* The 1962 short story ''
Genesis and Catastrophe: A True Story'' by
Roald Dahl portrays an unhappy husband in Austria in 1889 whose wife is about to give birth. The father is pessimistic about the child's survival as their previous three children have all died in infancy. Rebuked by the doctor for his gloominess, his confidence is boosted by his wife's conviction that their new baby, a boy, will survive. The father names his newborn son Adolf Hitler.
* In the novel ''
Hunters in the Snow
''The Hunters in the Snow'' ( nl, Jagers in de Sneeuw), also known as ''The Return of the Hunters'', is a 1565 oil-on-wood painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The Northern Renaissance work is one of a series of works, five of which still survi ...
'' (2014) by English author
D. M. Thomas
Donald Michael Thomas (born 27 January 1935), is a British poet, translator, novelist, editor, biographer and playwright. His work has been translated into 30 languages.
Working primarily as a poet throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Thomas's 1981 ...
, a young Hitler (going by the nom de guerre 'Wolf') becomes involved with
Anna Freud
Anna Freud (3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian-Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father and contribut ...
and her father
Sigmund
In Norse mythology, Sigmund ( non, Sigmundr , ang, Sigemund) is a hero whose story is told in the Völsunga saga. He and his sister, Signý, are the children of Völsung and his wife Hljod. Sigmund is best known as the father of Sigurð the d ...
whilst residing in Vienna.
Hitler appears in many
alternate history novels.
* In
H.G. Wells's ''
The Shape of Things to Come
''The Shape of Things to Come'' is a work of science fiction by British writer H. G. Wells, published in 1933. It takes the form of a future history which ends in 2106.
Synopsis
A long economic slump causes a major war that leaves Europe dev ...
'' (1933) Hitler's failure to revive the
German economy
The economy of Germany is a highly developed social market economy. It has the largest national economy in Europe, the fourth-largest by nominal GDP in the world, and fifth by GDP (PPP). In 2017, the country accounted for 28% of the euro ar ...
by
rearmament, cause the worldwide
economic crisis
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...
to continue for thirty years, concurrently with a Second World War - a war fought between countries already on the verge of economic collapse, which is hastened by the war. Second World War breaks out in January 1940 with a European conflagration from the flashpoint of a violent clash between Germans and Poles at
Danzig - closely matching the actual outbreak of WWII. However, Wells's imagined war sharply diverges from the actual war when
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
proves a military match for
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The inconclusive war lasts ten years. Other countries are eventually dragged into the fighting, though
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
are only marginally involved. The
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
remains neutral and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
fights with
Japan to indecisive effect on both sides. The Austrian ''
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
'' happens during, rather than before, the war.
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
avoids German occupation. Its President,
Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...
, survives to initiate the final Suspension of Hostilities in 1950.
* In
Philip K. Dick's 1962 ''
The Man in the High Castle
''The Man in the High Castle'' (1962), by Philip K. Dick, is an alternative history novel wherein the Axis Powers won World War II. The story occurs in 1962, fifteen years after the end of the war in 1947, and depicts the political intrigues b ...
'', where the
Axis Powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
won the Second World War, America has been conquered and carved up between the
Greater Germanic Reich and
Imperial Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
, Hitler, after being stricken by the later stages of
syphilis, was confined to a
lunatic asylum
The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital.
The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatr ...
shortly after World War II, and his place taken by
Martin Bormann and, later,
Joseph Goebbels and possibly
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust.
He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...
. ''The Grasshopper Lies Heavy'', by Hawthorne Abendsen, the story within the story, where the Allies won the war, in this timeline the United Kingdom contributes more to the Allied war effort, leading to joint British and Russian forces capturing Berlin, Hitler is also present at this
Nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded m ...
and is eventually found guilty and executed for
crimes against humanity.
* Similarly, in
Eric Norden
''The Ultimate Solution'' is a 1973 alternate history novel by journalist and former ''Playboy'' interviewer Eric Norden, set in a world where the Axis forces won World War II and partitioned the world between them. The novel is noted for its ...
's 1973 ''
The Ultimate Solution
''The Ultimate Solution'' is a 1973 alternate history novel by journalist and former ''Playboy'' interviewer Eric Norden, set in a world where the Axis forces won World War II and partitioned the world between them. The novel is noted for its ...
'' Nazi Germany won the war and rules the world, but Hitler personally got little benefit of it. Having gone entirely mad, he is kept closely confined, constantly shouting at uncaring guards that he had been betrayed - while a double is taking his place in public ceremonies.
* In
Nancy Kress
Nancy Anne Kress (born January 20, 1948) is an American science fiction writer. She began writing in 1976 but has achieved her greatest notice since the publication of her Hugo- and Nebula-winning 1991 novella ''Beggars in Spain'', which became a ...
' ''And Wild for to Hold'' time-travelers intervene to change the past. Rather than assassinate Hitler, the humane emissaries from the future kidnap him alive from the year 1932, and keep him captive under comfortable conditions; Hitler spends his time mainly reading Science Fiction
Space Opera novels for which he developed a taste. In his absence, 1933 comes and passes with no dictatorship in Germany and no persecution of Jews.
* In
Norman Spinrad
Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American science fiction author, essayist, and critic. His fiction has won the Prix Apollo and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple Nebula Awards.
Pe ...
's 1972 alternate history novel ''
The Iron Dream
''The Iron Dream'' is a metafictional 1972 alternate history novel by American author Norman Spinrad. The book has a nested narrative that tells a story within a story. On the surface, the novel presents a post-apocalyptic adventure tale entitl ...
'', Hitler in the early 1920s stopped dabbling in politics, emigrated to America, learned English and became a well-known and respected science fiction pulp novelist - author of ''Lord of the Swastika'', the text of which provides the bulk of the book.
* In the controversial 1981 novella ''
The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H.'' by
George Steiner
Francis George Steiner, FBA (April 23, 1929 – February 3, 2020) was a Franco-American literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist, and educator. He wrote extensively about the relationship between language, literature and society, and the ...
Hitler survives the end of the war and escapes to the Amazon jungle, where he is found and tried by Nazi-hunters 30 years later. Hitler's defence is that since Israel owes its existence to the Holocaust, he is really the benefactor of the Jews.
* In
Irving Wallace
Irving Wallace (March 19, 1916 – June 29, 1990) was an American best-selling author and screenwriter. He was known for his heavily researched novels, many with a sexual theme.
Early life
Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Bessie Liss a ...
's ''
The Seventh Secret'' (1985), Hitler and
Eva Braun
Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was a 17-year-old assistant and model for his ...
survive
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
by having doubles (a comedian named Manfred Müller and his girlfriend) murdered in their place (by
Martin Bormann and others) staging the murder to look like suicide.
* In
Ira Levin
Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels '' A Kiss Before Dying'' (1953), '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1967), '' The Stepford Wives'' (1972), ''This Perfe ...
's 1976 ''
The Boys from Brazil'', Hitler conspired with
Josef Mengele
, allegiance =
, branch = Schutzstaffel
, serviceyears = 1938–1945
, rank = '' SS''-'' Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain)
, servicenumber =
, battles =
, unit =
, awards =
, commands =
, ...
to clone himself prior to his death. Using Hitler's blood, Mengele begins a project in the 1960s to clone several Hitlers and distribute the Hitler infants to families similar to that of the original. Mengele later attempts to recreate the sociological environment of Hitler's youth, beginning with killing the fathers of all the Hitler clones. Mengele's plan is to eventually create a second Hitler who will come of age in the 21st century and establish the Fourth Reich.
* Forged journals of Hitler, known as the ''
Hitler Diaries
The Hitler Diaries (german: Hitler-Tagebücher) were a series of sixty volumes of journals purportedly written by Adolf Hitler, but forged by Konrad Kujau between 1981 and 1983. The diaries were purchased in 1983 for 9.3 million Deutsche ...
'', were published in West Germany by the magazine ''
Stern'' in 1983.
* The 1995
Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum (May 25, 1927 – March 12, 2001) was an American author of 27 thriller novels, best known as the creator of Jason Bourne from the original '' The Bourne Trilogy'' series. The number of copies of his books in print is estimated b ...
novel ''
The Apocalypse Watch
''The Apocalypse Watch'' (1995) is a novel by Robert Ludlum. A TV movie based on it aired in 1997 which starred Patrick Bergin and Virginia Madsen. This was Ludlum's second novel to focus on a neo-Nazi conspiracy to take over the world, after '' T ...
'' meets its climax with the destruction of a Fourth Reich set in the 1990s, and the discovery of an ancient Adolf Hitler controlling a massive multinational corporation.
*
Robert Harris' 1992 novel ''
Fatherland
A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...
'' is based on a fictional German victory in WWII and Hitler meeting with U.S. President
Joseph P. Kennedy
Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...
during the 1960s.
* In ''
The Plot Against America
''The Plot Against America'' is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. It is an alternative history in which Franklin D. Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh. The novel follows the fortunes of the R ...
'' (2004),
Philip Roth
Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer.
Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...
envisions what life would have been like in the United States had
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
defeated Franklin D. Roosevelt and became president during the 1940s, allying America with Nazi Germany.
*Hitler is also the main 'protagonist' in the German dark satire novel ''
Er ist wieder da'' ("Look Who's Back") by
Timur Vermes
Timur Vermes (born 1967) is a German writer. Previously a ghostwriter, his first novel ''Er ist wieder da'', which has sold over a million copies in Germany, is a satire about Adolf Hitler and 21st-century Germany. The English version, '' Look W ...
, published in 2012. Hitler is shown to somehow reawaken, alive again, in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
of 2011 and, since no one believes him to really be Hitler, becomes a meme on YouTube as a Hitler impersonator.
*
Lavie Tidhar
Lavie Tidhar ( he, לביא תדהר; born 16 November 1976) is an Israeli-born writer, working across multiple genres. He has lived in the United Kingdom and South Africa for long periods of time, as well as Laos and Vanuatu. As of 2013, Ti ...
's novel, ''
A Man Lies Dreaming'' (2014) features a thinly-disguised Hitler (going by the nom de guerre 'Wolf' – which Hitler used during the 1920s) as a down-at-heels private eye in a 1930s London, in a world where the communists, rather than the Nazis, came to power in Germany.
*
Newt Gingrich and
William R. Forstchen's novel, ''
1945
1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat.
Events
Below, ...
'' (1995) Where the United States only went to war, and won against the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...
, allowing Nazi Germany to force a peace treaty with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, America has no interest in getting involved with the European conflict, even the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
with a
German-dominated Europe at its doorstep, squander much of their resources on a
colonial war
Colonial war (in some contexts referred to as small war) is a blanket term relating to the various conflicts that arose as the result of overseas territories being settled by foreign powers creating a colony. The term especially refers to wars ...
in the former
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
, however when a meeting between Hitler and U.S President Andrew Harrison goes bad, after the meeting in
Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, Hitler makes a plan to destroy the U.S and U.K this involves, as part of the preparations, a beautiful German spy seduces and suborns the
White House Chief of Staff and makes him a key German spy, and
Erwin Rommel invading
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
.
*
James Herbert
James John Herbert, OBE (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013) was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 l ...
's novel, ''
'48'' (1996) before committing suicide, Hitler orders launches a biological weapon is the shape of a
V-2
The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develope ...
missile to wipe out all life on Earth.
*
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
's novel, ''
''Making History'''' (1996) features two men Michael Young and Professor Leo Zuckerman, who build a time machine, go back in time and put a permanent
male contraceptive pill in
Hitler's father drink, making him
infertile, thus Hitler is never born, however when they return to the present they discover they got rid of Hitler only to replace him with someone far worse, Rudolf Golber.
*
Hans Alfredson
Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson (28 June 1931 – 10 September 2017) was a Swedish actor, film director, writer, and comedian. He was born in Malmö, Sweden. He is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson as the duo Hasse & Tage and their p ...
's novel, ''
Attentatet i Pålsjö skog'' (1996) In 1941 Swedish Communists blow up a German train passing through Sweden, killing Eva Braun, leading Hitler to successfully invade Sweden, because of this
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
is delayed by three weeks allowing
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
to be better prepared, the allied
invasion of Normandy is in spring 1944 rather than June, in December that same year Hitler commits suicide, Sweden is liberated by joint British and Russian forces and the war ends a year earlier.
*
Guy Walters
Guy Edward Barham Walters (born 8 August 1971) is a British author, historian, and journalist. He is the author and editor of nine books on the Second World War, including war thrillers, and a historical analysis of the Berlin Olympic Games.
...
' ''The Leader'' (2003),
King Edward VIII
Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...
never abdicates, marries
Wallis Simpson
Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...
, leading to
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
winning the
1935 election, allying the United Kingdom with the
Axis Powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
, Mosley conspires with Hitler to join him in the Final Solution.
*
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed hi ...
's novel, "
Uncle Alf
"Uncle Alf" (2002) is an alternate history short story by Harry Turtledove. It was first published in Turtledove's edited anthology ''Alternate Generals II'' in 2002 and was later reprinted in his short story collection ''Atlantis and Other Places ...
"
Alfred von Schlieffen
Graf Alfred von Schlieffen, generally called Count Schlieffen (; 28 February 1833 – 4 January 1913) was a German field marshal and strategist who served as chief of the Imperial German General Staff from 1891 to 1906. His name lived on in t ...
, doesn't die in 1913, survives to personally oversee the successful implementation of his
famous plan for two-front war against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. Germany wins
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1914 after only a few months, the Nazis never come into existence, Hitler is a Sergeant in the
Feldgendarmerie is sent to
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...
in pursuit of communist agitator
Jacques Doriot
Jacques Doriot (; 26 September 1898 – 22 February 1945) was a French politician, initially communist, later fascist, before and during World War II.
In 1936, after his exclusion from the Communist Party, he founded the French Popular Party (P ...
.
* In
Katherine Applegate
Katherine Alice Applegate (born October 9, 1956), known professionally as K. A. Applegate or Katherine Applegate, is an American young adult and children's fiction writer, best known as the author of the ''Animorphs'', ''Remnants'', ''Everworld'' ...
's series ''
Animorphs
''Animorphs'' is a science fantasy series of children's books written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic. It is told in first person, with all ...
'', Adolf Hitler makes an appearance in the third book of the spinoff series ''
Megamorphs'' as an alternate version of himself where he is but a mere driver for the French-German troops. He is killed by Tobias using Tobias' Hork-Bajir morph, where his throat is slit by the wrist blades of the Hork-Bajir.
*
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed hi ...
's novel, ''
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
''In the Presence of Mine Enemies'' is a 2003 alternate history novel by American author Harry Turtledove, expanded from the eponymous short story. The title comes from the fifth verse of the 23rd Psalm. The novel depicts a world in which the Un ...
'' (2003) set in an alternative 2010 where the United States remained
isolationist
Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entan ...
allowing the
victory to the Axis powers to carve the world up between themselves, Fuhrer is the most powerful man in the world and the Third Reich in the 1970s conquered the U.S and Canada, Berlin is rebuilt into Hitler's image.
*
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed hi ...
's novels,
The War That Came Early series (2009-2014) depicting an
alternate history of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
where it began in 1938 over
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
. With nations constantly switching sides in 1944 Hitler is assassinated and the Nazi Government overthrown in a
Coup d'etat the new
Military Junta
A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...
successfully negotiates an end to the war.
*
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed hi ...
's novels, ''
Southern Victory
The ''Southern Victory'' series or Timeline-191 is a series of eleven alternate history novels by author Harry Turtledove, beginning with ''How Few Remain'' (1997) and published over a decade. The period addressed in the series begins during th ...
'' (1997-2007), where the south won the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, in this alternative
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the United States allied with the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
and the Confederate States join the
Entente, the Central Powers win the
First Great War in this timeline, the Nazis never come into existence, however in the Confederacy a man called Jake Featherstone, rises to power and is the Hitler counterpart of this timeline.
*
Jo Walton
Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh and Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel ''Among Others'', which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian era novel ...
's ''
Farthing
Farthing or farthings may refer to:
Coinage
*Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny
** Half farthing (British coin)
** Third farthing (British coin)
** Quarter farthing (British coin)
* Farthing (English ...
'' in this alternative history
Rudolf Hess's flight to Scotland in May 1941 manages to successfully negotiate peace terms with the United Kingdom, mainly because the United States never gets involved with the conflict, this is because
Imperial Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
never attacks
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
, resulting in the British Empire pulling out of the war, and by 1949, Britain has also become a fascist dictatorship, the sequel ''
Ha'penny'' the main character Inspector Peter Carmichael, has to stop an attempt to kill Hitler as he comes to London as part of the two countries new friendship.
Theatre
![Hitler Punch and Judy Show](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Hitler_Punch_and_Judy_Show.jpg)
Hitler made it onto the stage through
Japanese novelist
Yukio Mishima
, born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...
, who wrote a play called ''My Friend Hitler'' (''Wagatomo Hitora''), retelling the
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives (German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Ad ...
. Moreover, the
Hungarian writer
George Tabori
George Tabori ( György Tábori; 24 May 1914 – 23 July 2007) was a Hungarian writer and theatre director.
Life and career
Tabori was born in Budapest as György Tábori, a son of Kornél and Elsa Tábori. His father Kornél (Cornelius) was m ...
wrote a comedy called ''Mein Kampf'' which portrayed Hitler as a poor young man who enters Vienna, wanting to become an artist. Hitler appears as a minor character in
Stanley Eveling's ''The Dead of Night'', set above the
Führerbunker as the Russians are entering Berlin. ''Dr Freud Will See You Now Mr Hitler'' (2008) was a radio drama by
Laurence Marks and
Maurice Gran
Maurice Bernard Gran (born 26 October 1949, in London, England) is an English writer and one half of scriptwriting duo Marks and Gran. He co-wrote the sitcoms ''The New Statesman'', '' Birds of a Feather'' and '' Goodnight Sweetheart'' with La ...
presenting an imagined scenario in which
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
treats the young Hitler.
Toby Jones
Tobias Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama '' Orlando'' in 1992. H ...
played Hitler.
Utpal Dutt
Utpal Dutta () (29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Th ...
's 1975
Bengali play ''
Barricade'' is set in the time that Hitler is rising to power.
In 2021
Gamma Ray Theatrelaunched their debut productio
"Ay Up, Hitler! Written by Hampshire playwright David McCulloch, the play tells the untold "true" story of how Hitler and other high-ranking members of the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, actually escaped Germany at the end of the war, and went into hiding in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
. The play was praised for its "razor sharp satire" and "Blackadder-esque" dialogue, and performed at Brighton Fringe 2022.
Film
*
Bobby Watson
Robert Michael Watson Jr. (born August 23, 1953), known professionally as Bobby Watson, is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator.
Music career
Watson was born in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. He ...
played Hitler in
**''
The Devil with Hitler
''The Devil with Hitler'' (released in Great Britain as ''The Devil Checks Up'') is a black-and-white 1942 comedy short propaganda film that was one of Hal Roach's Streamliners short film series. When the board of directors of Hell want Adolf Hitl ...
'' (1942)
**''
Hitler – Dead or Alive
''Hitler – Dead or Alive'' is a 1942 American propaganda war film directed by Nick Grinde. The plot of ''Hitler – Dead or Alive'' was inspired by true events but takes a quasi-comic tone.
Plot
In 1939, during the early days of World War II ...
'' (1942)
**''
That Nazty Nuisance
''That Nazty Nuisance'' is a 1943 American featurette that was one of Hal Roach's Streamliners and directed by Glenn Tryon. The film is also known as ''Double Crossed Fool'' (international TV title) and ''The Last Three''. It is a sequel to ''The ...
'' (1943)
**''
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' is a 1944 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall. Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamir ...
'' (1944)
**''
The Hitler Gang
''The Hitler Gang'' is a 1944 American pseudo-documentary film directed by John Farrow, which traces the political rise of Adolf Hitler. Described as a "documentary-propaganda" film by its studio, Paramount Pictures, the historical drama is based ...
'' (1944)
**''
A Foreign Affair
''A Foreign Affair'' is a 1948 American romantic comedy- drama film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Jean Arthur, Marlene Dietrich, and John Lund. The screenplay by Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Richard L. Breen is based on a story by D ...
'' (1948)
**''
The Story of Mankind
''The Story of Mankind'' is a book written and illustrated by Dutch-American journalist, professor, and author Hendrik Willem van Loon. It was published in 1921. In 1922, it was awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children ...
'' (1957)
**''
On the Double'' (1961)
**''
The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse'' (1962)
* ''
The Ace of Aces'' (1982),
Günter Meisner
Günter Meisner (18 April 1926 – 5 December 1994) was a German film and television character actor. He is remembered for his several cinematic portrayals of Adolf Hitler and for his role as Arthur Slugworth in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate F ...
plays Hitler and Hitler's half-sister
Angela
* ''
Blazing Saddles'' (1974): an actor playing Hitler in a film eats at the Warner Bros. commissary
* ''
Blubberella
''Blubberella'' is a 2011 German exploitation comedy film written and directed by Uwe Boll.
The plot is about an obese dhampir superhero, set in German-occupied Europe. The entire film is a scene-for-scene spoof of '' BloodRayne: The Third Rei ...
'' (2011): played by the film's director,
Uwe Boll
Uwe Boll (; born June 22, 1965) is a German filmmaker. He came to prominence during the 2000s for his adaptations of video game franchises which often starred international stars like Jason Statham, Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Christian Slater, ...
* ''
The Boys from Brazil'' (1978): a madman
clones
Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to:
Places
* Clones, County Fermanagh
* Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland
Biology
* Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
Hitler
* ''
The Bunker'' (1981), played by
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
* ''
BloodRayne: The Third Reich'' (2011), played by
Boris Bakal
* ''
Bosko's Picture Show
''Bosko's Picture Show'' is a Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' animated short directed by Hugh Harman and Friz Freleng. It was the last ''Looney Tunes'' Bosko cartoon produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising for Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. ...
'' (1933): Hitler chases
Jimmy Durante with an
axe
An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
.
* ''
Captain America: The First Avenger'' (2011): Steve Rogers performs in a
war bond
War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...
tour in which he "knocks out" Hitler; he tells the members of
Bucky Barnes
James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby a ...
' unit "I've knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times!"
* Carl Ekberg played Hitler in
** ''
Citizen Kane'' (1941)
** ''
Man Hunt'' (1941)
** ''
The Wife Takes a Flyer
''The Wife Takes a Flyer'' (aka ''Highly Irregular'', UK title: ''A Yank in Dutch'') is a 1942 romantic comedy film made by Columbia Pictures, directed by Richard Wallace. The film stars Joan Bennett and Franchot Tone. The screenplay of ''The Wif ...
'' (1942)
** ''
Once Upon a Honeymoon
''Once Upon a Honeymoon'' is a 1942 romantic comedy/drama starring Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, and Walter Slezak, directed by Leo McCarey, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Sound Recording (Stephen Dunn) ...
'' (1942)
** ''
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?'' (1966)
* ''
Chaplin Chaplin may refer to:
People
* Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director
* Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin
Films
* '' Unknown Chaplin'' (1983)
* ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992)
* ''Chaplin'' (2011 film), Ben ...
'' (1992):
Charlie Chaplin refuses to shake hands with man discussing Hitler at a party and discusses him with his brother
Sidney during pre-production on ''
The Great Dictator
''The Great Dictator'' is a 1940 American anti-war political satire black comedy film written, directed, produced, scored by, and starring British comedian Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the o ...
''
* ''
Countdown to War
''Countdown to War'' is a television film made in 1989 as a co-production by Granada Television and PBS. It recounts the events that occurred between 15 March 1939, when the German army commanded by Adolf Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia and created ...
'' (1989), played by
Ian McKellen
* ''
Daffy – The Commando
''Daffy – The Commando'' is a 1943 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The cartoon was released on November 20, 1943, and stars Daffy Duck.
Plot
Early one morning, somewhere in World War II-era Germany, Command ...
'' (1943):
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...
hits Hitler on the head with a mallet
* ''
Deadpool 2
''Deadpool 2'' is a 2018 American superhero comedy film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequel to ''Deadpool'' (2016) and the eleventh installment overall in the ''X-Men'' film series. ...
'' (2018): During the post-credits scene (extended cut only),
Deadpool
Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...
uses
Cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
's time travel device to kill Hitler as a baby.
* ''
Dear Friend Hitler
''Dear Friend Hitler'', released in India as ''Gandhi to Hitler'', is a 2011 Indian war drama film based on letters written by Mahatma Gandhi to the leader of the Nazi Party and Chancellor of Germany and Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler. The f ...
'' (2011), played by
Raghuvir Yadav
Raghubir Yadav is an Indian actor, music composer, singer and set designer who works in Hindi films. He made his film debut with '' Massey Sahib'' (1985), in which he played the title role. He has won two International Awards as Best Actor for ...
* ''
The Death of Adolf Hitler'' (1973), played by
Frank Finlay
Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''.
In 1983, Finlay was directed by Ital ...
*
Fritz Diez
Fritz Diez (27 February 1901 – 19 October 1979) was a German actor, producer, director and theater manager.
Biography
Early life
Diez's mother was a servant, and raised her three children alone. To support his family, the child began working a ...
played Hitler in
** ''
Ernst Thälmann – Führer seiner Klasse'' (1955)
** ''
Frozen Flashes'' (1967)
** ''
I, Justice'' (1967)
** ''
Liberation
Liberation or liberate may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War
* "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode
* "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode
Gaming
* '' Liberati ...
'' (1970–1)
** ''
Seventeen Moments of Spring
''Seventeen Moments of Spring'' (russian: Семнадцать мгновений весны, Semnadtsat' mgnoveniy vesny) is a 1973 Soviet twelve-part television series, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the novel of the same title by Yu ...
'' (1973)
** ''
Take Aim
''Take Aim'' (russian: Выбор цели, Vybor Tzeli) is a 1974 two-part Soviet biographical drama film directed by Igor Talankin.
Plot
The film depicts the nuclear arms race that took place between all sides in the World War II and the beginni ...
'' (1974)
** ''
Soldiers of Freedom
''Soldiers of Freedom'' (russian: Солдаты свободы) is a four-part 1977 film epic directed by Yuri Ozerov and starring Mikhail Ulyanov, Yevgeny Matveyev, Vasily Lanovoy. It is a World War II historical drama and the sequel to 1970- ...
'' (1977)
* ''
Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn'' (1995): Hitler escapes from Hell and attempts to take over a city
* ''
The Empty Mirror'' (1996), played by
Norman Rodway
Norman John Frank Rodway (7 February 1929 – 13 March 2001) was an Anglo-Irish actor.
Early life
Rodway was born at the family home, Elsinore (named after the castle where Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' is set), on Coliemore Road, Dalkey, Dublin ...
* ''
Europa, Europa
''Europa Europa'' (german: Hitlerjunge Salomon, lit. "Hitler Youth Salomon") is a 1990 historical war drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland, and starring Marco Hofschneider, Julie Delpy, Hanns Zischler, and André Wilms. It is based on the 1 ...
'' (1990), played by
Ryszard Pietruski
Ryszard Pietruski (born 7 October 1922 in Wyszecino near Wejherowo, died 14 September 1996 in Warsaw) was a Polish theatre and film actor.
Biography
He spent his childhood and early days in Lviv. He was a student of the III State High School ...
* ''
Fatherland
A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...
'' (1994), directed by
Christopher Menaul
Christopher Menaul (born 25 July 1944) is a British film, television director and television writer. Since the late 1970s, Menaul has amassed credits in episodic television and by directing television films.
Filmography
Film
*'' Feast of July' ...
* ''
Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa'' (2005): Edward learns from Lang that the Thule Society plans to use the weapons from his world to help Hitler in his attempt to start a revolution
* ''
The Good Shepherd'' (2006): Fredericks takes Wilson to a meeting where Hitler is discussed; Murach recruits Wilson to expose Fredericks as a Nazi
* ''
The Great Dictator
''The Great Dictator'' is a 1940 American anti-war political satire black comedy film written, directed, produced, scored by, and starring British comedian Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the o ...
'' (1940): Adenoid Hynkel is a parody of Hitler
* ''
Hellboy
Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...
'' (2004): New BPRD agent John Myers is told Hitler died in 1958, not in 1945
* ''
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
'' (1962), played by
Richard Basehart
John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. He starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson in the television science-fiction drama '' Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' (1964–68). He also portrayed Wilton Knig ...
* ''
Hitler, ein Film aus Deutschland'' (1977) documentary by
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg (born 8 December 1935) is a German film director, whose best known film is his lengthy feature '' Hitler: A Film from Germany''.
Early life
Born in Nossendorf, Pomerania, the son of an estate owner, Syberberg lived un ...
[
]
* ''
Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' (1973), played by
Alec Guinness
* ''
Hitler Umanath'' (1982): a timid man who resembles Hitler becomes a leader
* ''Hitler's Brain and the Robot from Hell'' (2015): A scientist inadvertently resurrects Hitler by inserting his brain into a robot meant for another historical figure
* ''
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil'' (1985), played by Colin Jeavons
* The Three Stooges
Moe Howard
Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television ...
parodied Hitler as "Moe Hailstone" in two of the Stooges' short subject films:
** ''
You Nazty Spy!
''You Nazty Spy!'' is a 1940 comedy film directed by Jules White and starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard). It is the 44th short film released by Columbia Pictures starring the comedi ...
'', the first Hollywood film work to lampoon Hitler, released nine months (January 1940) before ''The Great Dictator''
** ''
I'll Never Heil Again
''I'll Never Heil Again'' is a 1941 short subject directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges ( Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). It is the 56th entry in the series released by Columbia Pictures s ...
'', the sequel to ''You Nazty Spy!'' (released July 1941)
* ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009), played by Martin Wuttke
* ''Is Paris Burning? (film), Is Paris Burning'' (1966), played by Billy Frick
* ''Jackboot Mutiny, Es geschah am 20. Juli'' (1955), directed by G. W. Pabst
* ''Jojo Rabbit'' (2019), played by Taika Waititi: he appears as the imaginary friend of Hitler Youth member Johannes 'Jojo' Betzler, initially behaving in a childlike manner, but becoming more like the real-life dictator as Jojo increasingly questions Nazi doctrine
* ''The King's Speech'' (2010), King George VI watches a newsreel of Hitler giving a speech
*''King of Hearts (1966 film), King of Hearts'', young Corporal Adolf played by Philippe de Broca suggests burning a French town.
* ''A Kitten for Hitler'' (2007) by Ken Russell
* Jorma Taccone played Hitler in
** ''Kung Fury'' (2015)
** ''Kung Fury 2'' (2020)
* Luther Adler played Hitler in
**''The Magic Face'' (1951)
**''The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel, The Desert Fox'' (1951)
* ''The Man Who Crossed Hitler'' (2011), played by Ian Hart
* ''Look Who's Back (film), Look Who's Back'' (2015), played by Oliver Masucci
* ''Max (2002 film), Max'' (2002), played by Noah Taylor
* ''Meet the People'' (1944), played by Frederick Giermann
* ''Mein Kampf'' (2009), played by Tom Schilling
* ''Moloch (1999 film), Moloch'' (1999), directed by
Alexander Sokurov
* ''Night Train to Munich'' (1940), played by Billy Russell (comedian), Billy Russell
* ''The Plot to Kill Hitler'' (1990), played by Mike Gwilym
* ''
The Producers'' (1968): two men agree to produce a Broadway play about Hitler, hoping it will flop
* ''Star Spangled Rhythm'' (1942), played by Tom Dugan (actor, born 1889), Tom Dugan
* ''The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler (film), The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler'' (1943), played by Ludwig Donath
* Udo Schenk played Hitler in
** ''Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero'' (2004)
** ''Stauffenberg (film), Stauffenberg'' (2004)
* Michael Sheard played Hitler in
** ''The Tomorrow People'' (1973)
** ''Rogue Male (1976 TV film), Rogue Male'' (1976)
** ''The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission'' (1985)
** ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' (1989)
** ''Secret History (TV series), Secret History'' (2003)
* ''Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision'' (2003): a member of the Time Enforcement Commission travels back in time to assassinate Hitler
* ''Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea'' (1977), time travel comedy, directed by Jindřich Polák
* ''They Saved Hitler's Brain'' (1969): Nazi madmen preserve Hitler's brain so they can resurrect him
*''The Fall of Berlin (film), The Fall of Berlin'' (1950) played by Vladimir Savelyev
* ''The Plot to Assassinate Hitler, Der 20. Juli'' (1955), directed by Falk Harnack
* ''Downfall (2004 film), Der Untergang''
(English: ''Downfall'') (2004), played by
Bruno Ganz
Bruno Ganz (; 22 March 1941 – 16 February 2019) was a Swiss actor whose career in German stage, television and film productions spanned nearly 60 years. He was known for his collaborations with the directors Werner Herzog, Éric Rohmer, Franc ...
* ''
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997: ...
'' (2008), played by
David Bamber
David James Bamber (born 19 September 1954) is an English actor. He has worked in television and theatre. He is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Early years
Bamber was born in Walkden, Lancashire. By September 1973, he was ...
[
* ''War and Remembrance (miniseries), War and Remembrance'' (1988), played by Steven Berkoff
* ''White Tiger (2012 film), White Tiger'' (2012), directed by Karen Shakhnazarov
* ''Elser – Er hätte die Welt verändert'' (2015), directed by ]Oliver Hirschbiegel
Oliver Hirschbiegel (born 29 December 1957) is a German film director. His works include ''Das Experiment'' and the Oscar-nominated '' Downfall''.
Life and career
Hirschbiegel was born in Hamburg, Germany. A Waldorf graduate, Hirschbiegel stu ...
. Hitler is played by Udo Schenk and the film is based on the assassination attempt at Bürgerbräukeller.
*''Iron Sky: The Coming Race'' Hitler is played by Udo Kier
Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, Kier has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He h ...
and is the leader of an alien race called the Vril.
* ''The Winds of War (miniseries), The Winds of War'' (1983), played by Gunter Meisner
* ''Which Way to the Front?'' (1970): a comedy film about the 20 July Plot.
* ''The King's Man'' (2021), played by David Kross
Television documentaries
* ''The World at War'' (1974): a Thames Television series which contains much information about Hitler and Nazi Germany, including an interview with his secretary, Traudl Junge
* "Adolf Hitler's Last Days": from the BBC series ''Secrets of World War II'', the episode tells the story of Hitler's last days
* ''The Nazis: A Warning from History'' (1997): six-part BBC TV series on how cultured and educated Germans accepted Hitler and the Nazis. Historical consultant was Ian Kershaw
* ''Im toten Winkel, Im toten Winkel – Hitlers Sekretärin (Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary)'' (2002): a 90-minute interview with Traudl Junge. Made by Austrian Jewish director André Heller shortly before Junge's death from lung cancer. Junge recalls the last days in the Berlin bunker. Clips of the interview were used in '' Downfall''.
* ''The Architecture of Doom, Undergångens arkitektur (The Architecture of Doom)'' (1989): documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic as envisioned by Hitler
* ''Das Fernsehen unter dem Hakenkreuz (Television Under the Swastika)'' (1999): documentary by Michael Kloft about the use of television in Nazi Germany for propaganda purposes from 1935 to 1944
* '' Hitler: The Rise of Evil'' (2003): two-part TV series about the early years of Adolf Hitler and his rise to power (up to 1933), starring Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle (born 14 April 1961) is a Scottish actor. His film work includes '' Trainspotting'' (1996), ''The Full Monty'' (1997), ''The World Is Not Enough'' (1999), ''Angela's Ashes'' (1999), '' The Beach'' (2000), ''28 Weeks Later'' (20 ...
.
* ''Ruins of the Reich'' (2007): a four-part series detailing the rise and fall of Hitler's Reich, created by historian R.J. Adams
* ''Apocalypse: Hitler'' (2011): a two-part television series chronicling the rise of Adolf Hitler and the birth of Nazi ideology
*''The Man in the High Castle (TV series), The Man in the High Castle'' (2015): an old Hitler makes an appearance in an alternative world where the Axis Powers won the World War II.
Comics and cartoons
DC Comics feature Hitler on several occasions. In ''Strange Adventures'' #3 (December 1950-January 1951), there is a story in which Hitler is captured by space aliens just before his attempted suicide. A fake corpse is left for the SS to find. As punishment for Hitler's crimes, he is imprisoned for life alone on a rocket ship which will travel through space until he dies (the rocket ship can automatically manufacture its own food for him); during his waking hours, he is forced to listen to an endless loop recording of all the speeches he has ever made. The character known as the Unknown Soldier (DC Comics), Unknown Soldier, who first appeared in June 1966, kills Hitler, impersonates him for a short time, then pretends his death was a suicide. In ''Outsiders (comics), Adventures of the Outsiders'' #33-35, a clone of Hitler is created by Baron Bedlam. Planning to give the clone the same persona as the original, Bedlam gives him an intellectual disability, intellectually disabled Jewish maid, several films of the Holocaust and a handgun, Bedlam's intention being for the clone to embrace Nazism and ultimately murder the maid to "prove himself" as Hitler. Instead, the clone—realizing his connection to the atrocities he views—commits suicide.
In DC Comics' Elseworlds imprint, ''The Golden Age (comics), The Golden Age'', Hitler's brain is successfully transplanted into the brain pan of TNT (comics), Dyna-Mite. Now pretending to be a superhero called Dynaman, he plots in resurrecting Nazi ideals with the aid of the Ultra-Humanite. He possessed a magical item, the Holy Lance, Spear of Destiny, which gave him control over superpowered beings that entered Nazi territory, an explanation for why the Justice Society of America did not enter Berlin and end the war.
In Fawcett Comics, Fawcett Pre-''Crisis'' comics, he was a member of the Monster Society of Evil with Benito Mussolini and Hideki Tojo, and other Nazis like (List of Captain Marvel (DC Comics) enemies) Herr Phoul were other members of the Society. He was shown to have helped in the creation of super-strong Aryan supervillain Captain Nazi.
In ''Weird War Tales'' #58 (1977) "Death of a dictator" Hitler kills a raving man dressed in rags before going into suspended animation in the belief history will repeat and he will be able to rebuild the Third Reich. The story ends with our Hitler with long hair being killed in exactly the same manner the raving man dressed in rags was. The final panel reveals that the scientist was all too correct in that history would repeat as our Hitler's killer looks exactly like he did originally and he is going to his suspended animation chamber and these events will replay themselves...forever.
In the comic book ''The Savage Dragon'' by Erik Larsen (published by Image Comics), Hitler did not die in 1945, but after a fight against Hellboy in Romania in 1952. His body ruined, the brain is Organ transplant, transplanted to the body of a large gorilla. Suffering amnesia and calling himself Brainiape, the Chimera (mythology), chimera possesses great psionic powers and joins the Chicago, IL criminal organization known as the Vicious Circle (comics), Vicious Circle, eventually becoming its leader. He remembers his past only in 1996 when he encounters Hellboy again, alongside the Vicious Circle's enemy, the meta-talented policeman called Dragon. The ape body is killed, and it is revealed that Hitler's brain had Mutation, mutated and could live unaided by any technology or host body, ambulatory on tiny legs.
Marvel Comics' villain the Hate-Monger is revealed to be the consciousness of Hitler transferred to a cloned body by Nazi scientist Arnim Zola. The original Hitler, rather than committing suicide, was confronted by the Human Torch (Golden Age), Human Torch and his sidekick Toro (comics), Toro after Eva Braun committed suicide. The two heroes set Hitler ablaze as he attempted to set off a bomb. As he died, he commanded one of his loyal followers nearby to tell the world he had committed suicide. The clone is killed in ''Fantastic Four'' #21 when the Invisible Girl makes him hit his own troops with his hate-ray, causing them to shoot him for getting them into a battle with the Fantastic Four. At the time of his death, he was planning to start wars using a ray which caused hatred and to which only he possessed the antidote to, having started with a South American country. He preached ideas of bigotry also while in America. In another story, Hitler is seen in the Hellish realm of the demon Mephisto (comics), Mephisto.
In the British comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' a storyline called The Shicklgruber Grab from ''Strontium Dog'' mutant bounty hunters Johnny Alpha and Wulf Sternhammer are hired to go back to 1945 and bring Hitler to the future the stand trial, Hitler who murdered Eva Braun shortly after marrying her, and used his simpleton body double to commit suicide so he could escape and start the Fourth Reich, however gets dragged to the future not understanding what's going on.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
produced wartime cartoons which constantly parodied Hitler and his personality traits and quirks. Most (if not all) cartoons with Hitler and the Nazis as the antagonists ended up with the American hero cartoon character (such as Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...
or Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...
) making a mockery out of Hitler.
Japanese manga artist Shigeru Mizuki wrote ''Gekiga Hitler'', first serialized in ''Weekly Manga Sunday'' in 1971 and published in English in 2015 as ''Shigeru Mizuki's Hitler'' by Drawn & Quarterly.
The episode "Alternative Histories", from the Netflix animated series ''Love, Death & Robots'', centers in five scenarios where an alternative death of the dictator occurs.
In the comic book series ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' by Alan Moore, set in an alternate universe where several other works of fiction are real, Adenoid Hynkel, the Hitler spoof played by Charlie Chaplin in his film ''The Great Dictator
''The Great Dictator'' is a 1940 American anti-war political satire black comedy film written, directed, produced, scored by, and starring British comedian Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the o ...
'', is a real person and has the same role in the comic series that Hitler had in real life. In the world of ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'', Tomainia (the country Hynkel ruled in ''The Great Dictator'') was annexed by Nazi Germany in a similar manner to the Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
and the "Double Cross" emblem used in the film for Hynkel-controlled Tomainia is instead used as the Nazi flag instead of the Swastika in reality, meaning that this version of Hynkel isn't exactly the same as the film. The personality of the comic book Hynkel combines the buffoonish mentality of the film Hynkel with the evil tyranny of Hitler both in real life and in the various fictional works that depict him. Hynkel is mentioned in passing in ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century, Volume III: Century'' but only appears as a character in ''Nemo: The Roses of Berlin'' which is part of the ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Nemo Trilogy, Nemo Trilogy''. ''Nemo: The Roses of Berlin'' also mentions that an American comedian named "Addie Hitler" has made a movie that mocked Hynkel's regime, an obvious reference to ''The Great Dictator''.
Hitler in music
Many songs tell a story about Hitler one way or the other, for example "Götterdämmerung" by Stratovarius directly mentions the history of Hitler and the Nazi regime. David Bowie has also been quoted saying "Hitler was the first rock star" and, at one time, wanted to direct a film based on the life of Heinrich Himmler. "Heads We're Dancing" by Kate Bush tells the story of a woman who dances all night with a charming stranger, only to discover the following morning that he is Adolf Hitler. Texas Groove metal band Pantera wrote and recorded a song called "By Demons Be Driven". It tells the story of how Hitler was plagued by paranoia and began to hate the Jewish people and religion. Australian band TISM's debut single was "Defecate on My Face", which was about Adolf Hitler's supposed coprophilia. Australian comedy troupe the Doug Anthony Allstars had a song called "Mexican Hitler", which told the story of what Hitler would have been like if he was born Mexican. It made an appearance in their television show, ''DAAS Kapital''.
The song "Hitler as Kalki" by apocalyptic folk band Current 93 makes use of Savitri Devi's idea that Hitler was an avatar of the Hindu god Kalki. "Two Little Hitlers" by Elvis Costello, superficially a song about a loveless couple but reportedly a real-life reflection of the relationship between the singer and his producer Nick Lowe (who had previously recorded a song entitled "Little Hitler", the similarities leading to speculations about the origins of the later song) on the album ''Armed Forces (album), Armed Forces''. Antony and the Johnsons have released the song "Hitler in My Heart" on their Antony and the Johnsons (album), debut in which the term "Hitler" is generally used as a metaphore for the bad within oneself - likewise in the song "Crack Hitler" by Faith No More from Angel Dust (Faith No More album), Angel Dust.
Other songs take a more serious approach and deal with Hitler's impact on the world. Thrash metal group Flotsam and Jetsam (band), Flotsam and Jetsam recorded the song "Der Fuhrer" for their album ''Doomsday for the Deceiver''. The song discusses the devastation Hitler caused in Europe. New York City, New York metal band Anthrax (American band), Anthrax recorded the song "The Enemy" for their album ''Spreading the Disease''. The song discusses Hitler's role in the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
.
There are some examples of parodies involving Hitler. Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters reference Hitler in the song, Hot Time in the Town of Berlin. "Der Fuehrer's Face
''Der Fuehrer's Face'' (originally titled ''A Nightmare in Nutziland'' or ''Donald Duck in Nutziland'' ) is a 1943 American animated anti-Nazi propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, created in 1942 and released on January 1, ...
" is an elaborate parody on Nazism created by musical comedian Spike Jones
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...
. It is one of his most well-known tunes. A novelty Rapping, rap song entitled "To Be or Not to Be (The Hitler Rap)" performed by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
is on the movie ''To Be or Not to Be (1983 film), To Be or Not to Be's'' soundtrack album, but it was not in the movie itself. Mel Brooks dressed as Hitler sings from behind a desk while male dancers in pants, harnesses and SS caps made of black leather and female dancers in fishnet stockings dance wildly with each other around Hitler on a large dance floor with a checkerboard design.
Songs about Adolf Hitler include:
*"Adolf Hitler (calypso), Adolf Hitler" by Clifford Morris, better known as the Mighty Destroyer
*"Mr. Hitler" by Lead Belly
*"Hot Time in the Town of Berlin" by Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters
*"Defecate on My Face", by TISM
*"Even Hitler Had a Girlfriend (song), Even Hitler Had a Girlfriend" by Mr. T Experience
*"Der Fuehrer's Face
''Der Fuehrer's Face'' (originally titled ''A Nightmare in Nutziland'' or ''Donald Duck in Nutziland'' ) is a 1943 American animated anti-Nazi propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, created in 1942 and released on January 1, ...
" by Spike Jones
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...
*"The Sensual World, Heads We're Dancing" by Kate Bush
*'' Hitler Has Only Got One Ball''—World War II British soldiers marching song
*"Springtime for Hitler
''Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp With Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden'' is a fictional musical in Mel Brooks' 1967 film '' The Producers'', as well as the stage musical adaptation of the movie, and the 2005 movie adaptation of the musical. It ...
" from the film and play ''The Producers'' by Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
Internet
Parodied clips from the 2004 film '' Downfall'' have proliferated internationally via YouTube and other video sites. The parodies replace the subtitles from the original movie with incorrect subtitles. The most frequently used clips include the scene where Hitler receives news of the advancing Red Army vastly outnumbering the forces commanded by Felix Steiner, and where Hitler orders Otto Günsche to find ''SS-Gruppenführer'' Hermann Fegelein. They are subtitled with references to Hitler becoming angry over various facets of modern pop culture such as politics, online gaming, movies, television, music, sports and many other local or international events.
The phenomenon started in English language, English but has spread to other languages including Japanese language, Japanese (massive number of videos on Nico Nico Douga on various topics), Chinese language, Chinese (influenced by Japan, comments on Wenzhou train collision and many other sensational topics mainly on Tudou and Youku. In addition, Hong Kong people used the clip to criticize social events, like Cable TV un-subscription, salt shortage due to misbelief of salt being able to protect from radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Fukushima nuclear disaster), Bulgarian language, Bulgarian (to ridicule Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov for being a State Security agent during the communist dictatorship and for being a poacher), Romanian language, Romanian (for the 2009 presidential election), Croatian language, Croatian (comments about frequent affairs in the government), Serbian language, Serbian (regarding poor results by football team Red Star Belgrade, FK Red Star), Quebec French, French (about the weather), Spanish language, Spanish (about a wide variety of topics mainly related to Argentine and Chilean local events), Indonesian language, Indonesian (mainly about local politics, presidential elections, cultures, and also everyday life), and Hebrew language, Hebrew (about the difficulty of finding parking space in Tel Aviv).
Footage and/or characters from other films, ranging from other depictions of Hitler in the likes of ''Inglourious Basterds'' or '' Hitler: The Last Ten Days'', or even films that have little or nothing to do with ''Downfall'', are also juxtaposed for humorous effect.
On April 21, 2010, Constantin Film, the production and distribution company responsible for the film, initiated a massive removal of parody videos on YouTube. This removal was criticized by digital rights advocates and was followed by the appearance of self-referential parody videos on the very subject of Constantin's actions with respect to the parodies.
In the shared alternate history of Ill Bethisad (1997 and after), Adolf Hitler never went into politics but instead moved to New Amsterdam (Ill Bethisad's version of New York City) and wrote science fiction, in a similar manner to the version of Hitler depicted in the novel ''The Iron Dream
''The Iron Dream'' is a metafictional 1972 alternate history novel by American author Norman Spinrad. The book has a nested narrative that tells a story within a story. On the surface, the novel presents a post-apocalyptic adventure tale entitl ...
''. Unlike in real life or ''The Iron Dream'', the fictional alternate universe of Hitler was never anti-Semitic. Hitler actually ''liked'' the Jewish people he met early in life in Vienna, preventing his anti-Semitism. Hitler also created the alternate history genre in Ill Bethisad and his most famous work there, ''The Dream of Iron'', is an example of one. The villains of ''The Dream of Iron'' are the "Empire of Zand" which resemble the Nazis.
The website Cats That Look Like Hitler features pictures of cats that bear some resemblance to the German leader.
Godwin's Law states "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one". From this is derived an additional formulation, also encountered online, which states "The first person to mention the Third Reich automatically loses the argument".
In 2010, Hitler has been portrayed by EpicLLOYD in the second episode of YouTube series ''Epic Rap Battles of History'', "Darth Vader vs. Hitler", where he faces Darth Vader (portrayed by co-creator Nice Peter) in a rap battle. In 2011, in Season two's first episode, "Hitler vs. Vader 2", EpicLLOYD and Nice Peter reprised their roles in a second rap battle between Darth Vader and Hitler and again for the start of season three, in the episode "Hitler vs. Vader 3", which was uploaded on October 7, 2013, on the series' YouTube channel.
In 2012, an Internet meme statement Hitler was "HDNW" is an Internet meme statement used for trolling purposes for Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
denial, who was responsible for during his reign were morally wrong, and for Holocaust denial. It was made by 4chan, which hijacked the campaign of Mountain Dew.
In 2013, a kettle, which was dubbed the "Hitler teapot", went viral on Reddit and other social media sites because of its apparent resemblance to Hitler.
Art
Salvador Dalí painted several pictures involving Hitler. ''The Enigma of Hitler'' (1939) depicts a torn photograph of Hitler on a plate in a typically surreal landscape over which hangs a broken telephone and an umbrella. He also painted the ''Metamorphosis of the Face of Hitler into a Moonlit Landscape'' (1958). One of his late works was ''Hitler Masturbating'' (1973), depicting just that, with Hitler seen from behind in an armchair in the center of a snow-filled desolate landscape.
Hitler is depicted in a balloon overlooking marching, helmeted troops in the painting ''Vision of War'' by Indian artist A. Ramachandran. A picture of him with Gandhi by M. F. Husain was controversial with Hindutva groups in India.
In India
The name "Hitler" is widely used for anyone who is overly authoritarian in manner, but it does not have the same negative connotation as it does in the West. For example, in the 1998 film ''Hitler'', the disciplinarian hero nicknamed Hitler is simply a person with staunch traditional values. There are at least three other Indian films entitled "Hitler", in all of which the Hitler character is the hero (Hitler (1996 film), ''Hitler'' (1996 film); Hitler (1997 film), ''Hitler'' (1997 film); '' Hitler Umanath''). ''Hitler Didi'' (My Sister Hitler) is a TV show about a character with a domineering elder sister.
In Indian popular culture, Hitler is synonymous with rigidity, people often refer to their boss or a strict teacher as Hitler.
Hitler is also used as a personal name in India, as in the case of the politician Adolf Lu Hitler Marak. The film ''Hero Hitler in Love'' is about a man called "Hitler" who tries to love everyone. Furthermore, the swastika has for centuries been a common symbol in India with positive connotations. According to ''The Indian Republic'',
According to Navras Jaat Aafreedi, such references to Hitler are not usually linked to pro-Nazi sympathies, but some Hindu nationalist groups see Hitler's use of the swastika as a "great service to Hinduism" and link anti-Semitic ideology to anti-Islamism.
The "Hitler" clothing store in Ahmedabad in Gujarat opened in mid-August 2012. The store immediately became embroiled in controversy over its name. The store's logo even had a swastika embedded in the Tittle, dot above the "i" in Hitler's name. The owner, Rajesh Shah, told media he did not expect all the commotion. He had chosen the name because the grandfather of his business partner was nicknamed "Hitler" because of his strict demeanor. He stated he did not intend to change the name unless somebody else paid the expenses. Among the groups that objected to the store's name was the small Jewish community in Ahmedabad. A diplomat at the Israeli embassy in New Delhi said that the embassy would protest in "the strongest terms possible" to the Indian government. The Israeli consul general in Mumbai asked state officials to ensure the store was renamed, but commented that she believes the use of the name most likely is a product of ignorance rather than antisemitism. Reports suggested that the shop owner had agreed to rename the store following an offer by a Jewish organization to pay the costs. In October 2012 the Ahmedabad Municipal authorities allegedly removed the store sign without proper procedure. It was later renamed ''Gladiator''.
Cross Cafe in Mumbai was formerly Hitler's Cross cafe. The business sought to attract attention by using the Hitler theme, and was decorated with Nazi imagery. Actor Murli Sharma attended the opening party; when asked what he thought about the name, he said "I am not really agitated as I have not read much about the man. However, from what I know about Hitler, I find this name rather amusing." Alternative names suggested included Stalin Samosa Shop, Ayatollah Khomeini's Falafels, and Kim Jong's Juicy Juice.In India, a café named Hitler's Cross, Anand Giridharadas, August 24, 2006
/ref>
In Thailand
Hitler Fried Chicken was a fast-food restaurant in Thailand based on Yum! Brands Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain. The mascot of Hitler Fried Chicken is Adolf Hitler wearing a Colonel Sanders outfit. Adolf Hitler is considered 'chic' by many in Thailand.
See also
* Anti-American caricatures in Nazi Germany
* Anophthalmus hitleri, a species of blind cave beetle found only in about fifteen humid caves in Slovenia
Notes
References
*''Faschismus in der populären Kultur'' [Fascism in popular culture] by Georg Seesslen Berlin : Edition Tiamat, 1994–1996. , OCLC: 80476144
*''The world Hitler never made : alternate history and the memory of Nazism'' by Gavriel David Rosenfeld. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2005. OCLC: 58052431
*''Hitler's imagery and German youth'' by Erik H Erikson; Berkeley, Calif. : Institute of Child Welfare, University of California, 1940-1950? OCLC: 26533155
Further reading
* Butter, Michael. ''The Epitome of Evil: Hitler in American Fiction, 1939-2002''. Palgrave Macmillan, April 28, 2009. , 9780230620803.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitler In Popular Culture, Adolf
Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler,
Internet memes
Works about Adolf Hitler,
Lists of music by theme, Hitler
Politics in popular culture
Celebrities in popular culture
World War II in popular culture
Nazism in popular culture
Germany in popular culture