Franz Jetzinger (3 December 1882 in Ranshofen in
Upper Austria
Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...
– 19 March 1965 in
Ottensheim
Ottensheim is a municipality in the district of Urfahr-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. In July 2008 it hosted the World Rowing Championships, and it did so again in 2019.
History
First settlements in this area date from about 4 ...
in Upper Austria) was an Austrian clergyman, academic, politician, civil servant, editor and author. He remains especially famous as author of the book ''Hitler’s Youth''.
Life and work
After graduating from school, Jetzinger studied at the theological faculty of the university of
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
. He became a Jesuit priest and professor at the philosophic-theological academy in
Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital ...
. In this capacity he visited, amongst other places,
Palestine in 1908.
During the
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 ...
, Jetzinger served as a military chaplain. In 1918 he began an intensive political career: first in the German People's Party (electoral district
Ried) and from 1919 on in the ''Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei'' (Social Democratic Worker Party). On 14 February 1921 the Catholic Church excommunicated him. From 1919 until 1934, Jetzinger served as social democratic assemblyman in the federal state Diet (electoral district
Innviertel
The Innviertel (literally German for "Inn Quarter"; officially called the ''Innkreis''; ) is a traditional Austrian region southeast of the Inn river. It forms the western part of the state of Upper Austria and borders the German state of Bavari ...
). From 1920 until 1930 he was editor at ''Tagesblatt''. After he had worked as deputy for two years, Jetzinger became District Administrator in 1932 and therefore member of the Upper Austrian federal state government in Linz.
After the ban to take mandates on 12 February 1934, Jetzinger, being a social democrat, was arrested by
Dollfuß for five weeks. Afterwards he worked as insurance appointee for the Viennese local government. In 1935 he re-entered the Catholic Church and worked as librarian in the student's library in Linz.
Having been a member of the federal state government, Jetzinger had secured for himself the Austrian military file 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 ...
, which included details on Hitler's arrest in 1914, which took place because he fled from military conscription. After Hitler had annexed Austria in 1938, he repeatedly tried to have the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
locate and secure the compromising file, but Jetzinger successfully hid it in his attic until 1945, despite his arrest by the Gestapo on 22 April 1944. In 1956, Jetzinger, who hated Hitler and the National Socialist regime, wrote the book ''Hitler's Jugend'' (''Hitler’s Youth''), in which he also published the contents of Hitler's military file.
''Hitler’s Youth''
Jetzinger gained fame in 1958 through the English version of his book ''Hitler’s Youth'', in which he could refute many of Hitler's statements about his early years. He attracted attention by attacking an earlier published book ''The Young Hitler I Knew'' by
August Kubizek
August "Gustl" Friedrich Kubizek (3 August 1888 – 23 October 1956) was an Austrian musical conductor and writer best known for being a close friend of Adolf Hitler, when both were in their late teens. He later wrote about their friendship in h ...
, whom Jetzinger accused of spreading falsehoods. While earlier Hitler biographers like
Joachim Fest
Joachim Clemens Fest (8 December 1926 – 11 September 2006) was a German historian, journalist, critic and editor who was best known for his writings and public commentary on Nazi Germany, including a biography of Adolf Hitler and books about ...
or Werner Maser adopted Jetzinger's criticism as their own, Jetzinger's crushing judgment of Kubizek's credibility has been challenged by
Brigitte Hamann, author of ''Hitlers Wien''. In 2006, Ian Kershaw opined that ''Jetzinger's scholarship is, in fact, not invariably superior to Kubizek's vivid pen-picture of the young Hitler, and contains some weaknesses of its own, both factual and interpretative.''
page 13, ''The Young Hitler I Knew'' (Greenhill Books, 2006)
/ref>
Still, Jetzinger's work remains relevant in the 21st century: In 2007, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio play titled ''Dr Freud Will See You Now, Mr Hitler''">Hitler'', a largely counter-factual work written by a pair of established Jewish screenwriters who credit ''Hitler's Youth'' for the factual basis which launched their enterprise a decade earlier.
Work
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References
External links
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(biography of) Franz Jetzinger, Prof. Dr. - Austrian federal state of Upper Austria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jetzinger, Franz
Austrian politicians
Austrian male writers
People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church
20th-century Austrian Jesuits
People from Braunau am Inn
1965 deaths
1882 births
Austrian military chaplains