Hitler: An Envoy From Hell
I have always been fascinated by Hitler and by the sheer distillation of evil that he was. I think of the ray of death that once rose above the earth from Berlin. I think about the fading echo of "Heils" circling the globe until the last mouth once shouted, it will rest in peace.
Was Adolf Hitler an envoy from Hell, or was he simply an evil force that somehow broke through to this world incidentally? What was so wrong with humankind that it needed him, and have we learned any lessons?
Hitler's philosophy was that of a horror. Horror to humankind, that is, except Germans. But then, even his own German people - whose fate he was so devoted to - was to be perished, should it not live up to the fuhrers expectations. His followers were only bad seeds that responded to his gift of hatred, leeches sucking his venom of misanthropy. Every nation in all times has hell sleepers that are woken in trouble times by skillful leaders. Lenin and his comrades of the October Revolution picked up the evil dust of Russia and turned it into merciless warriors against the old regime and its own compatriots.
I read the book "The Young Hitler I Knew" by his teenage friend, which was very interesting. Hitler's character at the ages of 16-20 was depicted very vividly as well as what ideas filled his mind at that time. Already then he thought in terms of grandiosity and unprecedented scales, especially his architectural visions (he was planning to become an architect). It also depicted Hitler's stark determination. Not having any formal education in music he set to write an opera in Wagnerian style. He started off with libretto and overture. Eventually he abandoned the idea after all means available to him technique-wise were exhausted. That inflexibility and will to go to the end reminded me of the bitter finale he brought to his own country despite obvious shortcomings of his strategy. The fear to face his own mistakes and readiness to pay for them nevertheless with the lives of his own people is well portrayed in the movie "Downfall", which meticulously showed the abyss of Hitler's last days.
His idea was not just that of German supremacy but also of physical termination of whole ethnic groups according to an openly published plan, "Mein Kampf". Usually such ideas don't leave maniac's diaries; sometimes they are projected into despair actions of limited scale (like those of snipers, suicide-bombers, serial killers). But here his demonic ideas were backed up by his sharp mind and iron determination. He didn't seek money, fame or medals,that's what made him really an avenging shadow unleashed from Hell.
There always were monsters in human history but the most striking thing is that Hitler's means and ends are so clearly preserved - by his own writings and by footage and by the deepest imprint the generations of Europe and America felt for decades. Someone whose actions could not be misinterpreted. No retold stories, chronicler's fantasies and anecdotes. He was. He did.
And if everything has its meaning, if everything is pre-defined according to the divine plan, then what was Hitler's purpose? For him, who did not regret an iota even several hours before his voluntary exit from this world about what he had done, there is no justice. For others, dozens of millions of people - their lives ended - directly or indirectly - by the determination of one man from nowhere.
Surely, debates will be less heated as time goes by and he would turn into a historical figure like Guy Fawkes and Messalina. Yet, Hitler will never be acquitted by society for his philosophy was denial of being.