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I Was Hitler's Doctor: His Intimate Life
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
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First published January 1, 1943
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 9, 2016
This book is less interesting for itself than for the three introductions (or rather, the preface, foreward, and introduction) that precede it. We’ll get to those in a minute. The contents of the book purport to be the memoir of a German psychiatrist who treated Adolf Hitler during the period of his rise to power, from 1919 to sometime around 1930. This is errant nonsense. Any historian of the Third Reich will instantly recognize this as a forgery – the personality he describes is not the real Adolf Hitler, but the caricature seen in media reports of Western countries. It is even more obvious than the books of Hermann Rauschning, which at least have a tint of plausibility about them. The book was printed at the height of the war, a time when English-speaking audiences were frantically reading about Hitler and Germany, and almost anything could (and did) get into print. Fortunately, so far as I can tell, no historian has ever relied on it for accurate information. The text is only amusing in its application of outdated Freudian stereotypes to that popular image of Hitler.
But, back to that prefatory matter, which is so interesting. The first brief “foreward” is written by Upton Sinclair, the famous novelist and social critic. I think he was fully aware of the dubious nature of the book, and he retains a sly distance from the text. He even goes so far as to suggest that “Kurt Krueger” may not really exist at all (“I assume he exists, because I have a letter from him”). For him, the book is merely evidence that Hitler “is one of the most interesting men who have ever lived,” and that interest in him will continue long after the war ends. He never really endorses the content in any way, but presumably he received a nice royalty check from it for a few years. This is followed by a “Preface” by one K. Arvid Enlind, who may or may not be the actual author of the text. His prose is certainly similar, although it’s possible that he was the uncredited editor of a work written in German or bad English by a German-speaker. His point is that the world has produced monsters like Hitler (and, presumably, Stalin) because it has abandoned God and Christianity. This, I suspect, was the reason for the book in general (that and cashing in on the interest in Hitler), and it is at its most obvious in this preface. Finally, Otto Strasser, the exiled ex-Nazi whose brother Julius was killed in the “Night of the Long Knives” action, provides the introduction. Strasser engages in schadenfreude and exalts in repeating old gossip about Hitler’s sex life. He sets the reader up to expect prurient revelations in the text to come, and he serves to legitimize those stories because “he was there” and he believes them (or claims to). Strasser, of course, is a notoriously untrustworthy witness, who was happy to endorse anything that might undermine Hitler’s regime, especially if he could get paid for it.
That’s about all that’s worth saying about this book. Read it for an insight to what people read and believed in the forties, not for any actual information about the Third Reich.
But, back to that prefatory matter, which is so interesting. The first brief “foreward” is written by Upton Sinclair, the famous novelist and social critic. I think he was fully aware of the dubious nature of the book, and he retains a sly distance from the text. He even goes so far as to suggest that “Kurt Krueger” may not really exist at all (“I assume he exists, because I have a letter from him”). For him, the book is merely evidence that Hitler “is one of the most interesting men who have ever lived,” and that interest in him will continue long after the war ends. He never really endorses the content in any way, but presumably he received a nice royalty check from it for a few years. This is followed by a “Preface” by one K. Arvid Enlind, who may or may not be the actual author of the text. His prose is certainly similar, although it’s possible that he was the uncredited editor of a work written in German or bad English by a German-speaker. His point is that the world has produced monsters like Hitler (and, presumably, Stalin) because it has abandoned God and Christianity. This, I suspect, was the reason for the book in general (that and cashing in on the interest in Hitler), and it is at its most obvious in this preface. Finally, Otto Strasser, the exiled ex-Nazi whose brother Julius was killed in the “Night of the Long Knives” action, provides the introduction. Strasser engages in schadenfreude and exalts in repeating old gossip about Hitler’s sex life. He sets the reader up to expect prurient revelations in the text to come, and he serves to legitimize those stories because “he was there” and he believes them (or claims to). Strasser, of course, is a notoriously untrustworthy witness, who was happy to endorse anything that might undermine Hitler’s regime, especially if he could get paid for it.
That’s about all that’s worth saying about this book. Read it for an insight to what people read and believed in the forties, not for any actual information about the Third Reich.
September 28, 2016
Actual rubbish. Borrowed it from the library to assist in a project on Hitler's sexual fetishes and was appalled thoroughly. Very little research will show that this book is utterly untrue in almost every respect--particularly dangerous as it purports to be some sort of psychological profile of Hitler. I wish I could say this book was at least enjoyable as a work of fiction, but I (unlike "Kurt Krueger") am not a damn liar. It reads, to be honest, like a weird and cringe-y fan fiction from someone who (understandably) doesn't like Hitler and wants to feel superior to him in every way possible. The dialogue alone is a mess.
Would give zero stars if possible
Would give zero stars if possible
February 24, 2021
I had never heard of anyone associated with Hitler with this name, but I got this book along with several others of people who had worked for him in some capacity. This book seems like complete and total nonsense, and, at best, a historical fiction. I can't remember how much I paid for this, but it was certainly a rip off. I was thoroughly disappointed in this book, and I do not recommend this at all.
September 30, 2010
Dr. Krueger treats from the psychoanalysis point of view, and this is one treatment that I don't fully agree with. I only read about 60+ pages, and just got tired of the sexual babble. Maybe someday later, I might try it again, but not for now.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews