Thursday, April 10, 2014

H is for Schicklgruber?

Blogging From A to Z April 2014 Challenge
H
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
H is for  Schicklgruber Hitler

Adolph's father, Alois, was not born with the last name Hitler.
He actually changed it to Hitler in 1877, many years before Adolph was born.
What might the most evil man in history have been named if not for this change?
ADOLPH SCHICKLGRUBER
Heil Schicklgruber?????
Date
Event
1837Birth of Alois Schicklgruber, Adolf's father, as the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schicklgruber and - ?
1842Marriage of Alois' mother to Johann Georg Hiedler.
1847Death of Maria Anna Hiedler.
1850Alois Schicklgruber apprenticed to a bootmaker in Vienna, Austria.
1855Alois Schicklgruber given employment by Board of Inland Revenue.
1857Johann George Heidler, Alois' stepfather, dies.
1873Alois Schicklgruber marries Anna Glassl (no children).
1876Alois Schicklgruber's name changed to Hitler.
1880Alois divorced by his wife on grounds of adultery with Franziska Matzelsberger.
1882Franziska Matzelsberger bears Alois a son, also given the name of Alois.
1883Death of Alois' first wife, Alois marries Franziska Matzelsberger, Angela Hitler born.
1884Death of Alois' second wife.
1885Alois' third marriage with Klara Pƶlzl, granddaughter of Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, brother of Alois' deceased stepfather.
1889Adolf Hitler born, the fourth child of his father's third wife, at Braunau, Austria,

Hitler.  Six letters of the alphabet, when combined, initiates a response from nearly every person in the world today.  I'm sure some people may be upset with me for blogging about about him, saying things like,
  • "Hitler does not deserve any further discussion" or
  • "Hitler is evil incarnate so why on earth would you want to write about him?" 
  • And my personal favorite, "You're a racist, antisemitic Nazi bitch!"
I've heard all of these and many more. Comments like these are born in:
  • Blind acceptance of values instilled by parents and grandparents.
  • Lack of exposure to belief systems different from their own/Isolation
  • Fear of learning new ideals that makes them "different" from their friends and family.
In light of these statements, I want to begin this post with a personal disclaimer.
  1. I am an avid historian, not a Nazi.
  2. I enjoy discovering little-known facts about historical people without regard to their actions and beliefs. 
  3. I find a wide variety of people fascinating, again, without regard to their politics or actions.
  4. I have a sense of humor.  Highly inappropriate most days but damn, lighten up.  Yes, Hitler was a rotten bastard but I still laugh at the memes.
  5. My blog, my rules.
If you are unable to view things from a perspective other than your own, this may not be the blog for you.  

Strange Facts about Hitler:

1. He only had one testicle.
There are two schools of thought on this subject.  At first it was believed that he lost a testicle in WWI.  Now, according to this article in the Guardian, it seems that Hitler's right testicle never fully descended during puberty. That is a condition called Cryptorchidism.

2. He was obsessed with his young niece.
Geli Raubal, Hitler's teenaged niece, was the daughter of his half-sister Angela. Hitler had invited Angela to come live with him and be his housekeeper. She brought her young daughter "Geli" with her. No one can prove for sure that it was a sexual relationship, but many people have insinuated that it was very intimate.


Geli has been called "the love of his life" by many Hitler biographers throughout the years. He was so obsessed with her that he kept her a virtual prisoner in one of his apartments during the six years of their relationship. It ended abruptly with Geli's death at the age of 23. Some say she committed suicide out of depression and a desperate attempt to escape Hitler's control. She wanted to go to Vienna and become an actress but allegedly, he forbid her to leave his side. Others say she was murdered because Hitler refused to let her go and if he couldn't have her, no one else could either. To this day, no one knows the truth behind their mysterious and tragic relationship. To read more about them and to see some amazing historical photos, check out this link.

3. He was the first European leader to ban the operation of human zoos.
Okay folks, I had to do some research into this one. First of all, I had no idea what a "human zoo" was.  I am horrified to say the least. Second, I'm amazed that Hitler was the first to BAN such a gross display of humanity, but what can I say, horrible people aren't always ALL bad. That being said, for those of you who may not know, a human zoo is exactly what it sounds like: A group of unique and unusual people on display for the viewing pleasure and oft times mockery of others. Not quite as bizarre as a circus freak show, but still as unkind, human zoos were popular in the US and Europe from the 18th to 20th centuries, particularly at places like The World's Fair and Coney Island.


For more photos and details about the history of human zoos, click HERE.

Well folks, that's a wrap on this one. There are more strange facts out there about Hitler but I don't feel like devoting any more of this beautiful day to him.

~TP









14 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, what a post? learnt so much. :-)

Unknown said...

When something bad happens, people tend to want to quickly sweep it under the rug and try to quickly forget about it. My opinion is we should study history to ensure that the horrific action does not repeat. People may not want to discuss Hitler but I think we should. What lead him to lead such an atrocity?
I watched some Youtube videos where interviewers were asking some high school students what the holocaust was. I was horrified that some students didn't know and one girl actually thought is was some sort of Jewish holiday. THAT is what happens if people don't continue to talk and discuss history.

Tammy Petry said...

Thank you Marie. It's an internationally sensitive subject but as you can see, it didn't stop ME from taking it on! I'm so happy that my blog posts educate as well as entertain others. Again, thank you for the compliment and I promise to visit your blog very soon. It's been wildly crazy around here (and trust me, crazy is pretty much the norm for me!) and I've not done as much blog-hopping as I'd like. I'll get there! See you soon Marie!

Tammy Petry said...

Michelle, I totally agree with you and I've seen several of those "Dumb American" videos. For me, it's shocking when someone doesn't know the names of the original 13 colonies, or has no idea who we fought in each major war. I have always been an avid reader with a passionate thirst for knowledge, history and anthropology especially. Hearing Jill or Joe Doe chuckling at their utter ignorance both disgusts and angers me. I say "ignorant" because they've chosen NOT to learn. Ignorant is a willful choice while "stupid" and "dumb" just can't be helped most times.
Thank you for reading and commenting on this post! I appreciate every single comment!

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

Educational AND entertaining! I, too, have an inconvenient sense of humor, so I totally appreciate this!
Rebecca at The Ninja Librarian

G. B. Miller said...

If I could interject a small slight lighter note to a very thoughtful post, I want to thank you for answering an old age question (at least in my eyes) for me. I'm a aficionado of classic Warner Bros. cartoons, and while I was able to figure out about 97% of the inside jokes that peppered the cartoons, for the life of me I could not figure the name Schicklgruber that was used in the cartoons. Thank you for clarifying an age old mystery for me.

A-Z Challenge at Father Nature's Corner

Tammy Petry said...

Hi GB! I'm so glad I could enlighten you! I remember those old cartoons too. I loved them. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Unknown said...

Lets not forget the 10 million that voted for Hitler...I'm also a lover of history...shame more didn't learn the lesson history tries to teach. I so really enjoyed this and learned a couple of things, the odd fascinates me and he was most certainly that.
Loving the A to Z Challenge Maggie@expatbrazil.

Shan Jeniah Burton said...

I have little patience for those who hide from the atrocities by calling the perpetrators "monsters". They seem to neglect, in that dismissive thinking, that Adolf Hitler was once somebody's baby - and I'm guessing he wasn't born to kill six million people.

That came later, and likely as the outgrowth of the life he lived.

Details and tidbits - even the most intimate and outlandish - paint a truer picture. Hitler was a man. A strange and clearly disturbed man - but also a man whose passion and charisma induced a great many people to go along with the huge-scale atrocities he concocted.

When we try to dehumanize those who commit such horrific acts, it's as if we're saying that only a monster could act that way. We try to separate ourselves - and I think that's a mistake. Humans are capable of soaring grace and staggering cruelty, and everything in between.

I'm glad you gave us another, more personal side of the man, however creepy. And, being a word-junkie, the name Shicklgruber is now bouncing around merrily in my head, attaching to all manner of unrealted things!

Brava!

Anonymous said...

Hello! I'm stopping by from the A to Z. Wow! I like how you presented this piece of history. You have done a good job in the Challenge so far. A lot of work has gone into your postings.

Kathe W. said...

Lets face it Hitler was full of S..T. The end. Your blog posts have been so interesting. They take a lot of time for you to put together....I appreciate that. Cheers.

Tammy Petry said...

Thank you Kathe! I really appreciate your comments and it makes me very happy knowing my efforts are recognized and appreciated! I've fallen a bit behind this past week but I'm making a push to catch it all up. I hope you'll come back and read tomorrow's post about Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will". It's pretty badass! Again, thanks for reading and for commenting. I truly appreciate every reader's comments.
~Tammy

Unknown said...

I don't think anyone deserves to go to hell. We were all made in God's image, which means we're all wired for love. God is love. When people do and say evil things it means they've turned away from God and given themselves over to the devil. This is a state that deserves to be pitied more than any other.

Anonymous said...

Mwahaa, nice post :-)
But hey, why not take a look at "Mein Kampf"? Honestly, it's worth a read...