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What I find immensely interesting is a painting of Hitler’s depicting Christ coming to him—or perhaps someone else?—on the battlefield. Now, I may be mistaken, but I can be almost one-hundred percent certain that the man in the painting is Hitler himself. He did some self portraits, according to Adolf Hitler als Maler und Zeichner, during his days as a soldier in WWI. Hitler would paint or sketch pictures of his regiment, and would supposedly include himself in the picture. No doubt some of the crude, lewd, and simple sketches are frauds that were really drawn by Konrad Kujau. One has to be a bit careful because of this. Anyway, if you look at the face and moustache of the soldier in the painting, it looks like him. I think this was probably a painting he had done after he had experienced a spiritual epiphany that made him feel as though Christ had come to him. Regradless of when exactly it was painted, what sort of Christian-hater sits around painting pictures of Jesus coming to a soldier [or himself] on the battlefield; or places Christ on the Cross in his landscape paintings? Did Hitler just haphazardly throw a Christ into his paintings to fool his own self, too? Of course not. Any discerning mind knows better. Christianity was on Hitler’s mind almost as much as the Jewish Problem, so we can be fairly confident in our assertion that Hitler respected Christianity. We can surmise that he gave his religious-related decisions a lot of thought—simply by examining his various paintings and sketches.
The story of Hitler’s temporary blindness after a nerve gas attack by the ‘Allies’ is very interesting, as Robert Payne has so carefully documented.
“It was the day when the Kaiser had left Germany for exile, and the pastor, a grave and elderly man, began to lament the passing of the monarchy. He urged his listeners to pray that God should not deny his blessings to the feldgling republic, and he began to weep silently, overwhelmed by the fate that had overcome Germany. Hitler watched the old man weeping in a kind of stupor. For the first time there came to him the full realization of defeat. ‘I could not sit there any longer,’ he wrote. ‘Once again, everything went black before my eyes, and I tottered and groped my way back to the place where we slept, and buried my burning head in the blankets and pillows.’
He left Pasewalk on November 21 and made his way to Munich, where Kurt Eisner, a Jewish intellectual, had proclaimed the Bavarian Socialist republic” (The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler, Payne, 122).
And in Fest’s Hitler, p. 80… referring to this same incident:
“ ‘Since the day I had stood at my mother’s grave, I had not wept… But now I could not help it.’ … Hitler would ritualistically refer to the November revolution. He would speak of it as if his whole life dated from that event. This obsession has led some analysts to suggest that the revolution triggered the great political awakening of his life. It has also been suggested that his going blind in October, 1918, was to some extent a hysterical symptom [Emma: This has been completely debunked upon further scientific inquiry into the effects of chlorine gas on the human eye, which does indeed cause blindness; oftentimes permanent], precipitated by the shock he felt at the abrupt change in the course of the war.”
Actually, upon reading into this more closely, one could just as easily say that Hitler may well have had a spiritual awakening, since this hospital stay seemed to be a time when he experienced some sort of political epiphany. Hitler was ardent about his Path, as set before him by Providence. But, depending on when his Christ ‘encounter’ painting had been done, he may well have experienced such a heartfelt awakening earlier, as the painting is said to be dated 1915, which would be just one year into the First World War. We’ll never know for sure, but it is a wonderful painting and I have scanned it in and pasted it on this page from the book Adolf Hitler als Maler und Zeichner.
I believe that it would not be too far-fetched to assume that Hitler asserted himself as somewhat of a “Christ figure” for the German nation. It was either Dietrich Eckart or Julius Streicher who had commented, once, saying something like this: “When a man compares himself to Jesus Christ, you know he’s ripe for an insane asylum.” He supposedly said this upon witnessing Hitler brandishing his dog whip during an early speech, in which he spoke about Christ and emulated His actions at the Temple. Hitler is even alleged to have said, “You know… about a thousand years ago a man was dragged off in just this way!” I cannot recall where I read this, but it may have been on nobeliefs.com. It may have even been in Payne’s book. You must realize, I have read hundreds of books. I lose track sometimes.
“The New Testament broke away from the Old /as you once released yourself from the world/ And as you are freed from your past delustions/ so did Jesus Christ reject his Jewishness.” - Dietrich Eckart quoted in Richard Steigmann-Gall's The Holy Reich.
“Christ is the genius of love, as such the most diametrical opposite of Judaism, which is the incarnation of hate. The Jew is a non-race among the races of the earth.... Christ is the first great enemy of the Jews.... that is why Judaism had to get rid of him. For he was shaking the very foundations of its future international power. The Jew is the lie personified. When he crucified Christ, he crucified everlasting truth for the first time in history.” - Joseph Goebbels, quoted in Richard Steigmann-Gall's The Holy Reich.
The Case of Martin Bormann
Quoted from nobeliefs.com
“Martin Bormann stood as one of the few top Nazis who rejected the organized Church (he was not, however, an atheist as many falsely claim, and certainly not an occultist). At Hitler's round table, Bormann noted that the Fuehrer did not want to pursue a campaign against the churches. Only in secret did Bormann hold a grudge against the churches. He carefully avoided the rouse of suspicion of the Fuehrer. If he could not destroy the churches, he could at least demand that his subordinates pay little attention to them.
“In perhaps the most misquoted statement by American Christians, incorrectly attributed to Hitler: ‘The Christian religion and National Socialist doctrines are not compatible.’ - Martin Bormann, in a letter to Alfred Rosenberg, (Trial of The Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 1945, Vol. 1).
“Bormann here goes against Hitler and Nazi doctrine where the Nazi party program explicitly supports “Positive Christianity.
“When Martin Bormann came out with a confidential anti-Christian tract, Hitler objected. According to Steigmann-Gall, ‘Almost immediately after it was released, Hitler suppressed it, ordering Bormann to retract his statements and recover all the copies he had sent out.’
“The pro-Christian Goebbels, also disagreed with Bormann’s anticlerical activity, along with many other Nazis. Not only was Bormann's decree on the relation of Christianity and National Socialism done in secret, but at no time was there an official Nazi law that tried to destroy Christianity.
“Bormann serves as the main reason why many think that Hitler opposed religion. In Bormann’s edited transcripts of Hitler's Table-Talk, he gives the appearance that Hitler opposed the Christian religion.”
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Discussion: Hitler’s Christ Painting
Was Adi a closet Christian? Did he hide his potentially “silly” views from others for fear of being judged? Some of his earliest paintings and private conversations with adjutants and confidants suggest that he may have hid his Christianity for fear of ridicule by intellectuals and non-Christians. The truth, we will never know for sure, but a lot of evidence suggests that such a possibility exists. This painting from 1915, which Adi did for his army chaplain, is part of that growing body of evidence. |
