The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin from the Interrogations of Hitler's Personal Aides - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1586483668 ISBN 13: 9781586483661

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2005

Synopsis

Stalin had never been able to shake off the nightmare of Adolf Hitler. Just as in 1941 he refused to understand that Hitler had broken their non-aggression pact, he was in 1945 unwilling to believe that the dictator had committed suicide in the debris of the Berlin bunker. In his paranoia, Stalin ordered his secret police, the NKVD, precursor to the KGB, to explore in detail every last vestige of the private life of the only man he considered a worthy opponent, and to clarify beyond doubt the circumstances of his death.

For months two captives of the Soviet Army--Otto Guensche, Hitler's adjutant, and Heinz Linge, his personal valet--were interrogated daily, their stories crosschecked, until the NKVD were convinced that they had the fullest possible account of the life of the Führer. In 1949 they presented their work, in a single copy, to Stalin. It is as remarkable for the depth of its insight into Adolf Hitler--from his specific directions to Linge as to how his body was to be burned, to his sense of humor--as for what it does not say, reflecting the prejudices of the intended reader: Joseph Stalin. Nowhere, for instance, does the dossier criticize Hitler's treatment of the Jews.

Today, the 413-page original of Stalin's personal biography of Hitler is a Kremlin treasure and it is said to be held in President Putin's safe. The only other copy, made by order of Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev, in 1959, was deposited in Moscow Party archives under the code number 462A. It was there that Henrik Eberle and Matthias Uhl, two German historians, found it. Available to the public in full for the first time, The Hitler Book presents a captivating, astonishing, and deeply revealing portrait of Hitler, Stalin, and the mutual antagonism of these two dictators, who between them wrought devastation on the European continent.

About this title

About the Author:

Henrik Eberle, a freelance journalist and historian, completed his PhD dissertation in 2002 on the scientific policies of National Socialism. He currently teaches history at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Matthias Uhl received his PhD in 2000 in East European History at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. He currently is on staff at the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich and Berlin.

From AudioFile:

Few books can offer a more compelling, or a more chilling, glimpse into the minds of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin than THE HITLER BOOK, the recently discovered top-secret dossier commissioned by Stalin. In addition to outlining every aspect of the German dictator's life, behavior, and personality, the book also provides a frightening look into the world of Stalin. Listening to Michael Prichard's low-key reading will cause shivers as listeners gain new insight into the German and Russian mentalities of the era. Prichard reads unobtrusively, as though he were a camera merely trying to capture an event without the participants' awareness. The result is a fascinating, albeit somewhat long, book. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1586483668
• ISBN 13: 9781586483661
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 434
• Editor: Henrik Eberle, Matthias Uhl