You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Since my communications of 1961 and 1962 on Adolf Hitler (8, 9), some significant data, hitherto generally not available, have been made public. In the light of that material, Hitler's childhood sexual development was discussed in some detail in a third study (10), completed in 1970. As an introduction to the subject of the present paper, here is a brief summary of this new data.
There is a great deal of confusion about the origins of Adolf Hitler's father, Alois. What is quite certain is that he was born the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schickelgruber, whose name he bore until he was forty years old. This led to speculations (16, 19) that his father was a Jew. Whatever the truth of this belief, it is of importance for our purpose that Adolf Hitler, himself, apparently seriously entertained the idea. He certainly made strenuous efforts to destroy or remove from public scrutiny any evidence that might support it (26).
Almost as confusing are the reports about some features of Alois Hitler's character. Publicly (14) his son spoke respectfully of him. Privately (11) he revealed that he considered him domineering and brutal, particularly when drunk. On the other hand, Jetzinger (16), a careful researcher, maintains that Alois was not a drunkard and he was not even insistent on having Adolf follow his vocational footsteps, as the latter claimed. In any event, he was not considered “… an exemplary ‘pater familias’ … it was his wife who had to bear the main burden… Alois hardly saw his family at all.” (16).