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Title: At Hitler's Side: The Memoirs of Hitler's Luftwaffe Adjutant 1937-1945 by Nicolaus Von Below, Geoffrey Brooks, Nicolaus Von Below ISBN: 1-85367-468-0 Publisher: Stackpole Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (3 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Self-serving and dry
Comment: Readers expecting a plethora of new information on Hitler will be sorely disappointed. Von Below is a pedantic, careful and very dry reteller of history and his memoirs seem contrived in points and highly self-serving. Many reviews point out that von Below never heard Hitler mention the Jews or the death camps, but this is quite believable. Hitler compartmentalized all personal relationships and why would he mention these any atrocities to his Luftwaffe adjutant?
Von Below doesn't really tell us anything new about Hitler, and his personal anecdotes are tragically few. He comes up with some pithy observations on Goering and Goebbels, but it's frustrating that he doesn't elaborate more on Hitler, his entourage, or the inner workings at the Berghof, the Chancellory or in various wartime HQ's.
The book's main flaw is that it ends almost mid-word and mid-sentence. There is no explanation of what happened to von Below after the war, he simply stops the narrative and packs up shop. Very curious indeed. One improvement over the German-language version is the addition of notes, an expanded index and some editorial inclusions. Another weakness is that von Below was never close to Hitler, nor part of his intimate personal entourage. His transactions with Hitler were generally of a military, not personal, nature, but don't expect many fireworks in this dry tome.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Treasure!
Comment: Although the book ends quite abruptly, it was a book that I could not put down. One can almost see in first-person Hitlers moods and thought processes. It's as if you were in the room with him. Very, very interesting.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Sophisticated & Articulate Memoir
Comment: Von Below was Adolf Hitler's Luftwaffe adjutant for eight years, from 1937 to the very end of the war. As such he held many intimate conversations with Hitler and in this well-written (and very well translated) memoir, he claims to have had Der Fuhrer's confidence. That he remained in this job for 8 years is proof enough of that fact. Von Below's portrait of Hitler on the job is very different from the raving single-minded maniac usually portrayed in movies and popular biographies. Von Below claims that if one knew how to approach Hitler one could reason with him and even get him to change his mind. By this account Hitler was a hard-working, dedicated, charismatic and intelligent leader who was often misled by his subordinates. Von Below claims to have known nothing about the mass murders committed by the Nazis. He also claims to have had serious misgivings about Hitler's war strategy; and he writes that he was well aware of the shortcomings of the Luftwaffe. As a pilot himself, I tend to believe him outright on this point, but otherwise I don't know how much of the insight he claims to have had into strategic matters might have been colored by hindsight. In any event, he was never able to convince Hitler although he writes that many times he did express his doubts to Der Fuhrer, who always heard him out. Compare this book with the memoir written by Hitler's pilot, Hans Bauer. Both men, knowing the end was inevitable, stuck it out and for that we must admire their courage and dedication. I don't think they remained with Hitler in Germany's doomed capital because of some lemming-like compulsion to destruction ingrained in the German psyche, but because of their personal devotion to Hitler. And since neither man was an idiot nor a war criminal with nothing to lose, commanding such loyalty from men like these says a lot about Adolf Hitler's personality. Bauer spent 10 years in a Russian POW camp while von Below managed to escape the Russians after Hitler gave him permission to escape from Berlin. For my money this book ends too abruptly. I would like to know what happened to von Below after the war and that is why I gave it only 4 stars. But in summary, this book is a valuable addition to the study of Adolf Hitler and a testament to its author, who I think was a man of honor.
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Title: Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics by Frederic Spotts ISBN: 1585673455 Publisher: Overlook Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $37.50 |
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Title: Until the Final Hour : Hitler's Last Secretary by Traudl Junge ISBN: 1559707283 Publisher: General Pub. Date: 02 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Twilight of the Gods: A Swedish Waffen-SS Volunteer's Experiences with the 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, Eastern Front 1944-45 by Thorolf Hillblad, Erik Wallin ISBN: 1874622167 Publisher: Helion & Company Pub. Date: 01 June, 2004 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: German Generals Talk by Basil H. Hart ISBN: 0688060129 Publisher: Quill Pub. Date: 01 September, 1971 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: My Father's Keeper: Children of Nazi Leaders--An Intimate History of Damage and Denial by Norbert Lebert, Stephan Lebert, Julian Evans ISBN: B0000C7C32 Pub. Date: 17 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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