Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

72 DER FUEHRERhuman relations, his distorted soul tormented and thwarted him.Hanisch in his simple way has perhaps come closest to the truth whenhe says that Hitler was basically so shy that he simply didn't dare toapproach women. He tells us that in conversations Hitler described atlength how easily women were to be 'had'; among the most effectivetricks, according to the wisdom of the youthful man of the world, was topull your hat far down over the back of your head, leaving your facefree — this was fascinating and seductive. Just because it was so easy, itwas wrong to take advantage of the poor things' weakness; the man ofmature mind must have himself in hand. As an example he relates arural experience of his own in a cow barn: at the last moment hemastered his passion, so that the damage was limited to an upset milkpot. In listening to these stories, Hanisch had the impression that Hitlerwas quite decent in this respect. And Hitler's principles really weredecent; their chief basis, however, seems to have been timidity.After three wretched years he left Vienna forever. He was a totalfailure, nothing had turned out right. He had proved to no one that hewas a future prince in the realm of art; no one had taken any notice ofhim. The imperial city had not surrendered to him; he himself laterattested that it had grown 'repugnant' to him: 'Repugnant this wholenational mixture of Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Ruthenians, Serbs,Croats, etc.; and above all, as the eternal disintegrating fungus ofhumanity — Jews and again Jews. This giant city seemed to me theembodiment of blood outrage.' He does not tell us the exact cause of hisdeparture; but if we believe that no accidental causes but deepunconscious necessities guide men, the case of Adolf Hitler takes on aclarity transcending all possible details: he had to leave. Vienna was hisfailure, and he was faced with the choice of total destruction or flight.Perhaps flight saved him from ruin; it did not bring him forward.Early in the summer of 1913, a young student of technology fromVienna rented a room in the station quarter of Munich. The landladytold him that she had had to put out the former lodger because he hadnot paid his rent for a long time. During this conversation the poordismissed lodger came in; he, too, was an Austrian. He