The outstanding features of Polish character were cruelty and lack of moral restraint.Īs an orator, as is well known, Hitler had some striking qualities.It was in keeping with our own harmlessness that England took the liberty of some day meeting our peaceful activity with the brutality of the violent egoist.Chamberlain in fact spat upon me before the eyes of the world. For this peace proposal of mine I was abused and personally insulted.It must be possible that the German nation can live its life.In the last six years I had to stand intolerable things from states like Poland.Innumerable examples of this mechanism could be cited in Hitler’s case, but a few will suffice for purposes of illustration: It is a technique by which the ego of an individual defends itself against unpleasant impulses, tendencies, or characteristics by denying their existence in himself while he attributes them to others. “Hitler’s outstanding defense mechanism,” according to Langer, “is one commonly called projection. To contradict him is in his eyes a crime of ‘les majeste’ opposition to his plans, from whatever side it may come, is a definite sacrilege, to which the only reply is an immediate and striking display of his omnipotence.” Speaking to one of his associates, Hitler reportedly said: “Do you realize you are in the presence of the greatest German of all time.” That explains why he can no longer bear either criticism or contradiction. Those who surround him are the first to admit that he now thinks of himself as infallible and invincible. In each and every field he believes himself to be an unquestioned authority.”Īccording to one of Langer’s sources, Hitler’s “faith in his own genius, in his instinct, or, as one might say, in his star, is boundless. It makes little difference whether the field be economics, education, foreign affairs, propaganda, movies, music or women’s dress. He dismissed them and assumed their duties himself. A few years ago he appointed a committee of three to act as final judges on all matters of art, but their verdicts did not please him. In spite of the fact that he failed to pass the examination to the Art School he believes himself to be the only competent judge in this field. To begin with, there was his megalomania: “Hitler believes himself to be the greatest of all German architects. Quite a number of Hitler’s features bear notice today. I have presented excerpts below, with editorial interpolations where needed to maintain the textual flow. Completed as a crash program in eight months, it remains an important document, even if some of its findings have been superseded by subsequent historical research. It was from this material that Langer constructed his psychoanalytic profile, which was classified for national security reasons until 1972. They were assigned to pore through the New York Public Library for relevant German language sources, while Langer himself, as he was later to recount, “scoured the United States and Canada in search of persons who had had more than a passing contact with Hitler at some period of his life.” Some of those he came to interview were Germans interned in American detention camps because of earlier Nazi affiliation.Īll told, Langer and his assistants accumulated more than 1,100 single-spaced typewritten pages of quotations and condensations from their sources. Reporting directly to General William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the OSS chief, Langer set up what was called a Psychoanalytic Field Unit and hired three psychoanalytically trained research assistants to staff it. Langer was a Harvard professor and practitioner of psychoanalysis who in 1943 was commissioned by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the wartime intelligence body and CIA predecessor organization, to create a psychological portrait of Adolf Hitler. One of the most extraordinary attempts in this realm was performed by Walter C. No one answer can ever explain any complex social phenomenon, but in thinking about this question today it is perhaps fruitful to look at demagogic leaders from the past and take note of some of their distinguishing qualities. What is the nature of the hold that demagogues and destructive charismatic personalities have on the masses? The question is of perennial interest and has been examined by historians, political scientists, social psychologists, and students of cults. This piece was originally published in The American Interest on January 16, 2020.
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