Comments on: Lothar Machtan comments on Hitler’s sexuality and the Holocaust

By: Richard Willmer

Richard Willmer — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:39:13 +0000

So what if Hitler were gay (which he almost certainly wasn’t)? It does not follow that (to quote Obergruppenfuhrer Fischer) “homosexuality gave us Adolf Hitler …”

(Of course, it was heterosexuality that gave us Hitler, just as it gave us me … and everyone else on this blog! So there we are!)

By: Chris C

Chris C — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:11:56 +0000

Lothar Machtan’s theories are absurd and readily proven to be false.Hitler’s personal valet,Heinze Linge,was in a position to know his relations with Eva Braun,and he always stated he was 100% positive that it was a sexual relationship.Hitler’s fellow nazi’s,including the founder of the party,Anton Drexler,and several others circulatesd a flyer,with the intent of having Hitler removed as leader of the Nazi party.The flyer stated Hitler reffered to himself as “the king of Munich”for his many sexual cxonquests of Munich women.Certainly this would not have been a cause to have him ridiculed,if he were a homosexual.Machtan obviously used an angle that would sell books,and it is utterly absurd.There is plenty to disgrace Hitler,without having to use false premises.

By: Bryan Fischer hearts Scott Lively; repeats Holocaust revision — Warren Throckmorton

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:36:15 +0000

[...] Fischer advances to support his theory of the Holocaust said Fischer and Lively are wrong (see Lothar Machtan’s statement). Hitler’s atrocities primarily do NOT derive from his homosexuality. Of course you CANNOT blame [...]

By: What should Christians do about the SPLC hate list? — Warren Throckmorton

What should Christians do about the SPLC hate list? — Warren Throckmorton — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:01:00 +0000

[...] 5. Homosexuals controlled the Nazi Party and helped to orchestrate the Holocaust. (see also comments from historian Lothar Machtan) [...]

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 01:45:19 +0000

However, I have not read any of the books or their authors in discussion and so have no opinion about the claims they make about homosexuality.

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 19:36:39 +0000

if hitler was gay or “same-sex attracted,” then why didn’t he die with his “lover” rather than eva braun whom he was with for many years? I haven’t read the book, so maybe it addresses that

Image and propaganda to the death.

By: John

John — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 18:12:06 +0000

if hitler was gay or “same-sex attracted,” then why didn’t he die with his “lover” rather than eva braun whom he was with for many years? I haven’t read the book, so maybe it addresses that.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 09:35:41 +0000

Warren, thank you for going to the source, so to speak. I look forward to reading your posts on Machtan. I have not read his book, but my understanding of it is that he claims that Hitler was gay b/c he had no overt romantic relationship w/ a woman and he tried to destroy some documents, which Machtan speculates would have revealed Hitler’s homosexuality. Maybe there is more to it, but it seemed like a laughably thin thesis.

I recently had the opportunity to check something on my own. As you know, most of Lively’s book consists of extended text copied from a single disreputable work by a non-historian, Sam Igra, who somehow did his research from London. But in a couple of places, Lively cites William Shirer, who, although not a historian, covered the rise of Nazi Germany for CBS and later wrote the lengthy and popular, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Shirer is a reputable source, so I wanted to see whether Lively’s citation had any merit. Shirer’s book is on Google Books, so it is searchable.

The striking thing is that in a book of 1250 pages, there are only 16 references to homosexuality. All are brief references and all but one or two concern a Ernst Roehm and Roehm’s underling, both of whom were killed in 1934, to the great satisfaction of other high level Nazis – all heterosexual and all of whom had been pushing Hitler to clean house. The other few references are in the nature of insults that pepper Shirer’s book. (The author frequently taunts and insults various Nazis based on their girth, looks, demeanor, and sexuality.)

In the entire book, there is no suggestion that Nazi Germany was the product of super-masculine homosexuals, or that homosexuality played any part in Nazi ideology, its war machine, or its cruelty. Shirer also affirms Hitler’s heterosexuality and specifically notes his excitement at spending time with beautiful women. Somehow, over the course of 1250 pages, Shirer missed Lively’s entire thesis on the rise of the Reich, the Holocaust, and WWII.

What does Shirer believe was the major factor in Nazism’s rise and its anti-semitism? He pins a good part of the blame on German national character, and in particular the influence of Martin Luther. How rich the irony. So, using Lively’s own logic, we should start purging Protestants from the military as quickly as possible.

By: Lynn David

Lynn David — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:20:50 +0000

Fischer would have an easier time using Alexander the Great as an example.

One might say, so what? Show us the studies that gays are inherently violent people beyond that of the population at large? Besides, the American military has been giving waivers for criminals, some violent, while kicking gays out of the military. So?