The Rare Photos Of Hitler Practicing Hate Speeches In Front Of The Mirror He Never Wanted To Be Seen
These Candid Photos Of Hitler Were Taken Just Months After He Was Released From Jail
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsIn 1924, Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in jail for leading his party in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government, known as the “Beer Hall Putsch.” Hilter served nine months in Landsberg jail, dictating his autobiography Mein Kampf and planning the future of the party.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler concluded that “men are won over less by the written than by the spoken word.” He also argued that “every great movement on this earth owes its growth to great orators and not to great writers.”
After his release from prison in 1925, Hilter practiced his skills in front of a mirror while his official photographer Heinrich Hoffmann snapped pictures.
The results are a study in Hilter’s behind-the-scenes efforts to transform himself into a successful orator.
Hitler Didn’t Want Anyone To Know That He Wasn’t A Natural Orator
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsHitler was vain and controlling – and he didn’t want anyone to see the pictures of his rehearsal poses. In fact, in 1936, Joseph Goebbels, his minister of propaganda, wrote about Hitler’s amazing speaking abilities. Goebbels waxed poetic about Hitler’s oratorical talents, overwhelming the Führer with praise. He also claimed Hitler’s talents were natural.
“It would be ridiculous to think he attended some sort of speaker school; he is a rhetorical genius who developed his own abilities with no help from anyone else,” Goebbels said.
Of course, that wasn’t true at all. Hitler relied on Hoffman’s black-and-white photos to practice speaking poses.
Hitler Had 'Dead' Eyes And 'Moist And Clammy' Hands
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsHitler apparently wasn’t very charismatic in person. Psychologist Henry Murray noted in a 1943 US intelligence report that Hitler had “dead, impersonal, and unseeing” eyes. Hitler was below average in height and had a receding hairline and “moist and clammy” palms. And he was terrible at small talk.
That might be one reason that Hitler asked Hoffmann to take the photographs. Hitler asked for feedback on his delivery, gestures, and body language. Then he looked over the photographs, declaring “no, that looks silly,” or “I’m never doing that again.”
Hitler Wanted The Photos Destroyed Because They Were So Embarrassing
Photo: Heinrich Hoffmann / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsHitler never wanted anyone to see these photographs. He ordered Hoffmann to hide the photos, but the photographer ignored the Führer’s request and eventually published the photographs in a book called Hitler Was My Friend in 1955.
As historian Roger Moorhouse explained, “[Hitler] was concerned about how he looked and his public persona.”
The photographs undermined one of the key components of Hitler’s appeal: his passion. As Goebbels emphasized in 1936, “He speaks his heart, and therefore reaches the hearts of those who hear him.”
But the photos made Hitler look like an amateur who didn’t have a natural instinct for passionate speeches.
Hitler's Inflammatory Rhetoric Was Terrifying, And His Delivery Made It More So
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsLong before Hitler became the Führer, he used his speeches to go after Marxists, non-Aryans, and above all, Jewish people. But it wasn’t just the words that made Hitler’s speeches powerful – his delivery played an important role in inflaming his followers.
In 1921, Daniel Binchy, a young Irish student who later became the Irish ambassador to Berlin, witnessed Hitler speak in Munich. Binchy described Hitler as a “born natural orator,” who was met with “hysterical enthusiasm.”
“His voice rose almost to a scream, his gesticulation became a pantomime, and I noticed traces of foam at the corners of his mouth,” Binchy wrote in his diary. Binchy declared Hitler “a harmless lunatic with the gift of oratory,” but a friend of his retorted, “No lunatic with the gift of oratory is harmless.”
Hitler Was Practicing For His Next Major Role: Dictator Of Germany
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsHoffman’s photographs capture Hitler just before his party rose to seize political power in Germany through democratic elections. The party quadrupled in size between 1925 and 1929, and the Great Depression further pushed the party to political prominence.
They continued to gain seats in Germany's elections. In 1930, the party became the second-largest party in the country, and by 1932, they held 37% of the seats in the Reichstag, in part due to a massive propaganda effort.
By 1933, Hitler had taken control of Germany as a dictator. That same year, he opened the first concentration camp at Dachau.
The Roots Of Hitler’s Power Were His Voice And His Poses
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsHitler used his speeches to transform himself from a washed-up artist into one of the most evil men in the history of the world. Historian Hugh Trevor Roper argued that “Hitler, at the beginning, had only his voice... that was his only instrument of power. His only asset was his demagogic power over the masses, his voice.”
But Hitler also had his body – the arms that he used to gesticulate wildly, the angry contortions of his face, and even, as Daniel Binchy noticed, the foam at the corners of his mouth. Hitler practiced in front of the mirror because he knew that the right look could propel him to power.
Hitler's Photographer Became A Millionaire From His Photographs Of The Führer
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsHeinrich Hoffman played a key role in Hitler’s life. Hoffman’s private photographs of Hitler in 1925 were not the first he took of the leader, nor were they the last. Hoffman was Hitler’s personal photographer, and he took more than two million photographs of the Führer.
Hoffman captured powerful images that fueled the party's propaganda machine. Hoffman’s biographer, Louis L. Snyder, pointed out how Hoffman enriched himself by building a close relationship with Hitler. "The photographer who wagered on the success of the National Socialist movement became a millionaire."
Hitler Met His Future Wife In Hoffman's Photo Studio
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsHoffman hired Eva Braun to work in his photography shop when she was only 17 years old, and Braun became Hitler’s girlfriend for the next 14 years. For years, Hitler refused to marry Eva, insisting, “I am married to the German people and their fate!... No, I cannot marry, I must not.”
But when it was clear that Hitler was losing the war, Braun ran to Berlin to be with him. The two married in Hitler’s bunker in April 1945.
The next day, the newlyweds took their own lives as the Soviets marched through the streets of Berlin. Braun took a cyanide capsule. Hitler turned his pistol on himself.
Hitler’s Embarrassing Photos Undermined His Authority – But Hoffman Didn’t Destroy Them
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsHitler never wanted anyone to see the photos. They revealed that he wasn’t an all-powerful charismatic leader or a natural speaker. He was just another person trying to trick people into giving him power.
Unfortunately, Hitler’s act convinced enough followers that he was able to take millions of innocent lives and cause immense suffering.
Hitler's Practiced Gestures Helped Him Rise To Power
Photo: Heinrich Hoffman / Rare Historical Photos / no known copyright restrictionsToday, the photos are a fitting reminder of Hitler’s legacy. As scholar Bruce Loebs claimed, a fitting epithet for Hitler would be “Because Adolf Hitler lived, 50 million people died.” Hitler was able to gain power, in part, because of his ability to use words and gestures to take advantage of discontent in Germany to push a message of hatred.
These photos of Hitler's speeches indicate the lengths he was willing to go to achieve his evil goals.
