10 Facts About One of the most Notorious Figures of the 20th Century – Adolf Hitler

In 1907 a young man walked into the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria. Under his arm, he carried a portfolio of some of his paintings. He was applying to be a student at the Academy. To his utter astonishment, he was refused. He tried the following year again, and he was refused again. He was shattered.

Nevertheless, the young man kept painting and sold his paintings to Viennese art dealers. Most of these art dealers were Jewish. If only he had been accepted at the Academy, history might have been very different. The world might have been spared countless horrors. For this young man was Adolf Hitler.

Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1987-0703-506,_Adolf_Hitler_vor_Rundfunk-Mikrofon
Adolf Hitler (Bundesarchiv)

So Hitler had an artistic side! And there were other things about him that might be thought of as quite unusual. For example, he was a strict vegetarian. He had special cooks to prepare his meals. It has been suggested that he developed a disgust for meat after seeing an autopsy. He would drink a very sweet and delicate wine with his meals.

He hated smoking and the smell of smoke. He himself had smoked for twenty years, and at a time when many doctors believed smoking was perfectly safe, he believed it was unhealthy. He made sure everyone knew his dislike of smoking so no-one would ever smoke in his presence. He even considered a ban on smoking.

Hitler was also deathly afraid of the blade. He always shaved himself because he could not bear to have anyone come near him with a blade. But even while he shaved himself he would sometimes scream. Strange, that the man who would put so many to the blade would be so terrified of them himself.

In this video we will look at ten surprising facts about the terrible dictator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KGe-NDkREQ

Joris Nieuwint

Joris Nieuwint is a battlefield guide for the Operation Market Garden area. His primary focus is on the Allied operations from September 17th, 1944 onwards. Having lived in the Market Garden area for 25 years, he has been studying the events for nearly as long. He has a deep understanding of the history and a passion for sharing the stories of the men who are no longer with us.

@joris1944 facebook.com/joris.nieuwint