Hitler was a figure of great historical importance, a term not meant to imply a positive evaluation, as his actions changed the course of history. His irrational anti-Semitic policies led to the deaths of more than six million Jews during the Holocaust, cementing his reputation as one of the most infamous men in history.
His policies brought about an unprecedented global war and left behind a devastated, impoverished Europe, including Germany. His defeat ended Germany’s dominance in Europe and ended the anti-fascist movement.
Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, afraid of being captured by the enemy. He lived a tyrant and died a coward.
In terms of committing heinous crimes and atrocities, few could be a match for the Nazi dictator. We all know this part of his story. But is that all? We all have different aspects of our stories, while some stay hidden, others are more noticed by people. For a moment, let’s take him off the mountain of deceased Jews and view him as Adolf and the event that marked the birth of the Fuhrer.
Interesting Facts About Adolf Hitler
28 September 1918: Adolf gets a new chance at life:
It is 28 September 1918, and the First World War has come to a close. A wounded German Lance Corporal wanders into a British soldier’s crosshairs after a day of fighting near the village of Marcoing, France. An act of compassion leads him to lower his weapon and refrain from shooting the wounded soldier. After exchanging a nod with the bedraggled German, she walks away. Adolf gets a second chance at life.
“THAT MAN CAME SO NEAR TO KILLING ME THAT I THOUGHT I SHOULD NEVER SEE GERMANY AGAIN”
Twenty years later, the world is once again on the verge of war. Premier Neville Chamberlain met Adolf Hitler at the Berghof, the former dictator’s mountain retreat, in the hope of preventing another global crisis. In a picture that Chamberlain glances at during the visit, a soldier carries a wounded brother on his back in 1914 at Menin Crossroads.
“What is that picture about?” Chamberlain asks. In Hitler’s words, the man in the picture carrying the wounded soldier is Henry Tandey, one of the most decorated British privates of the war, a man who had saved his own life on 28 September 1918 at Marcoing.
‘That man came so close to killing me that I thought I would never see Germany again,’ Hitler allegedly said. Those English boys were aiming devilishly accurate fire at me, but Provision saved me.
Tandey was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1919, according to an alleged report by Hitler. Apparently, he obtained a photograph of Tandey and kept it. He was then introduced to the Menin painting by Italian painter Fortunino Matania by a member of his staff in 1937. It was Tandey’s regiment, the Green Howards Regiment, that commissioned the picture in 1923, which shows a soldier in the front that is believed to be Tandey.
In his message to Chamberlain, Hitler reportedly thanked Tandey. A historical debate still rages over whether the British Prime Minister complied with his request, however. Chamberlain returned to Britain with the story of Tandey sparing Hitler’s life, and it eventually made its way into the rumor mill.
Soon after Tandey heard of it, he declared he had a code of conduct against shooting wounded soldiers and he would not shoot them. He was unable to recall whether or not any of those people had been the Fuhrer himself.
Tandey acknowledged the news and declared that he had a code of conduct not to shoot the wounded. However, he could not specifically remember if one of those people was Hitler.
According to them, I’ve met Adolf Hitler. Maybe they’re right but I can’t remember him,’ Tandey was quoted as saying to the Coventry Herald in August 1939.
‘It would have been an inconceivable luxury for me to have had the clairvoyance to see who this corporal would turn out to be if he got away.’ he said in an interview shortly after the Luftwaffe had bombed his home city of Coventry
It is only natural for Tandey to feel sorry and miserable after witnessing the havoc the man whose life he apparently spared had unleashed. Maybe the world would be a different place indeed if he ceased to exist on 28th September. Would that mean the world suffered because of Tandey’s mercy?
