(WT#2) A History Of Coincidences

Read carefully.

At the end of July 1888, somewhere in Austria, Alois Schicklgruber's DNA mixed with that of Klara Pölzl, and with that, the Führer was a fact.

Alois Schicklgruber, an illegitimate son, moved to his uncle's farm when his mother died when he was about 10 years old, left home for a military career, and rose to the rank of Senior Assistant Inspector. His uncle, proud of his nephew, convinced him to change his name to match his own: Hiedler. However, due to a mistake that name went down into his file as Hitler.

Alois Hitler had numerous affairs and marriages, when he, at 48, married Klara Pölzl, 24, the granddaughter of his uncle Hiedler. Because she technically was his niece, special permission was needed from the Catholic Church.

Alois and Klara had three kids: two girls and a boy, all of whom died. Later, Klara gave birth to a fourth child, that miraculously survived: Adolf. Even a fifth boy was born, but died of the measles at 6.

Adolf stayed alive and wanted to become a painter, but failed his entrance exam at the Viennian Art School. "Drawings not good enough", was the verdict, "not enough faces". Because of his love for architecture, he had neglected to draw a couple of more people in his drawings.

If he had become a painter, he'd have become a second-class Saenredam at best -- yet he wanted to become immortal, and forever remembered.

Some things to think about:

What if Alois's mother hadn't died? Would Alois still have gone to his uncle's farm? Would that same uncle have requested him to change his name into Hiedler when Alois was having a successful military career?

Would people ever have yelled "Heil Schicklgruber"?

What if one of Alois's other affairs or marriages had survived? -- there were ten in total. What if Alois and Klara hadn't met? What if the Catholic Church hadn't given permission to marry? What if young Adolf had died of crib death or the measles? What if the artist Adolf had drawn more "faces"?

What if Adolf had died during World War I, or as the result of one of the various attempts on his life?

Would World War II still have taken place? I think it would. What would not have taken place, however, was the holocaust: that was Hitler. That was what he -- his character -- added to the "necessary" historical events, that would have taken place without him.

But now, 60 years later, that inevitable and "necessary" World War II, with his 50 million deaths, fades more and more from memory to make place for the "unnecessary" deaths of six million Jews, that will be remembered forever under the name "Auschwitz". And because that particular aspect is Hitler's contribution, he has become immortal after all.

Shouldn't the name "Hitler" be erased from every history book?

 

Ever read that one about Kennedy and Lincoln? It's weird :S

 

very interesting Casper. it makes you think about the series of coincidences that ends up defining each of our own lives. without one seemingly random occurence the entire course of our lives could have been altered forever.

the same goes for hitler, or napoleon, or mozart, or lincoln, or hegel, or tom selleck or whoever. but when you know those little details, that series of coincidences that ends up defining those individuals it makes the person as a whole that much more interesting.

 

I wrote a very long and rambling paper about Hitler's rise to power and all that about 6 years ago and what struck me as very interesting was the fact that he was elected into his first position of real power. One aspect of his personality was that he did not take rejection well and often gave up on things if he didn't get what he wanted right away (ex. the art school). A few historians suspected that he might have given up on politics if he hadn't won that election.