Hitler and Art

by abcrystcats

Posted to Poetry and Politics on 2004-07-04 23:01:00

Parent message is 674100
The little I have gotten from reading “Mein Kampf”:

Hitler wanted to be an artist, a creator of some kind, with all his heart, mind and soul. As a youth, he was repeatedly rejected in his attempts to enlist in the rolls of those chosen to do this work. My BELIEF is that if had been accepted into the artist’s/architect’s school(s) and allowed to practice his art, he would not have been the dictator of Germany and we would not have had World War II. Hitler could not create one single building, or one single painting, on his own, that was socially accepted. Because of this, he chose to create Nazi Germany. From there, he decided what was tasteful, and what was right. He wasn’t ALL wrong in his selections, as we know, but the brutality of his rejections was absolute and devastating.

This is a pretty sweeping thesis about Hitler, and I don’t intend to defend it. It isn’t carefully thought out. But the fact is, Hitler spent a good part of his early life trying to channel his energies into his art. Those paths eventually were closed to him. It was only after these paths were closed that he turned to politics.

I don’t believe that just because Hitler valued art, for art’s sake, that art is NOT a valid expression of the human spirit. It IS. To my mind, the fact that Hitler valued it is only evidence of the universal healing power of creative expression. If Hitler had been permitted this healing expression in his early life, perhaps we would not have had a World War II.