Like Marmalade? So Did Hitler
Not to be the bearer of bad news, but if you enjoyed a breakfast of bread, marmalade and coffee this morning you have something in common with Adolf Hitler.
A set of previously classified documents released by the British National Archives last week reveal some rather dull details about the Nazi dictator’s life. We already knew Hitler had an artistic bent and enjoyed Hollywood movies, but the archival papers, citing intelligence information gathered from a 19-year-old Austrian P.O.W., shed light on the Fuhrer’s daily routine. The Austrian, called S.S. Schuetze Obernigg, told British intelligence he spent time at Hitler’s Bavarian Alps getaway between 1943 and 1944.
The routine is eerily mundane. Hitler rose at 10 a.m., ate his minimal breakfast, took visitors throughout the afternoon, worked late and then retired to bed at around 4 a.m.
Some of Obernigg’s other revelations, pointing to Hiter’s infamous temper and paranoia, are not so surprising: “He is mild on personal contact but apt to bang tables and shout during conferences” and he “cannot bear to feel himself watched.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30