Hitler: The Adjournment

by Troy Southgate

APRIL 30th, 1945. Walpurgisnacht. Somewhere behind a heavy steel door, a tiny sitting room of claustrophobic proportions found itself caught in time. Frozen forever like a scene in a microscopic theatre, poised to stage one of the most incredible and penultimate dramas in world history. It was perfect. The attention to detail was clinical and their SS bodyguard, Otto Günsche, had prepared everything just as they had asked him to. Günsche, a handsome man with a well-groomed mop of light blonde hair, was widely renowned for his unquestioning loyalty to the National-Socialist cause. He was also extremely tough and had the strength of several men. 'I'm sorry it has to end like this, mein Führer', he said. But imagine for one moment what would have happened to Adolf Hitler if he had not perished in the bunker alongside his loyal mistress, Eva Braun. Where would he have gone? What kind of life would he have led? Would it really have been feasible for him to conceal his identity and get away with it? Troy Southgate's wonderful and exciting first novel is a dark and brooding narrative, full of drama and suspense. The author explores the more sensitive and quintessentially human aspects of Hitler's personality in light of the inextricable links he has with his own recent past.

112 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2010

About the author

British author, musician and leading National-Anarchist activist and theoretician.

Southgate has been active in diverse British national organizations and is associated with the New Right and third positionism.

Reviews

[Greg Paulson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literally the worst book I have ever read.
I am a huge fan of Kurtagic (not the author of this book), that is why I was shocked his publishing company (Iron Sky Publishing) would find such a horrible book worthy enough to distribute.

Basically the whole point this book was written was to spew the pro-Strasser, anti-Hitler crap on pages 86-92. Not only does the book betray the author's childishly simplistic and emotionally based rhetoric, but on top of everything else it wasn't even well written! It felt like I was reading a story written by a resentful teenager about his father.

Please, don't waste your time. If you want to read about Strasser, look him up. You won't find anything enlightening in that regard (or in any regard for that matter). If you want to read fiction, this book is not well written, bleak, depressing, and all-around bad. Read Mister, Serpant's Walk or one of Covington's books.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Troy Southgate's first novel explores what might have happened if Hitler had not died in his Berlin bunker in 1945, but had instead attempted an escape. As the communist forces pummel Berlin into submission we join poor Adolf on his desperate and difficult adventure. At the outset he acquires a new identity which allows him to make good his escape from Berlin, but which also allows the reader to approach this most recognisable of characters afresh. With a new appearance, and robbed of his former power, Hitler becomes just another German attempting to survive his country's downfall. In the days following his escape from Berlin, the Fuhrer's quasi-mythological status becomes a mere memory, and we see the very human side of this alternately Deified and demonised individual.

Fantasies about what might have happened had Hitler not died in Berlin can attract some strange bedfellows. In the universe of Marvel comics, clones of Hitler still attempt to cause chaos after the original Adolf was killed by the Human Torch, and, in the universe of Esoteric Hitlerism, Adolf is still tinkering with UFOs inside the hollow Earth. And, whilst Troy's take on this scenario is quite distinct from either Captain America or Miguel Serrano, it is similar in approach to the great comic book writer Alan Moore. Moore is famous for developing the characterisation of superheroes with a degree of seriousness and literary depth that is more usually associated with novels than with comics. Here, Troy applies a similar approach to the greatest supervillain of all, and, by building upon the sensational premise with naturalistic prose and sober character development, creates a complex, driven and wilful man.

---------------------------

It is not that often I get to receive a brand new book with a personal dedication to me from the author himself, but alas, today was such a case. I instantly sat down and read the rather short book from cover to cover, and quite enjoyed myself whilst doing so. I remember reading and enjoying Londoner Southgate's previous book Tradition and Revolution so I eagerly looked forward to reading this, and considering the quality of the publisher's previous book Mister, this was not a let-down. Troy Southgate will be known to many readers as the very active voice of the English New Right, author of a plethora of books, musician of note and a home-schooling father of four, among much else. The book is a short read, which is the only "negative" issue I have with it (aside from some minor editing errors), yet then again it serves its purpose of entertaining and putting the "what if ....?"-thought into motion. The book begins April 30th, 1945. Berlin is on the verge of being conquered by the Soviet hordes, and in the night you can hear the screams of German women being gang-raped and the city is constantly shelled as the Bolsheviks street by street come closer to the Führerbunker. We all know what happened those last days of the Third Reich, yet Southgate dares to ask the question: "What if Adolf Hitler had escaped the Ragnarok that was Berlin 1945 and stayed alive during the final days of World War Two?"

This is Southgate's version of what might have happened "if only". Perhaps a bit unrealistic from time to time, yet never fantastically so, we are dragged from town to town across Germany as the merry little band make their way out of the Allied claws towards their destination: the Austrian mountains. We get to know a more human side to Hitler, one we saw a little of in Downfall a few years ago and equally in the excellent book Berlin: The Downfall, 1945. The action is intense from time to time, and at the same time we get a taste of Southgate's own point of view (so-called "National Anarchist), which is decidedly sympathetic yet at the same time highly critical.

I love reading these alternate history-books, and I suspect you will too if you are reading this review. Purchase the book and read what may have happened those fateful days in 1945, and take part in the smashing surprise-ending. I for one eagerly await more books from the skilful pen of Crystal Palace's very own Troy Southgate. Four well deserved stars for this little humorous and fascinating gem.