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Adi. Jugend eines Diktators
Adolf Hitler: die unglaublichste, die unbegreiflichste Figur der deutschen Geschichte, wohl nicht nur dieses Jahrhunderts. Wie war dieser "Adi" als Jugendlicher, als Sohn, Klassenkamerad, Freund?
- GenresHistoryGerman Literature
249 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
2 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Gudrun Pausewang
131 books45 followersGudrun Pausewang (1928 - 2020) was a German writer of children's and teen fiction, also noted in science fiction for young-adult novels like The Last Children of Schewenborn.
Pausewang was born in Eastern Bohemia of German ancestry and after World War II her family settled in the former West Germany. She later became a teacher and taught in Germany's foreign school services in South America. She has written 86 novels with many of them involving the Third World and environmental concerns.
She has won several awards, including the German Federal Cross of Merit, the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis and the Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for The Cloud in 1988.
She was the older sister of Freya Pausewang.
Pausewang was born in Eastern Bohemia of German ancestry and after World War II her family settled in the former West Germany. She later became a teacher and taught in Germany's foreign school services in South America. She has written 86 novels with many of them involving the Third World and environmental concerns.
She has won several awards, including the German Federal Cross of Merit, the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis and the Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for The Cloud in 1988.
She was the older sister of Freya Pausewang.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 22, 2024
What I would describe as being biographical fiction, Gudrun Pausewang's 2001 Adi. Jugend eines Diktators is basically focussed on Adolf Hitler as a teenager (and how Pausewang is textually imagining Hitler's youth from what is factually known, accessible and available.
And indeed, but also really problematically for me personally (and most definitely making me often cringe more than a bit angrily), albeit Pausewang definitely does with Adi. Jugend eines Diktators tell an engagingly penned, interesting, enlightening (sometimes even strangely amusing) story about Adolf Hitler from about the age of fifteen to twenty (and who is affectionately called Adi and basically totally being smothered by his overprotective, clasping, almost incestuous seeming mother and hence of course the book title) and equally does NOT spare readers with regard to showing Hitler in Adi. Jugend eines Diktators as a megalomanic in the making, as a total narcissist (even at a young age), as someone who thinks he should somehow be above, beyond everyone and everything and who also thinks he is always a victim and everyone else the bullies, the perpetrators, sorry, but there is just too much of a verbal tendency in Adi. Jugend eines Diktators of Gudrun Pausewang trying to make young Adolf Hitler into someone who is mostly rather just misunderstood and is thus turned into a monster through not so much any fault of his own but because of external forces/situations (like his mother) and to be empathetic regarding teenaged Adolf's mental health challenges, and to the extent (at least in my humble opinion) that much of Adi. Jugend eines Diktators horribly and frustratingly feels like I am being accosted with Pausewang's text by one of those total and one-sided "advocates" for individuals with serious and dangerous personality disorders telling me that those who are borderline, who are psychopaths, narcissists, sociopaths etc. only supposedly require a bit of understanding, support and should basically also not be held all that personally responsible for acting and lashing out and such (and with there definitely appearing for me more author blame cast in Adi. Jugend eines Diktators on Adolf Hitler's mother and on the fact that he is unliked and bullied at school etc. than on him, than on his own internal personality flaws and his narcissistic "I am above and beyond" everyone's attitude and disposition, and that honestly, Gudrun Pausewang making Adolf Hitler much more into a victim, even if this is probably entirely unintentional on her part in Adi. Jugend eines Diktators, it really does bother me and makes any reading joy I might have regarding Pausewang's story severely limited and kind of like trying to not only understand, to figure out Adolf Hitler but also somewhat like trying to make him less than the horrible dictator and monster he was, and that this is totally unacceptable and intolerable for me in pretty much every way is a huge understatement as reading Adi. Jugend eines Diktators rather makes me want to scream).
An interesting enough account is Adi. Jugend eines Diktators, to be sure, but yes, I do have the annoying and majorly horrifying textual impression that according to Gudrun Pausewang's text readers could and maybe even should with Adi. Jugend eines Diktators be at least somewhat accepting and empathetic towards Adolf Hitler as a person and also towards the horrible monster he became considering the experiences of and from his youth (and also to primarily blame Hitler the political dictator, including the Holocaust, including the Third Reich and WWII on these experiences and on the people in Hitler's life who supposedly made him have those same experiences). But well and honestly, nothing, nothing can even remotely ever justify Hitler's misdeeds, and sorry, Gudrun Pausewang, but Adolf Hitler being psychologically disturbed does not make him any less a perpetrator and a monster, that his personality disorders and mental health challenges and which in fact caused the deaths of millions are not and never should be considered as the latter, but as vile and horridly despicably monstrous (totally unforgivable) behaviour that in no way should ever engender any kind of sympathy, empathy and support for individuals like Adolf Hitler, as well as other for similar dictators like Benito Mussolini, Josef Stalin et al (both then and also now, I may add, and yes, I do certainly and personally think that Adi. Jugend eines Diktators makes far too many excuses and makes Adolf Hitler appear as much too human, as often a victim and that even the book title itself with its rather sweet nickname of Adi is really and majorly an issue and unacceptable for and to me, and that Adolf Hitler is absolutely personally responsible for the Third Reich and its horrors no matter how unhinged he was and how he might have suffered as a child and as a young adult).
And indeed, but also really problematically for me personally (and most definitely making me often cringe more than a bit angrily), albeit Pausewang definitely does with Adi. Jugend eines Diktators tell an engagingly penned, interesting, enlightening (sometimes even strangely amusing) story about Adolf Hitler from about the age of fifteen to twenty (and who is affectionately called Adi and basically totally being smothered by his overprotective, clasping, almost incestuous seeming mother and hence of course the book title) and equally does NOT spare readers with regard to showing Hitler in Adi. Jugend eines Diktators as a megalomanic in the making, as a total narcissist (even at a young age), as someone who thinks he should somehow be above, beyond everyone and everything and who also thinks he is always a victim and everyone else the bullies, the perpetrators, sorry, but there is just too much of a verbal tendency in Adi. Jugend eines Diktators of Gudrun Pausewang trying to make young Adolf Hitler into someone who is mostly rather just misunderstood and is thus turned into a monster through not so much any fault of his own but because of external forces/situations (like his mother) and to be empathetic regarding teenaged Adolf's mental health challenges, and to the extent (at least in my humble opinion) that much of Adi. Jugend eines Diktators horribly and frustratingly feels like I am being accosted with Pausewang's text by one of those total and one-sided "advocates" for individuals with serious and dangerous personality disorders telling me that those who are borderline, who are psychopaths, narcissists, sociopaths etc. only supposedly require a bit of understanding, support and should basically also not be held all that personally responsible for acting and lashing out and such (and with there definitely appearing for me more author blame cast in Adi. Jugend eines Diktators on Adolf Hitler's mother and on the fact that he is unliked and bullied at school etc. than on him, than on his own internal personality flaws and his narcissistic "I am above and beyond" everyone's attitude and disposition, and that honestly, Gudrun Pausewang making Adolf Hitler much more into a victim, even if this is probably entirely unintentional on her part in Adi. Jugend eines Diktators, it really does bother me and makes any reading joy I might have regarding Pausewang's story severely limited and kind of like trying to not only understand, to figure out Adolf Hitler but also somewhat like trying to make him less than the horrible dictator and monster he was, and that this is totally unacceptable and intolerable for me in pretty much every way is a huge understatement as reading Adi. Jugend eines Diktators rather makes me want to scream).
An interesting enough account is Adi. Jugend eines Diktators, to be sure, but yes, I do have the annoying and majorly horrifying textual impression that according to Gudrun Pausewang's text readers could and maybe even should with Adi. Jugend eines Diktators be at least somewhat accepting and empathetic towards Adolf Hitler as a person and also towards the horrible monster he became considering the experiences of and from his youth (and also to primarily blame Hitler the political dictator, including the Holocaust, including the Third Reich and WWII on these experiences and on the people in Hitler's life who supposedly made him have those same experiences). But well and honestly, nothing, nothing can even remotely ever justify Hitler's misdeeds, and sorry, Gudrun Pausewang, but Adolf Hitler being psychologically disturbed does not make him any less a perpetrator and a monster, that his personality disorders and mental health challenges and which in fact caused the deaths of millions are not and never should be considered as the latter, but as vile and horridly despicably monstrous (totally unforgivable) behaviour that in no way should ever engender any kind of sympathy, empathy and support for individuals like Adolf Hitler, as well as other for similar dictators like Benito Mussolini, Josef Stalin et al (both then and also now, I may add, and yes, I do certainly and personally think that Adi. Jugend eines Diktators makes far too many excuses and makes Adolf Hitler appear as much too human, as often a victim and that even the book title itself with its rather sweet nickname of Adi is really and majorly an issue and unacceptable for and to me, and that Adolf Hitler is absolutely personally responsible for the Third Reich and its horrors no matter how unhinged he was and how he might have suffered as a child and as a young adult).
July 7, 2014
A very predictable book. If you are familiar with Hitler's youth, you don't need to read this one.
March 30, 2015
Yes, this was Kind of predictable, but very easy to read and nice to refresh your knowledge of history. But if you're searching for a more serious book with more background facts, you should read another one ;-)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews