THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion

I have read somewhere before of the fact that Hitler and Stalin both lived in Vienna in 1913. I can't remember where I read it unfortunately. However I just found this on the web and it makes for a fascinating read. One of those coincidences of history. http://justvienna.com/dark-side-of-vi...

And interestingly it was during this stay in Vienna that he wrote the pamphlet "Marxism and the Nationality Question" which advocated national/ethnic autonomy under socialism and for the first time used the pseudonym ‘Stalin’ on Jan 25th.

I also read that in by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Forgot where i read it but that's probably where i did. Thanks for the info Michael

a peculiar coincidence.

alway amazed me of that picture of a massive crowd
and someone found a young hitler in it. it's an
often used pic, most have probably seen it.

I have this on my TBR and with this subject being posted thought this might interest people:

by Brigitte Hamann

Thanks Carl and Geevee for the info. I always wondered how hitler was picked out of that picture from a crowd of at least hundreds if not thousands Carl. Geevee that book looks like a great read. I def have to get it. I am just amazed at the coincidence that Stalin and Hitler were in the same city at the same time literally streets apart. Im always fascinated by these historical coincidences. These two evil people were collectively are responsible for the deaths of 50 million + people. In their school pictures, if I'm correct, they both occupied the same position. I must find the photos and post them.

How reliable is this info? I'd like to check my own references before I ponder it.

David A wrote: "And interestingly it was during this stay in Vienna that he wrote the pamphlet "Marxism and the Nationality Question" which advocated national/ethnic autonomy under socialism and for the first time..."

I believe he actually 'stole his thought' on this question from Rosa Luxemburg, who had articulated the ideas a few years before with regard to Poland. Poland posed the most difficult problems for all questions related to nationalism.


FD

p.s. isn't it amazing how good-looking a young man Stalin was? Bizarre. He is the picture of evil later on in life.

Okay my bookshelf satisfies me --that Stalin was there from the middle of January to the middle of March of that year. Hitler was apparently there too; departing in May. Whether they were in the same neighborhood, I'd have to check further (have yet to examine the OP's link)

Still on this theme? Good grief, rather an obsession?

That particular Pact was not the first of its kind, as I'm sure you're aware. Nor was it the cause of WWII--it was merely a temporary interlude. The Pact was also flimsier than the paper it was written on; with each side using it simply as a hedge. Neither side trusted the other; (or the Pact itself); it was inherently designed with a short shelf-life. At the time it was drawn up, each side was using the full resources of their intelligence services to find some gain or advantage over the other; it was hardly a bargain with any cooperative spirit imbued in either of the participants. If your concern is for Poland; Poland had been in bad straits before and would continue to be, again. As for the rest of Europe, no pact with Germany was anything but a dupe (as events in Austria & Slovakia had clearly already shown). After the war, the entire continent was to be vassal states of the Reich; which was a dictatorship and a slave-state, rather than any kind of valid socialist entity.

So, why does this very brief episode fascinate you so? Do you think it represented a socialist conspiracy? The two parties involved later went to war with each other, so what does that say to you? Hobgoblins in idealogical cahoots?

Anyway what I wanted to say was that whether or not Adolf and Uncle Joe ever brushed greatcoats in Vienna; I'm sure we all hope they're bumping into each other frequently on some infernal avenue in Hell these days

also in a chapter of Allan Bullock's Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives. No record of an actual meeting tough.

Hitler never met Stalin

Hitler, during a light moment with his inner circle, was asked by Goebbels if he had met Stalin, knowing the future what would he have done? Shoot him? Hitler said "Of course not, if I knew the future, like with Tito, I would have turned him into a National Socialist."

Vienna was also the HQ of the Yugoslav Communist Party after it was banned in 1921 (when it came third in the first Yugoslav elections), and Tito was a regular clandestine visitor there between 1934 and 1937, when he wasn't in Moscow, Yugoslavia or elsewhere in Europe, notably Spain. Curious how a city that lost all political clout in 1919 has nevertheless remained a centre of gravity for subterfuge. And a former SS intelligence officer, UN secretary general 1972-1981 went on to become Austrian president. More about Tito and his legacy here: The Damned Balkans: A Refugee Road Trip