Hitler or Churchill - who was the 'Kinder Man'??

Question

This is the second and final of my History of WWII questions.

Again, I have been told on numerous occasions that despite all the hype, Adolph Hitler was a kind and generous man, tee-total, he loved and adored Women and he Loved children - some of these facts are demonstrated in archive footage of Hitler.

On the other hand, Winston Churchill - the commonly perceived 'hero' of World War Two, was an Alchoholic, he had an inherent dislike of Children, he was a Wife Beater and he suffered from Bipolar Disorder which must have affected many of his decisions - some of which in WWII some could say - went too far.

Are these statements true? I am sure they are as they are so widley pulished but im interested in hearing other peoples views if you have time.

As with all my questions - leave your personal emotions out of it please.

Thanks

Answer 1

Hitler was a strange man. he had a hatred of his father, and a strong attachment to his mother. there are strong rumours of an incestuous relationship with his niece, Geli Raubal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geli_Raubal
he was also rumoured to have indulged in urolagnia with her. She committed suicide - almost certainly after a row with Hitler.

After her death, Hitler changed his attitudes to relationships with other people. Eva Braun was a trophy, not a lover. It is thought that he never consummated a relationship with her.

Film clips do not show a true picture of any persons personality - then or now.
Hitler was a control freak. When things started going badly for Germany (& him), towards the end of the war, he became a recluse, withdrawing from public life - not making any public appearances - and only talking to his advisors (who he didnt really trust, anyway).

who was the more damaged personality?
It is hard to say:

Churchill overcame his personality and led people 'from the front'
(I also have never headr of the wife beating allogation... Sources please?)

Hitler withdrew into his personality and became a recluse

You decide who was the 'Kinder man'............

Answer 2

Hitler was kind to children and people close to him, on camera. But who knows if he even allowed children near him other than during a photo op. And many, many of Hitler's policies "went too far". I'm not just talking about the genocidal aspects of nazism, I'm talking about military directives that were both inept and stupidly rigid. He launched a war of conquest, and engaged in ethnic cleansing. He was a monster for sure.

Churchhill was not necessarily a nice man, but he was hardly the monster that Hitler was. While he did push right to the edge, he was in a desperate fight for survival, and he knew that Germany had to be defeated at any cost, or the whole of Europe would suffer. He was ruthless, true, but with a purpose.

Answer 3

I understand your rationale behind asking such a question, but surely it is ultimately pointless and an academic question to ask.

Skimming across the surface, it is possible to say that Hitler was very careful about the image he portrayed - was he the first to have a Minister for Propoganda? - I don't know, but I think this is relevant.

Churchill was an older man and very much of his time. He had a strict, masculine and militaristic upbringing, although I have never heard of the wife-beating allegation - in fact his marriage seemed to be a happy and certainly long-lasting one.

Ultimately one should judge a character by his actions, not by perceptions.

Hitler was responsible for the Final Solution, Churchill pulled together a nation on its last legs and managed to resist an invasion (and that was before the US got involved thank you).

Hitler, I think, was working for personal gain - Churchill gave his all in public service.

Answer 4

Churchill grew to become into especially poor. He took an financial and political hegemon, and decreased it to in elementary terms yet another ecu u . s .. Churchill holding conflict on Germany grew to become into consistent with probability the main idiotic blunder in all of WW2 (it probably does not ensue without that determination) Hitler's consequences have been arguably extra disasterous (attacking Russia grew to become into perhaps the 2d dumbest determination in WW2). Stalin is extremely the suited chief of the era, while you're merely gazing financial and political ante and placed up. FDR is a a ways 2d. De Gaulle and Mussolini have been ok, and all of us else grew to become into especially undesirable to terrible.

Answer 5

Churchill never beat his wife it was an unfounded accusation from someone who was annoyed at him by his journals, one of the generals i think.
As for drinking not alcoholic just a heavy drinker, hell he was British.
Hitler was addicted to amphetamine and injected it regularly, his doctor gave it to him earlier on because of irritable bowl syndrome and later because he was suffering from the right side of his body shacking constantly.
Some people think Parkinson's, you'll see in films of Hitler one hand always holds the other, and when sat down he hooks his foot around the chair leg to avoid the shaking being noticed.

many of the dodgier decisions Churchill made were with one goal in mind to win the war and free Europe from the Nazi regime.
Its easier with the power of hindsight to second guess such decisions but there at the time, they were massive decisions that took guts and determination to make. And ultimately won the war.
Hitler started it killed millions, Churchill finished it saved millions.

Answer 6

neither had to line up to get the award for sweet little ange.

Hitler could sometimes be a very kind man but sometimes he was worse than Satan himself. Many psychiastrists that examined his profile believe him to have suffered from a split personality. Eva Braun once described it as there being two charactres adolf and der Fuhrer. By the end of his life he became more and more disconnected from reality and many people believe that he was bordering insanity.
Churchill was certainly not the most lovable charactre but at least he had his nut and bolts still in place.

Answer 7

Hitler's private life, like that of all the Nazi leadership was full of unpleasant and sordid detail which has mostly remained unpublished because it is so shocking. The "kind and generous" face of Hitler is doubtless a result of his propaganda minister's efforts to deceive, not because that was his real personality. "Archive footage" is from the same source that depicted concentration camps as if they were Butlins.

Churchill certainly drank, but not excessively and it never prevented him from carrying out his work - this was confirmed by his secretaries who were at first terrified of him, but soon realised that his abrasive manner wasn't due to drink or to aggression, but because he had so much responsibilty and his mind was constantly full of details to be thought over. Reporters from the USA and Canada were invited to dine with him during 1940 and were impressed by his clear-headedness and willingness to work at all hours of the day and night.

I have no idea what Winston's attitude to children was, but Hitler liked them so much that he sent young boys to be slaughtered in the defence of Berlin and Normandy. He also seems to have been less than pleasant towards Jewish children . . .

Answer 8

Personally, Hitler WAS kinder to those immediately around him. Churchill could be a bully at times.
Nevertheless, despite the ruthless decisions he had to make, Churchill was kinder in his attitude to humanity. And for all his bullying ways, a lot of people were attracted to him by the magic of his personality. Commander Thompson, for example, his bodyguard.

Answer 9

hitler was also a vegetarian.
so wasn't he kind to animals, too?
that aside, hitler was deluded & manic.
i did read that both suffered the old Black Dog, depression,

same as hitler was a figure-head for germany,
churchill is widely accepted now to be the only one, at that time able to cope with leading Britain into war.
people barely know the truth about churchill & all adored his Public Image, people still don't want to hear the bad press.

your welcome to my point of view.
out of the two, i'd still back churchill!

Answer 10

Most of the footage you see of Hitler was staged to give him that appeal
Never heard that Churchill was a wife beater
I heard about the bi polar
Also know about the drinking
Hitler wasn't a tea totaler either .
He was also a womanizer
My thought on a gentler man would be Churchill , He didn't kill millions by gas , starvation , medical experiments ...