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Chapter VIII
Having been promised a quick, clean victory before the end of the 1914 German troops now found themselves in a vicious stalemate amongst a barren no-man’s land. Artillery was a constant source of alarm, enemy snipers appeared omnipotent, lice infested everyone’s clothing, it seemed as if there were rats everywhere. It was in this atmosphere of demoralisation and deprivation that enabled the so-called ‘Gutmann Petition’
Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann was Hitler’s regimental commander and was by all accounts a competent and respected officer whose professionalism had seen him rise through the ranks of the Bavarian army despite the often anti-Semitic nature of the establishment. It was perhaps no surprise that Gutmann’s luck would run out. The Lieutenant had acquitted himself well despite his regiment enduring horrific casualties, this did not go unrecognised. By the end of 1914 he had been awarded the Iron Cross Second Class and had been informed in the autumn of 1915 that was due to receive the First Class distinction for his continued valour. When this honour was surprisingly rescinded no reason was given, other than vague comments about conflicting evidence over Gutmann’s heroism. It has been suspected by many that anti-Semitic elements in the military were attempting to prevent too many Jewish war heroes from being created.
The basis of the petition was innocent enough, if the Lieutenant’s deserving of the medal was truly an issue of witnesses then individual troops within the regiment decided that they would get as many names as possible to speak up for his professionalism. Though the idea for the petition was not Hitler’s, as some accounts have suggested, the young Corporal did sign it, as did hundreds of others. Its aims were fairly mundane, simply praising the Lieutenants professionalism and valour whilst concluding that this made him deserving of the First Class honour.
Whether or not the petition had been a means of implicitly protesting the broader conditions at the front or not, it was treated as such when handed over to Gutmann’s superiors. Though the Lieutenant had only been vaguely aware of the petition he was immediately accused of arranging the ‘stunt’ and of stirring up dissent amongst his men, despite protest that he had had nothing to do with the document he was informed that he was being sent to a post at a training academy within Germany and away from the front. Though Hitler had not been directly involved in the organisation of the petition he was swept up in the backlash alongside its creators and found himself being withdrawn from the line shortly before his regiment was annihilated in the Battle of the Somme.
Behind the frontline he and the other plotters were subject to a harsh interrogation as to their purposes all the whilst being deprived of sleep, with lights being shone in their faces from solitary cells. After a week of this treatment Hitler was informed alongside his fellow petitioners that he was to be sent north to aid the push at Verdun. German propaganda proclaimed that victory there would win them the war, that the mass attrition would bleed the French to death. Of course, this strategy would also require a great German sacrifice and even subversive elements would make useful cannon-fodder.’
Steven James, The Making of the Man: Hitler in the First World War
---
The parade ground was typical of this war, mud soaked with an acrid stench of various atrocities. The sounds of buzzing flies and the faint rumble of artillery in the background likely remained prevalent everywhere, though they seemed more emphasised in Verdun than anywhere else.
What was supposed to have been Adolf’s fresh start had turned out to be a worsened version of the conditions on the Somme. The landscape resembled a muddy abattoir where everything seemed to have been given a paint job of blood and dirt. Even the Imperial Flag had smudges on it. It was not the sort of scene had the cameramen chose to capture. Adolf suspected that the leadership didn’t want people seeing the reality of war. This was either out of fear of damaging morale or, as he increasingly suspected, because the people would rise up if they saw how horribly their brothers and sons were being treated.
Who exactly was in charge of Germany these days was increasingly unclear if the rumour mill was anything to go by. There was a growing consensus that the country was being run by the military as the war continued with no end in sight. The British and French advance on the Somme River had been checked at great cost though there were stories of disaster on the Russian front. Officially none of this was true, though Adolf wondered why the Kaiser was being paraded around the frontline like a gaudy ornament if he was still in control of the empire.
The gleam and shimmer of his many medals and gold braid stood out amongst the dirt and lethargy of the assembled troops, so many of whom were suffering for their Kaiser to be driven around in splendour. As he drove by there were cheers and shouts of adulation but Adolf could not help feel these displays of gratitude were somewhat tempered, either out of apathy or perhaps due to the Kaiser’s companion.
It seemed that the more Crown Prince Wilhelm featured in the news the more unpopular he became. The Kaiser’s son had become notorious for his incompetence as an officer despite officially being praised in all media outlets and perhaps it was this continued adulation, alongside his father’s unwavering benevolence in regards to medals and titles that made the supposed celebrity so poorly regarded.
If the crown price was aware of this he didn’t show it, he seemed cool and unfazed as he and his father went by. It was an arrogance that Adolf found contemptuous. Was there any wonder why this war was slipping away from Germany when the fatherland was being led by such men? Marinetti hadn’t just been right about the Hapsburgs, it was increasingly becoming clear in his own mind that all aristocracy was abhorrent.
“I sometimes wish I could throw my iron cross at that butchering bastard, it would be another medal he hasn’t earned but it would be satisfying nonetheless.”
Adolf’s friend Friedrich had an uncanny way of echoing out the thoughts that others wouldn’t dare speak aloud. When Adolf had been inexplicably moved into their unit after the petition debacle some had suspected him of being from military intelligence, Friedrich had been the only one to speak freely to him and after Adolf had revealed what had really happened he gained something resembling confidence from the others. At least a subversive couldn’t be a spy.
Discontent was spreading amongst the ranks regardless, Adolf had largely kept to himself but Friedrich’s remark about the crown prince wasn’t the first time he had heard authority being challenged recently. The war wasn’t going well, casualties continued to mount, the food was horrible, these were all grumbling complaints rather than outcries yet he wondered how long they would stay that way. The French apparently had it worse, but why was it taking so long to defeat them?
As the Kaiser and his heir disappeared, Adolf began to wonder if the soldiers might not be better running the army by themselves. The aristocracy blundered and then rewarded itself anyway, the professionals retired brave officers for their religious background and punished those soldiers who tried to speak up for them. Meanwhile those who were actually fighting the war died in vast numbers to little or no recognition, living each day as if it were their last in the knowledge that the papers back home were announcing that everything was milk and honey and that the final victory was in sight.
There was talk of traitors everywhere, but Adolf’s own run-in with sedition had made him question to what extent these rumours weren’t designed to keep everyone second guessing about each other, to ensure that those who made them scream “Hoch!” for an incompetent ruler weren’t given the blame that they truly deserved.
Adolf tapped Friedrich on the shoulder, it was time to have a proper chat with him about his remarks. Perhaps they had more views in common than those about the crown prince, and perhaps some of the others shared some of those opinions. Adolf hadn’t been offered any jam since he’d been moved down up the line but he had been continuing to collect his tobacco rations, the time had come to share them out.
Friedrich turned to see who had tapped him on the shoulder and returned Adolf’s smile with blackened teeth as he took the offered cigarette.
There was much to discuss.
---
The painting is Dead Sentry in the Trench by Otto Dix, whose unapologetically bleak portrayals of his experience in the First World War were denounced as "degenerate" by the Nazis.
Both Dix and Sassoon went to war highly motivated by patriotism for their respective nations, by the end both were disgusted with the slaughter they'd taken part in.
'You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.'
~ Siegfried Sassoon
‘Historians usually conclude in their overviews that 1915 was a terrible year for the entente alliance. With Gallipoli evacuated, disaster on the eastern front with the loss of Poland, and Serbia being abandoned the situation may indeed have seemed bleak. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that this is from a global perspective and these facts would not necessarily be the on the minds of German troops on the western front, including Adolf Hitler and his comrades.Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.'
~ Siegfried Sassoon
Having been promised a quick, clean victory before the end of the 1914 German troops now found themselves in a vicious stalemate amongst a barren no-man’s land. Artillery was a constant source of alarm, enemy snipers appeared omnipotent, lice infested everyone’s clothing, it seemed as if there were rats everywhere. It was in this atmosphere of demoralisation and deprivation that enabled the so-called ‘Gutmann Petition’
Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann was Hitler’s regimental commander and was by all accounts a competent and respected officer whose professionalism had seen him rise through the ranks of the Bavarian army despite the often anti-Semitic nature of the establishment. It was perhaps no surprise that Gutmann’s luck would run out. The Lieutenant had acquitted himself well despite his regiment enduring horrific casualties, this did not go unrecognised. By the end of 1914 he had been awarded the Iron Cross Second Class and had been informed in the autumn of 1915 that was due to receive the First Class distinction for his continued valour. When this honour was surprisingly rescinded no reason was given, other than vague comments about conflicting evidence over Gutmann’s heroism. It has been suspected by many that anti-Semitic elements in the military were attempting to prevent too many Jewish war heroes from being created.
The basis of the petition was innocent enough, if the Lieutenant’s deserving of the medal was truly an issue of witnesses then individual troops within the regiment decided that they would get as many names as possible to speak up for his professionalism. Though the idea for the petition was not Hitler’s, as some accounts have suggested, the young Corporal did sign it, as did hundreds of others. Its aims were fairly mundane, simply praising the Lieutenants professionalism and valour whilst concluding that this made him deserving of the First Class honour.
Whether or not the petition had been a means of implicitly protesting the broader conditions at the front or not, it was treated as such when handed over to Gutmann’s superiors. Though the Lieutenant had only been vaguely aware of the petition he was immediately accused of arranging the ‘stunt’ and of stirring up dissent amongst his men, despite protest that he had had nothing to do with the document he was informed that he was being sent to a post at a training academy within Germany and away from the front. Though Hitler had not been directly involved in the organisation of the petition he was swept up in the backlash alongside its creators and found himself being withdrawn from the line shortly before his regiment was annihilated in the Battle of the Somme.
Behind the frontline he and the other plotters were subject to a harsh interrogation as to their purposes all the whilst being deprived of sleep, with lights being shone in their faces from solitary cells. After a week of this treatment Hitler was informed alongside his fellow petitioners that he was to be sent north to aid the push at Verdun. German propaganda proclaimed that victory there would win them the war, that the mass attrition would bleed the French to death. Of course, this strategy would also require a great German sacrifice and even subversive elements would make useful cannon-fodder.’
Steven James, The Making of the Man: Hitler in the First World War
---
The parade ground was typical of this war, mud soaked with an acrid stench of various atrocities. The sounds of buzzing flies and the faint rumble of artillery in the background likely remained prevalent everywhere, though they seemed more emphasised in Verdun than anywhere else.
What was supposed to have been Adolf’s fresh start had turned out to be a worsened version of the conditions on the Somme. The landscape resembled a muddy abattoir where everything seemed to have been given a paint job of blood and dirt. Even the Imperial Flag had smudges on it. It was not the sort of scene had the cameramen chose to capture. Adolf suspected that the leadership didn’t want people seeing the reality of war. This was either out of fear of damaging morale or, as he increasingly suspected, because the people would rise up if they saw how horribly their brothers and sons were being treated.
Who exactly was in charge of Germany these days was increasingly unclear if the rumour mill was anything to go by. There was a growing consensus that the country was being run by the military as the war continued with no end in sight. The British and French advance on the Somme River had been checked at great cost though there were stories of disaster on the Russian front. Officially none of this was true, though Adolf wondered why the Kaiser was being paraded around the frontline like a gaudy ornament if he was still in control of the empire.
The gleam and shimmer of his many medals and gold braid stood out amongst the dirt and lethargy of the assembled troops, so many of whom were suffering for their Kaiser to be driven around in splendour. As he drove by there were cheers and shouts of adulation but Adolf could not help feel these displays of gratitude were somewhat tempered, either out of apathy or perhaps due to the Kaiser’s companion.
It seemed that the more Crown Prince Wilhelm featured in the news the more unpopular he became. The Kaiser’s son had become notorious for his incompetence as an officer despite officially being praised in all media outlets and perhaps it was this continued adulation, alongside his father’s unwavering benevolence in regards to medals and titles that made the supposed celebrity so poorly regarded.
If the crown price was aware of this he didn’t show it, he seemed cool and unfazed as he and his father went by. It was an arrogance that Adolf found contemptuous. Was there any wonder why this war was slipping away from Germany when the fatherland was being led by such men? Marinetti hadn’t just been right about the Hapsburgs, it was increasingly becoming clear in his own mind that all aristocracy was abhorrent.
“I sometimes wish I could throw my iron cross at that butchering bastard, it would be another medal he hasn’t earned but it would be satisfying nonetheless.”
Adolf’s friend Friedrich had an uncanny way of echoing out the thoughts that others wouldn’t dare speak aloud. When Adolf had been inexplicably moved into their unit after the petition debacle some had suspected him of being from military intelligence, Friedrich had been the only one to speak freely to him and after Adolf had revealed what had really happened he gained something resembling confidence from the others. At least a subversive couldn’t be a spy.
Discontent was spreading amongst the ranks regardless, Adolf had largely kept to himself but Friedrich’s remark about the crown prince wasn’t the first time he had heard authority being challenged recently. The war wasn’t going well, casualties continued to mount, the food was horrible, these were all grumbling complaints rather than outcries yet he wondered how long they would stay that way. The French apparently had it worse, but why was it taking so long to defeat them?
As the Kaiser and his heir disappeared, Adolf began to wonder if the soldiers might not be better running the army by themselves. The aristocracy blundered and then rewarded itself anyway, the professionals retired brave officers for their religious background and punished those soldiers who tried to speak up for them. Meanwhile those who were actually fighting the war died in vast numbers to little or no recognition, living each day as if it were their last in the knowledge that the papers back home were announcing that everything was milk and honey and that the final victory was in sight.
There was talk of traitors everywhere, but Adolf’s own run-in with sedition had made him question to what extent these rumours weren’t designed to keep everyone second guessing about each other, to ensure that those who made them scream “Hoch!” for an incompetent ruler weren’t given the blame that they truly deserved.
Adolf tapped Friedrich on the shoulder, it was time to have a proper chat with him about his remarks. Perhaps they had more views in common than those about the crown prince, and perhaps some of the others shared some of those opinions. Adolf hadn’t been offered any jam since he’d been moved down up the line but he had been continuing to collect his tobacco rations, the time had come to share them out.
Friedrich turned to see who had tapped him on the shoulder and returned Adolf’s smile with blackened teeth as he took the offered cigarette.
There was much to discuss.
---
The painting is Dead Sentry in the Trench by Otto Dix, whose unapologetically bleak portrayals of his experience in the First World War were denounced as "degenerate" by the Nazis.
Both Dix and Sassoon went to war highly motivated by patriotism for their respective nations, by the end both were disgusted with the slaughter they'd taken part in.
- The Red
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