Read Hitler's Lips

[MrBern]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/22/nhitler22.xml

New computer software reads Hitler's lips in home movies.
"What are you filming an old man for? I should be filming you."

 

[Sefton]

And I thought it would be;"No new taxes!"

 

[GOK]

But the war was never far away. "You talk about a dress that does not fit … imagine my problems," he says with exasperation to his lover.

"...I have to be seen by millions with this ridiculous moustache!"

 

[Jay]

Fascinating. In an off-the-wall way.

 

[~landgirl~]

I saw the program about that on TV. Really fascinating! It really seems to work too, with the trials they performed.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

"...I have to be seen by millions with this ridiculous moustache!"

Hahahahahhahaha!!!! Very good GOK! Kudos

 

[The Wingnut]

Actually, he grew that mustache because he was a fan of Charlie Chaplin...who later starred in 'The Great Dictator'.

 

[Elaina]

It amazes me that people are surprised Hitler had other facets to him personality then what history has placed him down as.

Watch people watching Hitler sometime, either political or home movies. People who KNOW what he did, think he's this awful egg sucking dog still warm up to him and nod at what he's saying, even if they don't speak a lick of german.

The man had charisma. Rousing speeches aside about the greater good of Deutschland, it would have stood to figure he had something about him the normal person could have identified with.

 

[GOK]

I hear what you're saying Elaina - he must have had a certain amount of charm and persuasion or he wouldn't have got as far as he did.

Have you seen Downfall? It's very good and one of those rare films where I really felt I got to know some more about the person but still felt absolutely no empathy. It's worth watching.

 

[Elaina]

I think when I discuss Hitler, people think I have empathy for him: I don't, having empathy would require I had any depth of feeling for him on a whole. I just don't care. I find Hitler fascinating, I found "Mein Kampf" interesting, and I find the historical aspect of the rise of the Reich to be one of those things I feel compelled to watch/read/discuss when I can.

I've not seen Downfall. It's one of the movies I can't seem to get in on Netflix yet. I took 4 years of German in high school and we had an entire semester on Hitler (don't know why) and I've seen everything from the propaganda films to the antipropaganda films.

 

[GOK]

I think when I discuss Hitler, people think I have empathy for him: I don't, having empathy would require I had any depth of feeling for him on a whole. I just don't care. I find Hitler fascinating, I found "Mein Kampf" interesting, and I find the historical aspect of the rise of the Reich to be one of those things I feel compelled to watch/read/discuss when I can.

I wasn't implying you had any empathy - please forgive me if that's how I came across. I find the whole notion of how he got to where he was quite fascinating and I'd like to know more. I think because I find it impossible to get into that kind of mindset, I'm curious as to how anyone, let alone an entire nation gets to thinking and behaving that way.

I've not seen Downfall. It's one of the movies I can't seem to get in on Netflix yet. I took 4 years of German in high school and we had an entire semester on Hitler (don't know why) and I've seen everything from the propaganda films to the antipropaganda films.

Do you find your high school German bears little resemblance to how it is actually spoken? I do. And what I learned is so much different to what my kids were taught. [huh]

 

[Lauren]

That is fascinating, Mr Bern. You post some of the most interesting articles on here. Does anyone know if this show will air in the US? I'd love to see it.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I'd be very interested in seeing it as well... I hope it hits DVD or comes to the US.

It's always fascinating to see the things we didn't know we could see.

 

[Elaina]

I wasn't implying you had any empathy - please forgive me if that's how I came across. I find the whole notion of how he got to where he was quite fascinating and I'd like to know more. I think because I find it impossible to get into that kind of mindset, I'm curious as to how anyone, let alone an entire nation gets to thinking and behaving that way.

No, not at all. I know I get called a little Nazi more then I don't because I am so clinical about WWII and the German campaign. Most people when I actually discuss it think I do have emapthy for Hitler, I was just putting it out there early. It often saves me a HUGE headache in the end (for the times I say something like "Well Hitler did do good for Germany's economy). I think I'm one of these weird people that can look at a situation from all sides, and while I have very definite opinons on everything, can also play the Devil's advocate and take any side that isn't being taken at that time. So I can take the stance Hitler was a punk, no good, low down louse, or I can take the stance he was a God send to Germany. I have before, and can argue either side equally well. To me, like most things, it's not about personal belief, just the joy of the argument and the intellectual challenge of the argument. Hitler is one of those things that I don't feel anything on. He did both great and terrible things for the people of Germany, and it's just a topic I find fascinating from any side I enter on it. Something I got from my Uncle Casey who was actually in Germany in WWII. He was fascinated by it, and passed his ideas along with such impatialness that I think I soaked that up by osmosis.

Do you find your high school German bears little resemblance to how it is actually spoken? I do. And what I learned is so much different to what my kids were taught. [huh]

I dated a man from Germany many moons ago, and I actually had a wonderful teacher that taught the accent so well, that when I spoke German, natives didn't realize that I was an Amercian (until I, in the middle of a sentence, would go "y'all"). To that end, she spent a lot of time teaching German as the people spoke it, not from a text book. So when I went to Germany and spoke to people, most didn't realize I was an American, and I have to give the credit to my teacher for that.

I haven't used German now in so many years, I can barely speak it. I can hear it and follow along, but forget trying to converse in it. I can, however, read and speak it with a flawless accent.

 

[MrBern]

berghof

in th article, the location mentioned is the Berghof in the BAvarian Alps.
Heres a link :
http://saak.nl/Obersalzberg/berghof/berghof.htm

in ruins

 

[dr greg]

demagogo

Politics aside, you have to admit that for sheer performance value as an orator, they don't make 'em like Adolf anymore. Even Mussolini is fun to watch as a poser. Churchill had great speeches as well but the well-known ones were delivered on radio. Even Huey Long had it back then. For pure crowd work nobody can do it like those guys these days. Blair simpers like the class prefect caught stealing, Bush meanders around the point like he just wandered in from fishin down the crick, Putin is a robot etc etc. No-one can deliver a speech anymore that resonates on the world stage. I think the last decent orator in the US would probably have been MLK (discuss). We haven't had a decent orator in this country since Whitlam, and the current bunch are so lame it's not worth talking about.

 

[TM]

GOK,

One of the most interesting books on Hitler is "Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil" by Ron Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum seemed to have started this project in an attempt to come up with an explanation for Hitler. But as he researched this he realized that a lot of really smart people have studied this and everyone has a different conclusion. So instead, he offers a survey of the various explanations and explainers. Really good.

Here it is on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Explaining-Hitler-Search-Origins-Evil/dp/006095339X/sr=8-1/qid=1165545135/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8050835-7607208?ie=UTF8&s=books

Tony

 

[CharlieH.]

Folks, there's no need to wait for the doc to hit the air:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=189608705425991617&hl=en

Watch it while it's still there!

 

[~landgirl~]

GOK,

One of the most interesting books on Hitler is "Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil" by Ron Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum seemed to have started this project in an attempt to come up with an explanation for Hitler. But as he researched this he realized that a lot of really smart people have studied this and everyone has a different conclusion. So instead, he offers a survey of the various explanations and explainers. Really good.

Here it is on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Explaining-Hitler-Search-Origins-Evil/dp/006095339X/sr=8-1/qid=1165545135/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8050835-7607208?ie=UTF8&s=books

Tony

Absolutely excellent book! I recommend it!

 

[GOK]

GOK,

One of the most interesting books on Hitler is "Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil" by Ron Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum seemed to have started this project in an attempt to come up with an explanation for Hitler. But as he researched this he realized that a lot of really smart people have studied this and everyone has a different conclusion. So instead, he offers a survey of the various explanations and explainers. Really good.

Thank you for the recommendation Tony, I've put it on my wish list.

Elaina, I completely understand where you are coming from and feel much the same way. I feel it is important to examine all aspects of a situation, if we don't, how are we to understand and more importantly, learn from these things?