Downfall question

[Bestbank Tiger]

I watched the movie last night and noticed that Hitler frequently left the room holding his left hand behind his back, with it trembling and held in a claw-like position.

Did Hitler have a medical condition during his last days that caused that? Or does Bruno Ganz have a medical problem? Or was it simply a cinematic device to show that Hitler was losing his mind?

 

[Dachs]

That claw-like hand shows up in some newsreel footage from '44 and '45; it and a few other things have led some people to speculate that Hitler had Parkinson's near the end of the war. I don't think it's ever been fully explained, mostly because a full diagnosis is obviously impossible.

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

That claw-like hand shows up in some newsreel footage from '44 and '45; it and a few other things have led some people to speculate that Hitler had Parkinson's near the end of the war. I don't think it's ever been fully explained, mostly because a full diagnosis is obviously impossible.

Thanks!!

I was reading something that said Ganz listened to a lot of audiotape, but he must have studied the video footage too.

 

[nonconformist]

It's reasonably well documented that Hitler had Parkinsons (or possibly degenerative syphilis) at the end of his life, for which he was heavily medicated with a mixture of cocaine and amphetamines.

His left hand was practically unusable, and in photos and film taken around this period, he had a member of the party stand behind him to shield the hand from the cameras.

If you watch this footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3C5Sf8RC7s

you can quite evidently see an NSDAP member standing in the position just to block out his hand

 

[Verbose]

Thanks!!

I was reading something that said Ganz listened to a lot of audiotape, but he must have studied the video footage too.

Actually, as far as I've understood he only listened to ONE audiotape.

There apparently are NO German recordings of Hitler just having a conversation. It's all Superhuman Oratory mode, as befits Der Führer. No general prattle such as an ordinary man might engage in.

What happened was that during a visit to Finland, some Finnish public service radio operative left a mike open and a tape running. By accident or oversight. It happened to record a conversation about how the war was going on the eastern front between Hitler and his host, Fieldmarshall Mannerheim.

It apparently turns out Hitler's normal speaking voice was a rather soft Austrian accent rather different from the one he used in public speaking. Which Bruno Ganz picked up for the role.

 

[Dragonlord]

Not to contradict any of the above, but I read that the tremble in Hitler's arm became noticeable after Stauffenberg's failed assassination attempt July 20th 1944. Remember that Hitler was actually in the same room with an exploding bomb - he was very lucky to survive and it seems quite plausible that he may have sustained nerve damage.

This is not a contradiction to the Parkinsons's and/or syphilis theories, which I have also heard - the bomb damage may have worsened an already latent condition.

 

[Lord Baal]

Hitler certainly sustained damage to his hearing after the assassination attempt, but the tremble was obvious even before that. If you study Hitler's speeches, focus on his left hand. You see a slight tremble as early as 1936, almost unnoticeable, then it progressively gets worse until by 1944 it was nearly unusable.

Considering this and other health problems, it is very likely that Hitler had Parkinson's. It fit the symptoms better than syphilis - which if Hitler had, Eva Braun would have picked up on and shown symptoms of by then anyway - but as Dachs said, obviously we'll never get a full diagnosis.

 

[Verbose]

Hitler certainly sustained damage to his hearing after the assassination attempt, but the tremble was obvious even before that. If you study Hitler's speeches, focus on his left hand. You see a slight tremble as early as 1936, almost unnoticeable, then it progressively gets worse until by 1944 it was nearly unusable.

Considering this and other health problems, it is very likely that Hitler had Parkinson's. It fit the symptoms better than syphilis - which if Hitler had, Eva Braun would have picked up on and shown symptoms of by then anyway - but as Dachs said, obviously we'll never get a full diagnosis.

I agree Parkinson fits better, byt syphilis can apparently be very tricky. You can get infected individuals who display no symptoms, so die Eva not manifesting isn't really conclusive. Apparently the tertiary stage of syphilis can present itself inside a weirdly variable timespan; from 2 to 50 years.

 

[EnglishEdward]

It apparently turns out Hitler's normal speaking voice was a rather soft Austrian accent rather different from the one he used in public speaking. Which Bruno Ganz picked up for the role.

That was his being polite voice.

I understand that the Finnish leader deliberately smoked at a meeting to test the situation. When Hitler ignored it, rather than objecting as he usally did, the Finnish knew that Hitler was desperate and that his war was lost and that they should sue for peace with the Russians.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

Did Hitler have a medical condition during his last days that caused that? Or does Bruno Ganz have a medical problem? Or was it simply a cinematic device to show that Hitler was losing his mind?

The twitching hand was apparently caught in footage as early as the Berlin Olympics. It has never been adequately explained. It may be the result of Parkinson's disease or perhaps even from drug use, or perhaps both.