Unsung Hero

[Lonan3]

I can't really claim to have a specialist subject - that would suggest a degree of knowledge/intelligence that I probably don't possess - but I do devote a fair amount of time to the study of 20th Century European history. And that makes it all the more surprising that I can't recall ever hearing the story of HANS LITTEN, the German-Jewish lawyer who carefully dissected Adolf Hitler over 3 hours in the witness box.

Many acts of bravery are performed in the heat of the moment, or by people acting instinctively (and they're no less praiseworthy for that), but Litton's courage came from his own principles and his own determination to expose the evils of Nazism regardless of the ultimate cost to himself.

 

From the article:

 

In 1931, Litten sought to have criminal charges brought against four members of the Nazi party's Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary group after they attacked a dance hall frequented by communists, killing three people.

 

According to World War II historian Laurence Rees, writer and director of the television series Nazis: A Warning from History, it was not Litten's focus on the Nazis' violent methods that enraged Hitler the most. By 1931, most Germans could not fail to have noticed that the SA were brutal streetfighters, he says. And Hitler himself was accustomed to - and indeed thrived on - the venomous abuse directed at him from opponents.

But, he says, Litten's meticulous, carefully reasoned questioning was guaranteed to enrage him.

"What drove Hitler berserk is that here is someone taking him coolly and calmly through the evidence," says Rees.

"He hates that kind of intellectual argument - he prefers either haranguing or sulking. It's not just Litten's Jewishness. If you were going to come up with a person that Hitler would loathe, it would be him."

The trial was widely publicised and marked out Litten as a hate figure in the Nazi press, which called for him to be physically attacked.

As Hitler edged closer to power, friends urged Litten to flee Germany. But he refused. "The millions of workers can't get out," he said. "So I must stay here as well."

[ScotsAlan]

When PaulD gets into power, we will all be against the wall.

 

But seriously, Heroes can be everywhere. No need to be a soldier to be a hero.

[spangle]

I can't really claim to have a specialist subject - that would suggest a degree of knowledge/intelligence that I probably don't possess - but I do devote a fair amount of time to the study of 20th Century European history. And that makes it all the more surprising that I can't recall ever hearing the story of HANS LITTEN, the German-Jewish lawyer who carefully dissected Adolf Hitler over 3 hours in the witness box.

Many acts of bravery are performed in the heat of the moment, or by people acting instinctively (and they're no less praiseworthy for that), but Litton's courage came from his own principles and his own determination to expose the evils of Nazism regardless of the ultimate cost to himself.

 

From the article:

 

In 1931, Litten sought to have criminal charges brought against four members of the Nazi party's Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary group after they attacked a dance hall frequented by communists, killing three people.

 

According to World War II historian Laurence Rees, writer and director of the television series Nazis: A Warning from History, it was not Litten's focus on the Nazis' violent methods that enraged Hitler the most. By 1931, most Germans could not fail to have noticed that the SA were brutal streetfighters, he says. And Hitler himself was accustomed to - and indeed thrived on - the venomous abuse directed at him from opponents.

But, he says, Litten's meticulous, carefully reasoned questioning was guaranteed to enrage him.

"What drove Hitler berserk is that here is someone taking him coolly and calmly through the evidence," says Rees.

"He hates that kind of intellectual argument - he prefers either haranguing or sulking. It's not just Litten's Jewishness. If you were going to come up with a person that Hitler would loathe, it would be him."

The trial was widely publicised and marked out Litten as a hate figure in the Nazi press, which called for him to be physically attacked.

As Hitler edged closer to power, friends urged Litten to flee Germany. But he refused. "The millions of workers can't get out," he said. "So I must stay here as well."

Me neither. I studied 20th Century European History. Did separate courses on WW1 & WW2, and German history. Litten never mentioned. Cheers - will now do a bit of my own digging.

[manx maid]

I can't really claim to have a specialist subject - that would suggest a degree of knowledge/intelligence that I probably don't possess - but I do devote a fair amount of time to the study of 20th Century European history. And that makes it all the more surprising that I can't recall ever hearing the story of HANS LITTEN, the German-Jewish lawyer who carefully dissected Adolf Hitler over 3 hours in the witness box.

Many acts of bravery are performed in the heat of the moment, or by people acting instinctively (and they're no less praiseworthy for that), but Litton's courage came from his own principles and his own determination to expose the evils of Nazism regardless of the ultimate cost to himself.

 

From the article:

 

In 1931, Litten sought to have criminal charges brought against four members of the Nazi party's Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary group after they attacked a dance hall frequented by communists, killing three people.

 

According to World War II historian Laurence Rees, writer and director of the television series Nazis: A Warning from History, it was not Litten's focus on the Nazis' violent methods that enraged Hitler the most. By 1931, most Germans could not fail to have noticed that the SA were brutal streetfighters, he says. And Hitler himself was accustomed to - and indeed thrived on - the venomous abuse directed at him from opponents.

But, he says, Litten's meticulous, carefully reasoned questioning was guaranteed to enrage him.

"What drove Hitler berserk is that here is someone taking him coolly and calmly through the evidence," says Rees.

"He hates that kind of intellectual argument - he prefers either haranguing or sulking. It's not just Litten's Jewishness. If you were going to come up with a person that Hitler would loathe, it would be him."

The trial was widely publicised and marked out Litten as a hate figure in the Nazi press, which called for him to be physically attacked.

As Hitler edged closer to power, friends urged Litten to flee Germany. But he refused. "The millions of workers can't get out," he said. "So I must stay here as well."

 

Are you employed?

[manx maid]

I can't really claim to have a specialist subject - that would suggest a degree of knowledge/intelligence that I probably don't possess - but I do devote a fair amount of time to the study of 20th Century European history. And that makes it all the more surprising that I can't recall ever hearing the story of HANS LITTEN, the German-Jewish lawyer who carefully dissected Adolf Hitler over 3 hours in the witness box.

Many acts of bravery are performed in the heat of the moment, or by people acting instinctively (and they're no less praiseworthy for that), but Litton's courage came from his own principles and his own determination to expose the evils of Nazism regardless of the ultimate cost to himself.

 

From the article:

 

In 1931, Litten sought to have criminal charges brought against four members of the Nazi party's Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary group after they attacked a dance hall frequented by communists, killing three people.

 

According to World War II historian Laurence Rees, writer and director of the television series Nazis: A Warning from History, it was not Litten's focus on the Nazis' violent methods that enraged Hitler the most. By 1931, most Germans could not fail to have noticed that the SA were brutal streetfighters, he says. And Hitler himself was accustomed to - and indeed thrived on - the venomous abuse directed at him from opponents.

But, he says, Litten's meticulous, carefully reasoned questioning was guaranteed to enrage him.

"What drove Hitler berserk is that here is someone taking him coolly and calmly through the evidence," says Rees.

"He hates that kind of intellectual argument - he prefers either haranguing or sulking. It's not just Litten's Jewishness. If you were going to come up with a person that Hitler would loathe, it would be him."

The trial was widely publicised and marked out Litten as a hate figure in the Nazi press, which called for him to be physically attacked.

As Hitler edged closer to power, friends urged Litten to flee Germany. But he refused. "The millions of workers can't get out," he said. "So I must stay here as well."

Me neither. I studied 20th Century European History. Did separate courses on WW1 & WW2, and German history. Litten never mentioned. Cheers - will now do a bit of my own digging.

 

Could you help me with my digging ?

[The fact is]

There was a piece on radio 4 about him last week, obviously a quiet day in the taxi.

[The Old Git]

Something in the papers as well. Is there a film due out about it?

 

ETA - or a BBC prog - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2011/08/hans-litten-adolf-hitler-to-stop-a-tyrant.shtml