Adolf Hitler

Editor’s Note: Please do not use the comments section to debate about WWII and/or the Holocaust.

About

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who served as the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. Mainly known for his central involvement in several acts of atrocities against humanity, including Nazism, World War II and the Holocaust, Hitler is often regarded as one of the most universally despicable public figures in the history of mankind. Online, Hitler has been a popular subject of satires and parodies due to the historical notoriety and taboos surrounding his name.

Online History

Since the early days of the Internet, Adolf Hitler has been a regular subject of online discussions and jokes. In 1990, Mike Godwin introduced the “Godwin’s Law”^[1] which he coined as a “natural law of Usenet.” During the first half of the 2000s, Hitler was a subject of several YTMND parodies with the earliest instance submitted in 2006^[2]. Later that same year, the release of the 2004 German war epic film Downfall, which recounts the last ten days of Hitler’s life and eventual suicide in his Berlin underground bunker, gave birth to Hitler Reaction Videos, one of the most well-known Hitler-themed internet memes to date.

Online Presence

Satires of Adolf Hitler exists in many different forms across a wide range of Internet humor sites and communities, most notably on 4chan, Tumblr, Reddit, among others.

Reputation

Given his exceptionally unfavorable reputation and public image, various aspects of Hitler’s personal life have been subject to countless posthumous myths, speculations and rumors, including his medical conditions, religious beliefs, sexual identity and ethnic heritage.

Genital Deformities

On December 18th, 2015, German historian and university professor Peter Fleischmann released a report asserting that Hitler indeed had only one testicle, a decades-old rumor which had been partly inspired by the lyrics of a World War II-era British playground song, based on the analysis of his medical examination records from November 12th, 1923, shortly after Hitler was arrested for his unsuccessful coup attempt in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. According to the document as logged by the Landsberg prison doctor Josef Steiner Brin, Hitler was deemed to be “healthy and strong” aside from his “right-side cryptorchidism.” On February 22nd, 2016, The Telegraph ran an article titled “Hitler ‘had tiny deformed penis’ as well as just one testicle,” which underscored another claim based on medical records that Hitler had suffered from a rare condition known as hypospadias, which left him with an abnormally small penis, as asserted by German historians Jonathan Mayo and Emma Craigie in their 2015 book Hitler’s Last Day: Minute by Minute. In the following days, the story about “Hitler’s micropenis” was picked up by dozens of news sites and online publications in many different languages.

Related Memes

Godwin’s Law

Godwin’s Law is an internet adage that is derived from one of the earliest bits of Usenet wisdoms, which goes “if you mention Adolf Hitler or Nazis within a discussion thread, you’ve automatically ended whatever discussion you were taking part in.”

“When You Ride Alone, You Ride With Hitler”

When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Hitler is an anti-Nazi propaganda poster created and widely distributed by the United States government during the World War II to encourage carpooling among American citizens to conserve gasoline for the war (shown below, far left). Due to its relevance to the Godwin’s Law, the image has inspired various propaganda parodies online.

Downfall Hitler Rant Parodies

Downfall also known as “Hitler Finds Out…” or “Hitler Reacts To…” is a series of parody-subtitled videos based on a pinnacle scene from Der Untergang (2004), a German WWII drama revisiting the last ten days of Adolf Hitler’s life and eventual suicide in his Berlin underground bunker. Due to the film’s international success and Bruno Ganz’ portrayal of the Nazi dictator, numerous segments from the movie soon fell fodder to parodies on YouTube, spawning hundreds of anachronistically subtitled videos of Hitler getting upset over topical events and trivial gossip.

Hipster Hitler

Hipster Hitler (also known as “Adolf Hipster”) is a series of comics and image macros of a Hipster version of Adolf Hitler. The images typically dress the former German dictator in skinny jeans and hipster glasses with a side-swept hairstyle.

Hitler House

Hitler House is the nickname given to a two-story townhouse in Swansea, Wales that is said to resemble the face of Hitler. The photograph of the house facade was taken by a 22-year-old British youth worker and posted via Twitter, which has been since viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

Kitler

“Kitler” is a nickname used to describe white cats with black markings under their noses that resemble Adolf Hitler’s toothbrush mustache. Cats with these coats were popularized in June 2006 by the single topic site Cats that Look Like Hitler.

Ignore Hitler

Ignore Hitler refers to a series of user-submitted artworks on the mobile gaming app Draw Something that incorporate caricatures of Adolf Hitler regardless of its contextual relevance. The images gained significant attention after its creator launched a single topic blog in April 2012.

“Hitler Did Nothing Wrong”

“Hitler Did Nothing Wrong” is an incendiary statement used for trolling purposes to deny that the acts Adolf Hitler was responsible for during his reign were morally wrong. Over time the phrase become widely used as a snowclone “X did nothing wrong”.

“Literally Hitler”

“Literally Hitler” is a hyperbolic expression that can be used to denounce an individual or group as being worse than Hitler. On the social networking site Reddit, the phrase is also used to mock circle jerk discussions that ultimately manifest into examples of Godwin’s Law.

Kung Fury

Kung Fury is a 2015 martial arts comedy short film about the adventures of a 1980s Miami renegade cop who seeks to revenge his friend’s death by traveling back in time to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany and martial arts master known as “Kung Führer.” Written, directed by, and starring David Sandberg, the film instantly went viral upon its YouTube debut.

Would You Kill Baby Hitler?

Would You Kill Baby Hitler? is a thought experiment which ponders the ethics of traveling back in time to kill Adolf Hitler as an infant in order to prevent the holocaust.

Search Interest

External References