Hitler and Languages

Discussions on all aspects of the NSDAP, the other party organizations and the government. Hosted by Michael Miller & Igor Karpov.
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Tony Slug
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#31

Post by Tony Slug » 11 May 2003, 15:50

AgentBach wrote:What does an Austrian accent sound like compared to a German accent?
What type of German accent do you mean ? Bremer, Hamburger, Berliner, Schwaebisch, Bayerisch ? or some other variety of "Hochdeutsch"? :D

Maybe Austrian German dialect could be compared to a heavy Southern drawl.

michael mills
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#32

Post by michael mills » 12 May 2003, 13:46

From trying to lip read the conversation he is having with David Lloyd-George, it does appear they are both speaking English. Perhaps a lip reading expert could clarify this.
Perhaps they were speaking in Welsh!


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#33

Post by michael mills » 12 May 2003, 13:49

To "Oderint dvm metvant".

What a pseudonym!

We may well hate you, but I doubt that we will fear you.

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David Brown
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HITLER'S LANGUAGES

#34

Post by David Brown » 13 May 2003, 00:51

To the best of my knowledge he didn't, but it may not be impossible that he did after all, he did have a half-brother (Alfred or Albert) who ran a fish and chip shop in Kensington, Liverpool before the war...seriously...and please, No Scouse Jokes.

This relation has prompted a lot of speculation that Hitler had actually visited Britain in his youth, but I personally believe it was just that - speculation.

Durand
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#35

Post by Durand » 07 Jun 2003, 17:18

Hallo,

If the "Memoirs of Bridget Hitler" are to be believed, Hitler could speak a few words of English, but not enough to ask for directions. In the book it is claimed that he stayed with his brother and sister-in-law in England from November 1912 to April 1913.

Regards,

Durand

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Beppo Schmidt
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#36

Post by Beppo Schmidt » 07 Jun 2003, 21:18

I have never heard anywhere else that Hitler had ever been to Britain. if it was true, it would surely have been mentioned elsewhere.

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#37

Post by Panzermahn » 08 Jun 2003, 06:53

Hallo,

If the "Memoirs of Bridget Hitler" are to be believed, Hitler could speak a few words of English, but not enough to ask for directions. In the book it is claimed that he stayed with his brother and sister-in-law in England from November 1912 to April 1913.

Regards,

Durand
According to John Toland biography of Hitler, the memoirs of bridget hitler are considered a fictional work....adolf hitler never goes to england..only alois hitler

Pumpkin
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#38

Post by Pumpkin » 12 Jun 2003, 14:56

Mussolini held public speeches in Germany, in German.

Personally, and I think many agree, I find that the german spoken in Austria sounds less strict and distinct than official german, and that it somehow has a jovial tone to it. In public, Hitler spoke reichsdeutsch but in private he spoke with his austrian dialect, which underlined the familiarity and informality he generally exercised in private. Until recent decades, it was not quite accepted to use dialects in radio, in any nation.

StephanieSklar
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#39

Post by StephanieSklar » 29 Nov 2006, 16:42

A very old thread but an interesting one indeed!!

I think that Hitler understood some English and French, but he prob. didn,t want to embarass himself trying to speak it in public. Also he prob. thought that to be seen speaking anything else than German would undermine his German Volk theories. (that is just a pers. opinion though! )

It is common knowleadge that a lot of world leaders use translators even when they know how to speak the other language. for example, Jacques Chirac when meeting W Bush has a translator. Doubtful that Chirac doesn't understand english; ditto for Angela Merkel.

A leader using a translator has an advantage. He/She has more time to think strategically when the interpretor speaks. A recent example is Saddam Hussein; while leader of Iraq he always had Arab/English translators w/him. But when he was captured by the Americans, an American GI of Arab origin was with them to help translate; the group was very surprised to hear Saddam say:"please don't kill me, I am who you are looking for", in heavy-accented English, but in English nonetheless. There was no mention of anything relating to him being able to communicate in English in any of the US briefing papers.Also I read an article in a GQ summer 2004 edition where the young Marines (aged 20-25 y-old) who guarded Saddam told of the three months spent with him; that he was a nice and agreeable fellow, they played chess and dominos w/him, that he sometimes laughed alone, danced alone, and refered to himself as the President Of Iraq...Most of the conversations where in English; when there was communication troubles an interpretor was summoned, but it didn't happen often. All in all it was a great article, wish I could find it.

Sorry for bringing that up but I felt it was relelvant to the Hitler-languages subject!!

Man that forum is addictive! :)

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Oracle
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#40

Post by Oracle » 08 Dec 2006, 00:49

On 2nd May 1934 the President of General Motors Overseas Operations, James D. Mooney, met Hitler in Berlin and discussed with him the proposed Volks Wagen, which was to be the new Opel Olympia. Mooney says in his unpublished autobigraphy that he understood some German, but relied on Opel's Dr RA Fleischer to translate.

Mooney then met Goering on 18th October 1939 and Dr Helmut Wohlthat, Ministerial-Direktor in Göering’s special economics ministry, translated.

On 16th February 1940 Mooney was in Berlin again and wrote to Hitler, translated by Opel's Heinrich Richter and Mooney's assistant, Bill Wachtler. On 5th March Mooney met Hitler again and Dr Paul Schmidt interpreted. Mooney then left notes on U.S. public opinion that he had written, with Dr. Schmidt for later examination by Hitler. The impression I get from all the evidence in Mooney's papers is that Hitler knew a lot about the U.S. and Roosevelt.

Turning back to Goering, he met Danish-born GM President Knudsen in September 1938 when Hitler was occupied with Chamberlain. Knudsen reveals in his biography that Goering spoke to him in German andimmediately asked if he spoke the language, which Knudsen replied that he did not very well. Ernst Udet, the pilot, therefore translated for Knudsen. However, it was revealed that Goering spoke fluent Danish. I gather that he was Fokker's Danish representative for a time which explains. I do query though whether Goering could easily understand English, and just played along as he was quick to threaten GM with loss of plants, the fact that they were not going to get any money out of Opel, and an amazing knowledge of the Allison aero-engine which was quite secretive at the time: Knudsne wondered how the Germans knew, and how much else they knew about U.S. engineering.

JamesL
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#41

Post by JamesL » 27 Jan 2007, 20:59

This thread is not yet dead!

Anyway, the videos of Hitler and Mussolini taken the day of the July bombing .......... what language were the 2 speaking?

Has anyone with lip reading ability been able to decipher what was said?

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johnw54321
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Re: Hitler and Languages

#42

Post by johnw54321 » 26 Jul 2015, 17:11

It is my understanding that it was not uncommon for Germans to speak French, (I'm not sure about Austrians). I believe the language of the court in the area destined to become Germany was French until 1840.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana

deniralvor
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Re: Hitler and Languages

#43

Post by deniralvor » 05 Feb 2020, 10:54

I think Hitler definitely spoke English but may be did not speak well. He could speak and understand to a conversational level.

Br. James
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Re: Hitler and Languages

#44

Post by Br. James » 05 Feb 2020, 16:37

While I cannot confirm whether "The Memoirs of Bridget Hitler" is fact or fiction, it certainly makes for an interesting read; I would recommend it to anyone interested in the pre-WWI period in Hitler's life. And if true, it would be understandable that Hitler had learned a good amount of English, having lived in England for a year.

Br. James

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