By the way, Hitler was possibly at least partly kind of "insane". I've recently found an article in a newspaper about a book describing the possible reason why :
Hitler fought in the WWI and came back, blind out of psychological reasons, mentally wounded.
A Psychologist (kind of), a Professor Doctor Edmund Forster used a shock therapy which was desined to make " [combat] ready soldiers" out of patients, and he used it with many people, including Adolf Hitler, the mentally wounded and psychologically blinded ex-soldier.
The article says that the method consisted of shock-elements, and of the suggestion, that the own symptoms of a single person were not important considered against the suffering of others and the "great common task" of a sum of people. A hypnosis-like suggestion should incude that the treated people should be able to heal themselves through sheer will. The article lists as "shock-elements" the following : Shouting at a person, calm talking, electro shocks, cold water.
Hitler regained his sight, thus being partially healed, but also the treatment induced in him to be "a chosen one".
So, the article says that the book says that he believed he had to "heal" the society from its suffering - as a kind of "chosen doctor" - chosen to heal the society. We know where this led to.
The article says that this book has its mistakes (sometimes poorly recherched facts), but I find the report of this "therapy" interesting. It might have done things from bad to worse. Also, it shows how the Therapist looked upon human live : Not as an indivudual being, but only as a means to support one obscure "Great Idea". Typical for that time, I believe.
For the record : "Hitler. Ein Sohn des Krieges." by Manfred Koch-Hillebrecht, Herbig Verlag (Publisher), Munich 2003, about 30 Euros. Unfortunately no ISBN Number is given.
