The Hitler I Knew

Memoirs of the Third Reich's Press Chief

By: Otto Dietrich

Narrated by: Eric Brooks

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Up to the last moment, his overwhelming, despotic authority aroused false hopes and deceived his people and his entourage. Only at the end, when I watched the inglorious collapse and the obstinacy of his final downfall, was I able suddenly to fit together the bits of mosaic I had been amassing for 12 years into a complete picture of his opaque and sphinx-like personality. If my contemporaries fail to understand me, those who came after will surely profit from this account." (Otto Dietrich)

When Otto Dietrich was invited in 1933 to become Adolf Hitler's press chief, he accepted with the simple uncritical conviction that Adolf Hitler was a great man, dedicated to promoting peace and welfare for the German people. At the end of the war, imprisoned and disillusioned, Otto Dietrich sat down to write what he had seen and heard in 12 years of the closest association with Hitler, requesting that it be published after his death.

Dietrich's role placed him in a privileged position. He was hired by Hitler in 1933, was his confidant until 1945, and he worked - and clashed - with Joseph Goebbels. His direct, personal experience of life at the heat of the Reich makes for compelling listening.

©2010 Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. Introduction copyright © 2010 by Frontline Books (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

A hard review to write

This is a book written by Otto Dietrich. Dietrich was Press Chief for the Nazi party and Adolph Hitler beginning in 1931.In addition, he joined the SS and rose to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer ( roughly equivalent to 2-star major general.

Make no mistake about it, Dietrich was a hard core Nazi.
Dietrich had a familiar relationship with Hitler but never pierced his inner circle. Because of this lack of intimacy, most of what is in this book is common knowledge. In addition, in areas where he could have imparted a lot of information ( ex. Geli Raubau and Eva Braun ) hardly any information is given.

The book however has its strong points. The author describes Joseph Goebbels and Joachim von Ribbentrop ( Dietrich's superiors ) in great detail. The author obviously disliked both men intensely. In addition, Martin Bormann and Rudolph Hess get alot of attention.

After listening to this book, I feel that Otto Dietrichs buyers remorse when it comes to Hitler is not genuine. One did not become an SS-Obergruppenführer without being an ardent nazi inside and out.

Despite this, if you had an extra credit lying around, you could use it here. If you get used to the narrators delivery style, the book is an easy listen.

Good, unique content - bad German pronunciation

How did the narrator detract from the book?

It was a British man who narrated this book and his handling of English was excellent, meaning I could listen to him for hours, as long as he veered away from German names. Problems appeared whenever he tried to say any kind of German name - even the really easy ones - and just plundered his way through. In the second half of the book, the names got thicker and their mispronunciations got to the point of distraction. How bad was it? Even "Isar" stumped him. It's a good book though and deserves to be re-recorded with a defter handle on German names. Again, the narrator was excellent for English overall and I would consider any other work of his for non-German topics.

Dull

This book starts out very slow, going over events you almost certainly already know if you've read any WW2 history at all. Finally after more than half of the book is over it finally starts to get a bit interesting as Dietrich begins telling stories about his interactions with Hitler, that's really the only part of the book that has any value. Also Dietrich clearly was infatuated by Hitler, and while he plays lip service to Hitler turning bad, I don't think for a moment he actually believes it.

The book isn't a total waste because of the few hours of stories and interactions that were new to me, but the rest of the book is a waste.

The narration was pretty awful. I ended up listening at 1.5x speed which make it tolerable - and for every other reader that would be too fast, but for this guy, it wasn't. Really poor job but not the worst I've heard, and keep in mind that speed playback button, it can make terrible readers like this tolerable.

Pretty slow

Challenging to get through this one. the first half was OK, but it got slow and overly detailed naming all of the various administrators. A much better and more informative biography is that by chauffeur Heinz Linge.

There is so much more than we are told and retold

MY REVIEW WAS REDACTED! why bother paying for and watching the tripe served up again and again on that poorly- named History Channel when there is this resource. I want to know more about these devils and the agenda and mindset of their supporters so that I too do not repeat their mistakes. this was a eye opening, engrossing account of personal reflections...just the type of posterity we must record.

Adolph Hitler analysis:

Adolph Hitler Analysis, though well narrated, was perhaps the most evil man that has ever lived and has saddened me that all the carnage and wrath he created and did do, account of his self-centeredness will, not only destroyed everything in its wake; including the German people, which were divided over 44 years and suffered unbelievably. More has been written about Hitler than any other man in history.

More informative than the history channel.

Learned so much more from this book than anything TV or school will tell you. And it was also smart of the author to write it all fresh in his memory after the events. As mad as Hitler may appear to people still today, I still believe if the events pressing him to war from the other western powers didn't happen. He truly only wanted what was best for the German people. Amazing that once he kicked all the corrupt bankers controlling Germany, his nation came out of the great depression long before anyone else had. Lets also remember that the jews declared war on Hitler in the early 30's long before any nation had. So once again we see where the trouble makers come from with there sneaky influence on the western powers. All leaders have there false. But I think he could see the future of things better than most people think.