I am not sure I agree with you on this. It is the old debate about nature versus nurture. You wonder what his parents taught him as a child and what the did to him growing up that caused him to become such a hateful, despicable human being. Like it or not, our parents do have a lot to do with the morals, ethics, and personalities we exhibit as adults. No, the parents were not directly responsible for Hitler's actions in the 30s and 40s, but I also do not think you can say they are completely blameless either.

I find it interesting that graves are only leased, not owned in parts of Europe. I guess it is because of space considerations. I guess once there are no remaining descendants willing to pay for the upkeep of the grave they take down the headstone and open the grave up or someone else to lease it. I wonder of they remove the remains as well or just bury the new lessee on top of the other person's remains.

I give the remaining family member a lot of credit for having the headstone taken down to prevent the grave site from being used by neo-Nazis as a shrine to their hatred and despicable beliefs. It shows real character to take this action. I find it shocking to find such a high level of anti-Jewish hatred, according to the article 28% of the population, still exists in Austria today. It is disturbing that the level remains so high in today's world.

His parents are partially responsible. Kid got his attitudes and views from his parents and the culture. People look at how people is from their childhood.

No one here can make a reasonable judgment about Hitler's parents. The climate of the times and early adult influences are just as powerful as who changed your diaper.

JS, I have to agree with you on this.. While it is true that we don't really know much about Hitler's upbringing, one has to assume his parents probably had something to do with his early mind-set.. His rabid hatred and intolerance against the Jewish people wasn't something that just popped into his head one day, his parents most likely had a great influence in creating that kind of bigotry, though, I'm sure they had no idea just what their teachings would lead too.. No one can see the future, still, I doubt if they would have changed how they raised him..

I do think the Hitler family today and the cemetery personnel did exactly the right thing in taking the headstone down.. It's just damn sad there are still human beings that continue to believe in the kind of garbage that Hitler spewed out.. His rhetoric was crap and he was as crazy as a flea-bitten loon but, alas, there are still tons of other loons around that are willing to follow in his footsteps!

Historian Alice Miller later wrote, "The family structure could well be characterized as the prototype of a totalitarian regime. Its sole, undisputed, often brutal ruler is the father. The wife and children are totally subservient to his will, his moods, and his whims; they must accept humiliation and injustice unquestioningly and gratefully. Obedience is their primary rule of conduct."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klara_Hitler

To answer some of the questions leveled above regarding nurturing.

His parents are partially responsible. Kid got his attitudes and views from his parents and the culture. People look at how people is from their childhood.

There is absolutely no evidence that his parents were even remotely responsible for his attitudes. In fact we could argue that because both his parents died by the time he was 18 years old left him without a moral tiller as a young adult.

The fact is we don't know what made Hitler like he was!

I think his father was domineering. The German/Austrian culture is brutal on children back then, maybe even now. It is all about authority and control, the militarized culture of the Germanic tribes ("barbarians"). I think there was strong anti-semitism around him. He was not really into pursuing girls to release his energy. He was bitter, no girlfriend, no flirting ability, kind of weak and resentful and on top of that it was the culture behind him, plus all the talk of Jews being bad. He channeled his discontent 100% on the Jews without knowing much. He thought Jews was causing his personal problem, because he was not well educated. Once he was sent to military, he knew how to execute it. It was Hitler's personal problem that went into effect.

Alois Hitler was likely an alcoholic and beat his son. Adolph later said that he respected his father, but loved his mother. Still, no one put a gun to his head and forced him to do what he did. Individual responsibility still applies and for him, he is responsible for the deaths of millions.

If you want to know about Hitler's upbringing, read Alice Miller's phsyco-historical analysis of Hitler in "For Your Own Good" (subtitled: Hidden Cruelty in Childhood and the Roots of Violence)

(The book is not easy to read because it's intended audience is psychologist, not lay people, but it eye-opening.)

Excerpt from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Miller_%28psychologist%29

The key element that Miller elucidated in this book was the understanding of why the German nation, the "good Germans," were compliant with Hitler's abusive regime, which Miller asserted was a direct result of how the society in general treated its children. She raised fundamental questions about current, worldwide child-rearing practices and issued a stern warning.

(John, you might not know, but people who have educated themselves on the subject know otherwise.)

Having done extensive reading about Hitler and the Nazis including reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by Shirer in the sixth grade I can tell you his parents raised a emotionally damaged child. His father severely beat him often and his mother smothered him constantly telling him he was smarter and better than everyone else. Look at his school class pictures you'll see a child that truly believes he is superior to everyone standing with his arms folded across his chest. All that violence and close to sexual mothering really screwed him up. It left him a violent adult unable to form relations with women. The few women he did have relationships with all tried to commit suicide. Throw in the trenches of WW1 where he was involved in some of the worst fighting on the western front, possibly a undescended testicle, and his father being his mother's uncle and it's easy to see how he came to be. His mother actually called her husband "uncle". That would explain Adolf's attraction for his niece. It would be interesting to see DNA testing done on his father's remains to see if Alois was fathered by a man of Jewish descent as that is certainly a possibility.

Imagine being raised for 18 years by a wolf pack. I guarantee that the language you'll speak is WOLF. People denying nurturing are simply negating a parent's role in upbringing. Give me a child until 7 years and I will return you the man. Jesuits.

There is absolutely no evidence that his parents were even remotely responsible for his attitudes. In fact we could argue that because both his parents died by the time he was 18 years old left him without a moral tiller as a young adult.

By the time I was 18 yo, I already knew right from wrong and knew killing was WRONG!. Morality is built by the personal choices of each. Until that choice is made there will be voices from the past echoing in your mind and guiding you even when your parents aren't physically present.

Most of you have excellent points, but your focus is on his parents rather than him. Some of the most popular criminological theories reside in brain chemistry in which the basic understanding of right, wrong, and remorse do not exist. The excellent points you all have made regarding Hitler's upbringing make an interesting case when considering his focus on Jews and the superior race. However, Hitler had free will to do what he desired and he did so. If he was a little off-balance because of his upbringing, are the parents now just as evil? What about the parents that are rich and rarely have time for their kids, so their kids murder? Maybe some people understand the importance of boundaries and some are continually forced to cross them...and even still, what about the ones that are never taught?

Murderous intent is in all of us, some more prevalent than others. Sure, his childhood may have been horrible, but there are children that have a sexually/physicaly abusive parent and instead they chose to start a campaign against such actions rather than murder. Especially of the times--some places in the world are still like that. Not all kids grow up repeating the cycle, so are they freaks of nature? I am simply implying that we know too little when so many claim to be experts. So quick to place blame.

SO yes Austria, take down a tombstone and ignore the problem. The most disturbing part of this article is the "pilgrimage" of Nazis. Call them Neo, Quasi, sort of Nazis or whatever but how can anyone paying tribute to Hitlers cause be allowed to continue? We persecute those who were there (60+ years later) but let those who intend to uphold the name go free. If anything is seriously wrong, it's that. If you are confused about what Noe-Nazi's stand for, look up news articles spanning the last 40 years and see what their collective group has accomplished. We can no longer pray in school or pledge allegiance, but Nazi's can congregate, march and spread filth WITH THE KNOWLEDGE that it refers directly to Hitler and his vision. Again, if you have not been privy to the pictures and first hand acounts of what happened (your school visit by a camp survivor doesn't count, you school text doesn't count-- too much withheld) look it up. You wont be right in the head for awhile.

Just watched the movie The Pianist (won the Academy Award for Best Film). And highly recommend it to get a picture of what happened to the Jews during WWII.

Some of the holocaust movies are SO depressing, but this one, based on the memoir of a famous Polish Jewish musician, Wladyslaw Szpilman, and his struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II, has an uplifting ending. A story of redemption.

Exactly Gotnorice! His parents didn't join the Nazi Party!Then there's these WHACKOS going to their graves and adorning it with all kinds of Nazi Crap!Just goes to show where their brains are.They're so dam deluded that they can't figure out fact from fiction!

Unfricken Believable of the Amount of stupidity that floats out there!

tom111....."His parents are partially responsible. Kid got his attitudes and views from his parents and the culture. People look at how people is from their childhood."

Partially TRUE !!!

Just look at some of our elected "politicians" today. However, a lot of "kids" are wired different.

If you really want to know, read his book. He had nothing but love for his mother. The stolen victory of WWI and its aftermath were clearly the major forces shaping him into what he became.

His parents are partially responsible. Kid got his attitudes and views from his parents and the culture.

So the U.S. soldier who supposedly killed the 16 Afghan civilians can blame it on his parents and culture? Which culture do you refer to - socio-economic, military, etc.? Or is it a combination of all - meaning he completely blameless?

the thinker, good questions. Let's see.

NO. He is not blameless. Let justice decide his guilt. What is up for discussion is how can we as parents give better futures to our children by not leading them into dead-end situations with poor choices.

tom how do you know this? did you know his parents?

For a good idea on what part his parents had, and his social setting had, in the formation of Adolf Hitler's mentality I suggest John Toland's biography of Adolf and Richard J. Evans' The Coming of the Third Reich. Hint, Bismark played a part.

how can anyone paying tribute to Hitlers cause be allowed to continue?

And yet Hitler's cause is alive and well and thriving in the United States.

Arizona's SB 1070 and Alabama's HB 56 were both written by the same man, Kurt Kobach of Kansas. He works for an organization founded by Nazi-admirer John Tanton, who has written glowingly about the "genetics" policies of the Third Reich. It is a matter of public record that John Tanton wants the United States to adopt Hitler's "genetics" policies, and he believes that immigration rules are the easiest place to start. After SB 1070 was written, it was handed to Russell Pearce, who introduced it to the Arizona Senate. The same Russell Pearce who campaigned arm in arm with neo_Nazi leader J. T. Ready.

http://www.adl.org/civil_rights/anti_immigrant/resource_planning.asp

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50897411-76/tanton-fair-immigration-bill.html.csp

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2010/06/02/20100602wedlets023.html

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/04/27/4210613-racist-roots-of-arizonas-immigration-law

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/us/17immig.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-potok/razing-arizona-given-its_b_559205.html

http://peoplesworld.org/nazis-on-border-support-sb-107/

http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2010/03/26/tanton-memo-of-the-month-the-promotion-of-eugenics/

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/new-splc-report-three-leading-anti-immigration-groups-share-extremist-roots

http://vivirlatino.com/2010/04/27/russell-pearce-author-of-sb-1070-connected-to-white-supremacist-organizations.php

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/01/04/176444/russell-pearce-nazi/?mobile=nc

http://www.newstaco.com/2012/01/11/romney-proud-of-endorsement-from-sb-1070-author/

http://www.mittromney.com/blogs/mitts-view/2012/01/mitt-romney-announces-support-kansas-secretary-state-kris-kobach

so you're saying the majority of the people in the south of the USA are racists, because their parents and grandparents owned slaves, right?

His parents didn't join the Nazi Party!

They were dead.

I didn't bother to do any research as to whether or not this is still the case, but stuff like this used to be pretty common in Europe. Once no one was mourning for a particular person anymore, they would dig up the body and replace it with someone else. It was a way of saving space.

Remember the famous "Yorick" scene in Hamlet? That's what's going on there. I guess it still happens, although this also comes as news to me.

That's pretty scary. I know I'd be pissed as hell if they threw someone in on top of my grandpa.

I intend to be cremated and scattered, so I guess my corpse won't have to worry about meeting someone. Intend my ashes will have to contend with being pooped on by a passing bear. Because we all know, bears do poop in the woods.

Yes. Space in Europe is at a premium, so graves are not purchased, but leased. Once there is no longer a willing family member to maintain the lease and care for the grave, it can be re-leased to a new family. America does not suffer from the same space issues, so we simply open new cemeteries when the old ones are filled up. But eventually, they become abandoned when no one is left to maintain and support them. If you live in rural America, it is not uncommon to finnd old cemetaries that are no longer in use, but still standing in the mids of cornfields and pastures, grass gowing high over the tombstones.

yea, I was looking to see what they did with the remains but no tell. Also when did his parents die. You would think that a reporter writing a small story such as this would consider these questions in that they would naturally come up in ones mind.

I am told in Japan they remove the remains after a short while (a few years) to make space for others. The bones are cleaned (not sure what they do with clean bones) or cremated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_Hitler

He died 1903.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klara_Hitler

She died 1907.

For the most part, graves in Europe are not permanent. You rent them for a specific amount of time and your descendent can renew or not. And no, other bodies are not tossed on top of yours. If the lease is not renewed your bones are removed, placed in the ossuary and if our gravestone is historic (meaning you are historic) or otherwise interesting it is commonly placed in the wall around the cemetary. Some very important or historic people will be left in place regardless of of whether or not the lease is renewed. You can go to many cemetaries in Europe and see stacks of bones in the cemetary's ossuary. Some may see it as ghoulish I guess but it is very normal.

Ruken, regarding bears pooping in the woods, if you're alive in the woods you can deter bears by wearing a bell and using pepper spray. Also look for signs of recent bear activity, like bear poop that smells like peppers and has bells in it.

Chris - "And no, other bodies are not tossed on top of yours. If the lease is not renewed your bones are removed,"

Read the article:

"Asked whether he would have trouble persuading people to let their loved ones share a grave with the parents of a man whose name is a universal epitome of evil, Pitterschatscher said, "I really haven't thought about it.""

Since the headstone has been removed they can apparently just pile more bodies into the same spot but the bodies stay put.

P.S.

Pitterschatscher said, "I really haven't thought about it.""

This means, "I'm not planning to tell them who else is buried there"

Cremation is the only thing that makes sense to me after death. Land used for Cemetery's can and should be used for other things...its not like burying a person is gonna to make a difference to the person being buried, they are dead either way. I guess you can say it is for grieving loved ones to have a place to commemorate their beloved, but I think there are ways to do this without wasting land that can be used for other things.

It's not uncommon for graves to be used more than once. A certain number of years must pass before the grave can be used again (until nothing but bones are left) to avoid any type of contamination or contagion

pjam09, so you think the reporter actually reported in detail what will happen? I lived in Germany and Austria for 12 years. I know what will happen. Why bother to try to enlighten you people... some of you are just determined to be clueless...

The grave had been cared for for over 100 years!!! Don't think the phenomenon of burying another on top the rotted out grave is a EUROPEAN thing with all the US-clichees about 'scarcity of land' and "OMG, not in America!"

You should check out the daily operations at your local graveyards; on American graveyards (many of them quasi-commercial or outright business ventures) quite a few graves barely have a stone and you'll see plenty of grave sites 'recycled over' a couple decades later. In my (un-named) major city in the middle of America, one of the largest cemetaries was involved in a multi-million dollar fraud with prepaid funeral plots (not an isolated case)... don't expect CORPORATE LARGESSE to foot the unpaid future lease and maintenance on your eternal resting place...

A turd by any other name still smells like crap!

Wow! What insight! Very original thought. Or maybe not.

In a book on Frankline D. Roosevelt the author analyzed his election to the presidency using the theory he called the "Golden Ring Theory". Part of that theory was you had to have an electable look and name. Further along that line in 1986 the Democrat Primary was hijacked by Lyndon LaRouche when he noticed that a lot of the slated candidates had odd foreign sounding names. He ran a bunch of LaRouchite candidates with plain jane American names and won the Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State positions on the ticket without hardly campaigning. So yes, a name is HUGE in politics....

GTFO... that doesn't sound realistic.

Cite a source or I call BS on that.

Look at the responses to #2. I had the same thought, but from the word "lease" in the article I'd guess this is the case.

Chris - I think this article said something to that effect.

Chris: I don't think its BS; places that have a scarcity of land tend to reuse graves. In addition:
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/faithbased/2011/02/rentagrave.html
http://www.theworld.org/2010/08/recycling-graves-in-germany/

http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/germany/final-resting-place-isn-t-always-final-in-germany-1.109232

http://www.deathreference.com/Bl-Ce/Cemeteries-and-Cemetery-Reform.html

Also, who cares if the stone is removed and the plot reused? You don't really need to be taking up real estate after you're dead.

that is why my parents were cremated and my family will also be cremated. In my area there are a lot of abandoned cemeteries; no one takes care of them; no one cares; no one has family members buried there and the trees and brush have grown up and displacing head stones.

After about two or three generations no one cares but the rest of society is left with an ugly sprawl on often prime real estate.

Chris, I lived in Europe for 12 years and can attest to the truth of the rent process. Europe has is much older and much more densely populated than the USA. They don't have unlimited space for graves. From my post above:

For the most part, graves in Europe are not permanent. You rent them for a specific amount of time and your descendent can renew or not. And no, other bodies are not tossed on top of yours. If the lease is not renewed your bones are removed, placed in the ossuary and if our gravestone is historic (meaning you are historic) or otherwise interesting it is commonly placed in the wall around the cemetary. Some very important or historic people will be left in place regardless of of whether or not the lease is renewed. You can go to many cemetaries in Europe and see stacks of bones in the cemetary's ossuary. Some may see it as ghoulish I guess but it is very normal.

in Italy, they empty graves routinely...even if a family member tries to pay to keep the remains buried

sylvia, are you sure about that? i'm not doubting you but that sounds really terrible.but from what a few others said here i guess thats commonplace.

but unfortunately this world will suffer the same nightmare but just by a different name.

We have had similar ethnic cleansing since WWII in Asia, Africa and Europe totaling similar numbers. The difference is we did not have a world war so it did not seem as bad.

The chances increase as world population increases and as resources decreases. They say fresh water will be a big point of contention in the near future....guess where a lot of the fresh water is.

I'm by lake Michigan. No worries here!

Why, is Lake Michigan empty already?

If one is thirsty enough they will drink the water from Lake Ontario....actually we do!

You see where they are shipping water from a pristine lake in Alaska to Asia and India.

speaking of lake michigan, the sad thing is that our elected officials allow it to be polluted for their own personal graft. sad indeed , fresh water... maybe not in our lifetimes but in the future if this rock is even still around will be coveted far more than fossil fuel is now.

Ron - your post makes no sense or maybe you or kidding or believe in fortune telling. How does any one know how one will turn out as an adult until they have become an adult?

Pretty happy that the inventors of pennicilin...electricity....the printing press....and vacinations weren't aborted. *phew* Ron...your comment is ridiciulous.

Ya see, what we need to do is have another holocaust that kills everybody, so that way we can make certain there's not another holocaust. Oh wait...

My father was 21 when he was sent off to fight the Nazis in WWII!

I am his child at 58 years old. Some of his other children are in their 40's. Is that too difficult for you to do the math on that?

I am 59 years old, and my father (born in Austria, raised in Germany) fought for Germany in WW2. You're correct, doing the math is simple.

Yikes...but I am older than most of the folks posting here. My Dad was 33 when he enlisted. He was unmarried at the time. He was listed as MIA in the late 40's for a month (in the Fuji (sp?) Islands) and was assumed dead. He came limping back to his troop after a month. Starved and wounded. He also turned down a Purple Heart. He, in no way, felt like a hero.

After I was born-in the early 50's-I remember my Dad having violent nightmares and recurrent bouts of malaria for all of his life. A quiet and kind man, he struggled his whole life to overcome what he saw and what he did.

I'm still trying to see the math.

In Westminster, MD, not far from Baltimore, MD., there are mostly Germans and they openly state that 'they are smarter' than other ethnic groups. I find this talk so ridiculous and I offer this as an example as to why they are actually moronic. When one drives through the area of Westminster, MD, signs on local businesses are constantly mispelled ... like purchase is 'perchase' and response is 'responce'. Yes, but, these neo-nazi's are sooo much smarter. The German believes don't change.

Well it is possible that his dad did have something to do with creating this monster, historically speaking, but no parent could ever intentionally create an Adolph H. It only took him 5 years to build an army from scratch and start a mechanized world war.

KrazyD111give me a break didnt his father was half jew but anyways parents had nothing to do with this monster



Your name is apropos, considering the state of your comment. I'm not sure what you were trying to say.

How much do your parents have to do with you? I've got lot of Mommy & Daddy in me. I even look like them!!

If thats true then very criminal can't use the defense I am a horrible person and do bad things because my daddy was mean to me and my mommy didn't hug me enough. I am all for that but these bottom feeder defense lawyers would not be able to put the blame on anyone except their clients.

Krazy-you are well named.

This was not about being Jewish. Hitler had Jewish ancestry which he went to great lengths to conceal. This was about power and control.

Look at the 2nd law of TD. Entropy. What goes up...must come down.

if you dont do everything the way he does then you're wrong.

... and you should be exterminated...?

LOL!!!!! You need a hug! Hitler's got you thinking about your Brother!!! LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!

Austria's a whole group of folks & I'm sure they run the gambit in that there are all types of people. But when nearly 3 in 10 respond to a survey saying they are antisemitic, well that's troubling. And of course, their demographics will break down much like ours; with the educated more affluent, and more liberal and peaceful, and the ignorant/impoverished/disenfranchised acting out in foolish ways, using anger and violence as methodologies for problem solving. If your hero is some dead super-evil guy, then you're dumb enough to be scary. Vienna is still lovely this time of year...

Yes.

No, silly, they only make Soylent Green out of fresh corpses....like......after Big Brother gets done killing a few hundred thousand brown people in the middle east! Just think of the profits all those brown people will make after they're "processed"!.....

Give me a break!

How about the middle east?

It's definitely logical to remove anything that is elevated to a shrine by neo-nazis. Remove the inspiration, remove the emotion. Remove what may lead to conflict. If Mr. Zimmerman had followed the instructions of the 911 operator, then he and Mr. Martin would never have gotten close enough for someone to get dead.

However, let's not forget that as 20th Century devils go, Hitler was just #3:

Hitler: approx. 15 million

Stalin: 30

Mao: 70+

A bronze metal is still pretty darn good, but ol' Adolf was evil-lite compared to The Chairman.

Yes Charlton ....you are correct. But for some reason the others do not have such a cult following. I believe it may be the result of Hitler's ability to make the German people follow him dutifully and truly believe in his message. The others ruled by fear.

To Charlton : during WWII approximately 50 millions died. In a 6 year period.