# Are (Were) Hitler, ObL, Idi Amin, etc. POLITE? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539 "2002-12-23T13:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/21 "2002-12-24T01:35:45Z")
Hitler was very complex personality-wise. re the OP, remember before he was in power he was a politician trying to more or less democratically win office (from circa 1921 to 1932). As such he needed people to, at the very least, work with him – better if some liked him. Here is the OSS’s psych profile of Adolph. Page after page is his socio-pathetic 🙂 behavior. Look at Hitler as his associates know him. [http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/osstitle.htm](http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/documents/osstitle.htm) One point they make alot too tho: Fromm (371) writes that at a dinner: “Hitler’s eagerness to obtain the good graces of the princes present was subject to much comment. He bowed and clicked and all but knelt in his zeal to please oversized, ugly Princess Luise von Sachsen-Meiningen, her brother, hereditary Prince George, and their sister, Grand Duchess of Sachsen-Weimar. Beaming in his servile attitude he dashed personally to bring refreshments from the buffet.” ---
**Author:** ![leroy\_the\_mule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6a8cbe/32.png) [@leroy\_the\_mule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leroy_the_mule)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/22 "2002-12-24T05:52:30Z")
I knew a man, Herman, who was a soldier in the German army in WWII. He was pleasant company, most of the time, but occasionally he gave me the creeps. One time was when he praised Hitler for making the German army more tolerable for common soldiers. Herman said that Hitler made a rule that officers had to ask “may I touch you?” before touching a soldier during inspection. Before Hitler, according to Herman, officers could physically abuse soldiers at will. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/23 "2002-12-24T06:32:31Z")
Now you see, **leroy** , I don’t understand what’s creepy about that at all. Officers _should_ respect the troops, shouldn’t they? Be right back. Looking for **Daoloth** ’s 5000. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/24 "2002-12-24T06:36:37Z")
“Beaming in his servile attitude he dashed personally to bring refreshments from the buffet.” Now _that’s_ creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/25 "2002-12-24T06:45:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > \*\*Now you see, **leroy** , I don’t understand what’s creepy about that at all. Officers _should_ respect the troops, shouldn’t they? > Be right back. Looking for **Daoloth** ’s 5000. > Peace, > mangeorge \*\* Well, that’s really a [minimum](http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat6.htm#Cuba59), although he hasn’t been too active with his firing squads in the past three decades. Although, he still does sustain various [brutal prison camps](http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/80.81eng/Cuba4402.htm) such as the horrid [Isla de Pinos](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1893554198/qid=/sr=/ref=cm_lm_asin/102-5346826-5150532?v=glance). ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/26 "2002-12-24T06:49:58Z")
Oh, here’s something to add, that is certainly impolite: Mao seldom brushed his teeth or bathed. His philosophy went roughly thus: “Does a tiger brush his teeth?” ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/27 "2002-12-24T06:52:39Z")
Neil Davis, in his biography One Crowded Hour, called up Idi Amin (who hated western journalists). Kinda amusing ancedote, Idi was quite polite until Neil confessed to being a reported, and then Idi turned quite rabid. Of course, an awful lot of people react this way with reporters. ---
**Author:** ![superfreakicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@superfreakicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superfreakicus)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/28 "2002-12-24T07:00:24Z")
I heard they were all great neighbors. very quiet – never bothered anybody. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/29 "2002-12-24T07:34:53Z")
Well, Papa Doc’s grandson was a really cool guy when I met [him](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118776). Don’t know about his father or grandfather, though. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/30 "2002-12-24T13:38:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by leroy\_the\_mule \* > \*\*I knew a man, Herman, who was a soldier in the German army in WWII. He was pleasant company, most of the time, but occasionally he gave me the creeps. One time was when he praised Hitler for making the German army more tolerable for common soldiers. Herman said that Hitler made a rule that officers had to ask “may I touch you?” before touching a soldier during inspection. Before Hitler, according to Herman, officers could physically abuse soldiers at will. \*\* The “May I touch you?” thing is fairly common, and I doubt Hitler was the first person to think of it. In my time in the Canadian army, you absolutely had to ask “May I touch you?” before touching a subordinate on parade, or in class, or whatever; to not do so would have been considered **assault.** I personally witnessed two NCOs, who forgot this policy and touched their subordinates without permission, threatened by more senior NCOs that “If you do that again, I’ll charge you and you’ll go to jail.” It’s just a way to avoid unpleasantries and respect the law. After all, touching someone without their permission is technically assault, and a soldier is a person who should not be assaulted. I believe this policy was adopted by many nations’ armies during the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/31 "2002-12-24T14:24:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MEBuckner \* > \*\*From [_The Atlantic Monthly_](http://www.theatlantic.com)’s fascinating [profile of Saddam](http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/05/bowden.htm) by Mark Bowden: > > > [@](#): > > > > Saddam’s desk is always immaculate. Reports from his various department heads are stacked neatly, > > \*\* Of course, when Saddam’s in a bad mood, the various department heads are stacked neatly… ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/32 "2002-12-24T14:30:53Z")
There was an item on a BBC radio programme yesterday with a jounalist, Riccardo Orizio, who has met with a number of deposed dictators, including Idi Amin, and written a book about it. You can listen to the programme [here](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?starttheweek). The show should remain online until next Monday. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/33 "2002-12-24T16:26:15Z")
Henry Kissinger said that Mao was the most “intellectual” world leaders he had ever met. Didn’t say anything about his manners, though. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/34 "2002-12-24T20:43:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ticker \* > \*\*There was an item on a BBC radio programme yesterday with a jounalist, Riccardo Orizio, who has met with a number of deposed dictators, including Idi Amin, and written a book about it. You can listen to the programme [here](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_aod.shtml?starttheweek). The show should remain online until next Monday. \*\* Which show is it? ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/35 "2002-12-24T20:47:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daoloth \* > \*\*Which show is it? \*\* Found it. Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539/36 "2002-12-24T20:50:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daoloth \* > \*\*Which show is it? \*\* Start The Week. The link I gave should take you straight to it, though sometimes there is a bit of a lead-in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-were-hitler-obl-idi-amin-etc-polite/144539.md?page=1)