# Did Hitler actually kill anybody? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703 "2011-09-18T08:01:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BowlOfDucks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BowlOfDucks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BowlOfDucks)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/1 "2011-09-18T08:01:23Z")
Obviously I don’t mean the millions he killed by being behind the holocaust or by starting the world war. I mean literally, did he directly kill anybody? I know he saw action on the western front in WW1, and since he got gassed, I’m know he got involved in combat. But did he kill anyone there or elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/2 "2011-09-18T08:37:37Z")
> [@BowlOfDucks](#): > > Obviously I don’t mean the millions he killed by being behind the holocaust or by starting the world war. > > I mean literally, did he directly kill anybody? > > I know he saw action on the western front in WW1, and since he got gassed, I’m know he got involved in combat. But did he kill anyone there or elsewhere? On the Western Front he was a runner carrying messages; which was a very dangerous job, if not the most dangerous job, but not one in which he would’ve been expected to directly engage the enemy in combat unless forced by circumstance. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/3 "2011-09-18T09:13:03Z")
Possibly [Geli Raubal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geli_Raubal). ETA: [Another cite](http://www.hindustantimes.com/After-sex-relation-Hitler-killed-niece/Article1-151511.aspx). ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/4 "2011-09-18T09:37:02Z")
This question crops up here from time to time; a search of the archives would have easily found (for example) [last year’s thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547799), which has almost the same title as this one. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/5 "2011-09-18T13:38:26Z")
We’ve covered this on [at least once](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547799) before. ---
**Author:** ![BowlOfDucks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BowlOfDucks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BowlOfDucks)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/6 "2011-09-19T06:07:49Z")
I did search, and nothing came up ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/7 "2011-09-19T06:42:40Z")
Himself and possibly Eva Braun. And his dog, Blondi, who he probably grieved for more than he did any humans who died. But it’s doubtful that he killed anyone else. He definitely gave orders to have numerous individuals killed (not talking about ordering bombings but specific death sentences to individuals like Ernst Röhm and others purged before the war and then the people involved in the assassination attempt and various generals he didn’t like, etc.). He ordered the execution of Hermann Göring along with Frau Göring and their 7 year old daughter (Hitler’s goddaughter) during the last week of the war. Speaking of: Hermann Göring killed numerous men as a fighter pilot and commander of the Red Baron’s squadron during WW1. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/8 "2011-09-19T06:48:02Z")
I remember reading that Himmler once visited the scene of one of his SS underlings’ many massacres while still underway, and was driven nearly to hysterics at the sight. His punishment in Hell was probably fairly easy to devise . . . ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/9 "2011-09-19T16:28:13Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I remember reading that Himmler once visited the scene of one of his SS underlings’ many massacres while still underway, and was driven nearly to hysterics at the sight. His punishment in Hell was probably fairly easy to devise . . . He asked for a cigarette after witnessing the “arrival to shower to disposal” process at Auschwitz, which was odd since like Hitler he didn’t smoke/was anti-smoking. There’s no way of knowing why, but some have suggested it was his nerves and some that it was like a post coital smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/10 "2011-09-19T17:23:20Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I remember reading that Himmler once visited the scene of one of his SS underlings’ many massacres while still underway, and was driven nearly to hysterics at the sight. His punishment in Hell was probably fairly easy to devise . . . IIRC this freak-out was after watching a mass execution by firing squad in Russia. With regards to Hitler’s job as a message runner in WW1, the reason it was one of if not the most dangerous jobs despite its innocuous sounding role, portable field radios didn’t yet exist and spooling field telephone wire across no-mans land was a fool’s errand as it was certain to be cut by artillery fire. The only way to get messages across no-mans land was by runner, so unlike the rest of the infantry who would only have to cross no-mans land once in an attack, runners would have to keep crossing it bringing messages from the front and orders back from the rear. ---
**Author:** ![Cyningablod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/11 "2011-09-19T18:25:10Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > With regards to Hitler’s job as a message runner in WW1, the reason it was one of if not the most dangerous jobs despite its innocuous sounding role, portable field radios didn’t yet exist and spooling field telephone wire across no-mans land was a fool’s errand as it was certain to be cut by artillery fire. The only way to get messages across no-mans land was by runner, so unlike the rest of the infantry who would only have to cross no-mans land once in an attack, runners would have to keep crossing it bringing messages from the front and orders back from the rear. Wait, wait…this doesn’t make sense to me. Wasn’t No Man’s Land, strictly speaking, the territory between the Allied and enemy trenches? If so, why would Hitler (or anyone, for that matter), be running comm wire between them? The better to chat with the enemy? Or maybe I’m just ignorant of WWI trench layouts: Maybe No Man’s Land included the blasted zone between trenches of the same side? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/12 "2011-09-19T19:12:36Z")
> [@Cyningablod](#): > > Wait, wait…this doesn’t make sense to me. Wasn’t No Man’s Land, strictly speaking, the territory between the Allied and enemy trenches? If so, why would Hitler (or anyone, for that matter), be running comm wire between them? The better to chat with the enemy? > > Or maybe I’m just ignorant of WWI trench layouts: Maybe No Man’s Land included the blasted zone between trenches of the same side? Well, people on both sides tried to _cross_ No Man’s Land, eventually. I gather that was sort of the point. When a unit has crossed said Land, on a tiny point of the line, it needs coms to know what the fuck else the idiot general who’s not satisfied with one miracle wants to ask further of them. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/13 "2011-09-19T19:18:05Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > IIRC this freak-out was after watching a mass execution by firing squad in Russia. Yes, in Minsk in August 1941. He apparently turned rather green when a piece of brain matter splattered on his uniform. [Cite](http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/einsatz/himmlerinminsk.html). ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/14 "2011-09-19T19:51:57Z")
> [@Cyningablod](#): > > Or maybe I’m just ignorant of WWI trench layouts: Maybe No Man’s Land included the blasted zone between trenches of the same side? Depended on the circumstances, but I think it’s safe to say that “no man’s land” was _anywhere_ your head was above ground level and there was a non-zero probability of an enemy sniper being present. All trees and cover had been blasted completely away by artillery. They had to dig-out trenches leading to the front-line trenches (called “communication trenches”), because the front-line trenches were so close to the enemy even walking towards them would put you in the sights of an enemy sniper. Advances were also pretty confused. It was likely that, during an attack, units could be in enemy territory and not know it. ---
**Author:** ![ModernPrimate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@ModernPrimate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ModernPrimate)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/15 "2011-09-19T20:02:46Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Yes, in Minsk in August 1941. He apparently turned rather green when a piece of brain matter splattered on his uniform. [Cite](http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/einsatz/himmlerinminsk.html). Yes but in fairness that may have been more horror at his uniform being ruined than the piece of brain matter itself. 😛 But yes, Hitler “actually killed” millions and millions of people. He is the one who directly caused their deaths, so he killed them. Many of the people carrying out his orders were afraid to disobey. If you pull a trigger on a gun you can’t say “I didn’t kill anyone, all I did was pull the trigger, and the bullet happened to go into them”. Note:\*\* I am not getting into an argument over this. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/16 "2011-09-19T21:11:49Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > Note:\*\* I am not getting into an argument over this. \*\* That’s fine, but you’re insisting on a definition that’s different from what the OP is asking. In the previous thread, which I posted a link to, it was observed that while Hitler served during combat in WWI, there is no specific evidence about whether he killed anyone. (He himself was wounded twice.) There was some debate about whether or not he killed his niece, Gail Raubal, and there is some dispute over whether he claimed to have killed Ernst Rohm. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/17 "2011-09-19T21:26:36Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Well, people on both sides tried to _cross_ No Man’s Land, eventually. I gather that was sort of the point. > When a unit has crossed said Land, on a tiny point of the line, it needs coms to know what the fuck else the idiot general who’s not satisfied with one miracle wants to ask further of them. Pretty much this. Once the attacker has made it across no-mans land to the enemy’s trenches, the only way to relay information about their situation back to and receive new orders from higher command was to have runners go back and forth across no-man’s land, which was usually at the least still under sporadic artillery fire. Runners were also needed to relay messages along friendly trench lines if comm wire lines were cut. Comm wire from one’s own trenches was usually buried 6 feet or so underground to provide some protection from artillery fire. While a whole lot safer than having the wire aboveground where even shrapnel could cut it, a shell could still easily make a shell hole more than 6 feet deep. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/18 "2011-09-19T22:14:18Z")
> [@Cyningablod](#): > > Wait, wait…this doesn’t make sense to me. Wasn’t No Man’s Land, strictly speaking, the territory between the Allied and enemy trenches? If so, why would Hitler (or anyone, for that matter), be running comm wire between them? The better to chat with the enemy? You have misread the post you responded to. It says that you CAN’T run a wire over no-man’s land. Hitler was a runner, carrying messages on paper back and forth between troops trying to advance through no-man’s land and the commanders some distance back. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/19 "2011-09-20T01:58:14Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > Yes but in fairness that may have been more horror at his uniform being ruined than the piece of brain matter itself. 😛 > > But yes, Hitler “actually killed” millions and millions of people. He is the one who directly caused their deaths, so he killed them. Many of the people carrying out his orders were afraid to disobey. If you pull a trigger on a gun you can’t say “I didn’t kill anyone, all I did was pull the trigger, and the bullet happened to go into them”. Note:\*\* I am not getting into an argument over this. \*\* I believe that the OP was whether or not Hitler ‘personally’ killed anybody, i.e., in person, using the term ‘directly’ as the operative word. The OP indicated knowledge that Hitler had ‘killed’ as the OP himself/herself actually noted that Hitler killed millions… hh ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703/20 "2011-09-20T04:11:52Z")
You guys seem to be getting Hitler and Himmler mixed up… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-hitler-actually-kill-anybody/596703.md?page=2)