# Short stories with Adolf Hitler as the good guy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2014, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573 "2014-09-05T12:14:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/1 "2014-09-05T12:14:24Z")
Are there any short stories that like the “Case For the Empire” article which showed the Emperor toi be the good guy in the Star Wars series, takes the historic facts as they are known and creates a narrative whereby Adolf Hitler is a good guy? I’m sure there’s lots written by Nazi sympathisers who genuinely belive AH is a heroic figure, but that’s not what I’m interested in; I am looking for something more in keeping with “Case For The Empire” where the author is aware that _in the real world_ Hiter was a monsterous evil but is playing with a “what-if” scenario where Hitler is somehow doing good. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/2 "2014-09-05T12:41:16Z")
Well, he’s not “doing good”, but he at least sublimates his hates into literature in Norman Spinrad’s novel **The Iron Dream**. The premise is that Hitler stayed in his career as an artist, migrated to the US, and became an illustrator for the science fiction pulps, and eventually a writer. The bulk of the book is his novel-within-a-novel “THe Lord of the Swastika”, featuring an Aryan hero in the Conan mold who can brawl and drin k with the best of them, and fight the subhuman mutants who are traying to take over, and should al be killed. > **[The Iron Dream](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Iron_Dream)** > > The Iron Dream is a metafictional 1972 alternate history novel by American author Norman Spinrad. The book has a nested narrative that tells a story within a story. On the surface, the novel presents a post-apocalyptic adventure tale entitled Lord of the Swastika, written by an alternate-history Adolf Hitler shortly before his death in 1953. In this timeline, Hitler emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1919 after the Great War, and used his modest artistic skills to become first a pulp–... ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/3 "2014-09-05T15:07:08Z")
[Does this count?](http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2509#comic) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/4 "2014-09-05T16:18:14Z")
The webcomic Goats had a lengthy story arc called “Good Hitler v. Space Hitler.” Good Hitler was basically James Bond. Space Hitler was basically Hitler, but in space. Both were meant to be from alternate universes, though, and not the “real” Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/5 "2014-09-05T16:29:47Z")
> [@tanstaafl](#): > > [Does this count?](http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2509#comic) Back during WWII, cartoonist Milton Caniff (_Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon_ drew a strip for the Army newspaper, _Stars and Stripes_. It was called _Male Call_. One of the strips looked at facial hair styles among military men. It notes: > [@](#): > > The one good thing Hitler did was put the stink on the OCS “Toothbrush” OCS = Officer Candidate School. Apparently a lot of budding lieutenants decided to try to look older by wearing a chaplin-esque abbreviated moustache. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/6 "2014-09-05T23:13:39Z")
There are stories where Hitler is taken out only to be replaced with someone worse, or at least more competent. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/7 "2014-09-05T23:32:20Z")
Hitler makes a titular appearance in Harlan Ellison’s short story _Hitler Painted Roses_, where Hell is opened up and every evil person in history escapes… except for our boy Adolph, who is happily painting roses and does not escape. So, uh, he’s not exactly being evil and stays in Hell where he belongs… so that’s “good”, right? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/8 "2014-09-05T23:52:45Z")
[Young Adolph](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Adolf) has Hitler as a young man visiting the UK. He’s portrayed as a buffoon, but not evil. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/9 "2014-09-06T01:21:09Z")
In Chuck Klosterman’s book _I Wear the Black Hat_, a collection of essays about villains, talks some about how Hitler is depicted in pop culture. “Hitler is still a historical figure, but he’s predominantly a placeholder for cognitive darkness; he’s the entity we use in the same way people once employed the devil.” It’s possible to have a work of pop culture where the devil, Judas, or pretty much any other traditional villain is depicted as sympathetic, misunderstood, or at least wickedly charming, but Closterman argues that this just can’t be done with Hitler, at least not in mainstream pop culture. ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sasquatch\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch_1)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/10 "2014-09-06T02:01:52Z")
I recall a SF story about a future culture that cloned ancient / famous people basically for economic benefit; i.e. clone Mozart and try to get music out of him. One joke was a corporation cloned Einstein but he was only interested in playing violin. Spoiler: The main plot involved corporate conflict, and one business used a clone of Hitler for their representative ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/11 "2014-09-06T02:37:05Z")
James P. Hogan wrote a funny short story with a good Hitler. A time traveler goes back to kill Hitler, only to find he’s one of a horde as he’s immediately apprehended by German soldiers whose attitude is basically _"\_ ‘What? Another time traveler wanting to kill Hitler? Go stand over there with the others.’ " Hitler it appears is a great and noble leader and wants to know why all these travelers are showing up to kill him. He actually _does_ kill Hitler and is shot, only to hear as he’s dying the soldiers talking about how they can’t afford to admit Hitler’s dead and they’ll “have to use the double”, even if he _is_ unstable. Double: “Come! We have the last twenty years of history to re-write!”\* \\* ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/12 "2014-09-06T03:35:17Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > In Chuck Klosterman’s book _I Wear the Black Hat_, a collection of essays about villains, talks some about how Hitler is depicted in pop culture. “Hitler is still a historical figure, but he’s predominantly a placeholder for cognitive darkness; he’s the entity we use in the same way people once employed the devil.” It’s possible to have a work of pop culture where the devil, Judas, or pretty much any other traditional villain is depicted as sympathetic, misunderstood, or at least wickedly charming, but Closterman argues that this just can’t be done with Hitler, at least not in mainstream pop culture. Unciteable, as it comes from memory, but ISTR reading in a couple of books that prior to Hitler the main historical personage who was considered, by Europeans, as the standard for evil was Napoleon. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/13 "2014-09-06T03:42:06Z")
:smack: Hell, I started a thread 3 years ago about that very question. “It comes from memory” indeed! :rolleyes: > **[Who was the standard-bearer for EVIL prior to Hitler?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=647118)** > > Title pretty much says it all: Who was the standard-bearer (at least in the Western world) for evil prior to 1945? Napoleon? Genghis Khan? Judas? The Boogeyman? The Devil? Was there even one? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/14 "2014-09-06T05:51:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > There are stories where Hitler is taken out only to be replaced with someone worse, or at least more competent. The most recent Twilight Zone revival, the one hosted by Forrest Whittaker, featured in one of their few worthwhile episodes a plot where a time traveler goes back and gets a job as one of two nannies for Hitler’s father. She manages to kill baby Adolf but dies herself, and the only one who knows is the other nanny. Terrified of being prosecuted she purchases a baby off a gypsy which ends up being the Adolf we know and love. Yes we have the time traveler to thank for WW2 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/15 "2014-09-06T07:25:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > There are stories where Hitler is taken out only to be replaced with someone worse, or at least more competent. There’s an episode of the Justice League cartoon where immortal supervillain Vandal Savage manages to send a laptop loaded with designs for cutting-edge military hardware back in time to himself, where he uses the information to unseat Hitler, and leads Germany to conquer the world. The Justice League travels back in time to defeat him and destroy his weapon designs. The episode ends with a couple German scientists saying, “Well, guess it’s a good thing we kept the other guy on ice,” as they thaw out a cryo tube with Hitler in it. The thing about that is, while Vandal Savage conquered the world, he’s not particularly anti-Semetic. He’s actually older than Judaism, and all the secret plots to control the world that Jews are supposed to be behind, were usually him. For all his other faults, he’s got no particular interest in genocide. Basically, Superman caused the Holocaust, is what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/16 "2014-09-06T11:00:53Z")
[No one has more experience then him fighting time travelers](http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3266) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/17 "2014-09-06T13:38:13Z")
The character Dolf from the Fallen Angel series is a friend and helper of the protagonist. It is strongly implied that he is Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/18 "2014-09-06T15:47:12Z")
Ken Scholes’ [“Summer in Paris, Light from the Sky”](http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/scholes_11_07/) has middle-aged Hitler trying to make art a career after a too-quiet life. Then things get really different. IMO the story is the best alternate Hitler, and arguably the best alternate history story written. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/19 "2014-09-06T19:05:37Z")
> [@grude](#): > > The most recent Twilight Zone revival, the one hosted by Forrest Whittaker, featured in one of their few worthwhile episodes a plot where a time traveler goes back and gets a job as one of two nannies for Hitler’s father. She manages to kill baby Adolf but dies herself, and the only one who knows is the other nanny. Terrified of being prosecuted she purchases a baby off a gypsy which ends up being the Adolf we know and love. > > Yes we have the time traveler to thank for WW2 Damn time travelers, starting wars, killing Lincoln and JFK, boinking their own grandmothers. Why if I had a time machine, I’d go back and make sure the damn things don’t get invented. ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573/20 "2014-09-07T19:44:24Z")
A little attenuated, but there is a comic book storyline from the eighties (I think from Batman and the Outsiders) where they cloned Hitler and subjected the clone to nazi propaganda including scenes from concentration camps. In the end, they give him a gun and send in a young woman wearing a star of David, hoping the clone will finish his indindoctrination by shooting the woman. Instead, he was so horrified by the images that, instead, he turned the gun on himself. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-stories-with-adolf-hitler-as-the-good-guy/697573.md?page=2)