The History of WWII Podcast XX
[0] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[1] Suddenly out of the dark, it's a bit in love.
[2] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[3] What do they know?
[4] What are their skills?
[5] And what would you do in their position?
[6] Vengeance felt good seeing these.
[7] People paid for what they'd done, felt righteous.
[8] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.
[9] This episode is brought to you by Audible .com.
[10] As you know, Audible has over 100 ,000 titles to choose from, and you can get one for free.
[11] Simply go to my website, click on the Audible link, sign up for the free 14 -day trial, and get your free audiobook.
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[15] I've been with them for almost a year now, and I do a lot of driving, and I've saved a lot of money on the audiobooks that I've gotten with them.
[16] So it definitely is worth it.
[17] You should check it out.
[18] This go -around, I'd like to recommend The Duel by John Lucas.
[19] It's a day -to -day account of the Battle of Britain when Churchill was pitted against Hitler.
[20] Hitler was so close to victory, and Churchill was so close to defeat.
[21] but he pulled it out.
[22] Before it goes into the day -to -day accounts, it gives a very good background of the two leaders of the countries and how they had prepared for the war that they knew was coming.
[23] Also, it's very well written.
[24] I know people like to hear a good story and they want the facts and the information, but he really has a way with words and it really made a difference in enjoying the story.
[25] Or, if you're in the mood for something a little different, check out Herman Wook's The Winds of War.
[26] That's on there as well, and that's a really good story.
[27] I read it a long time ago, and I remember enjoying it, and the idea of having it read to me by a professional reader is quite appealing.
[28] So that'll be the next book I get.
[29] So one's fiction, but obviously has a lot of fact in it.
[30] The other one's a very good, very well -written book.
[31] Check those out.
[32] I think you'll be very happy with either one.
[33] Thank you very much.
[34] Hello, and thank you for listening to A History of World War II, Episode 37, The Early Life of Adolf Hitler.
[35] Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party of the Third Reich, was responsible for much suffering and many deaths.
[36] The decisions he made that caused so much harm were made in pursuit of power and domination.
[37] He sought to be the leader of the German nation.
[38] And when he achieved that, he sought control over the powerful generals, the Reichstag, and other controlling institutions within the Reich.
[39] But his ultimate goal was the eventual control of the world.
[40] This last fact is normally proof of a deluded or disturbed mind.
[41] But it's possible Hitler's attempt to control everything was just a reaction to the stunted intellectual and emotional growth of his childhood.
[42] After all, he had a domineering father, who beat him when his authority was challenged, and Adolf challenged his father.
[43] This abuse was balanced out by his loving mother, who allowed the young boy almost anything within her limited control.
[44] And within that gulf, madness can easily lie.
[45] Or perhaps he was just born a certain way, and all the events throughout his younger life were simply a manifestation of a mind that was already set.
[46] More evidence regularly comes our way that people...
[47] are just born the way they are, and that change to their nature is limited and difficult.
[48] But really, this question of nature versus nurture is as old and probably intertwined with the question of good versus evil.
[49] Of course, we will never know the complete answer to the why or how of Hitler's makeup, but in the end, it doesn't really matter.
[50] Philosophical questions only serve a limited purpose, and we all learn, hopefully before it's too late, it's only a person's actions.
[51] Adolf Hitler was born at 6 .30 p .m. on April 20, 1889, at Brana Am Inn in Austria, right across from Bavaria.
[52] He was the third child of a third marriage of a minor Austrian customs official.
[53] His father, Eloise Schicklgruber, learned the trade of shoemaking in the village of Spittel, but left for Vienna at age 27.
[54] Alois was determined to improve himself, and although of a limited education, worked hard, made connections, and was promoted to the position of customs official.
[55] He married, but his wife died after 16 years.
[56] By the time he was a widower, Alois had changed his last name to Hitler to improve his chances at getting an inheritance.
[57] And it wasn't long before he married again.
[58] She was a young hotel cook, Franziska Mezzelberger.
[59] They soon had one son and one daughter together.
[60] But within a year after that, his second wife died of tuberculosis.
[61] Alois married again six months later.
[62] His third wife, and last, was Clara Polzel.
[63] She would become Adolf's mother.
[64] At the time of their wedding, she was 25 and he 48.
[65] Their first child, a boy, died in infancy.
[66] Along came a girl, but she died very young as well.
[67] Then Adolf was born.
[68] He was fussed over by his mother and survived infancy.
[69] Soon another boy joined the family, but he would die at age six.
[70] Finally, there was one last child, a girl, Paula, who would survive her famous brother.
[71] In 1895, Alois, aged 58, retired, and Adolf entered public school in Lambach.
[72] But these were troubled times for the child.
[73] Alois was restless, and he moved his family seven times within that area.
[74] and Adolf experienced five different elementary schools.
[75] Not to overemphasize such things, but surely it could not have been easy on him.
[76] But still, to be a child is to be resilient, and Adolf found happiness where it could.
[77] He would quickly become the leader of the boys who would play cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, and organized a replaying of the Franco -Prussian War.
[78] At first, Adolf found the elementary schools very easy.
[79] They required no exertion from him, and therefore, he enjoyed them.
[80] But as the family kept moving around, this affected Adolf, directly or indirectly, and his grades began to suffer.
[81] But finally, in November of 1898, the family settled down in the village of Leondin, right outside Linz, which Adolf would consider his hometown.
[82] The next two years of Adolf's remaining elementary schooling saw his poor grades continue.
[83] By 1900, when Adolf was age 11, it was time to think of his future.
[84] and Alois had to decide on what kind of secondary school his son would attend.
[85] But the decision would end up being delayed by another death in the family.
[86] On February 2, 1900, Adolf's younger brother, Edmund, died of measles.
[87] Though still grieving, a decision had to be made about Adolf.
[88] Now, all of Alois' hopes were put on the boy's shoulders, as his oldest son, Alios Jr., from his second marriage, ended up being the black sheep of the family.
[89] So Hitler was settled into a middle -of -the -road high school on September 17, 1900.
[90] A higher education through a university or academy was still possible from the school, but not assumed.
[91] His studying would be of science and technical studies.
[92] Art, music, and culture, the things Adolf loved most, were not covered in this school.
[93] Unfortunately, Adolf could honestly complain about the hour walk to...
[94] and then the hour walk home back from the high school.
[95] The transit certainly cut into his play and growing fantasy time.
[96] At Leondin, he had been a big fish in a very small pond, but at the high school in Linz, no one seemed to notice him, student or teacher, for whatever reason.
[97] Adolf's grades suffered and remained low.
[98] One teacher's recollection is probably enough to sum up this young, unhappy student.
[99] He was remembered as a thin, pale youth, not making use of his talents, and unable or unwilling to conform to the school system.
[100] He was also seen as stubborn, high -handed, hot -tempered, domineering, and a leader of childish pranks.
[101] But he was thought better of by his history teacher, a Dr. Leopold Posh, and in return Adolf liked him.
[102] Of course, There is a very good chance that this was mostly because Dr. Posh told stories of heroic German men and characters in his class, and Adolf was already, at this age, a lover of everything German.
[103] But at home, things were only getting worse.
[104] Alois spent his time trying to instill enthusiasm into his son for a career in the civil service.
[105] The benefits should have been obvious to the boy who got almost anything he wanted and lived comfortably.
[106] but all Adolf could think of was what he would lose as a civil servant, or really, working any job.
[107] He valued his freedom, as most children do, but he also enjoyed the chance to fantasize about what could be or should be, as opposed to what was.
[108] Frustrated beyond belief, Alois finally asked the maddening boy, if he wasn't going to be a civil servant, then what was he going to do?
[109] His reply was simple, an artist.
[110] To the hard -working, diligent, frugal father, this was too much.
[111] He would not condone, or more importantly, support any such adventure.
[112] For surely, that's what it would be.
[113] And even though he always saw his lazy, idle son drawing or sketching, this was simply not the chosen path to a successful life.
[114] But Adolf hated the idea of doing anything else, so he would not do anything else other than pursue his natural, artistic talent.
[115] He was too immature.
[116] though he shouldn't have been, to realize that it was the very steady and not insignificant pay of his father's profession that allowed him time to play and dream of his heady future.
[117] But to the boy, the idea of being cooped up in a room, pushing papers, and answering to someone else's timetable was the exact opposite of what he craved.
[118] He wanted to be free to come and go as he pleased, and he wanted to be admired.
[119] Hitler later claimed that he stood up to his father during this argument.
[120] But given the times, culture, and personalities involved, that was probably only one more of young Adolf's fantasies.
[121] Although Alois did not realize it at the time, Adolf's rejection of his father's profession and hopes was a rejection of the father himself.
[122] In other words, Adolf had become a teenager.
[123] The tension between the two only increased.
[124] But Adolf would eventually win this domestic war.
[125] Time was simply on his side.
[126] Alois, age 67, died on January 3, 1903, of a lung hemorrhage at the breakfast table.
[127] For all of the fighting over Adolf's future and their love of the same woman, Clara, when Adolf saw the body, he wept.
[128] But the family would be taken care of if they carried on as frugally as they had before.
[129] Adolf's tormentor was gone.
[130] Now it was just the young man, his mother, and his younger sister, Paula.
[131] Clara, the mother, faithfully executed the desire of her late husband by begging the son to do better in school, but he would not.
[132] He loved his mother, that of certain, but the best he could offer was an unofficial deal wherein he would stay in school, but the grades would stay the same.
[133] Over time, the question of his future was mostly answered by his poor marks, which limited his options.
[134] It certainly left out any hope of being a civil servant.
[135] Things continued on this way until the fall of 1905.
[136] By then, Adolf was 16 years old.
[137] He then came down with a lung ailment and used it to evade the only negative thing in his life, school.
[138] Like many children before and after him, the ailment was probably exaggerated to stay out of school longer.
[139] So he was sent to stay with his mother's sister to recuperate.
[140] Eventually, he got better, attended school for a while, but then quit.
[141] His mother begged him to return and apply himself, but as much as he loved her, he was unwilling to do either.
[142] The next few years, from 1905 to 1907, were the happiest of his young life.
[143] Why?
[144] Because between the ages of 16 and 19, he had no responsibilities, cares, or worries.
[145] He refused to work or learn a trade.
[146] The family was provided for, and he did not have to attend that uncaring school.
[147] His mother pushed him to do something.
[148] But he did not fear her, and so far, that was the only thing that moved the spoiled Adolf to do something he did not want.
[149] His days were spent wandering around, dreaming of the great artist he would be, attending the opera, especially anything written by Richard Wagner.
[150] He spent his hours reading, painting, and writing poetry.
[151] He stayed up late and slept through the mornings.
[152] This would be a habit he would carry into midlife.
[153] And he finally had something that had eluded him.
[154] A friend.
[155] Like most people, by the time of their teens, Adolf's state of mind was set.
[156] Because of something inborn, or what he went through with his father, or the many deaths in the family, Adolf would never develop a deep personal relationship with anyone.
[157] There also seemed by this time, signs of a deep self -hatred, balanced out by extreme narcissism.
[158] Of course, this is not uncommon, but it's the degree that matters.
[159] And it's certainly possible to feel sympathy for him.
[160] if one did not know of his future actions.
[161] Adolf and Auguste Kubizik met in the autumn of 1905 at an opera and quickly became friends.
[162] Although Auguste was nine months older than Adolf, he, with his quiet nature, was dominated by the talkative, intense friend whose feverish mind never seemed to stop or turn off.
[163] One of the first things that Auguste found out about Adolf was that he had a strong opinion about everything.
[164] and especially about the music of Richard Wagner.
[165] They would dress up and attend the opera.
[166] Afterward, Adolf would praise or destroy the performance with equal passion.
[167] And, of course, Adolf would rather see a second -rate production of a Wagner than by something someone else put together that was better produced.
[168] Wagner's Lohengren was the first play Adolf saw, and it remained his favorite.
[169] It exemplified the heroic past of Germany, and that Adolf admired with all his heart.
[170] In it, the Knight of the Grail was sent from the castle of Monsalvat to rescue the pure maiden, Elsa.
[171] But she ends up betraying him.
[172] Still, the knight gave of himself to help the helpless maiden.
[173] That was romance.
[174] That was Teutonic virtue.
[175] The new friends would also spend their time absorbing art and architecture.
[176] Adolf was the great future artist, and Auguste the future musician.
[177] But their time was limited.
[178] They both had school, though Adolf's would soon be coming to an end, and then after that, Auguste had to spend time in his father's shop.
[179] Adolf would play on his own, waiting for his friend, daydreaming, and then their adventures would continue.
[180] And of course, it never dawned on him that his unfocused, unproductive life was only possible due to his father's strict work ethic.
[181] Later in the evening, they would get together, and Adolf would dominate the conversation by telling his only friend, that one day he would rebuild the town of Linz along the appropriate lines.
[182] He was more right than he could know.
[183] Aleph was now at an age to notice girls, but he never approached them.
[184] Instead, they were new sources for his fantasies.
[185] A common one was where he would fall in love with a beautiful maiden and she with him, and he would design and build her a wondrous villa.
[186] In the spring of 1906, the ne 'er -do -well convinced his mother to fund his first trip to Vienna.
[187] He told her he wanted to study the art at the museum.
[188] It certainly made sense to her for him to study art given his chosen profession, although his father had forbidden it.
[189] Clearly the love between mother and son included a conspiratorial aspect.
[190] He stayed there for about two weeks and dutifully sent postcards home, but mostly he was at the opera.
[191] He saw Wagner's Tristan and the Flying Dutchman.
[192] He came home determined to enter the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts.
[193] By the summer of 1907, Adolf, age 18, had still not earned any money on his own, had a job, prospect, or learned a trade.
[194] His father was gone, but now the family urged him to learn a trade, and their impatience was growing.
[195] Incredibly, he asked Clara for another trip to Vienna, supposedly to enter the academy.
[196] Poor Clara must have hoped for the best when she allowed it.
[197] After all, she justified to herself, his time would finally be organized by someone, and he would be working towards something, right?
[198] Welcome to True Spies, the podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[199] Suddenly out of the dark, it's appeared in love.
[200] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[201] What do they know?
[202] What are their skills?
[203] And what would you do in their position?
[204] Vengeance felt good.
[205] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[206] True Spies, from Spyscape Studios, wherever you get your podcasts.
[207] Fortunately for Adolf, his Aunt Johanna, Clara's sister, gave him 924 cronin for school.
[208] It was probably given out of sympathy for Clara, who had already been diagnosed with cancer of the breast.
[209] Adolf promised his aunt and his mother to make good, so Clara said goodbye to her favorite child.
[210] If a young man felt any guilt about leaving his mother, it was probably mollified knowing that their family doctor, Dr. Block, a Jew, had taken to keeping an eye on her.
[211] He visited regularly, but his hopes were not high.
[212] Ever the loving mother, Clara, for her part, was only worried about her family.
[213] She knew her time was short and feared for her 11 -year -old daughter, Paula, who looked after her aunt, Johanna.
[214] Then there was her darling, wayward Adolf.
[215] She knew, like most mothers know, that her child's head was still in the clouds as he left for Vienna in early September of 1907 to sit for the entrance exams into the academy.
[216] Adolf settled into a flat near the train station and waited until early October to take the exam with the other 113 candidates.
[217] There would be two three -hour examinations.
[218] They were to draw sketches from predetermined themes.
[219] Only 28 candidates made it through to attend the school, and sadly for history, Adolf was not one of them.
[220] His work was judged unsatisfactory.
[221] Apparently drawing heads was his weakness.
[222] But Adolf, not one to accept defeat lightly, even at this age, went to see the rector of the academy.
[223] Hitler later claimed that the rector, who was probably trying to put a positive spin on Hitler's drawings, said obviously drawing nor painting was his strong point.
[224] But perhaps that still left architecture open.
[225] Hitler said he left the meeting and pondered this advice for a few days before agreeing with it.
[226] After all, didn't some of his many visions of himself include building impressive villas for his love?
[227] Here is where more of Adolf's true nature showed itself.
[228] He did not tell his friend or his mother about the exam results or the change in his studies.
[229] As far as everyone knew, he was taking classes and making good.
[230] on his promise.
[231] At the end of October that year of 1907, before the classes were to start, he returned home to find his mother's condition much worse.
[232] He stayed by her side night and day and took care of her, but eventually she passed away on December 21st of that year.
[233] Adolf was overcome with grief.
[234] But as the family had done many times before, through their grief, Adolf, his sister Paula, and the aunt Johanna settled all of the family's financial dealings.
[235] Obviously, his father's pension would not be enough for them to live off of, but it certainly helped.
[236] Before long, Adolf was on his way back to Vienna, determined to be an architect.
[237] He would follow his father's diligent example, but not his career.
[238] When he got back to his flat, Adolf counted up his funds and quickly determined that his inheritance plus his orphan's monthly allotment would keep him in Vienna for a year.
[239] without financial worry.
[240] That would allow him to wait for the entrance exam in comfort.
[241] As early 1908 went by, Olaf waited for the exam, but did not prepare for it.
[242] There was no determined practice, no further organized study, just enjoying the city and what it had to offer.
[243] But eventually, he did grow bored enough to contact his friend Auguste and get him to ask his parents if he could come to Vienna to study music and sit for the exams as well.
[244] Adolf was more than pleased when Auguste showed up, moved into his friend's place, and prepared himself for the exams.
[245] After practicing music for part of the day, while Adolf waited idly by, the two would then enjoy the city life.
[246] Adolf took up where he had left off with his fantasies about his future, but now he could say them out loud to his friend.
[247] The summer flew by, and it was time for the exams.
[248] But whereas Auguste passed his exams and was admitted to study music, Adolf was not even allowed to sit.
[249] for the exam.
[250] The officials of the school could tell by his sketch pad that no significant progress had been made.
[251] It's fair to say that this blow, combined with his mother's passing, allowed or pushed Adolf more into living his life through his world of fantasies.
[252] Adolf, it seemed, would not make his mark on Vienna, but the capital certainly made its mark on him.
[253] It was his nature to hate the city in total for blocking his path to greatness.
[254] With no classes to focus on, Adolf's eyes widened a bit to take in other aspects of the capital.
[255] He had been interested in politics, just like everything else that he was curious about, and knew of the social, cultural, and political tensions surrounding him.
[256] And this tension was mostly due to the Germans being in the minority numerically, but still in charge politically.
[257] Vienna would be where Adolf spent the next five years of his life, and most of it would be in misery.
[258] Before his mother's death, Adolf had been renting a small room of a house at Stumpagasa 31 near the West Bahnhof from a Czech woman.
[259] And this is where he returned to in mid -February of 1908 in grief over his mother.
[260] When Auguste joined him later that month, they switched to a larger room in the same house.
[261] The two friends still shared a room, but soon they were on separate paths.
[262] Auguste, now studying music at the academy, brought in a rented piano to practice on, which took up most of their free space.
[263] But this did not bother Adolf, as it still gave him enough room for his three paces, and that was all he needed to spend hours pacing back and forth, holding forth on whatever subject was absorbing him at the moment.
[264] Auguste quickly settled into a student's life with its regimented schedule, but couldn't understand how his roommate could stay up late, sleep through the morning, walk around the city all afternoon, and still attend classes.
[265] No one knew, of course, except Adolf and the Academy, that he had not been accepted.
[266] With this secret embarrassment and frustration, Auguste's constant practicing got on Adolf's nerves.
[267] One afternoon, the constant music and practicing of notes drove Adolf to snap, and an argument ensued.
[268] Auguste was shocked to have his friend's intense displeasure pointed at him.
[269] But that was nothing compared to when Adolf admitted the truth about the academy, through his tears and at the end of a long tirade.
[270] Without meaning to frustrate the anguished Adolf even more, Auguste simply asked, what did he plan on doing now?
[271] That question, which had come from his father and then his family, rubbed a raw nerve and suddenly Adolf was not sad anymore.
[272] His anger was focused on his unsuspecting friend.
[273] What now?
[274] Is that what you ask?
[275] You're just like everyone else.
[276] Now that the proud Adolf was exposed, their friendship was destined to change.
[277] He had always been the arrogant, opinionated, supposedly worldly young man with potential.
[278] But now, Auguste saw more of Adolf's anger, humiliation, and paranoia.
[279] But Adolf swore he would apply again next year, and that seemed to mollify his pride.
[280] But perhaps holding on to some of that shame would have done the young man some good.
[281] Perhaps the shame would have helped him to be determined not to allow himself to fall into the same situation again with applied study and focus.
[282] But soon he reverted to form of the carefree man who currently has money in his pockets and fantasized about his great future.
[283] Despite the painful subject of music in their flat, Adolf made time to attend concerts throughout the capital.
[284] He enjoyed the greats, Beethoven, Bruckner, Litz, and Brahms.
[285] But at the apex was always Wagner.
[286] To draw some sort of conclusion about Wagner from the fact that Adolf Hitler loved his music would be too much.
[287] He simply loved the themes and the stories of the insignificant becoming great, the rags to riches tales.
[288] He needed to believe in that.
[289] After all, he had no job, was not a student, had no girlfriend, and certainly had no prospects of gaining any of those anytime soon.
[290] Suffice it to say, Adolf's absolute love of Wagner's music is a window into the listener, not the composer.
[291] Hitler seemed to have a black or white attitude about everything.
[292] Loyalty must be absolute, victory must be total, and in his fantasies, his beloved German -speaking people were destined to hold sway over Europe.
[293] The now tense friendship continued until the summer of 1908.
[294] Adolf had only one other place to turn to for a human connection, that being his landlady.
[295] Frau Zacharies.
[296] Auguste knew Adolf better than anyone else, but he was about to find out how extreme Adolf's attitude concerning absolute loyalty really ran.
[297] One day, Auguste brought a fellow female music student to the flat to practice.
[298] There may have been a potential romance there, but it didn't matter to the testy, tense roommate ready to spring.
[299] Adolf exploded in a jealous rage.
[300] Not only was his friend sharing his time with someone else, but with a female, no less.
[301] Adolf was a determined misogynist.
[302] Women did not or should not study.
[303] It was simply a waste of time.
[304] It also probably reminded him of the girl he loved back in Linz.
[305] Of course, he never said anything to her.
[306] She, like so many other things, was stored up in his world of fantasy.
[307] It was better and easier to pretend a life with her than to approach her and chance rejection.
[308] Another reason his anger came out that day was that, even at this age, Adolf was a believer of the Austrian pan -German movement, enjoying popularity at the time.
[309] Their beliefs, besides a woman's proper place, were celibacy, forgoing meat and alcohol, and a belief in the German -speaking people's superiority.
[310] The movement called for every German to keep the bloodlines clean.
[311] Later, Adolf would describe his perfect mates as a cute...
[312] cuddly, naive little thing, tender, sweet, and stupid.
[313] It's probably fair to say that Adolf's sexuality was developmentally repressed.
[314] By July of 1908, Auguste had passed his exams at the conservatory.
[315] He would be heading home until the autumn.
[316] Adolf, in a better mood, went with him to the West Bahnhof to see him off.
[317] They would not meet again until 1938, a fateful year for Austria.
[318] Adolf would send him a few postcards that summer, and even went to see his own family.
[319] But after that, it would be years before he would see them as well.
[320] In November of that year, 1908, Auguste returned to continue his studies.
[321] He was probably tense as he neared the flat, not knowing what mood his intense friend would be in.
[322] But when he entered the room, he found it unusually quiet.
[323] The piano was there, and the things he had left behind were there.
[324] But there was no Adolf.
[325] or his belongings.
[326] What Auguste could not know was that Adolf had attempted to sit for the exam again in October, but was not permitted.
[327] It was simply impossible for him to face his friend any longer.
[328] He would leave and find a way to erase his shame and embarrassment.
[329] So he had moved a few blocks away to room 16 of Felberstrasse 22.
[330] He registered his change of address with the police as was required and lived a secluded life.
[331] for the next eight months.
[332] Although depressed and angry, this young man is not the Hitler we know of today, but he was on his way.
[333] To him, his failure was not his fault, but rather a symptom of what was wrong with Austria.
[334] This burning resentment was mixed in with his fantasy world.
[335] He had attended parliamentary sessions a few times, was fascinated by the details, but was not yet interested in politics.
[336] However, he had read newspapers, listened to speeches, and agreed with those who couldn't stand the cultural mixing taking place in Vienna.
[337] He also hated the ruling Habsburgs, who were unwilling or unable to control with rigid application the non -German peoples.
[338] German culture was being eroded.
[339] Couldn't anyone see that?
[340] He certainly did.
[341] But for now, Adolf had more bigger, more personal problems.
[342] His money was running out, and school was not an option.
[343] Certainly, the family would not unclench their purse for him again, and he wouldn't lower himself by working for a living.
[344] There had to be another way.
[345] He was wrong.
[346] Next time, Adolf's life will be tragic as he attempts to stave off hunger for the next few years in Vienna.
[347] He'll find himself taking charity from nuns and hostiles in order to survive.
[348] Then, war will come and change his life, as it did for millions of others.
[349] and at the end of the conflict he will find a purpose for his life.
[350] Greetings from Central Virginia.
[351] Thank you everyone for downloading this podcast.
[352] I hope you liked it.
[353] I'll get the other one out as soon as I can.
[354] And for those of you who...
[355] I want to get back to the action.
[356] I do, too.
[357] I can assure you, and I'll get back to the Battle of Britain as soon as I can.
[358] If you noticed, and if you didn't, it's no big deal.
[359] When you look on iTunes or on the website, this episode is going to say 37B.
[360] The reason I did that was because the one I did before this was the announcement about voting for the podcast awards.
[361] And if you're doing that, thank you very much.
[362] And if you're not, you've got more important things to do.
[363] I understand that as well.
[364] When I put out number 38, which is halfway written already, I'm going to get rid of the announcement little episode there.
[365] And so this one here will be the 37, and the next one will be 38.
[366] We'll just move on from there.
[367] So I hope that doesn't cause too much confusion, but I'll be getting rid of the other one soon.
[368] So for those of you who have emailed me, Within the last week, we can have it.
[369] So my Internet's been down at home, and it's driving me crazy.
[370] So I haven't got a chance to reply to you.
[371] I'll do that as soon as I can, as soon as it's back up.
[372] For right now, I just have dial -up, and don't even get me started about that.
[373] It takes 20 minutes to do anything.
[374] So I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
[375] I have noticed a lot.
[376] of people are getting audible books or signing up for audible.
[377] And again, thank you very much for that.
[378] It really makes a big difference in this house.
[379] And so thank you from everybody here.
[380] And for those of you who've donated, um, I'll, I can't look up your names now and dial up, but I'll look up your emails and, um, thank you on next time on episode 38.
[381] And I just wanted to remind everybody that I have a Facebook page if you're interested.
[382] It's a History of World War II podcast.
[383] It's got a picture of the Allied leaders on there, three Allied leaders.
[384] And I try to put something on there every day, this day in history, World War II.
[385] I do the same thing on Twitter.
[386] And you can check that out at WW2Podcaster.
[387] It's a number of two.
[388] Again, I do this day in history in World War II.
[389] And I'll let you know when the next episode is coming out.
[390] And lastly, for those of you who have put reviews on iTunes, I thank you very much for that.
[391] One day I will have to leave the iWeb and MobileMe behind and move on to WordPress or something like that.
[392] But we're not going to worry about that for now.
[393] I've still got 50 episodes.
[394] So hopefully these reviews will never, ever, ever go away.
[395] So again, thank you for doing that.
[396] I'll be out with number 38 as soon as I can.
[397] It's halfway written.
[398] Again, I bit off more than I could chew, so I broke it up.
[399] But I'll be getting to that soon.
[400] And so, as always, please take care, everyone.
[401] Welcome to True Spies.
[402] The podcast that takes you deep inside the greatest secret missions of all time.
[403] Suddenly out of the dark it's appeared in love.
[404] You'll meet the people who live life undercover.
[405] What do they know?
[406] What are their skills?
[407] And what would you do in their position?
[408] Vengeance felt good.
[409] Seeing these people pay for what they'd done felt righteous.
[410] True Spies from Spyscape Studios.
[411] Wherever you get your podcasts.