Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
Encyclopedia
Analysis of the Personality of Hitler: With Predictions of His Future Behavior and Suggestions for Dealing with Him Now and After Germany's Surrender was a report prepared by Henry A. Murray for the United States
Office of Strategic Services
during World War II
. It was one of two psychoanalytic
reports prepared for the OSS on Nazi Germany
leader Adolf Hitler
; the other was The Mind of Adolf Hitler
.
Murray's report is dated October 1943. A copy in PDF is available from the Cornell Law School
library, which received a copy of the report from Murray's family and published it online in 2004. The Cornell copy is serialized as copy number 3 of 30. The report forms a part of the law library's Donovan Collection, which contains the papers of the legendary OSS chief William J. Donovan.
The sources for the report, identified in the introductory material, are all published sources, including the paper which was prepared by Vernon (Section 2) under Murray's general supervision. Unlike the report prepared by Langer (see The Mind of Adolf Hitler
), Murray conducted no personal interviews of Hitler associates.
There is some overlap between the two wartime reports. Murray's biographer claims that Langer copied from Murray without giving proper credit.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was one of two psychoanalytic
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
reports prepared for the OSS on Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
leader Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
; the other was The Mind of Adolf Hitler
The Mind of Adolf Hitler
The Mind of Adolf Hitler: The Secret Wartime Report, published in 1972 by Basic Books, is based on, and contains as its core, a World War II report by psychoanalyst Walter C. Langer which probed the psychology of Adolf Hitler from the available information...
.
Murray's report is dated October 1943. A copy in PDF is available from the Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School
Cornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, is a graduate school of Cornell University and one of the five Ivy League law schools. The school confers three law degrees...
library, which received a copy of the report from Murray's family and published it online in 2004. The Cornell copy is serialized as copy number 3 of 30. The report forms a part of the law library's Donovan Collection, which contains the papers of the legendary OSS chief William J. Donovan.
History
Murray prepared the report, which consists of the following:- 6 unnumbered pages of Introductory Material (consisting of a cover page, a foreword and a table of contents)
- Section 1 (pages numbered 1-53) entitled a Condensed Review of the Entire Memorandum, which contains
- Part A (pages 1-29), Brief Analysis of Hitler's Personality
- Part B (pages 29 - 33), Predictions of Hitler's Behavior
- Part C (pages 33 - 38), Suggestions for the Treatment of Hitler
- Part D (pages 38 - 53), Suggestions for the Treatment of the German People
- Section 2, a work by W.H.D. Vernon (numbered as pages 54 – 81) entitled Hitler the Man - Notes for a Case Study
- Section 3 (numbered as pages 82 – 227) appearing here, which is intended for "psychologists and psychiatrists."
The sources for the report, identified in the introductory material, are all published sources, including the paper which was prepared by Vernon (Section 2) under Murray's general supervision. Unlike the report prepared by Langer (see The Mind of Adolf Hitler
The Mind of Adolf Hitler
The Mind of Adolf Hitler: The Secret Wartime Report, published in 1972 by Basic Books, is based on, and contains as its core, a World War II report by psychoanalyst Walter C. Langer which probed the psychology of Adolf Hitler from the available information...
), Murray conducted no personal interviews of Hitler associates.
There is some overlap between the two wartime reports. Murray's biographer claims that Langer copied from Murray without giving proper credit.
External links
- Henry A. Murray: Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler: With Predictions of His Future Behavior and Suggestions for Dealing with Him Now and After Germany's Surrender. 1943. Online at Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Cornell University Law Library.