Walter C. Langer
Encyclopedia
Walter Charles Langer was a Cambridge, Massachusetts
psychoanalyst best known for his role in preparing a World War II
psychological analysis of Adolf Hitler
in 1943 for the Office of Strategic Services
, that predicted his suicide
as the "most plausible outcome" among several possibilities identified. Well before the assassination attempt in the summer of 1944, Langer's report also identified the possibility of a military coup against Hitler. The report is available online and, along with collateral material including a foreword, introduction and afterword, was published in 1972 by Basic Books
as The Mind of Adolf Hitler
.
Langer was born in South Boston to Charles Rudolph and Johanna Rockenbach, recent immigrants from Germany. His older brother William
became the history department chair at Harvard University
, and took a leave of absence during World War II
to serve as head of the Research and Analysis section of the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS). Walter Langer, who for a time was also a professor at Harvard, held a Ph.D but not an M.D., and was the first person admitted to the American Psychiatric Association
who lacked a medical degree.
Retired to Florida, Langer died in Sarasota
in 1981, aged 82.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
psychoanalyst best known for his role in preparing a 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...
psychological analysis of 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...
in 1943 for the 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...
, that predicted his suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
as the "most plausible outcome" among several possibilities identified. Well before the assassination attempt in the summer of 1944, Langer's report also identified the possibility of a military coup against Hitler. The report is available online and, along with collateral material including a foreword, introduction and afterword, was published in 1972 by Basic Books
Basic Books
Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1952 and located in New York. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history.-History:...
as 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...
.
Langer was born in South Boston to Charles Rudolph and Johanna Rockenbach, recent immigrants from Germany. His older brother William
William L. Langer
William Leonard Langer was the chair of the history department at Harvard University and the World War II volunteer head of the Research and Analysis branch of the Office of Strategic Services...
became the history department chair at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and took a leave of absence 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...
to serve as head of the Research and Analysis section of the 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...
(OSS). Walter Langer, who for a time was also a professor at Harvard, held a Ph.D but not an M.D., and was the first person admitted to the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
who lacked a medical degree.
Retired to Florida, Langer died in Sarasota
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...
in 1981, aged 82.
Publications
- The Mind of Adolf Hitler: The Secret Wartime Report Basic Books (1972) ISBN 0-465-04620-7
- Psychology & Human Living (1945) ISBN 0-89197-517-9
External links
- "Langer's Wartime Report to OSS" from University of the West of EnglandUniversity of the West of EnglandThe University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...
- "Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler" from Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
Law Library - An excerpt from The Mind of Adolf Hitler