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Original poster

FIL secret hitler fanatic?

63 replies

Samandytimlucypeterolivia · 18/02/2025 22:57

So FIL passed away 2 weeks ago, we’ve been at his house the last 4 days cleaning it out, we’ve come across books, vhs, dvd, collectibles all about hitler, I’m not talking a few, I’m talking hundreds and hundreds, We were joking at the start about him being a secret nazi spy, but as we got further in it’s become apparent he a was a hitler super fan, or obsession. It’s quite jarring really. I’ve known him 21 years and not once has he said anything that would even make you think this. He’s never been racist, said anything racially inclined. He’s friendly with all his neighbours who are different race. I’m Anglo Indian, For us it’s come totally out of left field. I FaceTimed DS who has a friend who is intrigued by Hitler and even he was concerned about his grandads secret hobby. He said he wish he knew before his GCSEs last summer as they had a module on Hitler and Stalin in history. Me and DP are a bit shelshocked. Anyone else found out something shocking about a loved one after they passed.

OP posts:
user1492757084 · 19/02/2025 03:27

Are you certain he was a Hitler fan and not simply intrigued and perplexed by Hitler and the movement around his powerful following? Many people collect things trying to understand all that they can about a subject.

Would his large Hitler collection be of use to a university History department somewhere?

I would not assume to know your FIL's thoughts.

Zusammengebrochen · 19/02/2025 03:30

user1492757084 · 19/02/2025 03:27

Are you certain he was a Hitler fan and not simply intrigued and perplexed by Hitler and the movement around his powerful following? Many people collect things trying to understand all that they can about a subject.

Would his large Hitler collection be of use to a university History department somewhere?

I would not assume to know your FIL's thoughts.

I agree with this.

ChessorBuckaroo · 19/02/2025 04:54

What the allied stuff doesn't interest him? Reminded of this (the reveal followed by the cycling hamster at the end is one of the funniest things I've ever seen)

%3D

Chuchoter · 19/02/2025 04:58

Many people are fascinated by serial killers and watch films and read books about Peter Sutcliffe, Jeffrey Dahmer etc. It doesn't make them serial killers does it?

Fargo79 · 19/02/2025 05:21

That's quite the conclusion to jump to. Poor guy, labelled a closet Nazi by his own family when he's no longer here to defend himself. This is far, far from an uncommon interest and being interested - even intensely interested - in a particular historical period or historical figure certainly does not indicate an affiliation with that person's belief system.

RingoJuice · 19/02/2025 05:28

We used to call the History Channel the Hitler Channel, it was pretty much all Hitler all the time. They must have done market research on this and found people were deeply fascinated.

If he was generally known as a kind man then it doesn’t matter.

I knew a girl that got deported in China and I had to help clean her apartment. It was FULL of true crime books. Like, a disturbing number for someone only
in the country for a short time.

She was a nice person too!

78Summer · 19/02/2025 05:28

My father also had many books on the Nazis and Hitler as he was born during the war. He definitely was not a supporter and extremely liberal. I don’t think you should jump to conclusions, after all he is not there to defend himself. For those born during that period in many ways the rise of the Nazis and the consequent world war shaped their lives.

Commonsenseisnotsocommon · 19/02/2025 05:42

As others have suggested, he may well have just been interested in the topic. I would certainly stop making suggestions of anything negative to family members. It is unfair when he isn't here to defend himself and you run the risk of everyone's memories of him now becoming clouded by this, the reasons for which you know nothing about. Think how you'd feel in 30 years when your kids are sorting your stuff and come across your belongings.

Lovelysummerdays · 19/02/2025 05:43

I don’t have stuff but it’s a fascinating time. Hitler changed the course of the world despite not winning the war. I always wondered about the way people turned on their neighbours. Then the pandemic came along and I genuinely thought the slide into fascism would of been much easier than I thought.

There were channels who used to flog this stuff. Massive numbers of collectible dvds / vhs on the rise of Hitler.

Mummyoflittledragon · 19/02/2025 05:43

Why do you think he was a fan? I used to watch a lot of the Hitler documentaries on the history channel. His rise to power, supremacy and leadership style is intriguing. That doesn’t make me a fan. That makes me fascinated by him and human nature. If anything, we need more people, not fewer, to take interest to stop history repeating itself.

LivingLaVidaBabyShower · 19/02/2025 05:44

user1492757084 · 19/02/2025 03:27

Are you certain he was a Hitler fan and not simply intrigued and perplexed by Hitler and the movement around his powerful following? Many people collect things trying to understand all that they can about a subject.

Would his large Hitler collection be of use to a university History department somewhere?

I would not assume to know your FIL's thoughts.

Agreed.

It’s a horrific event and the scale of the horrors are hard to comprehend but historically speaking it is fascinating from several angles.

sidebirds · 19/02/2025 06:12

Fargo79 · 19/02/2025 05:21

That's quite the conclusion to jump to. Poor guy, labelled a closet Nazi by his own family when he's no longer here to defend himself. This is far, far from an uncommon interest and being interested - even intensely interested - in a particular historical period or historical figure certainly does not indicate an affiliation with that person's belief system.

🎯🎯🎯 100%

Upstartled · 19/02/2025 06:14

Jesus, the guy is barely cold, he was kind throughout his whole life and never racist, and you are sizing him up as a nazi because of the books he read?

Snorlaxo · 19/02/2025 06:20

I don’t think it means that he’s a fan. Many people read or watch content that they find interesting but don’t agree with eg horror films or true crime. I saw another thread where people listed their autistic child’s obsession and the topics ranged from flags of the world to Stalin. Being into Stalin doesn’t mean that they want people in gulags.

JustWalkingTheDogs · 19/02/2025 06:57

I doubt he was a fan, probably more interested. It's why people enjoy serial killer documentaries, doesn't mean they are a fan of serial killers, just means they are interested / curious / want to understand them.

I lived in Gloucester for a while and was interested in Fred and rose west, doesn't mean for one second I admired them, morbid curiosity more like.

Whataretalkingabout · 19/02/2025 07:11

It was his collection and says nothing about you or your family.
He was obviously ashamed of it if he hid it.
Be generous and believe that he thought it could be worth £££.
I would burn the lot.

AmusedMaker · 19/02/2025 07:13

Agree with PP’s.
I probably have a book on most UK serial killers in my loft, but I’m not a serial killer.
Peter Sutcliffe in Particular fascinates me.
I was growing up in the 70’s & remember seeing bits on the news about him.
The whole fake tape thing and how the police described the women ( the women who weren’t sex workers were ‘innocent victims’ ) so much social history going on there.

SemperIdem · 19/02/2025 07:17

As others have said - whilst it’s clear he had an interest, assuming he was a closet neo-Nazi is a possibly a leap.

User746353 · 19/02/2025 07:19

Neurodivergent special interest? WW2 is a common one and it's often an intense obsession/fascination rather than genuinely admiring the person or what they did.

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 19/02/2025 07:23

Yeah, most likely just an amateur historian with a special interest. People can be fascinated by stuff that horrifies them. It doesn't necessarily mean that he is a fan, and given that it doesn't chime with any of the views that he expressed during his lifetime, I wouldn't draw any definite conclusions.

Pinkissmart · 19/02/2025 07:29

OP, for heavens sake- you’re being completely daft.

I am fascinated by anti- Semitic propaganda. I try to understand why people hold this belief by learning more about it. I’m forever terrified someone will look at my bookshelves and jump to the assumption you did about your fil

sugarspiceandeverythingnice12 · 19/02/2025 07:32

Why do you assume his intense interest is as a supporter/fan of Hitler?

What makes you assume that?

saraclara · 19/02/2025 07:34

My colleague was fascinated by serial killers. Watched everything about them, had every book about them. I genuinely didn't understand her interest and she was a lovely person.

I think you have the wrong end of the stick here, and given that he never showed a second's racism etc, I think you need to let it go and remember the person you knew.

saraclara · 19/02/2025 07:36

it’s become apparent he a was a hitler super fan, or obsession

There's a world of difference between those two things.

pinkgrevillea · 19/02/2025 07:37

I know someone who has a lot of Nazi memorabilia, a collection, including a few copies of Mein Kampf, a uniform etc. It's not that he is a Nazi, it's that he is fascinated by the ideology, the history, how it manifested in daily life in Germany etc. He's a bright man and spent time in Germany and I think perhaps it became a bit of a hobby to study and try to understand. It doesn't make him a Nazi.