Klara Hitler
(born Klara Polzl, 12 August 1860 - 21 December 1907) was an
Austrian
woman. She was the
widow
of
Alois Hitler
and the mother of
German
dictator
Adolf Hitler
.
[2]
Klara was born in the
Austrian
village of Spital,
Weitra
,
Lower Austria
. Her father was Johann Baptist Polzl and her mother was
Johanna Hiedler
. Either Hiedler's father,
Johann Nepomuk Hiedler
, or his brother,
Johann Georg Hiedler
, was the
biological
father of Alois Hitler, the man she would later marry. It is presumed and accepted by most that the father was Johann Georg Hiedler. Klara and Alois were first
cousins
once removed.
In 1876, three years after Alois Hitler's first
marriage
to Anna Glasl-Horer, Klara's uncle Alois had hired her as a household
servant
. She was 16 years old at the time. After the death of his second wife, Franziska Matzelsberger, in 1884, Alois and Klara were married on 7 January 1885 in a wedding held early in the morning at Hitler's rooms on the top floor of the Pommer Inn in
Braunau
. Alois then went to work for the day at his job as a
customs official
. Klara still called Alois "uncle" after the marriage. Their first son, Gustav, was born four months later, on 15 May 1885. Their second child, Ida, was born on 23 September 1886. Both
infants
died of
diphtheria
during the winter of 1886-1887. A third child, Otto, was born and died in 1887.
Adolf
was born 20 April 1889, followed by Edmund on 24 March 1894 and
Paula
on 21 January 1896. Edmund died of
measles
on 28 February 1900, at the age of five.
[3]
Klara's adult life was spent keeping house and raising children. According to Smith, Alois had little understanding or interest in raising children.
[4]
Historian Alice Miller later wrote, "The family structure could well be characterized as the prototype of a
totalitarian
regime. Its sole, undisputed, often brutal ruler is the father. The wife and children are totally subservient to his will, his moods, and his whims; they must accept humiliation and injustice unquestioningly and gratefully. Obedience is their primary rule of conduct."
[5]
Klara was very devoted to her children. According to
William Patrick Hitler
, she was a typical stepmother to her stepchildren,
Alois Jr.
and
Angela
.
[1]
Klara was a devout
Roman Catholic
. She
worshipped
at
church
regularly with her children.
[6]
Of her six children with Alois, only Adolf and
Paula
survived childhood.
Alois's and Klara's children were:
- Gustav Hitler (born 10 May 1885, died of
diphtheria
on 8 December 1887 in
Braunau am Inn
)
- Ida Hitler (born 23 September 1886, died of diphtheria 2 January 1888 in Braunau am Inn)
- Adolf Hitler
(born 20 April 1889 in Braunau Am Inn, died in Berlin on 30 April 1945) Nazi German dictator
- Otto Hitler (born 17 June 1892, died of hydrocephalus on 23 June 1892 in
Passau
)
[1]
- Edmund Hitler (born 24 March 1894 in
Passau
, died of
measles
, 28 February 1900 in
Leonding
)
- Paula Hitler
(born 21 January 1896 and died 1 June 1960), the last surviving member of Hitler's immediate family.
When Alois died in 1903, he left her a
government
pension
. She sold the house in
Leonding
and moved with young Adolf and Paula to an
apartment
in
Linz
. Three or four years later, she was
diagnosed
with
breast cancer
. After many painful
iodoform
treatments given by her doctor,
Eduard Bloch
, Klara died at home in Linz from the
toxic
medical
side-effects
on December 21, 1907.
[7]
Adolf and Paula were at her side.
[8]
Klara was buried in
Leonding
near Linz.
Adolf Hitler had a close relationship with his mother. He was crushed by her death and carried the
grief
for the rest of his long life. Bloch later recalled that, after Klara's death, he had seen in "one young man never so much pain and suffering broken fulfilled".
Decades
later, in 1940, Hitler showed gratitude to Bloch (who was
Jewish
) by letting him and his wife to leave Austria and go to the
United States
.
[9]
- ↑
1.0
1.1
"The Mind of Adolf Hitler",Walter C. Langer, New York 1972 p.116
- ↑
"A Biography of Adolf Hitler - Early Days - 1889-1908"
. Secondworldwar.co.uk. 2012-08-12. Archived from
the original
on 2019-01-07
. Retrieved
2012-08-23
.
- ↑
Vermeeren, Mar,
De jeugd van Adolf Hitler 1889-1907 en zijn familie en voorouders
, Soesterberg, 2007, Uitgeverij Aspekt,
ISBN
978-90-5911-606-1
(Note: Source carried forward and only presumed reliable)
- ↑
"[He] had a limited understanding of children and a minimum interest in their development" Smith, p.54
- ↑
Miller, Alice
For Your Own Good
- ↑
"[She] was completely devoted to the faith and teachings of Catholicism…" Smith, p. 42
- ↑
"Rise of Hitler: Hitler's Mother Dies"
. The History Place. 1907-01-14
. Retrieved
2012-08-23
.
- ↑
"Biography of Klara Hitler"
. Spartacus Educational. Archived from
the original
on 10 December 2011
. Retrieved
17 August
2007
.
- ↑
"Adolf Hitler: Biography"
. Jewishvirtuallibrary.org
. Retrieved
2012-08-23
.