OBJECTIVE This paper inquires the hypothesis that Hitler's rise to power was in part due to a hypnotic therapy he had undergone when being treated for hysterical blindness at an army hospital in the town of Pasewalk in October 1918 - as recent contributions have argued. Edmund Forster, his psychiatrist at that time, is supposed to have suggested to Hitler that he would be ordained as Germany's redeemer in times of defeat, thus causing a profound change in his patient's personality. METHODS Following three lines of argument, this paper examines if such an assumption can be made plausible. Firstly, it takes a close look at the main historical source which is the novel THE EYEWITNESS, written in German language by the Czech-Jewish author Ernst Weiss. Then it asks if Forster is likely to have chosen hypnosis as a method of treatment. Finally, it exploits the work of the even lesser known author Alexander Moritz Frey who happened to serve close to Hitler as a medical orderly in WW I, thus trying to validate whether or not Hitler really underwent a change of personality in autumn 1918. RESULTS Although the eventualities of such a hypnotic treatment or a profound change in Hitler's behaviour in that time cannot be disproved, both seem highly unlikely. CONCLUSIONS One should altogether abandon the notion of Hitler having suffered a permanent change of personality in 1918, be it due to psychiatric treatment or to psychological trauma itself.

Theiss-Abendroth P. Psychiatr Prax. 2008 Jul 21.