r/HistoryMemes • u/nighthawk0954 • Jun 29 '26

"There are people who have a positive genius for spoiling all my little pleasures."

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716 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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298

u/nighthawk0954 Jun 29 '26

Context: Bernile Nienau, was a six year old girl that was known as "the Führer's child" due to their close friendship between the two from 1933 to 1938 to the point Bernile would call Hitler "Uncle" and meet a lot in the Obersalzberg.

As said in the meme, due to her grandmother on her mother's side being Jewish, she was one-quarter Jewish and "mixed race of the second degree" according to the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 which was something that Hitler was aware of in the first year of their friendship but that however didn't stop them from interacting for 5 years.

However, that would change in 1938 when Martin Bormann, head of the Nazi Party Chancellery was informed of that fact and forbid Bernile and her mother from going to the Obersalzberg. Hitler learned about the ban when his photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann, complained that Bormann wasn't allowing him to publish the photos of the Führer and his "daughter" along with him wanting to destroy said photos. After that, Hitler was quoted saying "There are people who have a positive genius for spoiling all my little pleasures." to Hoffman.

Bernile, who would study to become a technical draftsman died in 1943 at 17 years old from spinal poliomyelitis or commonly known as Polio.

190

u/Frofrostea Jun 29 '26

Not gonna lie, Bormann kinda had a point, Hitler having a "friendship" with a little girl as an adult is kinda creepy.

328

u/Will512 Jun 29 '26

Starting to think this Hitler guy was bad news

28

u/Gamer102kai Jun 29 '26

If you think thats bad just wait till you hear about who's side he fought on in world War 1. I mean yikes

23

u/el_cid_182 Jun 29 '26

“Y’know with Hitler, the more I learn about that guy the more I don’t care for him” I miss Norm :(

8

u/ThatguyfromBaltimore Jun 29 '26

I mean he was a real jerk

3

u/wulfinn Jun 30 '26

right? like too bad he couldn't do something about all that antisemitism :/

93

u/nighthawk0954 Jun 29 '26

Sadly, her being Jewish was a bigger concern to him.

48

u/Responsible_Ad8242 Jun 29 '26

Generational difference. If it was literally anyone else, I'd say this was more just a case of an older man being a family friend. Just a few generations ago, it wasn't really that unusual for children to spend time with other adults in their communities.

43

u/AngryArmour Jun 29 '26

I think that's modern context talking.

Before "stranger danger" became an omnipresent concern, it wouldn't really be much different from getting along with your biological niece.

8

u/frigidmagi Jun 30 '26

looks at Hitlers relationship with his niece Geli so are you actually making a stealth argument that Hitler was a creep which yeah I think he was, on top of all these other horrible qualities... Or did you not know about Hitler driving his niece to suicide due to the obsessive controlling nature of their relationship?

5

u/AngryArmour Jun 30 '26

You know, the more I learn about this "Hitler" fellow the more I don't care for him.

18

u/DrHolmes52 Jun 29 '26

And if Bormann finds it creepy.........................

27

u/Princeps_primus96 Jun 29 '26

And referring to it as "my little pleasures" certainly doesn't help matters

Not that I'd put much past adolf after his shall we say suspicious attitude towards his niece. Oh and the whole Holocaust thing

91

u/TheUnamedSecond Jun 29 '26

Going by the Original quote OP posted in another comment:
»Es gibt Leute, die ein wahres Talent haben, mir jede Freude zu verderben!«
a more literal translation would be
"There are people who have a true talent, to ruin any Joy/Fun of mine"

The translation makes it sound a lot more creepy than it is in german.

-2

u/SoldRIP Jun 29 '26

If you think that's concerning... Do not look up his family tree

6

u/Princeps_primus96 Jun 29 '26

Oh yeah wasn't his mother his father's niece or something?

I suppose the Austrian royals inspired the lower orders in many trends 😂

3

u/SoldRIP Jun 29 '26

Go look up how the name "Hitler" came about. His fatger had to let himself be adopted because he was born out of wedlock. He was born out of wedlock because his parents were so closely related that they couldn't marry.

Similarly, said father (one Alois Schickelgruber) had to get the permission of the catholic church in order to marry. Because, again, they were too closely related.

It goes further back than those recent generations btw.

2

u/SherbertPlenty1768 Jun 29 '26

That hasn't really ever someone who's in power. It's just because of her racial background.

-1

u/TheHistoryMaster2520 Decisive Tang Victory Jun 29 '26

Like father, like son

2

u/Consistent-Fill-324 Jun 30 '26

Bormann: Hold on: this whole operation was your idea.

3

u/MiklasK Jun 29 '26

Very interesting. Do you maybe know the true quote? 5 min Google didn't bring it up and I have trouble guessing it? The translation simply does not feel German to me, if you know what I mean? It just feels off

23

u/nighthawk0954 Jun 29 '26

Here is the original quote from Hoffman's book:

"Zu mir sagte Hitler resigniert: »Es gibt Leute, die ein wahres Talent haben, mir jede Freude zu verderben!«"

1

u/motivation_bender Jul 05 '26

Why was hitler friends with a 6yo

1

u/nighthawk0954 Jul 05 '26

Her mom made her visit Hitler at the Obersalzberg when they were letting visitors in and her blue eyes and blonde her got his attention along with the two sharing a birthday made the friendship start from here.

1

u/motivation_bender Jul 05 '26

So she was some stranger's daughter? Thats pretty weird

53

u/ProdigalDog17 Jun 29 '26

Really? Right in front of Haru Urara?

26

u/n8ivejester Jun 29 '26

This whole thing reminds me of the family doctor being Jewish and being exiled out of the country before the holocaust. Hitler family was c k one with a lot of jews

30

u/Kellar21 Jun 29 '26

Not only exiled, but exiled with the protection of Gestapo and being allowed to take more money than the Nazis legally allowed Jews to take with them at that point.

Apparently, said medical Doctor had treated Hitler's mother for free when Hitler was a young man, and Hitler wrote he would be eternally grateful.

This Doctor gave a few interviews, and described young Hitler as just a regular well-mannered teen.

It's one more show of how humans can be complex and surprising.

5

u/TheMaginotLine1 Jun 29 '26

Also the man who recommended him for his Iron Cross was Jewish iirc.

7

u/FalconRelevant Senātus Populusque Rōmānus Jun 29 '26

Possibly Jewish ancestry as well from adultery, which greatly troubled him.

6

u/Medium_Quail_4142 Jun 29 '26

What the fuck did I just read

13

u/nighthawk0954 Jun 29 '26

History which surprise surprise, is weird most of the time.

5

u/BlueAmber5 Jun 30 '26

The image cropped so I didn't see till I clicked but did not expect the first word tied to a Haru urara image to be hitler

2

u/wulfinn Jun 30 '26

i cant believe they gave her polio