Dietrich Eckhart
Dietrich Eckhart (1868-1923) was a German politician, who, with Anton Drexler, Gottfried Feder, Dietrich Eckart, and Karl Harrer, was a founder of German Workers' Party, which became the the Nazi Party. He also belonged to the nationalist Thule Society.
When Adolf Hitler attended his first meeting of the party, Eckhart gave him a political pamphlet he had written, My Political Awakening. It traced "corrosive Jewish influence" on Germany. Hitler found it resonating with his views:
Once I had begun, I read the little book through with interest; for it reflected a similar process to the one which I myself had gone through twelve years before. Involuntarily, I saw my own development come to life before my eyes.[1]
He became an early mentor to Hitler, introducing Hitler and Drexler to Peer Gynt and his own successful play. Hitler credits him with helping him see a link between Jews and Bolshevists.
Eckhart also recruited Alfred Rosenberg to the Nazis and the Thule Society. He started the Nazi newspaper, Voelkischer Beobachter, and also wrote the the Nazi anthem, "Deutschland erwache" (Germany awake).[2]
Eckhart participated in the Beer Hall Putsch, but died from a heart attack in the same year, exacerbated by morphine addiction. Hitler dedicated the first volume of Mein Kampf to him.
References
- ↑ Timothy W. Ryback (2008), Hitler's Private Library: the Books that Shaped his Life, Alfred A. Knopf, ISBN 9781400042043, pp. 7-8
- ↑ Dietrich Eckhart, Jewish Virtual Library