The Karl May Connection
As a boy, Hitler liked to read about American cowboys and Indians. He was particularly found of the adventure stories of Karl May, a German who wrote about the American frontier. May, who never visited the United States, concocted a strange “Western” language which the heroes in his novels spoke with a Teutonized Texan drawl. As a schoolboy, Hitler always kept one of May’s books concealed under his desk and read it while the teacher was giving lengthy explanations.
Hitler was not alone in his admiration for May’s stories and heroes. May’s books sold by the thousands, and a Old Shatterhand, the main character in May’s novels, became the hero of a whole generation of German boys. Few of them, however, could match Hitler in the intensity of his loyalty or the longevity of his infatuation.
When Hitler became a chancellor he had a special shelf built in his library to hold, in a place of honor, the whole collection of May’s novels, specially bound in vellum. It is known that Hitler read and reread May’s stories and highly commended them to his associates and friends.
Some authors believe that it was in Karl May’s books where Hitler became infatuated with the Swastika. The swastika was used by many North American Indians, and it frequently appeared in illustrations of May’s novels.