Hitler's Piano Player: The Rise and Fall of Ernst Hanfstaengl, Confidante of Hitler, Ally of FDR

Rating:
Summary: Inside Adolf
Review: At first, you think the title is a Woody Allen joke (see his famous "Schmeed Memoirs", a faux reminiscence by Hitler's barber in "Getting Even".)

But "Hitler's Piano Player" is the real thing--the story of an upper class German who became the ultimate 6th degree of separation, the common link among Adolf Hitler, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Robert Benchley, and others. Born into a wealthy family, "Putzi" went to Harvard, ran a tony art dealership in NYC, returned to Germany in the early 20s, where he met Hitler, and became his confidant, friend, source of loans, piano player, and ultimately, his foreign press secretary. After threatened with assassination, Putzi fled to Switzerland and then, ultimately, to the U.S., where he aided the OSS and wrote lengthy and gossipy dossiers on all the major players in the 3rd Reich. (FDR, who apparently read these reports with relish, called them his "Hitler Bedtime Story".)

This is a bird's eye view of Germany and Hitler in the 20s and 30s--a bizarre home movie that almost humanizes Hitler and at the same time, gives hint to the sources of madness that soon savagely expressed itself.

An unexpected personal view of Hitler before he was the Fuhrer. Well written, compelling, a one-of-a-kind story.