The Lost Artist - Adolf Hitler

 Young Hitler: The Lost Artist

Imagine a timid teenager in early 1900s in Vienna, walking the streets with a sketchbook in hand, dreaming of capturing the soul of the city on his canvas. He didn’t have an army nor hatred to drive people behind his ideology. He just had his charcoal strokes of grand architecture and wide-eyed ambition. This was Adolf Hitler in his youth, a budding artist whose path could have bloomed into beauty rather than destruction. His story reminds us: no one is born inherently evil. Within every soul lies goodness, talent, and choice—and history hinges on the choices we take and the choices we make.

The Dreamer:
Adolf was Born in 1889 in, Austria. By his teens in Linz, he was sketching obsessively: ornate buildings, dramatic landscapes, even portraits of his mother. His Classmates recalled him as a quiet boy with a talent for ‘drawing’; he used to boast, "I was going to be a great painter", and evidence backs it — his surviving watercolour paintings show a competent eye for detail, especially architecture.

In 1907, at 18, as a teenager Hitler moved to Vienna to chase his passion, the ‘Art’. He applied to the prestigious ‘Academy of Fine Arts’, submitting 21 drawings and paintings. The examiners praised three of his paintings as detailed studies of buildings that revealed promise. But they rejected him twice — for lacking "human figures". Undeterred, he hustled as a painter of postcards and advertisements, he read art books, debated aesthetics in coffeehouses. These years shaped a sensitive soul, not yet scarred by ideology.

You are what you consume:

‘Where you stand, depends on where you sit’ funny saying isn’t it? Yet it spells out profound truth. Your ideology comes from what you consume in the form of reading, art, music, movies, food, religion, etc. If you are not careful, what you consume, will consume you. The young Adolf grew up idolizing artists like Richard Wagner, whose musical compositions fuelled his imagination. Richard Wagner portrayed Jews as physically alien, culturally destructive, and incapable of true art. He depicted Jews as eternal outsiders threatening German purity. Richard Wagner's writings and music profoundly influenced Adolf Hitler, who idolized the composer as a prophetic figure and role model for German nationalism.  

 The Rejection That Shaped a Monster

What flipped the switch?

Hitler was rejected twice from Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts in 1907 and 1908 due to his technically proficient but architecture-focused watercolours lacking human figures, creativity, and emotional depth. This failure, amid his poverty, deepened his resentment toward elites and fuelled a victim mentality.

 Historians like Ian Kershaw argue that this rejection crushed his ego, planting seeds of resentment. The rejections developed paranoia and bitterness, which Hitler later intertwined his personal failure with antisemitism. (Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews.)

Yet here's the human spark:

Hitler produced over 2,000 artworks, many sold to tourists even today. His style echoed 19th-century realists—precise, unemotional, yearning for order. Friends described him as kind-hearted in youth, vegetarian out of compassion, even a lover of animals. Evil wasn't encoded in his DNA; it brewed from choices amid failure.

What If Hitler Had Become the Artist?
Picture an alternate timeline:

·         The Academy accepts him in 1907.

·         Young Adolf thrives under mentors, evolves into a celebrated architectural illustrator.

·         By the 1920s, he's exhibiting in art galleries, designing posters for Wagner festivals.

·         No military coup; instead, collaborations with artists in Vienna's vibrant scene.

·         World War I? He might have dodged it, focusing on anti-war sketches.

·         Post-war Germany gains a voice for beauty amid ruins—perhaps illustrating memorials that heal, not divide.

·         The Holocaust's 6 million lives must have been spared;

·         WWII's 70-85 million deaths could have been averted.

·         Europe would have rebuilt with Hitler's canvases in museums, a testament to resilience.

 

As historian Timothy Ryback notes in *Hitler's Private Library*, his early passions were cultural, not genocidal—what if rejection hadn't twisted them?
This "what if" isn't fantasy; it's a mirror. Think of other "rejects" like Van Gogh, who sold one painting in life yet lit the world. It’s a choice.

A Call to See Potential:
No one arrives evil. Hitler's youth overflows with the same creativity in all of us. History pivots on a single door: an acceptance letter, a kind word, a second chance.

As an educator, we need to play a very crucial role in the lives of the students who are entrusted to our care. It is an inevitable virtue that we need to nurture within us to identify the potential within every student. Children come to us with different personalities and unique intelligences. We are not here to monopolise them under one category ‘studious’. Allow them to bloom in their own capacity and in their own time.

Positive words shift focus from mistakes to productive struggle, helping students reframe challenges positively and build resilience.

Try using Praising phrases such as:

"Thank you for raising your hand"

"You worked so hard on that—I'm impressed!"​

"I see how much effort you're putting in; keep going."

"You're getting better every time you try."​

"Thank you for helping your friend."​

"I love how you shared so kindly."​

"You're such a great problem-solver!"​

"It's okay to make mistakes—that's how we learn."​

"You can do it; I believe in you!"

"What a fantastic idea—tell me more."​

"You did it all by yourself—great job!"​

"Thank you for listening so carefully."​

"You're an important part of our group."

"I appreciate your effort"

"You're showing great progress"

These phrases Bring about positive results inside the class room.

Choose the path of beauty:

Teachers can transform their classrooms by weaving positive phrases into daily interactions. Spot the artist in the outcast; nurture the spark before shadows grow.

In our classrooms, communities, and lives, let's choose the path of beauty.

 Hitler's Paintings: