I have always been mildly interested in Modern German History. But, like most jdubs, other than an occasional article in a newpaper or magazine, or a hurried reading of historical texts, I never took the time. [There was always more preaching to do, more meetings to attend, more Kingdom Halls to clean].
A fellow poster here on JWD and I were discussing Hitler's mania on the phone tonight, and the subject of Hitler's artwork came up. He suggested I look online at his art. I did. I also found an online English translation of Mein Kampf. Though I detest the atrocities that he was responsible for, I find the environs that influenced such a course, interesting, even facinating. His personal views and history are what made him the man he became. So, I began reading. I finished chapter one, bookmarked it and look forward to widening my view of post-war Germany.
In the first chapter he makes reference to his out-of-place existence in Austria though of German descent. I found it remarkably mirrorlike of my view in the early years of my Jwism, how as a youth I held to principle that put me at opposition to most of my world, and held such opposition as a standard-bearer would in battle. This excerpt was almost eerie in it's similarities to the way I felt.
Anyone who knows the soul of youth will be able to understand that it is they who lend ear most joyfully to such a battle-cry. They carry on this struggle in hundreds of forms, in their own way and with their own weapons. They refuse to sing unGerman songs. The more anyone tries to alienate them from German heroic grandeur, the wilder becomes their enthusiasm: they go hungry to save pennies for the grown-ups' battle fund their ears are amazingly sensitive to un-German teachers, and at the same time they are incredibly resistant; they wear the forbidden insignia of their own nationality and are happy to be punished or even beaten for it. Thus, on a small scale they are a faithful reflection of the adults, except that often their convictions are better and more honest.
Mein Kampf - Adolf Hitler [Chapter One - In the House of My Parents]
http://www.hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/
Not to say that I agree in any way with the actions of the man later in life - I do not of course - but I find the forces that sculpted him to be of immense interest.
Jeff