ABSTRACT
When Adolf Hitler appeared “live,” what did the German masses see and hear? Now that Hitler is no longer alive, what is left of him? I want to reconsider the often noted fascination of his presence as well as the lasting presence of his fascination. Hitler remains, in historian H. R. Trevor-Roper’s words, “a frightening mystery.” 1 To speak of Hitler, I wish to suggest, is above all to speak about an entity that, in crucial regards, was never all there. Let us explore the problematic continuing fascination of Hitler, a fascination, that is—and indeed in large measure was—the fascination of a fake.
