JFK's Postwar Europe Diary and His Thoughts on Hitler
1 min History & how-to
1 min History & how-to
A diary kept by a young John F. Kennedy during his brief spell as a journalist traveling in post-war Europe is up for auction.
The 61 pages provide insights into Kennedy's thoughts on world leaders of the era, including a fascination with Adolf Hitler.
It's thought to be the only diary ever kept by the 35th US president and was given by him to a research assistant in the late 1950s.
Some of the most interesting things are what Kennedy writes about Hitler.
You have to remember, he's 28. He's witnessing the destruction of the Hitler's bunker, Berlin.
All of Germany lay in ruins, and he, he puts down onto paper, he says, um, "After visiting these two places, you can easily understand how that within a few years Hitler will emerge from the hatred that surrounds him now to one of the most significant figure, figures who ever lived.
He had in him the stuff of which legends are made."
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