Walter C. Langer

Walter Charles Langer (February 5 1899 – July 4 1981) was a Cambridge, Massachusetts psychoanalyst best known for his role in preparing a psychological analysis of Adolf Hitler that predicted his suicide.

Born in South Boston, Walter Langer was the son of recent immigrants from Germany. His older brother William became the history department chair at Harvard University who took a leave of absence during World War II to serve as head of the Research and Analysis section of the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Commissioned by OSS boss, William "Wild Bill" Donovan, in 1943 Walter Langer helped complete the Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler, in collaboration with Professor Henry A. Murray, Director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic, Dr. Ernst Kris, New School for Social Research, and Dr. Bertram D. Lawin, New York Psychoanalytic Institute.

The report used many sources to profile Hitler including a number of informants such as Ernst Hanfstaengl, Hermann Rauschning, Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Otto Strasser, Friedlinde Wagner, and Kurt Ludecke. The groundbreaking study was the pioneer of Offender profiling and political psychology, today commonly used by many countries as part of assessing international relations.

In addition to predicting that if defeat for Germany was near, Hitler would choose suicide, Dr. Langer's collaborative report and his book stated that Hitler was impotent as far as heterosexual relations were concerned and that there was a possibility that Hitler had participated in a homosexual relationship. The 1943 report stated that: "The belief that Hitler is homosexual has probably developed (a) from the fact that he does show so many feminine characteristics, and (b) from the fact that there were so many homosexuals in the Party during the early days and many continue to occupy important positions. It is probably true that Hitler calls Foerster "Bubi", which is a common nickname employed by homosexuals in addressing their partners."

Based on that study, in 1972, Basic Books of New York City published The Mind of Adolf Hitler ( the secret wartime report) by Walter Langer with the Foreword by William L. Langer and an Afterword by Robert G. L. Waite. The book briefly mentions claims that a Rothschild fathered Alois but concludes, "From a purely scientific point of view, therefore, it is sounder not to base our reconstruction on such slim evidence but to seek firmer foundations."

Retired to Florida, Walter Langer died in Sarasota in 1981, aged 82.

Books by Walter C. Langer

 * The Mind of Adolf Hitler (1972) ISBN 0-465-04620-7
 * Psychology & Human Living (1945) ISBN 0-89197-517-9