Ernst (Putzi) Hanfstaungl

I don't want to comment on this trashy piece in general (it is too trashy and too dumb for a site that is habitually trashy and often reads like an English (and anti-Arab/anti-Islam) version of Der Angriff. But I am commenting on this section: "Harvard went out of its way to host and celebrate Nazi leaders. The high Nazi official Ernst (Putzi) Hanfstaungl was invited as the Harvard commencement speaker in 1934. The wealthy Hanfstaungel had been one of Hitler’s earliest and most important backers. He was on record insisting “the Jews must be crushed,” and describing Jews as “the vampire sucking German blood.”" I will be the last person to defend Harvard University, but this account about this Nazi propagandist, Putzi Hanfstaungl, is so inaccurate. The reception of this fan of Hitler in the US after his flight from Nazi Germany is scandalous: but can't be blamed entirely on Harvard, but on the highest levels of the US government. There are many accounts of the activities of this man (his memoirs and the book Hitler's Piano Player: The Rise and Fall of Ernst Hanfstaengl: Confidant of Hitler, Ally of FDR, two books clearly not read by this ill-informed tabloid reporter.) The account that Hanfstaungle told in his memoirs about his daring escape from Germany to escape some assassination plot is not backed up by any historical evidence. (Apparently, the Hitler team enjoyed playing practical jokes on him, and he got suddenly, conveniently scared). And yet, the man was welcomed in the US at the highest levels of government and then served in an official capacity as an expert on intelligence and propaganda. Of course, it is quite unpleasant when you learn that Hitler's early propaganda style borrowed heavily from Harvard University's propaganda about itself (gingles, rituals, hymns, ceremonies, etc).