Editing Karl May (section)

==== Influence on the Nazis ====
[[Adolf Hitler]] was an admirer of May's writings. He noted that the novels "overwhelmed" him as a boy, going as far as to ensure "a noticeable decline" in his school grades.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ryback |first1=Timothy W. |title=‘Hitler’s Private Library’ |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/books/chapters/chapter-hitlers-private-library.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> According to an anonymous friend, Hitler attended the lecture given by May in Vienna in March 1912 and was enthusiastic about the event.<ref>Anonymous ''Mein Freund Hitler'' in Moravsky ilustrovany zpravodaj. 1935, No. 40 p10.</ref> The lecture was an appeal for peace, also heard by [[Nobel Peace Prize]] laureate [[Bertha von Suttner]]. May died suddenly only ten days after the lecture, leaving the young Hitler deeply upset.<ref>Hamman B. ''Hitler's Vienna: A Dictator's Apprenticeship'' Oxford University Press, New York 1999 pp 382–385 {{ISBN|0-19-512537-1}}.</ref> [[Claus Roxin]] noted that he doubts the anonymous description, because Hitler had said much about May, but not that he had seen him.<ref>Roxin C. Letter dated 24 February 2004. Cited in Wohlgschaft ''Karl May – Leben und Werk'', p. 2000.</ref> Hitler defended May against critics in the [[Meldemannstraße dormitory|men's hostel where he lived]] in Vienna, as the evidence of May's earlier time in jail had come to light; although it was true, Hitler confessed that May had never visited the sites of his American adventure stories. This made him a greater writer in Hitler's view since it showed the author's powers of imagination. 

Hitler later recommended the books to his generals and had special editions distributed to soldiers at the front, praising Winnetou as an example of "tactical finesse and circumspection",<ref name="TNR"/> though some note that the latter claims of using the books as military guidance are not substantiated.<ref name="NYTT"/> However, as told by [[Albert Speer]], "when faced by seemingly hopeless situations, he [Hitler] would still reach for these stories," because "they gave him courage like works of philosophy for others or the Bible for elderly people."<ref name="TNR">Grafton A. [http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=1fb48fe8-1d1c-4088-a435-f72087238c07&p=1 ''Mein Buch''] ''[[The New Republic]]'', December 2008.</ref> Hitler's admiration for May led the German writer [[Klaus Mann]] to accuse May of having been a form of "mentor" for Hitler.<ref name="ECO"/> In his admiration, Hitler ignored May's Christian and humanitarian approach and views completely, not mentioning his relatively sympathetic description of Jews and other persons of non-Northern European ancestry.<!--Several of May's novels were re-edited in an antisemitic style during the years of Nazism and led to serious misunderstandings about May's original intentions.<ref>Harder R. [http://www.karl-may-stiftung.de/missbraucht.html ''Mißbraucht im Dritten Reich.'']</ref>{{Failed verification|reason=Linked citation mentions NO re-editing. It talks about Nazis failing to understand and grasp the pacifist and Christian message of equality of all men in May's work – but not a word about re-editing of his works "in an antisemitic style".|date=July 2015}} and led to his books being deemed "chauvinist" by the Communist authorities of [[East Germany]] – though this did not affect his popularity or prevent a Karl May renaissance during the 1980s.<ref name="NYTT"/>---> The [[National Socialist]]s in particular tried to use May's popularity and his work for their purposes.<ref name="NYTT"/>