Embarrassing Hitler Photos That He Tried To Have Destroyed — Or Probably Should Have

Rarely-seen photos that'll upend your image of this genocidal dictator.

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Hitler poses during a photo shoot in which he tries out new gestures to a recording of one of his speeches. These photos were taken by Heinrich Hoffmann after Hitler's release from Landsberg Prison in 1925.Heinrich Hoffmann/Getty Images

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Accentuate that important point with a pinkie up. Heinrich Hoffmann/Keystone Features/Getty Images

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If we say he's doing the Arsenio Hall "arm pump," will you ever be able to unsee it?Heinrich Hoffmann/Keystone Features/Getty Images

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Perhaps he is questioning why he is even doing this. Heinrich Hoffmann/Getty Images

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Looks like Hitler is taking a dance break to escape all the seriousness. Heinrich Hoffmann/Getty Images

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But now it's clearly back to business. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Perhaps he is now adding drama to his little recital by using Shakespearean language and gestures. Heinrich Hoffmann/Getty Images

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Accusatory Hitler is back with a vengeance. Heinrich Hoffmann/Keystone Features/Getty Images

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Half salute, half jazz hands?Heinrich Hoffmann/Getty Images

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"You know, Heinrich, I do enjoy these little interludes. What fun we have." Heinrich Hoffmann/Keystone Features/Getty Images

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But could we please turn down the lights!?Heinrich Hoffmann/Keystone Features/Getty Images

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And lastly, what appears to be an artist's rendition of the whole ludicrous episode.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

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Nothing screams tyrannical leader like leather lederhosen. Hitler later regretted showing his bare legs and banned the few photos in existence where they were seen.Time Life Pictures/National Archives/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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So this? Totally banned. Hitler again models his short shorts, hand on hip, by a quaint cabin. 1930. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Portrait of Hitler sporting an icy stare. He thought this photo made him look stupid and had it banned. Circa 1923-1924. Photo12/UIG via Getty Images

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In a spread from "Deutschland Erwacht'," Hitler sits on a picnic blanket, ready to indulge in a snack. Circa 1933. Heinrich Hoffmann/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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A tuckered-out Hitler snoozes in a comfy lawn chair. 1930.

If Hitler didn’t try to have this photo of him in the most vulnerable of positions banned, it would be most surprising. ullstein bild via Getty Images

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Embarrassing Hitler Photos That He Tried To Have Destroyed — Or Probably Should Have

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Thanks to Adolf Hitler’s personal photographer, we are privy to the Führer’s private sessions for practicing his infamous speeches. During these sessions, photographer Heinrich Hoffmann captured Hitler in the throes of passionate lip-sync to his own recorded speech.

The demonstrative dictator wanted a record of his gestures and expressions to be able to see what his audience saw. Thus Hitler used these photos as a tool for improvement. But when he actually saw these photos and how unflattering they were, he ordered Hoffmann to destroy both the prints and the negatives. Hoffmann, however, disobeyed this order.

“It makes perfect sense that he would be doing this," historian Roger Moorhouse saidDeutschland Erwacht," which was banned for containing images that Hitler deemed as “below one’s dignity.”

And what did these undignified images depict? In the book, the imposing dictator can be seen cheerfully picnicking, smiling, and even... wearing shorts.

Next, see yet another photo of himself that Hitler tried to have banned. Then, read the recent reports that claim to have unearthed the bizarre sexual fetishes that Hitler tried to keep hidden.