Hitler Gets Nominated – Kind of
Though Hitler banned anyone from Germany receiving the award, he might have made an exception for one person – himself. In 1939, Adolf Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize – kind of. It was actually a joke. Erik Gottfried Christian Brandt, a member of the Swedish Parliament, nominated Adolf Hitler for the award right before World War II would begin. Brandt wrote a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee that opened with:
“To the Norwegian Nobel Committee
I hereby humbly suggest that the Peace Prize for 1939 is awarded the German Chancellor and Führer Adolf Hitler, a man, who in the opinion of millions of people, is a man who more than anyone in the world has deserved this highly prestigious reward.”
Brandt was an anti-fascist and saw the nomination as a joke. Thus, he quickly took back his nomination for Hitler to win the award. He would go on to say that it was more of a critique of another nomination in that same year, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
Adolf Hitler during a 1930 camera shoot. By Bundesarchiv – CC BY-SA 3.0 de
No, Adolf Hitler didn’t go on to win the nomination. In fact, as previously stated, no one did. From 1939-1943, there would be no winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Backlash
Even though the nomination was quickly taken back, it still churned out plenty of backlash. Brandt would go on to be labeled as many things, such as insane and a traitor. He was taken aback, and released the response in which he stated it all was meant to be an ironic joke.
The Nobel Peace Prize has always been full of controversy. Since its inception, each award has been criticized due to the nature of how it’s awarded. Adolf Hitler’s nomination may have been a joke, but it makes you wonder, what would have happened if he had
actually been nominated. What if he had won? It would have been truly ironic, with World War II starting, that, arguably, the main cause of the war, had won a Peace prize.