Im Guardian erzählen sechs Schauspieler, die alle einmal Adolf Hitler dargestellt haben, wie sie sich dem Charakter genähert und ihn schlussendlich auf die Leinwand oder die Bühne gebracht haben. Bruno Ganz ist natürlich dabei, aber auch Hubert Kramar, der Hitler im polnischen Theaterstück Nazis in Space gespielt hat: Desperately seeking Adolf.
Once, after a rehearsal, I went out on to the streets in my Hitler outfit, accompanied by two actors in adjutant outfits. One man nearly crashed his car and another banged into a lamppost. The reaction was very different in Paris. When standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower dressed as Hitler, I was pounced on by scores of Japanese tourists who wanted my autograph.
In 2000, I bought a ticket for the Vienna Opera Ball, a big political and social event. I decided to go in a Hitler costume to make a political statement against rightwing extremists. I was hooked up with a mini-TV camera and managed to get through the security gates because I was in a chauffeur driven Rolls-Royce with darkened windows. I got out of the car and the other guests were completely mesmerised. They stood there with their eyes almost popping out of their sockets. A couple of people said: “Heil Hitler!” To this day, I don’t know if they were joking. I was arrested and they tried to put me in prison, because it is against the law to wear Nazi outfits in Austria. But I just claimed that I had dressed up for a fancy-dress party.