Handwriting analysis, Graphology, Graphologists Handwriting analysis is sometimes a topic in Court and for expert witnesses. One example is in identifying forgeries and forgers, such as in bad check cases alleging bank fraud. The check or a copy of it, introduced as an exhibit, would be real evidence.
Handwriting analysis is used to verify the authorship of many documents.
During the Nuremberg War Crimes trials (after Adolf Hitler had committed suicide) many documents were introduced into evidence against other war criminals, including documents that were asserted to be authored and/or signed by Adolf Hitler.
The above-mentioned examples of the use of documents and handwriting analysis should be distinguished from so-called handwriting analysts who offer detailed personality descriptions based on a persons handwriting. Some web sites purport to provide handwriting analysis of Hitler and other murderers based on their signatures. An example image of one of the bizarre web sites images is shown here your viewing pleasure.
From that bizarre web sites example above, there are five signatures of Adolf Hitler (3 on the left, 2 on the right) and under the first part of four signatures the web site placed a small black arrow to point out clubs that are said to be a unique identifier in the handwriting of murderers.
Adolf is the part on the left of each signature where the club allegedly appears at the bottom of each Adolf; and Hitler is the part of the signature on the right that is very squiggly.
The bizarre web site provided no signature/personality analysis for the signatures of Joseph Stalin or Mao Zedong who both managed to kill even more people than did Hitler (Stalin, under the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has been estimated to have slaughtered ~60 million people; Mao, under the Peoples Republic of China has been estimated to have slaughtered ~50 million; Hitler has been estimated to have slaughtered ~20 million).
In that sense they are the worst murderers in all of history, and they make local homicidal maniacs seem angelic in comparison. In 1939, Stalin and Hitler both invaded Poland as allies in a pact to divide up Europe, spreading World War II. So there is some irony in the fact that Stalin and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics later participated in the trial of other war criminals at Nuremberg.
In late 1943, during the Tripartite Dinner Meeting at the Tehran Conference, the Soviet socialist leader Stalin proposed executing 50,000-100,000 German staff officers.
Not realizing that Stalin was serious, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt joked that perhaps 49,000 would do. Churchill denounced the idea of the cold blooded execution of soldiers who fought for their country. However, he also stated that war criminals must pay for their crimes, and that in accordance with the Moscow Document which he himself (Churchill) had written, they should be tried at the places where the crimes were committed. Churchill was vigorously opposed to executions for political purposes.
QUESTION (please discuss whatever parts of these you can muster):
Is there a better argument that the web sites analyst overlooked in his analysis of Hitlers signature? How does Hitlers first name correspond to his signature? What did Hilter do to his own first name Adolf in his signature? Did Hitlers signature change after he created his poltical party? What is the etymology of the word Nazi or the actual name of his group?
What was the symbol of Hitlers party and dogma? Did Hitler turn his own signature into the trademark of his party and of the dogma that motivated his thinking and his actions?
The analyst above failed to compare earlier examples of Hitlers signature that show a change that corresponds to Hitlers political activity. Here is an image:
Germany in the 1930s often used symbols for letters and words. There are other examples of similar symbolism used in Germany, including the SS Division, the SA group etc. Similar symbolism (the use of meshed stylized letters) is still visible every day in traffic in Volkswagen logos that show the overlapping letters VW.
Bonus optional material: The movie Zodiac was about murders in California and showed handwriting analysis. How can a criminal deliberately mislead handwriting analysts. Can mimickry be used to frame innocent people? How can mimickry be detected?