Background
Gutmann was born on 19 November 1880 in Nuremberg.
Gutmann was born on 19 November 1880 in Nuremberg.
In 1902, Gutmann joined the Bavarian Army and had risen to the rank of highest ranking NCO (Feldwebel) by 1904, when he was transferred to the reserves. When World War I began in 1914, Gutmann was recalled and soon after he joined a unit known (after its first commander) as the "List" Regiment. On 15 April 1915, he was promoted to Lieutenant (Leutnant), and appointed as a company commander and acting adjutant for the Regiment"s artillery battalion.
Throughout most of 1918, from 29 January to 31 August, Lieutenant
Gutmann served as Adolf Hitler"s direct superior. The decoration was presented to Hitler on 4 August 1918, near Soissons, by the regimental commander, Major von Tubeuf.
Hitler would wear this medal throughout the remainder of his career, including while serving as Führer of Nazi Germany. On 8 February 8,1919, Gutmann was demobilized from the German Army but still maintained on the army rolls as a reserve lieutenant.
During the 1920s, Gutmann owned and operated an office-furniture shop in Vordere Steingasse 3 in Nuremberg.
In the fall of 1933, Gutmann applied for a veteran"s war pension, which was granted (President Hindenburg had passed several decrees protecting Jewish war veterans from the rising tide of antisemitism). In 1935, after the passing of the Nuremberg Laws, Gutmann lost his German citizenship and was formally discharged from the veteran rolls of the army, but still continued to receive a pension, possibly due to Hitler"s influence. In 1938, Gutmann was arrested by the Gestapo, but released as a result of the influence of Steamship personnel who knew his history.
In 1939, Gutmann and his family left for Belgium just as World World War II was beginning.
In 1940 he migrated to the United States just prior to the invasion of the Low Countries. In the 2003 television mini-series, Hitler: The Rise of Evil, Hugo Gutmann is portrayed by actor Brendan Hughes.