Adolf Hitler: Branham’s Evolving Prophecy Narrative from WWII to Armageddon

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945.  He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then assuming the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934.  Hitler initiated World War II in Europe when he invaded Poland on September 1, 1939,[1] and is widely credited for perpetrating the Holocaust, the genocide of six million Jews as well as millions of other victims.

Early versions of William Branham's stage persona made use of conspiracy theory to suggest that Hitler remained alive[2] and would lead the world into total destruction.  Before Branham's alleged 1932 or "1933 Prophecies" were revised,[3] William Branham claimed that he prophesied that one of the three leaders, Mussolini, Hitler, or Stalin, would rise and "send Jesus Christ to the earth again",[4] but he was not sure which.  At the same time, Branham published propaganda in The Voice of Healing detailing End-Of-Days scenarios in which Hitler was alive and participated in Armageddon.

the evidence suggests that he is alive.  According to a recent poll, one-half of all Americans believe that he is still living.  Many Europeans believe that they have not seen the last of Hitler.  In this article, we call to attention the possibilities of Hitler yet fitting into the prophetic picture. {...} Two facts of prophecy are worthy of consideration at this point.  Prophetic scholars for many years have almost unanimously agreed that Russia as "Rosh", king of the North, would with Germany, according to Ezekiel 38-39, invade Palestine, and bring upon that land a fearful time of persecution and suffering.  If Hitler is still alive, who may we ask, would relish with more fiendish delight, the chance to have a part in his diabolical scheme?[5]
- The Voice of Healing

Though Hitler initiated the war by invading Poland, the early versions of William Branham's stage persona claimed that his alleged 1933 vision by God was that President Franklin D. Roosevelt "will cause the whole world to go to war."[6] and that he did not know which of the "three isms" would achieve global domination.  This was corrected in later versions of his alleged prophecies, stating clearly that Hitler caused the war[7] and that the vision was instead of Communism consuming all world systems.[8]

From 1957 through 1965, William Branham used Adolf Hitler as part of his stage act leading up to the altar call.  In sermons such as "I Stand at the Door and Knock", Branham used examples of what he considered to be great men knocking at the door.  The climax, of course, was Christ knocking at the heart's door as many Christians were familiar with, based on a passage from Revelation 3:20, "Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me."

As William Branham prepped his crowd for the opening of hearts, Branham used Adolf Hitler as his example.  In 1957, for example, Branham preached a sermon entitled "I Stand at the Door and Knock" and started what became a pattern in his revivals:

What a privilege it would have been for a peasant, in the days of Adolf Hitler in Germany, the Fuehrer of Germany! If he would have went down to a poor man's house, and would have knocked at the door, and the man would have went to the door and raised up the curtain and looked. And the Fuehrer of Germany, the great Hitler, stood at his door; the ruler, the dictator of Germany. He would say, 'Well, I'm not worthy that such a man like that would knock at my door. Do you mean that Hitler wants to speak to me, a peasant?' 26 Why, he would throw the door open, and fell on his face, and said, 'Hitler, enter my home. Sure. Anything that's here is yours, great Fuehrer of Germany.' Certainly, he would have been happy to have done it. Not only that, but he would have been honored to done it, to think that Hitler would have come to his door.[9]
- William Branham