It happens every December. People get incredibly worked up about who a magazine puts on its cover. You see the social media firestorms when a billionaire or a controversial politician gets the nod. But nothing—honestly, nothing—compares to the moment the world opened the January 2, 1939, issue to find Adolf Hitler named as the Time Person of the Year 1938.
It’s a gut-punch of a fact.
People often think this award is a popularity contest or a literal "gold star" for being a good human. It isn't. Not even close. Time Magazine has spent decades trying to explain that the title is about influence, for better or worse. In 1938, the "worse" was about as dark as human history gets. By the end of that year, the man in the Brown House had fundamentally altered the trajectory of the 20th century. He didn't do it with kindness. He did it by tearing up treaties, swallowing nations, and orchestrating a systematic campaign of state-sponsored terror.
The Year Diplomacy Died
To understand why Hitler became the Time Person of the Year 1938, you have to look at the map of Europe as it existed that January. It was a mess. The Treaty of Versailles was basically a scrap of paper by then. Hitler wasn't just some local loudmouth; he was a guy who had spent twelve months outmaneuvering every "civilized" leader in the West.
First, there was the Anschluss. In March, German troops marched into Austria. No shots were fired. It was a bloodless annexation that shocked the world but didn't actually trigger a war. Think about that. An entire sovereign nation just ceased to exist over a weekend, and the international community mostly just sighed. This gave Hitler the momentum he needed.
Then came the Sudeten crisis.
This is where the term "appeasement" became a permanent stain on history. Hitler wanted the German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia. He threatened war. He screamed. He paced. And in September, Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich, met with the Fuehrer, and essentially handed him the keys to the Czechoslovakian defenses. Chamberlain came home waving a piece of paper, promising "peace for our time." He was wrong. Hitler had spent 1938 proving that the democratic powers were too tired, too scared, or too disorganized to stop him. That’s pure, raw influence. It’s terrifying, but in the eyes of a news magazine, it was the biggest story on the planet.
That Infamous Cover Illustration
If you look at the actual cover from that week, you’ll notice something weird. Hitler isn't featured in a heroic pose. He isn't even a photograph.
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Instead, Time commissioned a somber, almost gothic illustration by Baron Rudolph Charles von Ripper. He was a Catholic artist who had actually been a political prisoner in Germany. He knew the evil he was drawing. The image shows Hitler as a tiny figure in the distance, playing a massive pipe organ in a ruined cathedral. Above him, a giant "Wheel of Culture" is broken, and victims hang from it. It’s a scene of absolute desolation.
The magazine didn't want to glorify him. They wanted to depict a man who had replaced the music of civilization with a funeral march.
The internal write-up was equally brutal. It described him as the "greatest threatening force of the democratic, freedom-loving world." It didn't mince words about the persecution of Jewish people or the suppression of religious freedom. The editors were basically saying, "Look at this person. Look at what he has done to the world in just twelve months. We cannot look away."
The "Influence" Misconception
Most folks still get this wrong. They think Time "honored" him.
They didn't.
The criteria for Time Person of the Year 1938—and every year since—is "the person, group, or concept that has had the most influence on the news and our lives, for better or worse." That "worse" part is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. If you look at the list over the years, you'll see other "villain" picks. Stalin made the cut twice. Ayatollah Khomeini was picked in 1979 during the hostage crisis.
It’s about impact.
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If a hurricane levels a city, the hurricane is the story. In 1938, Adolf Hitler was the hurricane. He had spent the year turning Germany into a massive war machine while the rest of the world watched in a sort of paralyzed trance. He’d silenced his internal opposition, built the Siegfried Line, and effectively ended the post-WWI era of collective security.
The Darkness of November 1938
You can't talk about this choice without talking about Kristallnacht.
On the nights of November 9 and 10, 1938, the Nazi regime coordinated a wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms. Synagogues burned. Businesses were smashed. Thousands of Jewish men were hauled off to concentration camps. It was the moment where the "cold" persecution turned into overt, state-mandated violence.
Time’s editors saw this. They saw the refugees pouring out of Germany. They saw the escalating rhetoric. They realized that the "Man of the Year" (as it was called then) wasn't just a political figure; he was the architect of a new kind of darkness. By choosing him, they were essentially sounding an alarm. They were telling their readers that the world they knew was ending.
It’s kinda haunting to read the original article today. The prose is dense, old-fashioned, and heavy with a sense of impending doom. There’s no optimism in it. No "maybe things will get better." It’s a clinical, almost cold assessment of a man who had become the center of the world's gravity through sheer, unadulterated malice.
Why 1938 Still Matters to History Buffs
We live in an era of "cancel culture" where people want to erase things that are offensive. But history isn't supposed to be comfortable.
The Time Person of the Year 1938 serves as a permanent marker of how quickly a society can slide into madness. It reminds us that "influence" isn't a moral quality. A person can be incredibly influential and also be a monster. In fact, the monsters usually have more influence because they aren't bound by the rules that the rest of us follow.
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Think about the sheer scale of what happened that year.
- The peaceful surrender of Austria.
- The betrayal of the Czechs at Munich.
- The industrialization of hate during Kristallnacht.
- The total failure of the League of Nations.
Any one of these events would make a person the "man of the year." Combined? It was an inevitability. Time would have been historically illiterate if they had picked anyone else. Could they have picked a "good" guy? Sure. Maybe a scientist or a civil rights leader. But would that have reflected the reality of 1938? No. The reality was a one-man wrecking crew aimed at the heart of the West.
Lessons from a Dark Archive
When we look back at the Time Person of the Year 1938, we shouldn't see a trophy. We should see a warning. The magazine itself has struggled with this legacy. They’ve often shied away from picking truly "evil" figures in recent decades because the public backlash is so intense. They skipped bin Laden in 2001, for instance, opting for Rudy Giuliani instead, even though bin Laden was arguably the more "influential" figure in terms of changing global policy that year.
That shift shows how much the award has changed from a journalistic record to a brand-management exercise. But back in the late 30s, they weren't worried about brand management in the same way. They were worried about the end of civilization.
What You Should Take Away From This
If you’re researching this, don’t just look at the headline. Go find the Ripper illustration. Read the actual text of the 1939 article. It’s a masterclass in how to cover a villain without becoming a mouthpiece for their propaganda.
The main thing to remember is that Time wasn't praising Hitler; they were identifying him as the world's biggest problem.
Actionable Insights for History Students and Researchers:
- Context is King: Always look at the month-by-month events leading up to a Person of the Year selection. For 1938, the Munich Agreement in September is the "smoking gun" that sealed the choice.
- Separate Fame from Merit: Use this example to understand that media coverage does not equal endorsement. This is a crucial skill in the modern digital age where "trending" is often confused with "good."
- Analyze the Art: If you're looking at old Time covers, pay attention to whether they use a photo or an illustration. In the 30s and 40s, an illustration often allowed the magazine to inject more editorial commentary than a standard portrait.
- Read Primary Sources: Don't just rely on Wikipedia. The Time Vault has the original 1938/1939 text available. It’s worth the read just to see the linguistic style of the era—it's incredibly different from how we write today.
The 1938 selection remains a chilling reminder that the most important person in the room is often the one you’d least like to be there. It’s a dark chapter in journalism, not because the magazine did something wrong, but because the world did. Hitler wasn't the Person of the Year because he was a leader; he was the Person of the Year because he was a warning that the world was about to catch fire. And, as we now know, it did.