Looking at recordings of his speeches now, with the theatrical gesticulating, shrill yelling, weird rage and completely over-the-top worship of country... I just find him ridiculous. If I didn't know that he was genocidal monster I wouldn't take him the least bit seriously. Is my mindset just the result of a more cynical age? Was this something people in general could buy into in that period, or was his success due to the very particular elements at play in Germany at the time?

What did people who weren't absorbed in his personality cult think of his performances?