That is propaganda. Hitler fought in WW1 and was highly decorated.
• Kershaw, Ian. *Hitler: 1889–1936 Hubris*. London: Penguin, 1998. • Hitler was an Austrian citizen liable for conscription who failed to regularize his military status.
• He was apprehended in early 1914 and ordered to undergo a medical examination in Salzburg.
• On 5 February 1914 he was declared unfit for military service (“zu schwach”).
• His later claim that he avoided Austrian service for ideological reasons is treated as postwar self-justification.
• Hamann, Brigitte. *Hitler’s Vienna: A Dictator’s Apprenticeship*. Oxford University Press, 1999. • Documents Hitler’s prolonged noncompliance with Austro-Hungarian conscription requirements.
• Confirms his move from Vienna to Munich in 1913 while still liable for service.
• Details the Salzburg examination and ruling of unfitness shortly before WWI.
• Treats the episode as draft evasion under Austrian law, even though no punishment followed.
• Herwig, Holger H. *The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914–1918*. Arnold / Bloomsbury, 1997. • States that Hitler was processed as a draft dodger by Austro-Hungarian authorities.
• Notes that he was found medically unfit for service in mid-1914.
• Emphasizes the irony that Austria rejected him while Germany later accepted him.
• Maser, Werner. *Adolf Hitler: Legend, Myth, Reality*. Translated edition, 1974. • Draws on Austrian police and military records regarding Hitler’s conscription status.
• Confirms Hitler’s failure to report for service and subsequent legal processing.
• Establishes the February 1914 medical ruling declaring him unfit.
• Fest, Joachim. *Hitler*. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974. • Acknowledges Hitler’s avoidance of Austro-Hungarian military service.
• Notes that Hitler later exaggerated ideological motives for this avoidance.
• Avoids portraying Hitler as a heroic or exceptional WWI soldier.
• Weber, Thomas. *Hitler’s First War*. Oxford University Press, 2010. • Provides the most comprehensive modern analysis of Hitler’s WWI service.
• Confirms Hitler served mainly as a regimental messenger, not constant frontline infantry.
• Establishes that two Iron Crosses do not constitute being “highly decorated.”
• Debunks postwar Nazi myths surrounding Hitler’s combat record.