Hitler

by Joachim C. Fest

  39. Rudolf Diels, Lucifer ante portas, p. 278. On von Blomberg’s and von Reichenau’s personalities see also Hermann Foertsch, Schuld und Verhängnis, pp. 30 ff.; also Friedrich Hossbach, Zwischen Wehrmacht und Hitler 1934–1938, p. 76, and VJHfZ 1959:4, pp. 429 ff.

  40. Conference of commanders of February 2–3, 1934, quoted from the notes of General Liebmann in the IfZ, Munich, Blatt 76 ff. The “Aryan clause” was a provision in the law for the restoration of the civil service dated April 7, 1933; it stated that all Jews who had not been employed in the civil service before the First World War, or who could not prove that they had fought at the front, must be dismissed from the civil service.

  41. NSDAP principal archives, Hoover Institute, Reel 54, Folder 1290; cf. also Jacobsen and Jochmann, under date of February 2, 1934.

  42. The Brutal Friendship is the title of F. W. Deakin’s book on Mussolini, Hitler, and the fall of Italian Fascism, taken from a remark made by Hitler in April, 1945.

  43. Cf. Helmut Krausnick, Der 30. Juni 1934. Bedeutung, Hintergründe, Verlauf, supplement to Das Parlament, June 30, 1954, p. 321. In this case the managers in the background fumbled the ball and for a moment permitted a glimpse of what the strategy really was. For Kleist and Heines met to have a candid confrontation, in the course of which, as Kleist later remarked, they came to the joint suspicion “that we… were being incited against one another by a third party—I thought of Himmler—and that many of the reports came from him.” Kleist made this statement before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg; it is quoted here from Heinrich Bennecke, Die Reichswehr und der “Rdhm-Putsch,” p. 85.

  44. The question of the individual who initiated the Munich “mutiny” remains somewhat obscure to this day. In addition to Himmler some evidence points to Gauleiter Wagner of Munich, who, however, probably would not have taken any action without prompting from Himmler.

  45. Hans Bernd Gisevius, To the Bitter End, p. 160.

  46. Heyen, Alltag, p. 129. The total number of victims during those two days has not been established to this day. The official figures spoke of seventy-seven, but probably twice that number would be more realistic. The estimates that ranged from 400 to as many as 1,000 dead were unquestionably exaggerated. In this connection cf. the “Official List of the Dead of June 30, 1934,” IfZ, Munich, Sign. MA-131, Bl. 103458–64.

  47. Cf., for example, Otto Strasser, Mein Kampf, p. 98; according to this account Hitler waxed enthusiastic over Cesare Borgia and occasionally related with pleasure how Cesare had invited his condottieri to a reconciliation feast: “They all arrived, those lords of the leading noble families, and sat down at the table to celebrate their reconciliation. At twelve Cesare Borgia rose and declared that now all contention was over. Whereupon two black-clad men stepped behind each of the guests and tied the condottieri leaders to their chairs. Then Borgia, going from one of the bound men to the next, killed them all one by one.” Thus Strasser concludes his account of Hitler’s remarks; but this bit of sensationalism scarcely deserves credence. At best it may be imagined as a tale told in a particular mood, on a special occasion. But in that case it would not have the value as characterization that Strasser wishes to ascribe to it.

  48. Cf. Hermann Mau, “The Second Revolution,” in: Holborn, ed., Republic to Reich, pp. 223 ff.

  49. W. Sauer, in: Bracher, Sauer, Schulz, Machtergreifung, pp. 934 f.; Sauer also argues that Hitler, given his premises, had no choice but to kill Röhm.

  50. Bracher, Diktatur, p. 268. In context von Blomberg’s ghastly remark was to the effect that the Prussian officer’s honor had consisted in being stringently proper; henceforth the German officer’s honor must consist in being cunning. Cf. Gorlitz, ed., Der deutsche Generalstab, p. 348.

  51. Rauschning, Gespräche, pp. 161 ff.

  52. Domarus, p. 433.

  53. Thus David Schoenbaum, op. cit., who has contributed a mass of evidence to support this thesis; see especially pp. 196 ff. and 226 ff. On the revolutionary nature of National Socialism and of the Third Reich as a whole cf. also Dahrendorf, Gesellschaft und Demokratie, pp. 431 ff. and H. A. Turner, Jr., “Faschismus und Antimodernismus in Deutschland,” in: Faschismus und Kapitalismus in Deutschland, pp. 157 ff.

  54. Jacobsen and Jochmann, under date of January 25, 1939, p. 9. Cf. also Hitler’s speech of June 27, 1937, in Würzburg, in which he said that never in history had “this painful process been completed more prudently, sensibly, cautiously and with greater sensitivity than in Germany”; see Domarus, p. 703.

  55. The Jewish emigration from Germany amounted to:

  1933 63,400

  1934 45,000

  1935 35,000

  1936 34,000

  1937 25,000

  1938 49,000

  1939 68,000

  Cf. the documents of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland, Deutsches Zentralarchiv Potsdam, Rep. 97.

  BOOK VI

  1. Mein Kampf, p. 682; similarly, pp. 334 f.

  2. Speech of January 30, 1941; see My New Order, pp. 912 f.

  3. Nolte, Faschismus, pp. 189 f.

  4. Rauschning, Gespräche, p. 255.

  5. Paul Valéry, cited in Ignazio Silone, The School for Dictators. For Hitler’s statements on the “crisis of democracy” cf. the speech (remarkable in other respects also) at the Vogelsang Ordensburg of April 29, 1937, in Kotze and Krausnick, pp. 111 ff.

  6. Arnold Spencer Leese, quoted in Nolte, Krise, p. 332.

  7. Wing Commander Archie Boyle to Navy Lieutenant Obermüller; cf. letter from Rosenberg to Hitler dated March 15, 1935, quoted in Jacobsen, Aussenpolitik, p. 78. For the Times quotation from Lord Lothian cf. Robert Ingrim, Von Talleyrand zu Molotov, p. 153.

  8. Speech of March 22, 1936, quoted in Domarus, p. 610.

  9. Thomas Mann, “Dieser Friede.”

  10. Robert Ingrim, Hitlers glücklichster Tag, p. 107.

  11. Ibid., p. 143.

  12. Paul Schmidt, Statist, p. 292.

  13. Ibid., p. 301. However, Phipps changed his view of Hitler during his spell of duty. Soon afterward, he told the American ambassador in Paris that he regarded Hitler as a fanatic who would be content with nothing less than ruling all Europe. He informed his American colleague in Berlin that Germany would not wage war before 1938 but that war was the goal; cf. Gilbert and Gott, pp. 26 ff.

  14. Quoted in Ingrim, Hitlers glücklichster Tag, p. 133; see also Erich Raeder, Mein Leben, 1, pp. 298 if.

  15. Joachim von Ribbentrop, Zwischen London und Moskau, p. 64.

  16. Bracher, Diktatur, p. 323. The following remark of Hitler’s is quoted in Erich Kordt, Nicht aus den Akten, p. 109.

  For the British justification of appeasement, cf., for example, the speech in the House of Commons given by Sir Samuel Hoare on July 11, 1935, quoted in Winston Churchill, The Second World War, I, p. 141. At the time Churchill objected to the government’s policy, but voted for it with the majority of 247 to 44.

  17. Nolte, Epoche, p. 288.

  18. Nolte, Krise, p. 162.

  19. Schmidt, Statist, p. 320. The probably exaggerated statement that Hitler was for a time close to a nervous breakdown comes from Kordt, Nicht aus den Akten, p. 134; it is supported by no other source.

  20. Bracher, Diktatur, p. 325. In the Tischgespräche, p. 169, Hitler admitted that he had “called an election after every coup; that is enormously effective at home and abroad.”

  21. Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler Was My Friend, p. 82; also Tischgespräche, pp. 155, 169. Ciano spoke in the same sense of the “fascistic rule” of accomplished facts: Cosa fatta capo ha. See Ciano’s Hidden Diary 1937—1938, p. 9.

  22. Anthony Eden, Facing the Dictators, p. 407.

  23. Frank, Im Angesicht des Galgens, pp. 204 f.

  24. Cf. ADAP, Series D, vol. III. The Italian fighting forces in Spain amounted to more than 50,000 men, whereas the Germans had approximately 6,000—who, however, were constantly rotated. Hitler forbade official recruiting of volunteers for Spain. In keeping with this po
licy, the German commitment was not publicized, but kept strictly secret.

  25. Fritz Wiedemann, Der Mann, der Feldherr werden wollte, p. 150. For the episode of the nocturnal conversation with Baldwin, see Gilbert and Gott, p. 34.

  26. T. Jones, A Diary with Letters 1931–1950, p. 251. On Ribbentrop’s assignment cf. his remark to Premier Kiosseiwanoff of Bulgaria on July 5, 1939, in ADAP VI, p. 714; see also C. J. Burckhardt, pp. 285, 295.

  27. Cf. on this Axel Kuhn, Hitlers aussenpolitisches Programm, pp. 198 ff. But remarkably, for the time being, military planning remained largely uninfluenced by the new attitude.

  28. Cf. James R. M. Butler, Lord Lothian, p. 337.

  29. Bullock, p. 355.

  30. Frangois-Poncet, p. 114.

  31. Kirkpatrick, The Inner Circle, p. 81.

  32. Letter of May 23, 1936, BAK, Reel 43 II, 1495.

  33. Quoted in Bullock, p. 379.

  34. Theodor W. Adorno, Versuch über Wagner, p. 155. This cult of death can be found in all Fascist movements; it was most elaborated in the Rumanian Iron Guard and would surely be worth a detailed study.

  35. Karlheinz Schmeer, Die Regie des öffentlichen Lebens im Dritten Reich, p. 113; here, too, are to be found elaborate descriptions and analyses of the staging of party rallies.

  36. Cf. Robert Coulondre, De Staline à Hitler, p. 246, and Paul Stehlin, Auftrag in Berlin, p. 56. The remark about “mystical ecstasy” was made by François-Poncet, Coulondre’s predecessor in Berlin, who continues: “Seven days yearly Nuremberg was a city devoted to revelry and madness, almost a city of convulsionaries, Holy Rollers, and the like. The surroundings, the beauty of the spectacles presented, and the luxury of the hospitality offered exerted a strong influence upon the foreigners whom the Nazi Government was careful to invite annually. Many visitors, dazzled by Nazi display, were infected by the virus of Nazism. They returned home convinced by the doctrine and filled with admiration for the performance.” (The Fateful Years, p. 209.)

  37. January 30 was followed in the year’s calendar of ceremonies by Memorial Day (middle of March), then the Führer’s Birthday (April 20), Labor Day (May 1), Mother’s Day (beginning of May), Reich Party Day (beginning of September), Harvest Thanksgiving (end of September, beginning of October), and finally November 9.

  38. Thus, for example, Paul Stehlin, p. 53, and François-Poncet, p. 205, who even provides a description of this salute (which had never been used before and was never used again). Incidentally, most of the teams offered this salute as they marched in; the British and Japanese were the exceptions that attracted the most attention.

  39. Albert Speer, Inside the Third Reich, p. 58.

  40. Tischgespräche, p. 433 f.; also Heinrich Hoffmann, pp. 196 f. On Hitler’s constant fear of a faux pas, cf. Albert Zoller, Hitler privat, p. 126. Hitler once expressed his dismay that Mussolini let himself be photographed in bathing trunks: “A really great statesman would not do that.”

  41. Bullock, p. 376.

  42. Krebs, Tendenzen, pp. 128 f.

  43. Cf. for example Hans Severus Ziegler, Hitler aus dem Erleben dar gestellt, pp. 54, 57, 58, 64, 67, 70, etc. All the remarks and behavior noted in these pages have also been heard or observed by Albert Speer, as he has informed the author.

  44. Communication from Albert Speer, who usually sat on the other side of Frau Wagner and so could not miss observing this little scene.

  45. C. J. Burckhardt, p. 340.

  46. Tischgespräche, p. 227. The reference to the symbolic meaning of the Untersberg for Hitler is based on information from Speer; cf. also Inside the Third Reich, p. 86.

  47. Domarus, p. 704 (speech of June 27, 1937, in Würzburg).

  48. Hermann Rauschning, The Voice of Destruction, p. 255. Chapter XVIII (“Hitler Himself”) from which this passage is taken was omitted in the German edition of the Gespräche; it has now been printed in Theodor Schieder, Hermann Rauschnings “Gespräche mit Hitler” als Geschichtsquelle, p. 80. The passage is here retranslated from the original German text.

  49. Rauschning, Gespräche, p. 162. Elsewhere (p. 104) Rauschning comments that Hitler’s eloquence seemed like a “physical excess.”

  50. Speer, p. 92; there, too, further references to the relationship between Hitler and Eva Braun. See also p. 130.

  51. Speer, p. 94; similarly, Zoller, p. 21. The characterizations of the entourage come from Hitler’s personal physician, Professor Karl Brandt; cf. Tischgespräche, p. 47.

  52. Zoller, p. 21; for the remark cited above see Luedecke, p. 459. The reference to the films Hitler preferred I owe to Regierungsrat Barkhausen, Bundesarchiv Koblenz, who was charged with providing the films for Hitler during the thirties. The catalogue containing some 2,000 titles which could not be shown publicly in Germany can be seen at the Bundesarchiv.

  53. Speer, p. 159.

  54. Speer in a communication to the author; Hitler, Speer says, considered Pericles “a kind of parallel” to himself.

  55. Speer in a communication to the author; Speer adds that Hitler’s rejection of the works of Lucas Cranach, for example, was due to the fact that Cranach’s female figures did not correspond to his own plumper ideal. Cranach’s women were “unaesthetic,” Hitler said to Speer.

  56. See the illustration between pages 144 and 145.

  57. For this whole subject see Hildegard Brenner, Die Kunstpolitik des Nationalsozialismus, especially the chapter headed “Der Führerauftrag Linz,” pp. 154 ff.

  58. Speer, p. 230.

  59. Cf. Nolte, Epoche, p. 500.

  60. Tischgespräche, p. 186; the following remark ibid., p. 171.

  61. Ibid., p. 446.

  62. Ibid., pp. 159, 173; see also Speer, pp. 94 ff.

  63. Libres propos, p. 253. In Mein Kampf he commented: Blood purity “is a thing that the Jew preserves better than any other people on earth. And so he advances on his fatal road until another force comes forth to oppose him, and in a mighty struggle hurls the heaven-stormer back to Lucifer.” Mein Kampf, p. 662.

  64. Klaus Dörner, “Nationalsozialismus und Lebensvernichtung,” in: VJHfZ 1967:2, p. 131; also Domarus, p. 717, where Hitler declares in the course of a party rally proclamation: “But Germany has experienced her greatest revolution as a consequence of the first policy of racial hygiene ever systematically undertaken in this country. The results of this German racial policy will be more decisive for the future of our nation than the effects of all other laws. For they create the new man.”

  65. Mein Kampf, p. 688. The speech to the officers is printed in Jacobsen and Jochmann, under the date of January 25, 1939.

  66. Speer, p. 138.

  67. Domarus, p. 974.

  68. Cf. Jacobsen, Aussenpolitik, p. 435. For Hitler’s attacks on the intellectuals cf. the speeches of April 29, 1937, and May 20, 1937, prinfed in Kotze and Krausnick, pp. 149 f. and 241 f.

  69. Nolte, Faschismus, p. 325.

  70. Situation report by the district magistrate of Bad Kreuznach, quoted in Heyen, pp. 290 f., with further such references.

  71. Heiden, Hitler II, pp. 215, 251.

  72. Italian Ambassador Attolico in conversation with Carl Jacob Burckhardt. See C. J. Burckhardt, p. 307. Cf. also Hitler’s remark in Tischgespräche, p. 341, that the Foreign Office was “a hodgepodge of nobodies.” For the remark on the generals cf. Fabian von Schlabrendorff, Offiziere gegen Hitler, p. 60; for the remark on the diplomats, H. Rauschning, Gespräche, pp. 249 ff.

  73. IMT XXXI, 2949-PS, pp. 368 ff.

  74. Seyss-Inquart’s memorandum of September 9, 1945, IMT XXXII, 3254-PS, p. 70.

  75. Neue Basler Zeitung, March 16, 1938, quoted in M. Domarus, p. 822.

  76. Cf. Bracher, Diktatur, p. 338.

  77. Stefan Zweig, Die Welt von gestern, pp. 446 f.

  78. Ibid., p. 448.

  79. C. J. Burckhardt, p. 157; for Chamberlain’s remark see Bernd-Jürgen Wandt, München 1938, p. 26.

  80. Ciano’s Hidden Diary 1937–1938, p. 114. See also Kirkpatrick, Mussolini.


  81. Henderson to Ribbentrop on May 21, 1938, ADAP II, No. 184. Similarly, on April 22, Undersecretary Butler told a representative of the German Embassy in London that England was aware that Germany would reach her next goal (he mentioned the Czechoslovak question); ibid., I, No. 750.

  82. IMT XXV, 388-PS, pp. 422, 434.

  83. Cf. Gilbert and Gott, p. 99, also p. 89. Chamberlain made his remark in his radio address of September 27, 1938; London Times of September 28, 1938. At this time the Czech ambassador in Rome, F. K. Chvalkovsky, commented to Mussolini that “Bohemia is completely unknown in England. Once, when he was a student in London, he was given a violin to play at a party, simply because it was known that he was a Czech. There was a confusion of thought between Bohemians and gypsies.” Ciano’s Hidden Diary 1937–1938, p. 174.

  84. Duff Cooper, Old Men Forget, p. 229. The account of the meeting is based upon Paul Schmidt, Statist, pp. 395 ff., on the minutes of the meeting, and on a letter of Chamberlain’s, both reprinted in Freund, Weltgeschichte I, pp. 133 ff.

  85. Notes by Ivone Kirkpatrick, quoted in Bullock, p. 461.

  86. Cf. Shirer, Rise and Fall, p. 398. Hitler’s speech is printed in My New Order, pp. 517 ff.

  87. Kirkpatrick’s notes, quoted by Bullock, p. 461; see also Paul Schmidt, Statist, p. 409.

  88. Shirer, Rise and Fall, p. 399. The same behavior has been recorded by many other observers; cf., for example, P. Schmidt, Statist, p. 410; Fritz Wiedemann, pp. 176 f.; Kordt, Nicht aus den Akten, pp. 259 f., 265 ff. C. J. Burckhardt wrote to a friend at the end of August that it was impossible to imagine “the horror, the despair of the masses when the talk of war began again…. Never have I so keenly felt that the peoples are not responsible for the crimes of their leaders.” Meine Danziger Mission, p. 155.

  89. Cf. Peter Hoffmann, Widerstand, Staatsstreich, Attentat, p. 79. In Paris, in the course of his visits there that spring, Goerdeler met chiefly with Pierre Bertaux and Alexis Léger (who as a poet uses the pseudonym of St.-John Perse), then the highest-ranking official at the Quai d’Orsay.

  90. Ibid., p. 83. Beck would have considered a public statement of readiness to aid Czechoslovakia and a demonstration of military firmness “certain proof.”