The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

by William L. Shirer

  1. “Green” file, Item 48, NC A, III, pp. 372–74 (N.D. 388–PS).

  2. Ibid.

  3. Hitler’s directive, Oct. 21, 1938, NCA, VI, pp. 947–48 (N.D. C–136).

  4. DGFP, IV, p. 46.

  5. Heydrich’s orders to the police for organizing the pogrom, NCA, V, pp. 797–801 (N.D. 3051–PS); Heydrich’s report to Goering on the damage and the number of killed and wounded, NCA, V. p. 854 (N.D. 3058–PS). Report of Walter Buch, chief party judge, on the pogrom, NCA, V, pp. 868–76 (N.D. 3063–PS); Major Buch gives lurid details of numerous murders of Jews and blames Goebbels for the excesses. Stenographic report of the meeting of Goering with cabinet members and government officials and a representative of the insurance companies on Nov. 12, NCA, IV, pp. 425–57 (N.D. 1816–PS). Though the complete report is missing, the part which was found runs to 10,000 words.

  6. TMWC, IX, p. 538.

  7. DGFP, IV, pp. 639–49.

  8. DBrFP, Third Series, IV, No. 5.

  9. Ciano’s Hidden Diary, entry for Oct. 28, 1938, p. 185; Ciano’s Diplomatic Papers, pp. 242–46.

  10. DGFP, IV, pp. 515–20.

  11. Schmidt, op. cit., p. 118; his notes on the meeting, DGFP, IV, pp. 471–77.

  12. DGFP, IV, pp. 69–72.

  13. Ibid., pp. 82–83.

  14. Ibid., also in NCA, VI, pp. 950–51 (N.D. C–138).

  15. Dispatch of the chargé, DGFP, IV, pp. 188–89.

  16. DGFP, IV, p. 215.

  17. Memoranda of Chvalkovsky’s two talks, with Hitler and Ribbentrop, on Jan. 21, 1939, DGFP, IV, pp. 190–202. Chvalkovsky’s own report to the Czechoslovak cabinet on Jan. 23, Czech Archives, quoted by Wheeler-Bennett in Munich, pp. 316–17. Also see French Yellow Book, pp. 55–56.

  18. Text, DGFP, IV, pp. 207–8.

  19. Text, ibid., pp. 218–20.

  20. Memorandum of meeting, ibid., pp. 209–13.

  21. Text, ibid., pp. 234–35.

  22. Based on an account later given by the British minister in Prague, NCA, VII, pp. 88–90 (N.D. D–571).

  23. Secret minutes of Tiso-Hitler talk, DGFP, IV, pp. 243–45.

  24. See DGFP, IV, p. 250.

  25. Ibid., For Ambassador Coulondre’s dispatch, see French Yellow Book, p. 96 (No. 77).

  26. Dispatch from Prague, March 13, 1939, DGFP, IV, p. 246.

  27. TMWC, IX, pp. 303–4.

  28. The sources for the foregoing section, “The Ordeal of Dr. Hácha,” are: Secret minutes of the meeting of Hitler and Hácha, DGFP, IV, pp. 263–69; it is also in the Nuremberg documents, NCA, V, pp. 43340 (N.D. 2798–PS). Text of the declaration of the German and Czechoslovak governments, March 15, 1939, DGFP, IV, pp. 270–71; the first part was issued as a communiqué; it was actually drafted in the Foreign Office on March 14. Proclamation of the Fuehrer to the German People, March 15, NCA, VIII, pp. 402–3 (N.D. TC–50). Coulondre’s dispatch, French Yellow Book, p. 96 (No. 77). Schmidt’s description of meeting, his book, op. cit., pp. 123–26. Henderson on, his book, op. cit., Ch. 9. Scene with secretaries, A. Zoller, ed., Hitler Privat, p. 84.

  29. TMWC, XVI, pp. 654–55.

  30. Text, DGFP, VI, pp. 42–45.

  31. Text, DGFP, IV, p. 241.

  32. Berlin Diary, p. 156.

  33. The Ciano Diaries, 1939–1943, pp. 9–12.

  34. Text, DGFP, IV, pp. 274–75.

  35. Ibid., pp. 273–74.

  36. DGFP, VI, pp. 20–21.

  37. Ibid., pp. 16–17, 40.

  38. Reports of Dirksen, March 18, 1939, ibid., pp. 24–25, 36–39.

  39. Ibid. p. 39.

  CHAPTER 14

  1. German memo of meeting, DGFP, VI, pp. 104–7. Lipski’s report to Beck, Polish White Book, No. 44; given in NCA, VIII, p. 483 (N.D. TC–73. No. 44).

  2. Hitler’s assurance to Lipski, Nov. 15, 1937, DGFP, VI, pp. 26–27; assurance to Beck, Jan. 14, 1938, ibid., p. 39.

  3. Beck’s instructions to Lipski, Oct. 31, 1938, Polish White Book, No. 45; NCA, VII, pp. 484–86. Ribbentrop’s memo on meeting with Lipski, Nov. 19, DGFP, V, pp. 127–29.

  4. German memo of meeting by Dr. Schmidt, DGFP, V, pp. 152–58. Polish minutes on, Polish White Book, No. 48; NCA, VIII, pp. 48688 (N.D.TC–73).

  5. Ribbentrop’s memo of the meeting, DGFP, V, pp. 159–61. Polish minutes on, Polish White Book, No. 49; NCA, VIII, p. 488 (N.D. TC–73).

  6. Ribbentrop’s memo of his meeting with Beck in Warsaw, Jan. 26, 1939, DGFP, V, pp. 167–68; Beck’s version is given in the Polish White Book, No. 52.

  7. Dispatch of Moltke, Feb. 26, 1939, DGFP, VI, p. 172.

  8. Lipski’s dispatch to Warsaw on the meeting, Polish White Book, No. 61; also in NCA, VIII, pp. 489–92 (N.D. TC–73, No. 61). Ribbentrop’s memo of the meeting, DGFP, VI, pp. 70–72.

  9. Foreign Office memo of the meeting, DGFP, V, pp. 524–26.

  10. Ibid., pp. 502–4.

  11. Source for this paragraph: DGFP, V, pp. 528–30.

  12. DGFP, VI, p. 97.

  13. Ibid., pp. 110–11.

  14. NCA, VII, pp. 83–86 (N.D. R-100).

  15. Text in DGFP, VI, pp. 122–24. Ribbentrop’s report on March 26 meeting with Lipski, ibid., pp. 121–22; Polish version, White Book, No. 63.

  16. Dr. Schmidt’s memo of the meeting, DGFP, VI, pp. 135–36.

  17. Moltke’s dispatch, ibid., pp. 147–48; Polish version, White Book, No. 64.

  18. DBrFP, IV, No. 538.

  19. See DBrFP, IV, Nos. 485,518, 538 (text of Anglo–French proposal), 561,563,566,571,573.

  20. Ibid., No. 498.

  21. DBrFP, V, No. 12.

  22. Quoted by Gisevius, op. cit., p. 363.

  23. The text of Case White, NCA, VI, pp. 916–28; a partial translation is in DGFP, VI, pp. 186–87, 223–28 (N.D. C–120). The text of the original German is in TMWC, XXXIV, pp. 380–422.

  24. Confidential German memos on the Goering-Mussolini talks are in DGFP, VI, pp. 248–53, 258–63. See also The Ciano Diaries, pp. 66–67.

  25. The circular telegram of April 17, 1939, DGFP, VI, pp. 264–65; Foreign Office memo of the answers, ibid., pp. 309–10; Weizsaecker’s call to German minister in Riga, April 18, ibid., pp. 283–84.

  26. Ibid., pp. 355, 399.

  27. DGFP, IV, pp. 602–7.

  28. Ibid., (dispatch of Oct. 26, 1938).

  29. Ibid., pp. 608–9.

  30. Ibid., p. 631.

  31. DGFP, VI, pp. 1–3.

  32. Davies, Mission to Moscow, pp. 437–39. Ambassador Sieds’s dispatch, DBrFP, IV, No. 419.

  33. Boothby, I Fight to Live, p. 189. Halifax statement to Maisky, DBrFP, IV, No. 433.

  34. DGFP, VI, pp. 88–89.

  35. Ibid., p. 139.

  36. German memo of Goering-Mussolini talk, April 16, 1939, ibid., pp. 259–60.

  37. Ibid., pp. 266–67.

  38. Ibid., pp. 419–20.

  39. Ibid., p. 429.

  40. Ibid., pp. 535–36.

  41. Nazi–Soviet Relations, 1939–41 [hereafter referred to as NSR], pp. 5–7, 8–9.

  42. French Yellow Book, Dispatches Nos. 123, 125. I have used the French-language edition (Le Livre Jaune Français), but I believe the English edition carries the same numbers for dispatches.

  43. DGFP, VI, pp. 1, 111. Appendix I of this volume contains a number of memoranda on the staff talks taken from the German naval archives.

  44. The Ciano Diaries, pp. 67–68.

  45. German memo on the Milan meeting, DGFP, VI, pp. 450–52. Ciano’s minutes, Ciano’s Diplomatic Papers, pp. 282–87.

  46. Text of the treaty of alliance, DGFP, VI, pp. 561–64. A secret protocol contained nothing of significance.

  47. Schmundt’s minutes, May 23, 1939, NC A, VII, pp. 847–54 (N.D. L–79). There is also an English translation in DGFP, VI, pp. 574–80. The German text is in TMWC, XXXVII, pp. 546–56.

  48. For details of the plan, see N.D. NOKW-2584. This is in the TWC volumes [Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals].

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sp; 49. NCA, VI, pp. 926–27 (N.D. C–120).

  50. TMWC, XXXIV, pp. 428–42 (N.D. C–126). The English translation of this document in NCA, VI, pp. 937–38, is so abbreviated that it has little value.

  51. NCA, VI, p. 827 (N.D. C–23).

  52. Text of the Anglo–French draft, DBrFP, V, No. 624; the British ambassador’s account of Molotov’s reaction is in the same volume, Nos. 648 and 657.

  53. “Urgent” dispatch of May 31, DGFP, VI, pp. 616–17.

  54. Dispatch of June 1, ibid., pp. 624–26.

  55. Ibid., p. 547.

  56. Ibid., pp. 589–93.

  57. Ibid., p. 593.

  58. Letter, Weizsaecker to Schulenburg, May 27, with postscript of May 30, pp. 597–98.

  59. Ibid., pp. 608–9.

  60. Ibid., pp. 618–20.

  61. Ibid., pp. 790–91.

  62. Ibid., pp. 805–7.

  63. Ibid., p. 810.

  64. Ibid., p. 813.

  65. DBrFP, V, Nos. 5 and 38.

  66. Pravda, June 29, 1939.

  67. Dispatch of June 29, DGFP, VI, pp. 808–9.

  68. TMWC, XXXIV, pp. 493–500 (N.D. C–142). It is given much more briefly in English translation in NCA, VI, p. 956.

  69. NCA, IV, pp. 1035–36 (N.D. 2327—PS).

  70. NCA, VI,’ p. 934 (N.D. C–126).

  71. The secret minutes of the meeting of the Reich Defense Council, June 23, 1939, NCA, VI, pp. 718–31 (N.D. 3787–PS).

  72. DGFP, VI, pp. 750, 920–21.

  73. Ibid., pp. 864–65.

  74. Text of notes, DGFP, VII, pp. 4–5, 9–10.

  75. Report of Burckhardt to the League of Nations, March 19, 1940. Text in Documents on International Affairs, 1939–1946, I, pp. 346–47.

  76. DGFP, VI, pp. 936–38.

  77. Ibid., pp. 955–56.

  78. Schnurre’s memo, ibid., pp. 11069.

  79. Ibid., pp. 1015–16.

  80. Ibid., pp. 1022–23.

  81. Ibid., pp. 1010–11.

  82. Ibid., p. 1021.

  83. DBrFP, IV, No. 183.

  84. See DBrFP, VI, Nos. 329, 338, 346, 357, 358, 376, 399.

  85. Ibid.,

  86. Two dispatches of Aug. 1, DGFP, VI, pp. 1033–34.

  87. DBrFP, Appendix V, p. 763.

  88. Burnett’s letter in DBrFP, VII, Appendix II, p. 600; Seeds’s telegram, ibid., VI, No. 416.

  89. DGFP, VI, p. 1047.

  90. Ibid.,

  91. Ibid.,

  92. Ibid.,

  93. Ibid.,

  94. French Yellow Book, Fr. ed., pp. 250–51.

  95. Text of two letters, DGFP, VI, pp. 973–74.

  96. Attolico’s dispatch on his July 6 meeting with Ribbentrop is printed in I Documenti diplomatica italiani [hereafter cited as DDI], Seventh Series, XII, No. 503. I have used the quotation and paraphrasing from The Eve of the War, ed. by Arnold and Veronica M. Toynbee.

  97. Memo of Weizsaecker, DGFP, VI, pp. 971–72.

  98. The Ciano Diaries, pp. 113–14.

  99. lbid., pp. 116–18.

  100. The Ciano Diaries, pp. 118–19, 582–83. Ciano’s minutes of the meeting with Ribbentrop are in Ciano’s Diplomatic Papers, pp. 297–98; also in DDI, Eighth Series, XIII, No. 1. No German record of this meeting has been found.

  101. The captured German minutes of the meetings on Aug. 12 and 13 were presented at Nuremberg as documents 1871–PS and TC–77. The latter is the more complete and is published in English translation in NCA, VIII, pp. 516–29. I have used the version signed by Dr. Schmidt, in DGFP, VII, pp. 39–49, 53–56. Ciano’s record of his two talks with Hitler are in Ciano’s Diplomatic Papers, pp. 303–4, and in DDI, XIII, Nos. 4 and 21. Also the entries for Aug. 12 and 13, 1939, and Dec. 23, 1943, in his Diaries, pp. 119–20, 582–83.

  102. This extract from Halder’s diary is published in DGFP, VII, p. 556.

  103. See DDI, Seventh Series, XIII, No. 28, and DBrFP, VI, No. 662.

  CHAPTER 15

  1. Schnurre’s memo of the meeting, taken from his dispatch to the embassy in Moscow, Aug. 14, 1939, DGFP, VII, pp. 58–59.

  2. Text of Schulenburg’s letter, ibid., pp. 67–68.

  3. Text of Ribbentrop’s telegram, ibid., pp. 62–64.

  4. The memo of the British businessmen was found in a file of Goering’s office and is published in DGFP, VI, pp. 1088–93. There are numerous jottings on the document in Goering’s handwriting. “Oho!” he scribbled several times opposite statements that obviously he could not believe. The whole fantastic and somewhat ludicrous story of Dahlerus’ peace mission which brought him briefly to the center of the stage at a momentous moment is told in his own book, The Last Attempt. Also in his testimony at Nuremberg, TMWC, IX, pp. 457–91, and in Sir Lewis Namier’s Diplomatic Prelude, pp. 417–33; the chapter is entitled “An Interloper in Diplomacy.”

  5. Interrogation of Halder, Feb. 26, 1946, NCA, Suppl. B, p. 1562.

  6. Hassell, op. cit., pp. 53, 58–59.

  7. Thomas, “Gedanken und Ereignisse,” Schweizerische Monatshefte, December 1945.

  8. Memo of Canaris on conversation with Keitel, Aug. 17, 1939, NCA, III, p. 580 (N.D. 795–PS).

  9. Naujocks affidavit, NCA, VI, pp. 390–92 (N.D. 2751–PS).

  10. Dispatch of Schulenburg, 2:48 A.M., Aug. 16, DGFP, VII, pp. 7677. The ambassador gave a fuller account in a memo dispatched by courier, and he added details in a letter to Weizsaecker, ibid., pp. 87–90, 99–100.

  11. DBrFP, Third Series, VII, pp. 41–42. For Ambassador Steinhardt’s reports see U.S. Diplomatic Papers, 1939, I, pp. 296–99, 334.

  12. Dispatch of Ribbentrop to Schulenburg, Aug. 16, DGFP, VII, pp. 84–85.

  13. Ibid., p. 100.

  14. Ibid., p. 102.

  15. Dispatch by Schulenburg, 5:58 A.M., Aug. 18, ibid., pp. 114–16.

  16. Dispatch of Ribbentrop, 10:48 P.M., Aug. 18, ibid., pp. 121–23.

  17. Memo of Schnurre, Aug. 19, ibid., pp. 132–33.

  18. Dispatch of Schulenburg, 6:22 P.M., Aug. 19, ibid., p. 134.

  19. Dispatch of Schulenburg, 12:08 A.M., Aug. 20, ibid., pp. 149–50.

  20. Churchill, The Gathering Storm, p. 392. He does not give his source.

  21. Ibid., p. 391.

  22. Hitler’s telegram to Stalin, Aug. 20, DGFP, VII, pp. 156–57.

  23. Dispatch of Schulenburg, 1:19 A.M., Aug. 21, ibid., pp. 161–62.

  24. Dispatch of Ribbentrop, Aug. 21, ibid., p. 162.

  25. Dispatch of Schulenburg, 1:43 P.M., Aug. 21, ibid., p. 164.

  26. Stalin’s letter to Hitler, Aug. 21, ibid., p. 168.

  27. NCA, Suppl. B, pp. 1103–5.

  28. DBrFP, VI, No. 376.

  29. See DBrFP, Third Series, VII, Appendix II, pp. 558–614. The appendix contains a detailed day-to-day record of the military conversations in Moscow and constitutes the most comprehensive source I have seen of the Allied version of the talks. It includes reports to London, during the negotiations, by Air Marshal Burnett and Gen. Heywood, and the final report of the British mission by Adm. Drax. Also, a verbatim account of the dramatic meeting of Gen. Doumenc with Marshal Voroshilov on the evening of Aug. 22, when the chief of the French military mission tried desperately to save the situation despite the public announcement that Ribbentrop was arriving in Moscow the next day. Also, the record of the final, painful meeting of the Allied missions with Voroshilov on Aug. 26. Volume VII also includes many dispatches between the British Foreign Office and the embassy in Moscow which throw fresh light on this episode.

  This section of the chapter is based largely on these confidential British papers. Unfortunately the Russians, so far as I know, have never published their documents on the meeting, though a Soviet account is given in Nikonov’s Origins of World War II, in which much use of the British Foreign Office documents is made. The Soviet version is also given in Histoire de la Diplomatie, ed. by V. Potemkin.