Hitler

by Volker Ullrich

  43 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 4, part 3, doc. 46, pp. 219–22 (particularly pp. 219f.).

  44 See Jürgen Falter, Thomas Lindenberger and Siegfried Schumann, Wahlen und Abstimmungen in der Weimarer Republik: Materialien zum Wahlverhalten 1919–1931, Munich, 1986, p. 46.

  45 See Horn, Der Marsch zur Machtergreifung, p. 349; Winkler, Weimar, p. 449.

  46 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, pp. 241f. (entry for 14 March 1932).

  47 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 4, part 3, doc. 47, pp. 223–5 (quotations on pp. 224, 225).

  48 Dietrich, Mit Hitler in die Macht, pp. 62f.

  49 Ernst Hanfstaengl, Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus: Erinnerungen eines politischen Aussenseiters, Munich, 1970, p. 271.

  50 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 4, part 3, doc. 50, pp. 239–45 (quotations on p. 239).

  51 See Wolfgang Stribrny, “Der Versuch einer Kandidatur des Kronprinzen Wilhelm bei der Reichspräsidentenwahl 1932,” in Geschichte in der Gegenwart: Festschrift für Kurt Kluxen, Paderborn, 1972, pp. 199–210; Willibald Gutsche, Ein Kaiser im Exil: Der letzte deutsche Kaiser Wilhelm II in Holland, Marburg, 1991, pp. 138–40. On this episode see also Pyta, Hindenburg, pp. 674–8; Gerhard Granier, Magnus von Levetzow: Seeoffizier, Monarchist und Wegbereiter Hitlers. Lebensweg und ausgewählte Dokumente, Boppard am Rhein, 1982, pp. 173f.; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 252 (entry for 31 March 1932), p. 253 (entry for 1 April 1932). Heinrich Class, the chairman of the Pan-Germanic League, also called upon the ultra-nationalists to vote “unanimously” for Hitler in the run-off election: Class to Hugenberg, 19 March 1932; BA Koblenz, N 1231/36. In a lengthy letter to Hitler on 20 March 1932, Hugenberg justified his decision to remain passive in the run-off election by claiming that Hitler’s candidacy had no chance of success and by citing the NSDAP’s repeated violations of cooperative agreements reached in Bad Harzburg. BA Koblenz, N 1231/37. See also Hugenberg to Crown Prince Wilhelm, 27 April 1932; ibid.

  52 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 4, part 3, doc. 59, pp. 258–61 (quote on p. 258).

  53 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 243 (entry for 16 March 1932), p. 246 (entry for 21 March 1932).

  54 Dietrich, Mit Hitler in die Macht, p. 70; see Krings, Hitlers Pressechef, p. 119. “To his great regret” Hess did not accompany Hitler on his “flying tour” because the Führer wanted him “to keep an eye on things” at Munich party headquarters. Ilse Hess to the parents of Rudolf Hess, 9 May 1932; BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 49.

  55 Adolf Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 5: Von der Reichspräsidentenwahl bis zur Machtergreifung April 1932–Januar 1933. Part 1: April 1932–September 1932, ed. Klaus A. Lankheit, Munich, 1996, doc. 7, pp. 20f.; see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 255 (entry for 5 April 1932).

  56 See the apt analysis in Paul, Aufstand der Bilder, pp. 204–10 (quotation on p. 208).

  57 Brigitte Hamann, Winifred Wagner oder Hitlers Bayreuth, Munich and Zurich, 2002, p. 214. See also Rudolf Hess to his parents, 23 Aug. 1928: “He has a great aversion to flying…He has a strong feeling that one day something will happen to him when he’s flying.” BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 41. See Hess, Briefe, p. 418 (dated 4 May 1932); Adolf Hitler, Monologe im Führerhauptquartier 1941–1944: Die Aufzeichnungen Heinrich Heims, ed. Werner Jochmann, Hamburg, 1980, pp. 191f. (dated 9/10 Jan. 1942). In Hans Baur’s account (Ich flog Mächtige der Erde, Kempten im Allgäu, 1956, p. 81), Hitler’s “lack of faith in air travel” came from his first-ever flight around the time of the Kapp Putsch, during which the pilot had to make an emergency landing.

  58 See Dietrich, Mit Hitler in die Macht, pp. 79–82.

  59 Sefton Delmer, Die Deutschen und ich, Hamburg, 1963, pp. 146–8. See Hanfstaengl’s unpublished memoirs, p. 212: “Hitler usually took the left- or right-hand front seat and dozed off, or pretended to. Or he would stare silently out the window or at a map. When people tried to attract his attention, he would bury himself in a newspaper or some notes.” BSB München, Nl Hanfstaengl Ana 405, Box 47.

  60 See ibid., p. 151; see Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, p. 270n2. On the margins of a campaign event in Gera on 26 July 1932, Hitler’s entourage also “lashed out at the crowd in a number of places.”

  61 Ibid., doc. 8, pp. 21–5 (quotation on p. 23).

  62 See the bills from 1 Sept. to 4 Sept. 1931, 10 Sept. to 13 Sept. 1931, 3 Dec. to 6 Dec. 1931, 10 Dec. to 13 Dec. 1931, 2 March 1932, 21 March to 22 March 1932, 28 April to 2 May 1932; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/2557. For the article in Welt am Montag see Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 11, pp. 27f.n12.

  63 See the speech in Schwenningen, 9 April 1932: ibid., doc. 28, p. 47. See ibid., doc. 25, pp. 42f. (dated 8 April 1932); doc. 20, p. 38 (dated 7 April 1932). Hitler’s declaration of 7 April 1932: ibid., doc. 19, pp. 36f. See also the affidavit by Rudolf Hess on 13 April 1932; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/328; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 253 (entry for 2 April 1932): “The Hitler bill for 4,000 marks at the Kaiserhof is an unpleasant matter. Of course it’s fake. I’m going to read them the Riot Act. The Kaiserhof will give in.”

  64 Falter et al., Wahlen und Abstimmungen, p. 46; Winkler, Weimar, p. 453.

  65 Sternheim, Tagebücher, vol. 2, p. 399 (entry for 11 April 1932).

  66 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 259 (entry for 10 April 1932). See also Hitler’s public declaration on 10 April 1932, in which he claimed that “a great victory has been achieved.” Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 30, p. 49; and Hitler’s interview with Sefton Delmer from 10 April 1932: “ ‘It is a great victory for us,’ he said to me, his eyes shining with delight.” Ibid., doc. 33, p. 51.

  67 Goebbels, Tagerbücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 260 (entry for 12 April 1932).

  68 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 39, p. 62n2.

  69 Ibid., doc. 45, p. 75 (dated 18 April 1932); doc. 57, p. 91 (dated 22 April 1932).

  70 Falter et al., Wahlen und Abstimmungen, pp. 101, 91, 113, 94, 89. The architect Troost noted in his diary on 27 April 1932: “[Hitler] arrived in a fine mood, overjoyed at his success in the local elections.” Timo Nüsslein, Paul Ludwig Troost 1878–1934, Vienna, Cologne and Weimar, 2012, p. 103.

  71 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, pp. 267f. (entry for 25 April 1932).

  72 Pyta, Hindenburg, p. 683.

  73 See Brüning, Memoiren, pp. 541f.; Pyta, Hindenburg, p. 687.

  74 Hitler, Reden, Schriften Anordnungen, vol. 4, part 3, doc. 52, pp. 246–51; doc. 53, p. 251–3 (quotation on p. 252).,

  75 See Hürter, Wilhelm Groener, pp. 339–45; Winkler, Weimar, pp. 449f., 454; Dirk Blasius, Weimars Ende: Bürgerkrieg und Politik 1930–1933, Frankfurt am Main, 2008, pp. 39–41.

  76 Harry Graf Kessler, Das Tagebuch. Vol. 9: 1926–1937, ed. Sabine Gruber and Ulrich Ott with Christoph Hilse and Nadin Weiss, Stuttgart, 2010, p. 410 (entry for 16 April 1932). Similarly, the Foreign Office declared after Hitler’s retreat, “Hitler’s bark is worse than his bite.” Detlev Clemens, Herr Hitler in Germany: Wahrnehmungen und Deutungen des Nationalsozialismus in Grossbritannien 1920 bis 1939, Göttingen and Zurich, 1996, p. 223.

  77 Peter Longerich, Die braunen Bataillone: Geschichte der SA, Munich, 1989, p. 154. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 261 (entry for 15 April 1932): “The ban on the SA is a done deal. But we’ll get through it.”

  78 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1 doc. 36, pp. 54–6 (quotation on p. 56). See Hitler’s interview with the Evening Standard, 18 April 1932: “The prohibition of the storm troops cannot last for ever; it is only a temporary measure.” Ibid., doc. 37, pp. 57–59 (quotation on p. 57).

  79 See Hürter, Wilhelm Groener, pp. 345f.; Winkler, Weimar, p. 455; Pyta, Hindenburg, p. 688.

  80 See Pyta, Hindenburg, pp. 688f.; Hürter, Wilhelm Groener, pp. 344, 34
8; Martin Broszat, Die Machtergreifung: Der Aufstieg der NSDAP und die Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik, Munich, 1984, p. 140. On Schleicher’s loss of support for Groener, see Brüning, Memoiren, p. 547; Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 118 (dated 11 April 1932). Brüning saw Schleicher’s manoeuvring as “a horrible violation of the trust of his superior Groener.”

  81 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 271 (entry for 29 April 1932), p. 274 (entry for 5 May 1932), p. 276 (entry for 9 May 1932).

  82 Ibid., p. 276 (entry for 9 May 1932).

  83 See Brüning, Memoiren, p. 586; Pyta, Hindenburg, p. 694.

  84 Theodor Heuss to Reinhold Meier, 14 May 1932; Theodor Heuss, Bürger der Weimarer Republik: Briefe 1918–1933, ed. Michael Dorrmann, Munich, 2008, p. 465. See Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 120 (dated 10 May 1932); Brüning, Memoiren, p. 587.

  85 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 279 (entry for 12 May 1932).

  86 See Hürter, Wilhelm Groener, p. 351.

  87 Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 123 (dated 15 May 1932).

  88 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, pp. 281, 283, 284, 285.

  89 Ibid., p. 288 (entry for 25 May 1932).

  90 Note by Meissner dated 14 June 1932; Walther Hubatsch, Hindenburg und der Staat: Aus den Papieren des Gener​alfel​dmars​challs und Reichspräsidenten von 1878 bis 1934, Göttingen, 1966, pp. 327f.; see also Otto Meissner, Staatssekretär unter Ebert, Hindenburg, Hitler, Hamburg, 1950, pp. 223f.; Pyta, Hindenburg, p. 695; Winkler, Weimar, pp. 467f.

  91 Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 126 (dated 26 May 1932). See Meissner’s note of 14 June 1932; Hubatsch, Hindenburg und der Staat, p. 328.

  92 Note by Meissner dated 14 June 1932; Hubatsch, Hindenburg und der Staat, p. 329. See Pyta, Hindenburg, pp. 696f.

  93 See Brüning, Memoiren, pp. 601f.; Meissner, Staatssekretär, pp. 226f.

  94 Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 129 (dated 29 May 1932).

  95 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 293 (entry for 31 May 1932).

  96 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 427 (entry for 30 May 1932).

  97 Winkler, Weimar, p. 472.

  98 See memorandum from Meissner dated 30 May 1932; Thilo Vogelsang, Reichswehr, Staat und NSDAP: Beiträge zur deutschen Geschichte 1930–1932, Stuttgart, 1962, pp. 458f.

  99 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 293 (entry for 30 May 1932).

  100 Falter et al., Wahlen und Abstimmungen, pp. 100, 98.

  101 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 297 (entry for 6 June 1932). See ibid., p. 308 (entry for 24 June 1932): “We have to divorce ourselves from the Papen cabinet and go into the campaign free and unattached.” In late June 1932, in a conversation with the editor-in-chief of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Zeitung, Eugen Mündler, Gregor Strasser voiced his concern that “the Nazis could be blamed for the mistakes of the Papen cabinet and suffer during the campaign.” Mündler to Justice Minister Franz Gürtner, 21 June 1932; BA Koblenz, N 1530/22.

  102 Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in a letter dated 12 Feb. 1971; BA Koblenz, N 1276/23. See Joachim Petzold, Franz von Papen: Ein deutsches Verhängnis, Munich and Berlin, 1995, p. 63. When asked by a journalist on 30 May, “Who will you appoint as chancellor, General?” Schleicher supposedly answered, “I’ve got someone fine in mind—you’ll be amazed.”

  103 See Winkler, Weimar, pp. 479f.; Pyta, Hindenburg, pp. 706–8; Petzold, Franz von Papen, pp. 66f.

  104 Franz von Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, Munich, 1952, p. 195. On the date see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 294 (entry for 1 June 1932).

  105 Akten der Reichskanzlei: Weimarer Republik. Das Kabinett von Papen 1. Juni bis 3. Dezember 1932. Vol. 1: Juni bis September 1932, ed. Karl-Heinz Minuth, Boppard am Rhein, 1989, no. 18, pp. 54 and 55n10.

  106 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 446 (entry for 21 June 1932), pp. 461f. (entry for 12 July 1932).

  107 Ibid., p. 465 (entry for 18 July 1932), See Léon Schirmann, Altonaer Blutsonntag 17. Juli 1932: Dichtungen und Wahrheit, Hamburg, 1994.

  108 Papen to Kerrl, 6 June 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, no. 10, pp. 22f.

  109 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 297 (entry for 6 June 1932). See ibid., p. 298 (entry for 7 June 1932): “We’ll stay in opposition until we achieve total power. I talked to Hitler on the phone, and he shares my opinion entirely.”

  110 Cabinet meeting of 11 July 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, no. 57, pp. 204–8 (quotations on pp. 205, 207).

  111 See cabinet meeting of 16 July 1932; ibid., no. 63, p. 240.

  112 Notes by Hirtsiefer and Severing dated 20 July 1932; ibid., no. 69b, pp. 259–62 (quotation on p. 260).

  113 Prussian Government to the Reich Chancellor, 20 July 1932; ibid., no. 71, pp. 263f.

  114 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 324 (entry for 21 July 1932).

  115 See Peter Lessmann, Die preussische Schutzpolizei in der Weimarer Republik: Streifendienst und Strassenkampf, Düsseldorf, 1989, pp. 367–70.

  116 Quoted in Winkler, Der Weg in die Katastrophe, p. 671.

  117 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 324 (entry for 20 July 1932).

  118 Karl-Dietrich Bracher, Die Auflösung der Weimarer Republik: Eine Studie zum Problem des Machtverfalls in der Demokratie, Villingen, 1955, p. 390.

  119 See Winkler, Weimar, pp. 529f.

  120 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 84, p. 156.

  121 Paul, Aufstand der Bilder, pp. 100f.

  122 Text in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 109, pp. 216–19. On sales see ibid., p. 216n1.

  123 See ibid., doc. 122, p. 241n1; Dietrich, Mit Hitler in die Macht, pp. 109f.; Baur, Ich flog Mächtige der Erde, p. 88.

  124 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 126, p. 246n1.

  125 Ibid., doc. 141, p. 268n4.

  126 Hanfstaengl, Zwischen Braunem und Weissem Haus, pp. 266f.; Hanfstaengl’s unpublished memoirs, p. 216; BSB München, Nl Hanfstaengl Ana 405, Box 47. See also Dietrich, Mit Hitler in die Macht, pp. 74f.: “From car to aeroplane, from aeroplane to car, from car into hotel…And repeat day after day.”

  127 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 148, p. 276; see ibid., doc. 129, p. 249 (dated 21 July 1932, Göttingen): “I can only say that, yes, it is my life’s goal to destroy and eliminate these 30 parties”; doc. 151, p. 278 (dated 28 July 1932, Aachen); doc. 158, p. 285 (dated 29 July 1932, Radolfzell); doc. 159, p. 289 (dated 30 July 1932, Kempten).

  128 Quotations in ibid., doc. 112, pp. 224f. (dated 15 July 1932, Tilsit); doc. 113, p. 230 (dated 15 July 1932, Gumbinnen); doc. 118, p. 234 (dated 17 July 1932, Königsberg); doc. 121, p. 239 (dated 19 July 1932, Cottbus).

  129 Ibid., doc. 112, p. 227.

  130 Ibid., doc. 123, p. 244.

  131 Ibid., doc. 111, p. 222 (dated 15 July 1932).

  132 Ibid., doc. 163, p. 294 (dated 31 July/1 Aug. 1932).

  133 Die Deutschnationalen und die Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik: Aus dem Tagebuch von Reinhold Quaatz 1928–1933, ed. Hermann Weiss and Paul Hoser, Munich, 1989, p. 199 (entry for 1 Aug. 1932). On the result for 31 July 1932, see Falter et al., Wahlen und Abstimungen, pp. 41, 44.

  134 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 479 (entry for 31 July 1932).

  135 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 330 (entry for 1 Aug. 1932). See ibid., p. 331 (entry for 2 Aug. 1932): “We must gain power. And rule, show what we can do…Tolerating another government is deadly. Hitler sees things this way too.”

  136 Ibid., p. 332 (entry for 3 Aug. 1932).

  137 Ibid., p. 332 (entry for 4 Aug. 1932).

  138 Ibid., p. 333 (entry for 5 Aug. 1932). Baldur von Schirach (Ich glaubte an Hitler, Hamburg, 1967, p. 136) quoted Hitler as saying: “I want total power, now or never.”

  139 According to a draft letter by Schleicher to the Vossische Zeitung dated 30 Jan. 1934; Thilo Vogelsang, “Zur Politik Schlei
chers gegenüber der NSDAP 1932,” in Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 6 (1958), pp. 86–118 (quotation on p. 89).

  140 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 334 (entry for 7 Aug. 1932).

  141 Ibid., p. 337 (entry for 11 Aug. 1932).

  142 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 488 (entry for 10 Aug. 1932).

  143 Ibid., p. 488 (entry for 11 Aug. 1932).

  144 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 338 (entry for 12 Aug. 1932).

  145 Notes by Meissner dated 11 Aug. 1932; Hubatsch, Hindenburg und der Staat, pp. 335–8 (quotation on p. 336).

  146 Quoted in Pyta, Hindenburg, p. 717.

  147 Cabinet meeting on 10 Aug. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, no. 99, pp. 377–86 (quotations on pp. 379, 385f.).

  148 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 339 (entry for 13 Aug. 1932).

  149 See Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 139 (dated 13 Aug. 1932).

  150 On the course of the conversation see Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, pp. 222f. (quotations on p. 223); Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 340: Schleicher and Papen whispered in Hitler’s ear “as though he were a sick horse,” trying to get him to accept the vice-chancellorship. “They’re trying to wear us down,” Goebbels wrote. “That’s out of the question. Hitler is refusing…Papen wants to inform Hindenburg.” See also Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 139 (dated 13 Aug. 1932).

  151 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 340 (entry for 14 Aug. 1932).

  152 Memorandum from Meissner dated 13 Aug. 1932; first printed in Vogelsang, Reichswehr, NSDAP und Staat, pp. 479f.; also in Hubatsch, Hindenburg und der Staat, pp. 338f.; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, no. 101, pp. 391f. According to Meissner’s notes entitled “Hitlers Aufstieg zur Macht und seine Regierungszeit 1932–1935” (undated, post 1945), Hindenburg declared at the end of this conversation that he now had a better opinion of Hitler: “He’s fiery and passionate, but he’s a patriotic man with big plans and the best intentions.” IfZ München, ZS 1726. See also Meissner, Staatssekretär, pp. 239–41; Winkler, Weimar, pp. 510f.; Pyta, Hindenburg, pp. 719f.