153 This was also Goebbels’s opinion, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 340 (entry for 14 Aug. 1932): “Hitler has been lured into a trap with Hindenburg.”
154 Minutes of the talks dated 13 Aug. 1932, signed by Hitler, Frick and Röhm; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 51/222; reprinted in Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, no. 102, pp. 393–6 (quotation on p. 395). Also in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 167, pp. 300–2.
155 The official communiqué reprinted in Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, doc. 101, p. 392n5.
156 Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 141 (dated 18 Aug. 1932). See Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, p. 224.
157 Minutes signed by Hitler, Frick and Röhm dated 13 Aug. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, doc. 102, pp. 393f.
158 Alan Bullock, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny, London, 1990, p. 222. See Konrad Heiden, Adolf Hitler: Das Zeitalter der Verantwortungslosigkeit. Eine Biographie, Zurich, 1936, p. 300: “In front of the eyes of the entire German people, Hitler ascended the steps of power, and before those same eyes, he tumbled back down them.”
159 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 180, pp. 330–7 (quotation on pp. 330f.). See Ralf Georg Reuth, Hitler: Eine Biographie, Munich and Zurich, 2003, p. 274.
160 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 341 (entry for 14 Aug. 1932).
161 Hanfstaengl, Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus, p. 279.
162 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 172, pp. 313–15 (quotation on p. 314: “He was bitter over his rebuff last Saturday by President von Hindenburg”). Joachim von Ribbentrop, who visited the Obersalzberg in August 1932, found Hitler “full of fury with Herr von Papen and the entire government in Berlin.” Joachim von Ribbentrop, Zwischen London und Moskau: Erinnerungen und letzte Aufzeichnungen, ed. Annelies von Ribbentrop, Leoni am Starnberger See, 1961, p. 36.
163 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 173, pp. 173f.
164 On the series of violent attacks from August 1932 see Richard Bessel, Political Violence and the Rise of Nazism: The Storm Troopers in Eastern Germany 1925–1934, New Haven, 1984, pp. 87ff.; Dirk Walter, Antisemitische Kriminalität und Gewalt: Judenfeindschaft in der Weimarer Republik, Bonn, 1999, pp. 237–40; Blasius, Weimars Ende, p. 84; Longerich, Die braunen Bataillone, pp. 156f.
165 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 480 (entry for 1 Aug. 1932).
166 Cabinet meeting of 9 Aug. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, no. 98, pp. 374–7 (quotation on pp. 374f.). See Winkler, Weimar, p. 508; Blasius, Weimars Ende, p. 87.
167 See the documentation in Paul Kluke, “Der Fall Potempa,” in Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 5 (1957), pp. 279–97; see also Richard Bessel, “The Potempa Murder,” in Central European History, 10 (1977), pp. 241–54.
168 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 174, p. 317. See also Hitler’s telegram of 23 Aug. 1932, ibid., doc. 175, pp. 318–20; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 346 (entry for 24 Aug. 1932): “Major storm of protest because of the death sentence. Hitler has issued a sharply worded call to arms…Things at a boil everywhere.”
169 Quoted in Winkler, Weimar, pp. 513f.; see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 346: “A sharply worded essay: ‘The Jews are to blame.’ It will do the job.”
170 Quoted in Reuth, Hitler, p. 273. See also Heiden, Hitler: Das Zeitalter der Verantwortungslosigkeit, p. 300: “A cry of outrage is going through the general public. That went too far!”
171 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 496 (entry for 28 Aug. 1932).
172 See Kluke, “Der Fall Potempa,” pp. 285f.; Blasius, Weimars Ende, p. 95. Hitler had already announced the pardons of the Potempa murderers in a speech at Zirkus Krone in Munich on 9 Sept. 1932; Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 183, p. 347.
173 Schacht to Hitler, 29 Aug. 1932; Hess, Briefe, pp. 420f.
174 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 348 (entry for 26 Aug. 1932).
175 Brüning, Memoiren, p. 623. On the contact between the Centre and Nazi parties see Herbert Hömig, Brüning: Politiker ohne Auftrag. Zwischen Weimarer und Bonner Republik, Paderborn, 2005, pp. 31–5.
176 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 348 (entry for 26 Aug. 1932).
177 See Brüning, Memoiren, p. 624; Hömig, Brüning: Politiker ohne Auftrag, p. 34.
178 Hugenberg to Albert Vögler, 19 Aug. 1932; BA Koblenz, N 1231/39. In late August, rumours started circulating in Hugenberg’s party that a “cabinet of Schleicher (Chancellor)-Brüning-Strasser” was already a “done deal.” Quaatz, Die Deutschnationalen und die Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik, p. 201 (dated 27 Aug. 1932).
179 See Winkler, Weimar, pp. 515f.
180 Cabinet meeting of 10 Aug. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, no. 99, p. 382. See also Eberhard Kolb and Wolfram Pyta, “Die Staatsnotstandsplanung unter den Regierungen Papen und Schleicher,” in Heinrich August Winkler (ed.), Die deutsche Staatskrise 1930–33, Munich, 1992, pp. 155–81.
181 Memorandum by Meissner dated 30 Aug. 1932; Hubatsch, Hindenburg und der Staat, pp. 339–43; also in Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 1, no. 120, pp. 474–9.
182 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 176, pp. 320–2 (quotation on p. 320).
183 Quoted in Döring, Parlamentarischer Arm, p. 335 (also the previous quote). See Quaatz, Die Deutschnationalen und die Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik, p. 202 (dated 30 Aug. 1932): “Nazis very well-behaved in order to convince Hindenburg of a ‘functioning Reichstag.’ No socialists in the presidium since the Centre has moved to the right!”
184 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 354 (entry for 1 Sept. 1932).
185 Ibid., p. 359 (entry for 9 Sept. 1932), p. 361 (entry for 11 Sept. 1932). See Pyta, Hindenburg, p. 736.
186 Brüning, Memoiren, p. 625.
187 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 178, pp. 325–9 (quotations on pp. 328f.). See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 355: “Sportpalast full beyond capacity. Hitler almost consumed with ovations. He spoke better than ever. A sharply worded final reckoning with Papen and the reactionaries. Storms of enthusiasm. This speech will work miracles.”
188 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 180, pp. 330–7 (quotations on pp. 331, 335).
189 Ibid., doc. 183, pp. 339–50 (quotation on p. 350). See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 358: “In the evening Zirkus Krone. Hitler really went after Papen. Thunderous ovations from the more than capacity house.”
190 Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, p. 235. On the Reichstag session of 12 Sept. 1932 see Döring, Parlamentarischer Arm, pp. 337–44; Winkler, Weimar, pp. 522f.
191 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 362 (entry for 13 Sept. 1932). See Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 145 (dated 13 Sept. 1932): “The only positive is the vast majority for a vote of no confidence.”
192 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 502 (entry for 13 Sept. 1932).
193 See the cabinet meetings of 14 and 17 Sept. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 141, pp. 576–83, no. 146, p. 599.
194 Pünder, Politik in der Reichskanzlei, p. 149 (dated 8 Oct. 1932).
195 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 372 (entry for 28 Sept. 1932), p. 373 (entry for 29 Sept. 1932).
196 See Longerich, Die braunen Bataillone, pp. 159f.; Horn, Der Marsch zur Machtergreifung, pp. 357f.
197 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 38 (entry for 16 Oct. 1932).
198 See Turner, Grossunternehmer, pp. 354–8.
199 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 1, doc. 193 (dated 24 Sept. 1932), pp. 362–5 (quotation on p. 363). See also Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 30 (entry for 2 Oct. 1932): “Hitler very optimistic. Probably too much.”
200 Adolf Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 5: Von der Reichsprä
sidentenwahl bis zur Machtergreifung April 1932–Januar 1933. Part 2: Oktober 1932–Januar 1933, eds Klaus A. Lankheit and Christian Hartmann, Munich, 1998, doc. 5, pp. 13–15 (quotation on p. 15). See also ibid., doc. 4, pp. 10f. (interview with the Italian newspaper Il Trevere from 4 Oct. 1932): “We are neither impatient nor fearful nor nervous because we know that the 6 November elections will necessarily go our way.”
201 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 363 (entry for 14 Sept. 1932).
202 Von Hassell’s notes on his discussions with Hitler in Ulrich von Hassell, Römische Tagebücher und Briefe 1932–1938, ed. Ulrich Schlie, Munich, 2004, p. 217.
203 Paul, Aufstand der Bilder, p. 105.
204 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 54, p. 146 (dated 1 Nov. 1932, Karlsruhe); doc. 22, p. 77 (dated 18 Oct. 1932, Elbing).
205 Ibid., doc. 56, p. 168 (dated 3 Nov. 1932, Hanover). See ibid., doc. 25, p. 85 (dated 19 Oct. 1932, Breslau), “The only thing that tempts me is leadership itself, genuine power, and nothing else.”
206 Ibid., doc. 6, p. 16 (dated 11 Oct. 1932, Günzburg); doc. 21, p. 73 (dated 17 Oct. 1932, Königsberg); doc. 16, p. 61 (dated 16 Oct. 1932, Coburg).
207 See Paul, Aufstand der Bilder, p. 106; Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris, London, 1998, p. 389.
208 Heiden, Hitler: Das Zeitalter der Verantwortungslosigkeit, p. 302. Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 513 (entry for 11 Oct. 1932) reported Nazi sympathisers saying that Hitler’s behaviour had shown that he and the party were “pursuing politics for reasons of prestige and elevating the party above the nation.”
209 Quotations in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 12, p. 77 (dated 18 Oct. 1932, Elbing); doc. 10, p. 23 (dated 13 Oct. 1932, Nuremberg); doc. 21, p. 75 (dated 17 Oct. 1932, Königsberg), doc. 47, p. 133 (dated 30 Oct. 1932, Essen).
210 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 370 (entry for 25 Sept. 1932).
211 Ibid., vol. 2/3, p. 51 (entry for 5 Nov. 1932). On the Berlin public transport strike see Winkler, Der Weg in die Katastrophe, pp. 765–73.
212 Excerpts from the diary of Luise Solmitz, 4 Jan. 1932–5 March 1933; Werner Jochmann, Nationalsozialismus und Revolution: Ursprung und Geschichte der NSDAP in Hamburg 1922–1933. Dokumente, Frankfurt am Main, 1963, p. 416 (dated 6 Nov. 1932).
213 Falter et al., Wahlen und Abstimmungen, pp. 41, 44.
214 Quoted in Bernd Sösemann, Das Ende der Weimarer Republik in der Kritik demokratischer Publizisten, Berlin, 1976, p. 164.
215 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 49 (entry for 1 Nov. 1932), p. 53 (entry for 7 Nov. 1932).
216 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 61, pp. 185f. (entry for 6 Nov. 1932).
217 See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 54 (entry for 8 Nov. 1932): “Yesterday: rotten mood in the Gau”; p. 56 (entry for 11 Nov. 1932) “Bitter mood.”
218 Ibid., p. 54 (entry for 9 Nov. 1932).
219 Papen to Hitler, 13 Nov. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 214, p. 952n2. See Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, p. 240.
220 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 57 (entry for 12 Nov. 1932), p. 58 (entry for 13 Nov. 1932).
221 Hitler to Papen, 16 Nov. 1932, Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 65, pp. 188–93 (quotation on p. 190); also in Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 214, pp. 952–6. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 61 (entry for 17 Nov. 1932): “Hitler sent a letter cancelling talk with Papen. Letter makes a big impression.”
222 Cabinet meeting on 17 Nov. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 215, pp. 956–60 (quotations on pp. 957, 960). See Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, p. 241.
223 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 529 (entry for 18 Nov. 1932).
224 Winkler, Der Weg in die Katastrophe, p. 790.
225 Kessler, Das Tagebuch, vol. 9, p. 531 (entry for 19 Nov. 1932).
226 Meissner’s minutes on Hugenberg’s reception, 18 Nov. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 217, pp. 973f. (quotation on p. 974).
227 Meissner’s minutes on the meeting between Hindenburg and Dingeldey, 18 Nov. 1932; ibid., no. 219, pp. 977–9 (quotation on p. 978).
228 Meissner’s minutes on the meeting between Kaas and Schäffer, 18 and 19 Nov. 1932; ibid., no. 218, pp. 975–7 (quotation on p. 976); no. 223, pp. 987f.
229 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, pp. 62f. (entry for 19 Nov. 1932).
230 Meissner’s minutes on the meeting between Hindenburgs and Hitler, 19 Nov. 1932; Hubatsch, Hindenburg und der Staat, pp. 350–2; also in Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 222, pp. 984–6 (quotations on pp. 984n3, 985, 986). On the idea of an enabling law see Pyta, Hindenburg, pp. 754f.
231 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 63 (entry for 20 Nov. 1932), p. 64 (entry for 21 Nov. 1932).
232 Meissner’s minutes on the meeting between Hindenburgs and Hitler, 21 Nov. 1932; Hubatsch, Hindenburg und der Staat, pp. 352–6; also in Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, doc. 224, pp. 988–92 (quotations on pp. 988, 990, 992). Hitler’s letter to Hindenburg dated 21 Nov. 1932 also in Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 67, pp. 194–7.
233 See Hitler to Meissner, 21 Nov. 1932; Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 68, pp. 197–9; Meissner to Hitler, 22 Nov. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 225, pp. 992, 994. See Meissner, Staatssekretär, pp. 248f.
234 Hitler to Meissner, 23 Nov. 1932; Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 69, pp. 199–205 (quotation on p. 204): Meissner to Hitler, 24 Nov. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 227, pp. 998–1000 (quotation on p. 999).
235 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 67 (entry for 25 Nov. 1932), p. 68 (entry for 26 Nov. 1932).
236 Text of the petition in Eberhard Czichon, Wer verhalf Hitler zur Macht? Zum Anteil der deutschen Industrie an der Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik, Cologne, 1967, no. 10, pp. 69f.
237 Hjalmar Schacht to Hitler, 12 April 1932; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 51/46. On the “Keppler Circle” see Turner, Grossunternehmer, pp. 293–301; Dirk Stegmann, “Zum Verhältnis von Grossindustrie und Nationalsozialismus 1930–1933,” in Archiv für Sozialgeschichte 13 (1973), pp. 426–8.
238 On the signatories of the petition see Turner, Grossunternehmer, p. 365; Stegmann, “Zum Verhältnis von Grossindustrie und Nationalsozialismus,” pp. 434f.; Petzold, Franz von Papen, pp. 119f.; Asendorf, Hamburger Nationalklub, p. 146.
239 Schacht to Hitler, 12 Nov. 1932; Czichon, Wer verhalf Hitler zur Macht?, p. 64.
240 Vögler to Schröder, 21 Nov. 1932; ibid., p. 72.
241 Cabinet meeting of 25 Nov. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 232, pp. 1013–17 (quotation on p. 1014).
242 Diary entries by Hans Schäffer dated 26 Nov. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 234, pp. 1025f.
243 See Winkler, Weimar, pp. 547–53. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 70 (entry for 29 Nov. 1932): “Papen seems on the out. Schleicher at the fore again…Searching for a tolerating majority. Won’t find one with us.”
244 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 70 (entry for 28 Nov. 1932).
245 Hitler’s interview to the Daily Express, 27 Nov. 1932; Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 73, pp. 213f.; Delmer, Die Deutschen und ich, p. 174.
246 Hitler, Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 74, pp. 214f. (dated 30 Nov. 1932); see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 71 (entry for 1 Dec. 1932): “Meissner has invited the boss to visit the old man…A new 13 August is in the works. The decision: Hitler won’t go.”
247 Memorandum by Meissner on the meetings with Hindenburg on 1 and 2 Dec. 1932; Hubatsch, Hindenburg und der Staat, pp. 266f.; see also Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, pp. 243–5. On Schleicher’s “vertical front” idea see Axel Schildt, Militärdiktatur auf Massenbasis? Die Querfrontkonzeption der Reichswehrführung um General Schleicher am Ende der Weimarer
Republik, Frankfurt am Main and New York 1981.
248 Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, p. 245.
249 Schwerin von Krosigk’s diary notes on the cabinet meeting of 2 Dec. 1932; Das Kabinett von Papen, vol. 2, no. 239b, pp. 1036–8.
250 Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, p. 250.
251 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 72 (entry for 2 Dec. 1932).
252 See a critical appraisal of the source in Longerich, Goebbels, pp. 194f.
253 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 75 (entry for 5 Dec. 1932): “Makes me want to vomit”; p. 76 (entry for 7 Dec. 1932): “Almost a 40 per cent decline in Thuringia since 31 July.”
254 Quoted in Eberhard Kolb, “Die Weimarer Republik und das Problem der Kontinuität vom Kaiserreich zum ‘Dritten Reich,’ ” in idem., Umbrüche deutscher Geschichte 1866/71–1918/19–1929/33: Ausgewählte Aufsätze, eds Dieter Langewiesche and Klaus Schönhoven, Munich, 1993, p. 367.
255 Report by the Munich police, 30 Dec. 1932; quoted in Henry A. Turner, Thirty Days to Power: January 1933, London, 1996, p. 58. On the NSDAP crisis see Hans Frank, Im Angesicht des Galgens: Deutung Hitlers und seiner Zeit auf Grund eigener Erlebnisse und Erkenntnisse, Munich and Gräfelfing, 1953, p. 107; Mathias Rösch, Die Münchner NSDAP 1925–1933: Eine Untersuchung zur inneren Struktur der NSDAP in der Weimarer Republik, Munich, 2002, pp. 370f., 427f., 431.
256 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 310 (entry for 28 June 1932), p. 355 (entry for 2 Sept. 1932), p. 356 (entry for 4 Sept. 1932).
257 August Heinrichsbauer to Gregor Strasser, 20 Sept. 1932; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 51/222. See also Eugen Mündler to Franz Gürtner, 21 June 1932, who wrote that Gregor Strasser was well liked in industrialist circles because he was considered “an honest, straight-forward person.” BA Koblenz, N 1530/22.
258 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 55.
259 Ibid., p. 71 (entry for 1 Dec. 1932).
260 See ibid., p. 75 (entry for 6 Dec. 1932).
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