Hitler

by Volker Ullrich

  75 As in Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, p. 51.

  76 Below, Als Adjutant Hitlers, pp. 63f.

  77 Wiedemann, Der Mann, p. 112; see also Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 127 (entry for 1 Feb. 1938): “The Führer…shared his whole sorrow with me. Complained that his faith in humanity has been utterly shaken. Blomberg gets married to a whore and stays with her and abandons the state…The Führer trusted him blindly. That was a big mistake.”

  78 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 115 (entry for 26 Jan. 1938).

  79 Hossbach, Zwischen Wehrmacht und Hitler, pp. 107f.

  80 See Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 53–5; Schäfer, Werner von Blomberg, pp. 187f.

  81 Gerhard Engel, Heeresadjutant bei Hitler 1938–1943, ed. and annotated Hildegard von Kotze, Stuttgart, 1974, pp. 20f. (dated 26 April 1938).

  82 See Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 84f.

  83 François-Poncet, Als Botschafter in Berlin, p. 291.

  84 See Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 86–97.

  85 Hossbach, Zwischen Wehrmacht und Hitler, p. 108.

  86 Ibid., pp. 108–10 (quotation on p. 110). See Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 97–100.

  87 Hossbach, Zwischen Wehrmacht und Hitler, p. 110.

  88 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, pp. 117f. (entry for 27 Jan. 1938).

  89 Hossbach, Zwischen Wehrmacht und Hitler, p. 112; see Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 91, 104.

  90 Horst Mühleisen, “Die Fritsch-Krise im Frühjahr 1938: Neue Dokumente aus dem Nachlass des Generalobersten,” in Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen, 56 (1997/2), pp. 471–508, doc. 1. The above quotation is in Hossbach, Zwischen Wehrmacht und Hitler, p. 112. See Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 104–8.

  91 For the following quote see also Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 119 (entry for 28 Jan. 1938). See also Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 109–14.

  92 See Goebbels, Tagebücher, vol. 5, p. 122 (entry for 29 Jan. 1938). On the tempestuous meeting see Hossbach, Zwischen Wehrmacht und Hitler, pp. 115–18.

  93 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 124.

  94 See Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 116–23.

  95 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 127 (entry for 1 Feb. 1938).

  96 Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, p. 140.

  97 Wiedemann, Der Mann, p. 113. See Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 125f.

  98 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 119 (entry for 28 Jan. 1938). See Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 126f.

  99 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 119 (entry for 28 Jan. 1938).

  100 Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 75.

  101 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 125 (entry for 31 Jan. 1938).

  102 Ibid., pp. 127f. (entry for 1 Feb. 1938).

  103 Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, p. 149; Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, p. 782.

  104 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 127 (entry for 1 Feb. 1938).

  105 On the reshuffle of 4 Feb. 1938 see ibid., p. 137 (entry for 5 Feb. 1938); Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, pp. 73f.; Otto Dietrich, 12 Jahre mit Hitler, Munich, 1955, pp. 50f.; Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 150f.; Eckart Conze, Norbert Frei, Peter Hayes and Moshe Zimmermann, Das Amt und die Vergangenheit: Deutsche Diplomaten im Dritten Reich und in der Bundesrepublik, Munich, 2010, pp. 124–6. Hassell was suspended by Neurath on 18 Jan. 1938. He suspected that a plot against him was the reason for his dismissal. See Hassell to Neurath, 24 Jan. 1938, and Neurath to Lammers, 26 Jan. 1938; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, R 43 II/889b.

  106 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 138 (entry for 6 Feb. 1938).

  107 Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 152f.; Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 79; Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945: Nemesis, London, 2000, p. 59.

  108 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 140 (entry for 6 Feb. 1938). See also the expression of thanks from Hitler to Blomberg and Neurath in Akten der Reichskanzlei: Die Regierung Hitler: Vols 2–6: 1934/35–1939, ed. Friedrich Hartmannsgruber, Munich, 1999–2012, vol. 5, doc. 31, pp. 110f.

  109 François-Poncet, Als Botschafter in Berlin, p. 295. In a telegram on 5 Feb. 1938, François-Poncet wrote of a “kind of second 30 June.” Claus W. Schäfer, André François-Poncet als Botschafter in Berlin 1931–1938, Munich, 2004, p. 281.

  110 Notes by lawyer Rüdiger Graf von der Goltz on the trial (written 1945/46); IfZ München, ZS 49. A detailed account of the trial in Janssen and Tobias, Der Sturz der Generäle, pp. 173–82.

  111 Ibid., p. 183.

  112 See ibid., pp. 237–9, 247–9.

  113 See ibid., pp. 77–9; Schäfer, Werner von Blomberg, pp. 199ff.

  114 IMT, vol. 28, p. 362.

  115 See Schausberger, “Österreich und die natio​nalso​ziali​stische Anschlusspolitik,” pp. 470f.

  116 Hassell, Römische Tagebücher, p. 173 (entry for 15 Jan. 1937). See Kube, Pour le mérite und Hakenkreuz, pp. 225–7.

  117 Schmidt, Statist auf diplomatischer Bühne, p. 347; see Kube, Pour le mérite und Hakenkreuz, p. 230.

  118 See Kube, Pour le mérite und Hakenkreuz, pp. 236f., 239.

  119 Schmidt, Statist auf diplomatische Bühne, pp. 377f.

  120 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 4, p. 415 (entry for 21 Nov. 1937).

  121 See Schausberger, “Österreich und die natio​nalso​ziali​stische Anschlusspolitik,” pp. 478f.

  122 Franz von Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, Munich, 1952, p. 460; see Joachim Petzold, Franz von Papen: Ein deutsches Verhängnis, Munich and Berlin, 1995, p. 252.

  123 See Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 84.

  124 See Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, pp. 467f.

  125 On what follows see Kurt von Schuschnigg, Ein Requiem in Rot-Weiss-Rot, Zurich, 1946, pp. 38–44.

  126 Ibid., p. 45.

  127 See ADAP, Series D, vol. 1, no. 295, pp. 423f.; Schuschnigg, Ein Requiem, pp. 46f.; Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, pp. 470f.

  128 Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, p. 471; see IMT, vol. 10, pp. 567f.; Schuschnigg, Ein Requiem, p. 49.

  129 Schuschnigg, Ein Requiem, pp. 51f.; see Papen, Der Wahrheit eine Gasse, p. 475.

  130 Eberle and Uhl (eds), Das Buch Hitler, p. 72.

  131 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 159 (entry for 16 Feb. 1938). See ibid., p. 157 (entry for 16 Feb. 1938): “He was very rigorous with Schuschnigg…Cannon always speak clearly.”

  132 Ibid., p. 161 (entry for 17 Feb. 1938).

  133 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 801–3. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 168 (entry for 21 Feb. 1938).

  134 Memorandum by Wilhelm Keppler, Hitler’s Austria expert, dated 28 Feb. 1938; ADAP, Series D, vol. 1, no. 328, p. 450; see Kube, Pour le mérite und Hakenkreuz, p. 243.

  135 Schausberger, “Österreich und die natio​nalso​ziali​stische Anschlusspolitik,” p. 752.

  136 See Schuschnigg, Ein Requiem, p. 41.

  137 Ciano, Tagebücher 1937/38, p. 123 (entry for 10 March 1938).

  138 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, pp. 198f. (entry for 10 March 1938).

  139 Harry Graf Kessler, Das Tagebuch. Vol. 9: 1926–1937, ed. Sabine Gruber and Ulrich Ott with Christoph Hilse and Nadin Weiss, Stuttgart, 2010, p. 663 (entry for 16 April 1936); see also Konrad Heiden, Adolf Hitler: Ein Mann gegen Europa, Zurich, 1937, p. 266: “The substance of Hitler’s politics resides in his lightning quick reaction to circumstances.”

  140 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, p. 808.

  141 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, pp. 200f. (entry for 11 March 1938).

  142 Ibid., p. 202 (entry for 12 March 1938).

  143 ADAP, Series D, vol. 1, no. 352, p. 470.

  144 See Reinhard Spitzy, So haben wir das Reich verspielt: Bekenntnisse eines Illegalen, 2nd edition, Munich and
Vienna, 1987, pp. 233–8.

  145 See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 202 (entry for 12 March 1938); IMT, vol. 16, pp. 360–2; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, pp. 76f.

  146 IMT, vol. 9, p. 333.

  147 Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 90.

  148 On the unfolding of events see the transcript of the telephone conversations in Schuschnigg, Ein Requiem, pp. 84–98; IMT, vol. 16, pp. 167f.; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 203 (entry for 12 March 1938); Schausberger, “Österreich und die natio​nalso​ziali​stische Anschlusspolitik,” pp. 754f.; Kershaw, Hitler: Nemesis, pp. 77f.

  149 IMT, vol. 31, pp. 368f.; Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, p. 813. See Ciano, Tagebücher 1937/38, p. 124 (entry for 12 March 1938).

  150 See Spitzy, So haben wir das Reich verspielt, p. 238.

  151 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 816f.; see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 205 (entry for 13 March 1938).

  152 Brigitte Hamann, Hitlers Edeljude: Das Leben des Armenarztes Eduard Bloch, Munich and Zurich, 2008, pp. 259f.

  153 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, p. 817.

  154 See Christa Schroeder, Er war mein Chef: Aus dem Nachlass der Sekretärin von Adolf Hitler, ed. Anton Joachimsthaler, 3rd edition, Munich and Vienna, 1985, p. 85.

  155 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 820f.; see Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 208: “With that amalgamation is practically complete. It’s a historic hour. Indescribable joy among all of us.”

  156 Wiedemann, Der Mann, p. 123.

  157 See Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 93; Baldur von Schirach, Ich glaubte an Hitler, Hamburg, 1967, pp. 240f.; Schroeder, Er war mein Chef, p. 85; Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler wie ich ihn sah: Aufzeichnungen seines Leibfotographen, Munich and Berlin, 1974, p. 97.

  158 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, p. 824

  159 Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 93.

  160 See Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, p. 825; Engel, Heeresadjutant bei Hitler, pp. 15f. (dated 14 March 1938); Hans Baur, Ich flog Mächtige der Erde, Kempten im Allgäu, 1956, p. 165; Spitzy, So haben wir das Reich verspielt, p. 248; Schirach, Ich glaubte an Hitler, p. 241.

  161 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, pp. 212 (entry for 16 March 1938), 214 (entry for 17 March 1938). See Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 94; Schroeder, Er war mein Chef, p. 86.

  162 Hamann, Winifred Wagner, p. 354.

  163 Die Weizsäcker-Papiere 1933–1950, ed. Leonidas Hill, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Vienna, 1974, p. 123 (dated 13 March and 15 March 1938).

  164 Christoph Cornelissen, Gerhard Ritter: Gesch​ichts​wisse​nschaft und Politik im 20. Jahrhundert, Düsseldorf, 2001, p. 244; see also the historian Friedrich Meinecke to Hajo Holborn, 7 April 1938; Friedrich Meinecke, Werke. Bd. VI: Ausgewählter Briefwechsel, Stuttgart, 1962, p. 180.

  165 Evans, The Third Reich in Power, p. 663.

  166 Willy Cohn, Kein Recht, nirgends: Tagebuch vom Untergang des Breslauer Judentums 1933–1941, ed. Norbert Conrads, Cologne, Weimar and Berlin, 2006, vol. 1, pp. 523f. (entries for 13 March, 14 March 1938).

  167 Victor Klemperer, Ich will Zeugnis ablegen bis zum letzten: Tagebücher 1933–1941, ed. Walter Nowojski with Hadwig Klemperer, Berlin, 1995, p. 399 (entry for 20 March 1938).

  168 Thomas Mann, Tagebücher 1937–1939, ed. Peter de Mendelssohn, Frankfurt am Main, 1980, p. 188 (entry for 13 March 1938).

  169 Deutschland-Berichte der Sozia​ldemo​krati​schen Partei Deutschlands (Sopade) 1934–1940, ed. Klaus Behnken, Frankfurt am Main, 1980, 5 (1938), p. 258.

  170 Ibid., pp. 263f.

  171 Ibid., p. 262.

  172 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 826–32.

  173 Hamann, Winifred Wagner, p. 355; see Eva Rieger, Friedelind Wagner: Die rebellische Enkelin Richard Wagners, Munich and Zurich, 2012, p. 105.

  174 See Spitzy, So haben wir das Reich verspielt, p. 254; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 252 (entry for 10 April 1938).

  175 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 256 (entry for 11 April 1938). See ibid., p. 254 (entry for 10 April 1938); Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, p. 850. Even after 1945, Hitler’s adjutant Nicolaus von Below was convinced “that following the Anschluss there were no more than half a million eligibile voters in Germany who were against us” (Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 96). The historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler agrees: “If there had been a free election monitored by the League of Nations, the result [of 99 per cent of the vote for the Nazis] would probably have been no different” (Deutsche Gesel​lscha​ftsge​schichte 1914–1949, p. 622). That is probably something of an exaggeration.

  176 Klemperer, Tagebücher 1933–1941, p. 403 (entry for 10 April 1938).

  177 On the advantages of the Anschluss see Wendt, Grossdeutschland, pp. 143f.; Thamer, Verführung und Gewalt, pp. 579f.; Schmidt, Die Aussenpolitik des Dritten Reiches, pp. 255f.; Evans, The Third Reich in Power, pp. 655f.; Adam Tooze, The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy, London, 2006, pp. 245–7.

  178 Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, pp. 95f.

  179 Deutschland-Berichte der Sopade, 5 (1938), p. 268. See also Shirer, Berliner Tagebuch, p. 111 (entry for 14 April 1938).

  180 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 222 (entry for 20 March 1938). See Speer, Erinnerungen, p. 123: “Shortly after the Anschluss, Hitler had a map of Central Europe brought out and privately showed a circle of keen listeners that Czechoslovakia was now trapped in a ‘vise’ from both sides.”

  181 Konrad Henlein’s report on his meeting with the Führer on 28 March 1938; ADAP, Series D, vol. 2, no. 107, p. 158. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 236 (entry for 29 March 1938): “The Führer spoke with Henlein. The plan is to constantly demand more than what Prague can give. Then the thing will start rolling.”

  182 Konrad Henlein to Neurath, 19 Nov. 1937, with a report for Hitler on current questions on German policy in the Czech Republic; ADAP, Series D, vol. 2, no. 23, pp. 40–51 (quotation on p. 41). For context see Ralf Gebel, “Heim ins Reich”: Konrad Henlein und der Reichsgau Sudetenland (1938–1945), Munich, 1999.

  183 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 328 (entry for 1 June 1938)

  184 Memorandum by Wehrmacht adjutant Rudolf Schmundt dated 22 April 1938: summary of the meeting between Hitler and Keitel on 21 April 1938; ADAP, Serise D, vol. 2, no. 133, p. 190.

  185 Henlein’s memorandum on the eight demands announced in Karlsbad on 24 April 1938; ibid., no. 135, p. 192.

  186 See Heike B. Görtemaker, Eva Braun: Leben mit Hitler, Munich, 2010, pp. 214f. Contrary to Görtemaker’s claim, Magda Goebbels did not take part in the trip. During her husband’s visit to Italy she gave birth to her fifth child—a daughter, Hedda. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 289 (entry for 6 May 1938).

  187 See a description of the reception in Schmidt, Statist auf diplomatischer Bühne, p. 385; Spitzy, So haben wir das Reich verspielt, p. 263; Frank, Im Angesicht des Galgens, pp. 292f.

  188 See Görtemaker, Eva Braun, pp. 214f.

  189 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 290 (entry for 6 May 1938).

  190 Wiedemann, Der Mann, p. 139. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 288 (entry for 5 May 1938): “It was a cold, dead, empty occasion.”

  191 Frank, Im Angesicht des Galgens, p. 296. See Olaf Rose (ed.), Julius Schaub: In Hitlers Schatten, Stegen, 2005, p. 176; Schroeder, Er war mein Chef, p. 87.

  192 See Schmidt, Statist auf diplomatischer Bühne, p. 386; Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 98; Wiedemann, Der Mann, pp. 140f.; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, pp. 288f. (entry for 6 May 1938).

  193 Wiedemann, Der Mann, p. 142. On the incident see also Wiedemann’s notes entitled “individual recollections,” San Francisco, 28 March 1939; BA Koblenz, N 1720/4; Spitzy, So haben wir das Reich verspielt, pp. 266f.; Rose, Julius Schaub, pp. 177f.; Schmidt, Statist auf diplomatischer Bühne, p. 386.

  194 Schroeder, Er war mein Chef, p. 87.

  195 Baur, Ich flog Mächtige dieser Erde, p. 162.
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  196 Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 99; Baur, Ich flog Mächtige dieser Erde, p. 163. See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 292 (entry for 7 May 1938): “The Führer is furious at this entire court herd.”

  197 Domarus, Hitler, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 859–61 (quotation on p. 861). See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 294 (entry for 8 May 1938): “Major conversations at table. Mussolini came out clearly on our side. The Führer solemnly guaranteed to respct the Brenner border.”

  198 Hitler, Monologe, p. 44 (dated 21/22 July 1941).

  199 Ciano, Tagebücher 1937/38, p. 159 (entry for 9 May 1938). See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 297 (entry for 10 May 1938): “Very warm farewells between him and the Duce.”

  200 ADAP, Series D, vol. 1, no. 761, p. 899.

  201 Die Weizsäcker-Papiere 1933–1950, p. 128 (dated 13 May 1938). See Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 292 (entry for 7 May 1938): “Mussolini has given us an absolutely free hand.”

  202 Engel, Heeresadjutant bei Hitler, p. 23 (dated 22 May 1938).

  203 Speer, Erinnerungen, p. 124; Frank, Im Angesicht des Galgens, pp. 296f. See Hitler, Monologe, p. 248 (dated 31 Jan. 1942): “We can’t thank Noske, Ebert and Scheidemann enough for cleaning this up for us.” See also Wiedemann’s notes “Einstellung zu den Fürstenhäusern” (notes on attitude towards aristocratic houses); BA Koblenz, N 1720/4.

  204 See Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, p. 100; Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, pp. 302 (entry for 12 May 1938), 320 (entry for 27 May 1938).

  205 For the details see Gerhard L. Weinberg, “The May Crisis, 1938,” in Journal of Modern History, 29 (1957), pp. 213–25.

  206 Goebbels, Tagebücher, part 1, vol. 5, p. 323 (entry for 29 May 1938).

  207 On the conference of 28 May 1938 see Klaus-Jürgen Müller, Generaloberst Ludwig Beck: Eine Biographie, Paderborn, 2008, pp. 321f.; Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, pp. 101f.; Wiedemann, Der Mann, pp. 126–8; Wiedemann’s essay “Crisis of spring and summer 1938”: “The time was set as not before the end of September and probably not until March 1939. Neurath responded to me: ‘So now we have at least a year. A lot can happen in the meantime.’ ” BA Koblenz, N 1720/4.