B006OAL1QM EBOK (45 page)

CHAPTER TWO

The condition of Germany after the First World War and the story of the rise of the Nazi movement has been the subject of many books of varying authority culminating in Dr. Alan Bullock's
Hitler—A Study in Tyranny
(Odhams, 1952). Where original sources were no longer available and the published facts varied as between historians, we have normally preferred those given by Dr. Bullock and by W. M. Knight-Patterson in
Germany from Defeat to Conquest,
1919-33 (Allen and Unwin, 1945). Goebbels' own handwritten diary from 3rd August 1925 to 16th October 1926 is preserved in the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and was consulted in microfilm; it consists of some 200 pages written in a series of notebooks. The contents of this diary were checked with a number of the people mentioned in it, and in great detail with Else, Kaufmann and Otto Strasser. Others consulted were Helmuth Elbcechter and Salomon von Pfeffer. All of these were in constant touch with Goebbels at this time. A photostat copy of this diary has now been deposited with the Institut für Zeitgeschichte in Munich.

1.
   The facts about these two conferences, so important in the history of the early Nazi movement, are published here correctly for the first time. The details are vouched for by Karl Kaufmann, Otto Strasser and Helmuth Elbrechter. All three were personally present at the Hanover conference. Though none of them was present at Bamberg, Kaufmann knew the details of what happened. Otto Strasser has recently confirmed that his early reports of Goebbels' ‘treason’ at Bamberg were exaggerated. When H.F. confronted Otto Strasser with Goebbels' day-by-day entries in the diary, he admitted that in his previously published statements (on which all historians have relied, including Dr. Bullock) he had contracted in time what was a gradually-deepening rift between Goebbels and the Strassers, and made it appear that this breach had become immediately apparent at Bamberg. Goebbels remained in touch with the Strassers for a considerable period subsequent to the Bamberg conference.

2.
   Stated by von Pfeffer in conversation with H.F. Von Pfeffer was soon to become Supreme Leader of the S.A., though he subsequently quarrelled with Hitler and fell into disgrace.

3.
   Dr. Elbrechter, now a physician and practising in Diisseldorf, has asserted in conversation with H.F. that he thought little enough of Goebbels at this time. He underrated him because he could not stand his supercilious manner.

CHAPTER THREE

Goebbels wrote his own highly biased account of his first year's work as Gauleiter of Berlin in
Kampfurn Berlin
(Eher Verlag, Munich, 1934). The quotations that appear in this chapter taken from his book are translated from the ninth edition (1936). The facts have been checked with Otto Strasser, who was in frequent contact with Goebbels since he was resident in Berlin. Following are the page references in
Kampf um Berlin
corresponding to the numbered quotations that occur in our text:

1, p. 21; 6, p. 24; 7, p. 52; 8, p. 44; 9, p. 86; 10, p. 249; 12, p. 46; 13, p. 168; 14, p. 188; 15, p. 86.

The remaining notes are:

2.
   See
Hitler's Table Talk
(Weidenfeld and Nicolson), p. 532.

3.
   See
Mein Kampf
(translation published by Hurst and Blackett, 1939), pp. 158-63.

4.
   
Mein Kampf,
pp. 390-1.

5.
   
Mein Kampf,
p. 478.

11.
Thonak was later to become Goebbels' chauffeur.

16.
Quoted by Curt Riess in
Joseph Goebbels,
pp. 70-1.

17.
Ibid., pp. 72-3.

18.
Ibid., p. 74.

19.
Berger, in conversation with H.F.

20.
Magda's devotion to Hitler was universally known. Particular reference to the friendship between Hitler and Goebbels' wife is made by Otto Dietrich in
The Hitler I Knew,
by Rudolf Semmler in
Goebbels—the Man Next to Hitler,
by Wilfred von Oven in
Mit Goebbels bis zum Ende
and by Goebbels himself in
My Part in Germany's Fight
. That Magda had at one time been in love with Hitler is regarded as certain by both Dr. Naumann and von Wedel, who have said as much in conversation with H.F. Von Wedel was one of Goebbels' aides from 1934-38, and Dr. Naumann was to become his second-in-command at the Propaganda Ministry.

CHAPTER FOUR

Goebbels' own account of the final period of the Nazis' fight for power is given in his published diary
Vom Kaiserhof zur Reichskanzlei
(Eher, 1934). Quotations here and in Chapter Five are taken from the English translation of the diary published as
My Part in Germany's Fight
(Paternoster Library, 1938; original edition Hurst and Blackett, 1935). Following are the page references in the Paternoster Library edition for those numbered quotations in our text which have no other indication (such as dates) as to where they may be found in the diary:

2, p. 40; 3, pp. 20, 30, 130; 5, p. 51; 6, p. 165; 7, p. 182; 11, p. 220; 13, p. 201; 14, p. 214; 16, p. 267; 17, p. 106; 18, p. 97; 19, pp. 135 and 143; 20, p. 14; 21, p. 168; 22, p. 39; 23, p. 136; 24, p. 13; 25, p. 152; 26, p. 103; 27, p. 80; 28, p. 105; 29, p. 131; 30, p. 11; 31, p. 87; 32, p. 65; 33, p. 16; 34, p. 34; 35, p. 11; 36, p. 138; 37, p. 12; 38, p. 138; 39, p. 32; 40, p. 189; 41, p. 179; 42, p. 114; 43, p. 62; 44, p. 101; 45, p. 44; 46, p. 101; 47, p. 214; 48, p. 23; 49, p. 248; 50, p. 222; 54, p. 226.

The remaining notes are:

1.
    Joachim von Ostau has told H.F. how he became one of the three messengers sent by the leaders of the political Right to try to persuade both Hitler and Hindenburg to withdraw their candidature for the Presidency in favour of the Crown-Prince Wilhelm. Hindenburg had once before stated that he was prepared to withdraw if a Hohenzollern Prince should come forward as Head of State in any capacity. Von Ostau said that he found Hitler sympathetic to the idea, but that it was Goebbels who pressed him vehemently to refuse any such overtures to withdraw.

4.
    Dietrich,
The Hitler I Knew,
p. 204.

8.
    Von Papen claimed in conversation with H.F. that this attempt to oust Hitler from power could never have succeeded; Kaufmann, however, like many politicians of the period, believes it might have done.

9.
    Von Papen told H.F. that his meeting with Hitler at von Schroeder's house was undertaken at the request of his friend von Schleicher. There was in fact little secrecy about the meeting, since Hitler was accompanied by Hess and others. Von Papen on arrival was surprised to find him self being photographed. After the meeting he wrote a report in his room at the Excelsior Hotel in Cologne and posted it at once to von Schleicher. The following day, however, the press blazed the headlines about the secret meeting that had just taken place between von Papen and Hitler. The photographer was none other than Dr. Elbrechter, who has now admitted to H.F. that he had been asked to take the photograph by von Schleicher, with whom he was on terms of personal friendship.

10.
For a full account of these intricate negotiations see Bullock's
Hitler,
pp. 220-6.

12.
Serge Chakotin,
The Rape of the Masses
(Routledge, London, 1940), p. 30.

15.
Quoted by Riess in
Joseph Goebbels,
p. 118.

51.
See H. Hoffmann,
Hitler was my Friend
(Burke, London, 1955), pp. 71-2.

52.
See Dietrich,
The Hitler I Knew,
p. 25.

53.
At the Nuremberg Trials Gisevius, among other important witnesses, pointed to Goebbels as the principal instigator of the arson. Such evidence as was brought together at the legal enquiry held in London in 1933 revealed that Göring was at least equally implicated. There seems now to be little doubt that several of the Nazi leaders were actually involved.

55.
Hitler insisted on this clumsy title against the advice of Goebbels, who objected to the introduction of the word Propaganda because, he thought, it would defeat its object. He would have much preferred the word
‘Kultur’
.

CHAPTER FIVE

The first three months of power, February to April 1933, are commemorated by Goebbels in
My Part in Germany's Fight
(see advance note to Chapter Four). The most thorough account of the administrative machinery built up by Goebbels during the first ten years of his Ministry is contained in
The Goebbels Experiment
by Derrick Sington and Arthur Weidenfeld (John Murray, London, 1942) to which we are indebted for many facts. Other sources are indicated in the notes below.

1.
   
My Part in Germany's Fight,
p. 227.

2.
   Ibid., p. 231.

3.
   Ibid., p. 228.

4.
   Ibid., p. 216.

5.
   Ibid., p. 232.

6.
   Ibid., p. 235.

7.
   When Goebbels first came to her house as a Minister of State, Frau Prang remembers addressing him as Herr Reich Minister, although as her son's great friend since early youth she had always called him by his first name. Goebbels at once asked her to continue to call him Joseph and to use the intimate term
‘Du’
. While he acknowledged the applause of the crowds outside the house, he whispered to her: “Look at that rabble. A few months ago they hounded me out of the town.”

8.
   
My Part in Germany's Fight,
p. 249.

9.
   Quoted by H. L. Childs in
Propaganda and Dictatorship
(Princeton University Press, 1936).

10.
Quoted in
The Goebbels Experiment,
p. 139.

11.
My Part in Germany's Fight,
p. 237.

12.
Ibid., p. 251.

13.
That same night in the Artists' Club, Goebbels boasted to a circle of film directors about how he timed this use of the sun as a propaganda device! Both Georg C. Klaren and Helmuth Käutner were present and have told H.F. the story.

14.
Quoted by Louis P. Lochner in his Introduction to
The Goebbels Diaries,
p. xxvi.

15.
See Heinrich Hoffmann,
Hitler was my Friend,
p. 71.

16.
For example, at one stage there were three departments dealing with Foreign Affairs, and there were never less than two separate Secret Services. Each poached on the others' preserves, and Goebbels tried to out-poach them all!

17.
See Henderson,
Failure of a Mission,
p. 29. The point was made again in the film
Ohm Krüger,
which Goebbels in part scripted.

18.
Otto Strasser has laid particular stress on the closeness of Goebbels and Rohm.

19.
On the other hand, von Pfeffer has stated to H.F. that he does not think that Goebbels was in any way implicated in these assassinations. The proprietor and the head-waiter were apparently homosexuals and were killed automatically because of their association with Rohm.

20.
Otto Dietrich,
The Hitler I Knew,
p. 29.

21.
See H. B. Gisevius,
To the Bitter End
(Houghton Mifflin, 1947), p. 160.

22.
Quoted by Bullock in
Hitler,
p. 280.

23.
Lang confirmed these details personally to H.F. The words quoted can be found in Kracauer
From Caligari to Hitler,
together with the story of
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
. See pp. 164 and 248-50.

24.
These details were confirmed by Rudolf Ullstein in conversation with H.F.

25.
These Divisions are listed in
Propaganda and Dictatorship,
p. 19.

26.
See Lochner,
The Goebbels Diasies,
p. xxxi. According to Otto Dietrich in
The Hitler I Knew
(p. 143) criticism was forbidden by Goebbels at the express command of Hitler.

27.
See
Propaganda and Dictatorship,
p. 23.

28.
Quoted in
Propaganda and Dictatorship,
p. 20.

29.
See Henderson,
Failure of a Mission,
p. 85.

30.
See
Hitler was my Friend,
pp. 173 and 181.

31.
For an elaboration of Goebbels' principles see
Cinema Quarterly
(Edinburgh) Summer 1935, Vol. III, No. 4, pp. 213-4.

32.
Details told to H.F. by Frau Gussy Jannings and Dr. Max Winckler.

33.
See Sington and Weidenfeld,
The Goebbels Experiment,
p. 80.

34.
See Edgar Mowrer,
Germany Puts the Clock Back
(Penguin Books, London, 1937), p. 213.

35.
See William L. Shirer,
Berlin Diary
(Knopf, New York, 1941), p. 104.

36.
See Louis Lochner,
The Goebbels Diaries,
p. xxxii.

37.
See Vernon McKenzie,
Here Lies Goebbels
(Michael Joseph, London, 1940), p. 31.

38.
The Von Hassell Diaries
(Doubleday and Co., New York, 1947), p. 26.

39.
See
Ambassador Dodd's Diary
(Gollancz, London, 1941), p. 102.

40.
See Henderson,
Failure of a Mission,
p. 76.

41.
See Shirer,
Berlin Diary,
p. 29.

42.
See Lochner,
The Goebbels Diaries,
p. xxix.

43.
Ibid., p. xxv.

44.
See McKenzie,
Here Lies Goebbels,
p. 96.

45.
These figures given in
Riess, Joseph Goebbels,
p. 149.

46.
See McKenzie,
Here Lies Goebbels,
p. 72.

47.
See
Ambassador Dodd's Diary,
p. 142.

48.
See Shirer,
Berlin Diary,
p. 44.

49.
Quoted by Riess in
Joseph Goebbels,
p. 148.

50.
These figures are given by McKenzie in
Here Lies Goebbels
. See p. 98, and also Chapters Seven and Eight.

51.
See McKenzie
Here Lies Goebbels,
pp. 233 and 235.

52.
The instruction to the Fichte League quoted in
The Goebbels Experiment,
p. 91.

53.
See Riess,
Joseph Goebbels,
pp. 176-7.

54.
See
Ambassador Dodd's Diary,
p. 287.

55.
See
The Goebbels Experiment,
p. 80.

56.
Dietrich,
The Hitler I Knew,
p. 116.

57.
See
Here Lies Goebbels,
p. 95.

58.
For saying this Boemer was sent to a concentration camp by Goebbels, and on release put in a suicide squad where he was killed. Semmler has vouched for this in conversations with H.F.

59.
Dietrich in
The Hitler I Knew
(p. 41) claims that Hitler ordered Goebbels to organise the pogrom.

60.
See Lochner,
The Goebbels Diaries,
p. xxv.

61.
See Henderson,
Failure of a Mission,
p. 172.

62.
Quoted by Riess in
Joseph Goebbels,
pp. 204-5.

63.
Documentation for the Nuremberg Trials held in the Wiener Library, London. Alpers was the equivalent of Head of the Forestry Commission.

64.
See Lochner,
The Goebbels Diaries,
p. ix.

65.
Idem, p. xxviii.

66.
Idem, p. x.

67.
The story of the banknotes is told by von Oven. See
Mit Goebbels bis zum Ende,
Vol. I, p. 35.

68.
Told by Dr. Winckler to H.F.

69.
See Semmler,
Goebbels—the Man next to Hitler
(Westhouse, London, 1947), p. 21.

70.
Dietrich,
The Hitler I Knew,
p. 240.

71.
See
The Von Hassell Diaries,
p. 4. Dietrich also comments in
The Hitler I Knew
(pp. 237-8) that this was the only period Hitler was on bad terms with Goebbels. Sources for the details of Goebbels' love affair are only too easy to come by. The matter became legendary, and many of the extravagant stories associated with it are to be found in
Evil Genius
. Our main sources are the private revelations of Dr. Naumann, Dieter von Wedel, Semmler, Gustav Fröhlich and Lida Baarova herself.

72.
The Von Hassell Diaries,
p. 10.

73.
Dr. Naumann has requested us to deny categorically that he himself had at any time intimate relations with Magda Goebbels. This has been claimed in certain books. The same accusation has been levelled against Hanke, but von Wedel as well as Naumann are of the opinion that no such relation was established, although Hanke undertook to help Magda get evidence for her divorce and was prepared to jeopardise his career in order to do so. Hanke was killed during the final days of the war. Naumann is convinced that he was not the type of man to have any appeal for Magda.

Additional Note:

It has frequently been alleged that Goebbels attempted to exacerbate the legal dispute over
A Nous la Liberti
and
Modem Times,
the films made by Renl Clair and Charles Chaplin. Renl Clair has made the following interesting statement for us:

“To the best of my knowledge there never was any intervention by Goebbels or the Nazi Government in the
A Nous la Liberti-Modern Times
affair. This story seems to me to have been entirely created by lawyers more concerned about their briefs than the truth.

“It was certain papers in New York that first remarked on the resemblances that struck them between the two films. This followed the first showing of Chaplin's film in 1935, some three years after the initial screening of
A Nous la Liberti
in the United States. The case between the two distributing companies started up immediately but was interrupted by the war. I always refused to become involved in it, but I never had the least reason to believe the case had any political flavour behind it. I should add that I was given to understand that the distribution of
A Nous la Liberti
in Germany had been forbidden the moment the Nazis came to power.”

Goebbels' interest in this case was said to be his desire to injure Chaplin.