Goebbels: A Biography (117 page)

1.
TB, 6 February 1936.

2.
Longerich,
Davon
, 101.

3.
PA
1936, 6 February 1936: The Propaganda Ministry warned the press, which had given prominence to the assassination, to exercise caution; see, for instance,
VB
(B), 5 February;
VB
(N), 6 February;
Der Angriff
, 6 February 1936. The following day, on which the newspapers were dominated by the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, the Gustloff topic was confined to the inside pages (
VB
(B) and
MNN
, which had already led with the Olympic Games on 6 February, did the same on 7 February, as did
VB
(N) and
Der Angriff
).

4.
TB, 8 February 1936.

5.
TB, 11 February 1936;
MNN
, 11 February 1936, Olympic reception for the Reich and state governments;
Der Angriff
, 11 February 1936 (photo), The Reich Propaganda Minister at the Munich press gala.

6.
TB, 14 December 1936;
VB
(B), 13 February 1936, “Adolf Hitlers Abschied von Wilhelm Gustloff.”

7.
TB, 14 February 1936, 17 February 1936, telephone call to Magda (for the 14th).

8.
TB, 17 February; on Hitler’s itinerary, see
VB
, 14–16 March 1936.

9.
TB, 17 February 1936.

10.
TB, 21 January 1936.

11.
TB, 21 February 1936, for 19 February. See also 20 February 1936: “Lunch with the Führer. He ponders and contemplates. To act or not to act? In the end he will act.”

12.
TB, 29 February 1936.

13.
TB, 29 February 1936, according to which on 28 February he had recommended a postponement to the Führer.

14.
TB, 29 February, 2 March 1936.

15.
On the speech, whose text Hitler had modified in view of the impending crisis, see TB, 1 and 2 March;
PA
1936, 228f., 231f. (28 and 29 February): instructions to
give extensive coverage to the speech. In the speech Goebbels extolled the Reich’s success in producing new materials.
FZ
, 2 February 1936.

16.
TB, 4 March 1936;
PA
1936: On 4 March the press was confidentially informed that the deputies were being summoned to an evening get together on 6 March in Berlin that had long been planned and were being requested to stay in Berlin for a few days, as a Reichstag session was planned for the start of the following week; it was intended “as a diplomatic demonstration against the Franco-Soviet pact” (246f.).

17.
TB, 8 March 1936. Kabinett:
Akten der Reichskanzlei, Regierung Hitler
, vol. 3, Hartmannsgruber (ed.), no. 39, Ministerbesprechung, 6 March 1936.

18.
TB, 6 and 8 March 1936.

19.
Domarus I
, 583ff.; on the occupation, see Giro, Frankreich und die Remilitarisierung des Rheinlandes, 67ff.; Reuth,
Goebbels
, 337ff.

20.
TB, 8 March 1936.

21.
TB, 17–28 March 1936.

22.
On election propaganda, see TB, 10–31 March 1936;
PA
1936, 253f. (7 March).

23.
Berber (ed.),
Locarno
, no. 62, Sitzung des Völkerbundrates in London am Nachmittag des 19. März; on the international reactions, see TB, 13, 15, 17, and 19 March 1936; Giro,
Frankreich
, 336ff.

24.
No. 63, Vorschläge der Locarno-Mächte, 19 March 1936; TB, 21 March 1936.

25.
Berber,
Locarno
, no. 68, Vorläufige Antwort der Reichsregierung, 24 March 1936; no. 74, Friedensplan der Deutschen Regierung vom 31. März 1936 (auch
ADAP
V/1, no. 242); TB, 2 April 1936, and 26 and 28 March 1936 concerning the ongoing negotiations.

26.
PA
1936, 24–28 March 1936, documents the careful preparation of the campaign, which reached its climax on the election Sunday.

27.
PA
1936, 345f. (26 March).

28.
VB
(B), 28 March 1936, “Kommando an die Nation. Hisst Flagge! Ganz Deutschland unter dem Hakenkreuzbanner zum 29. März angetreten” (headline). See also
VB
(B) of 27 March, “Der Führer spricht zu den Arbeitern und Soldaten des neuen Reiches. Noch nie erlebter Gemeinschaftsempfang eines ganzen Volkes—Allgemeine Verkehrs- und Arbeitsruhe” (headline).

29.
VB
(B), 28 March 1936, “Das ganze deutsche Volk hörte seinen Führer!” (with reports about companies granting holidays throughout the Reich); “Jubel um Hermann Göring. Der Preußische Ministerpräsident beschloß die Wahlkundgebungen in Berlin mit einem begeistert aufgenommenen Appell; weitere Berichte über diverse Veranstaltungen.”

30.
See the detailed instructions in the
VB
(B) of 27 March 1936 and the headline of 28 March, “Letzter Appell des Führers am freien Rhein. Der Volkstag für Ehre, Freiheit und Frieden.”

31.
VB
(B), 29 March 1936.

32.
Behnken (ed.),
Deutschland-Berichte der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands 1934–1940
(henceforth
SOPADE
), April 1936, 407ff., quotation 407.

33.
Ibid. p. 407;
VB
(B), 31 March 1936, with the provisional official election results.
PA
1936, p. 362: On 30 March the press received instructions to calculate the percentages from the number of votes cast and not from the number of those entitled to vote. TB, 31 March 1936: “I correct a stupid legal quibble from Frick: ‘valid and invalid votes!’ What nonsense.”

34.
TB, 31 March 1936.

35.
Giro,
Frankreich
, 339ff.

36.
TB, 15 March 1936, and 17 March 1936.

37.
TB, 22 and 29 March 1936: “Our house purchase on Schwanenwerder seems to be going through.” On the house purchase, see Reuth,
Goebbels
, 340f.

38.
TB, 2 April 1936.

39.
TB, 2 and 8 April 1936; also 4 April 1936 (about viewing the house); 6 April 1936 (about the impending move) and 9 April 1936 (move); 7 May, 15 August 1936.

40.
TB, 19 April 1936.

41.
TB, 20 April 1936.

42.
TB, 20 April 1936.

43.
TB, 7 August 1936.

44.
TB, 21 July 1936.

45.
TB, 16 April, 2 May 1936 on the boat purchase. Also 13 May (Hitler’s reaction), 4 and 9 May (boat trips), and 20 May 1936 (money worries).

46.
TB, 9 July 1936, and 12 and 28 August 1936 about further trips.

47.
TB, 27 June 1936.

48.
TB, 30 July 1936. On the first trip with the new car, see 29 September 1936.

49.
TB, 22 October 1936.

50.
TB, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, and 11 May 1936.

51.
TB, 3 June 1936: “In the evening a stroll with Helga. Looked at their house with Gustav Fröhlich and Lida Baarová. It’s very nice.” On this, their first encounter, see also TB, 10 June 1936; Lida Baarová,
Die süße Bitterkeit meines Lebens
, 81f.

52.
Baarová,
Die süße Bitterkeit
, 83ff. This must have referred to the boat trip, in which, as Goebbels noted on 19 August, Fröhlich und Baarová had taken part.

53.
TB, 1–5 August.

54.
TB, 10 September 1936.

55.
TB, 11 September 1936, also 12 September 1936. On the Party rally, see Baarová,
Bitterkeit
, 88ff.
Film-Kurier
, 10 September 1936, “Erfolgreicher Filmstart in Nürnberg. ‘Verräter’-Premiere in der Stadt der Reichsparteitage.”

56.
TB, 30 September, 2 October 1936; Baarová,
Bitterkeit
, 97f.

57.
On social contacts with Baarová (whose name he kept spelling incorrectly until the spring of 1937), see 30 November, 10 and 21 December 1936, 14 February, 30 March, 21 April 1937.

58.
Fröhlich,
Waren das Zeiten
, 156ff.; Baarová,
Bitterkeit
, 112f.

59.
Fröhlich, he noted in his diary on 16 May 1937, was “really stupid.” The incident on Schwanenwerder is not in fact mentioned in the diary.

60.
TB, 15, 16, 18, and 19 April, 3, 7, and 8 May 1936.

61.
TB, 11 May 1936.

62.
TB, 11 May 1936, and 15 May 1936: “Führer is stirring up England against Italy. That’s how we must get where we want to be. England feels very bitter and humiliated. One day Mussolini will get to feel it.”

63.
TB, 29 May 1936.

64.
TB, 28 May 1936.

65.
TB, 10 June 1936, and 11 June 1936; on Edda Ciano’s visit, see TB, 3, 7–18 June 1936.

66.
On the background, see
Das Juliabkommen von 1936;
Volsansky,
Pakt auf Zeit;
Pauley,
Der Weg in den Nationalsozialismus
, 161ff.; Schausberger,
Griff
, 349ff. On Mussolini’s message, see Hassell to A. A., 6 January 1936 in
ADAP
C IV/2, no. 485.

67.
ADAP
C IV, no. 203, 11 July 1935, Aktennotiz mit anliegendem Entwurf; ibid., 578ff., editor’s note re: Goebbels’s participation in the formulation of the Austrian press agreement of 27 August 1935; see also Volsansky,
Pakt
, 20.

68.
TB, 29 February 1936: “Discussed the Austrian question with Papen. He is still
dreaming of his ‘arrangement.’ But that’s just naive. The Vienna government are traitors to Germanness.” 4 July 1936: “Führer believes that Papen will bring about peace with Austria. I’m still doubtful.”

69.
Hitler only told him subsequently about his intentions, TB, 17 July 1936.

70.
TB, 12 July 1936 and the entries for the previous and following days;
PA
1936, p. 736f. (11 July) and p. 738 (13 July).

71.
TB, 7 May 1936.

72.
On his stay in Bayreuth, see TB, 20–28 July 1936.

73.
Literature on the German intervention in Spain: Abendroth,
Hitler in der spanischen Arena;
Merkes,
Die deutsche Politik im spanischen Bürgerkrieg 1936–1939;
Leitz,
Economic Relations between Nazi Germany and Franco’s Spain, 1936–1945
, esp. 8ff.; Schieder, “Spanischer Bürgerkrieg und Vierjahresplan. Zur Struktur nationalsozialistischer Außenpolitik.”

74.
TB, 27 July 1936.

75.
TB, 29 and 30 July as well as numerous entries between 5 and 25 August; there are also several entries about Spain during the following months.

76.
Abendroth,
Hitler
, 40ff., 95ff.

77.
TB, 29 July 1936. The Olympic Games dominate the TB entries until 17 August 1936. On the Olympics, see Large,
Nazi Games;
Bachrach,
The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936;
Hilton,
Hitler’s Olympics
.

78.
On Goebbels’s involvement in the preparations for the Olympics, see among others TB, 15, 25, 29, and 31 January, 2 and 21 February, 23 April, 14 May 1936.

79.
TB, 3 August 1936.

80.
TB, 5 August 1936.

81.
Dodd,
Diary
, 343: TB, 16 and 17 August 1936;
Der Angriff
, 17 August 1936, “Märchen auf der Pfaueninsel. Dr. Goebbels lud zum Sommerfest der Reichsregierung.”

82.
TB, 17 August 1936. In fact Germany won 33 gold medals, ahead of the USA (24) and Hungary (10).

83.
See, for example,
FZ
, 10 December 1935.

84.
On the preliminary work, see TB, 17 August, 5 and 17 October 1935, 7 November 1935; on social contacts with Riefenstahl, see TB, 9 October 1936. On the
Olympia
film, see Kinkel,
Scheinwerferin
, 107ff.; Trimborn,
Riefenstahl
, 238ff.; Rother,
Verführung
, 87ff.; Bach,
Leni
, 141ff.; Graham,
Leni Riefenstahl and Olympia;
Hoffmann,
Mythos Olympia—Autonomie und Unterwerfung von Sport und Kultur
.

85.
TB, 6 August 1936; also 31 July 1936 on Leni Riefenstahl, directly before the Olympic games; see also Kinkel,
Scheinwerferin
, 129f. Disputes between Riefenstahl and Weidemann, the head of the film department of the Party’s Reich propaganda headquarters, who had directed the film of the Garmisch winter games, prompted Goebbels to make another critical comment about Hitler’s favorite film director: “very hysterical” (TB, 18 September 1936); Kinkel,
Scheinwerferin
, 137f.

86.
TB, 25 October 1936. BAB, R 55/503, Bericht über die in der Zeit vom 3. bis 8. Oktober 1936 stattgefundene Kassen- und Rechnungsprüfung bei der Olympia-Film G.m.b.H., 16 October 1936. See also Graham,
Riefenstahl
, 147ff.; Kinkel,
Scheinwerferin
, 139ff.

87.
BAB, R 55/503, Präsident Reichsfilmkammer to Goebbels, 6 March 1937.

88.
TB, 6 November 1936; Riefenstahl,
Memoiren
, 279. BAB, R 2/4754, letter from the Propaganda Ministry to the Reich Finance Ministry, 25 January 1937; Riefenstahl,
Memoiren
, 279f.; Graham,
Riefenstahl
, 152.

89.
On “the mean attacks,” see TB, 16 June 1937; on the visit to Riefenstahl, see TB, 1
July 1937; on the denial, see
FZ
, 16 June 1937; see also Kinkel,
Scheinwerferin
, 144ff.

90.
TB, 24 and 26 November; Kinkel,
Scheinwerferin
, 148f.

91.
TB, 21 December 1937 and 19 March 1938.

92.
Kinkel,
Scheinwerferin
, 149f.; TB, 21 April 1938, also 22 April.

93.
TB, 2 May 1938.

94.
TB, 30 August 1936. On the stay, see also the reports in the
VB
(B), 30 August–2 September 1936.

95.
TB, 1 and 4 September 1936.

96.
TB, 1 September 1936.