Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 (146 page)

52 
A. Gemlich to Captain Mayr, 4 Sept. 1919; Deuerlein, “Hitlers Eintritt,” doc 10a, pp. 201f.

53 
Hitler to A. Gemlich, 16 Sept. 1919; Deuerlein, “Hitlers Eintritt,” doc. 12, pp. 203–5; also reproduced in Adolf Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen 1905–1924
, ed. Eberhard Jäckel with Axel Kuhn, Stuttgart, 1980, no. 61, pp. 88–90. Plöckinger (
Unter Soldaten und Agitatoren
, p. 143) correctly concludes that in his answer Hitler “did not advance any original positions, but merely summarised views and ideas that were already widespread in anti-Semitic circles.” On the interpretation of the “Gemlich letter,” see also ibid., pp. 332–8.

54 
See Walter,
Antisemitische Kriminalität
, pp. 34f.

55 
See Plöckinger,
Unter Soldaten und Agitatoren
, pp. 257, 334f.

56 
Hitler to A. Gemlich, 16 Sept. 1919; Deuerlein, “Hitlers Eintritt,” doc. 12, p. 204. See also Hitler’s contribution to a discussion at an NSDAP meeting on 6 April 1920: “We do not want to be the sort of emotional anti-Semites who create a pogrom mood. We are filled with the uncompromising determination to grasp this evil by the roots and tear it out in its entirety (enthusiastic applause).” Ibid. no. 91, p. 119.

57 
Captain Mayr to A. Gemlich, 17 Sept. 1919; Deuerlein, “Hitlers Eintritt,” doc. 11, p. 202f. Against the background of these remarks it is all the more astonishing that Karl Mayr would get close to the SPD in 1923 and later collaborate with the Reich Banner Black-Red-Gold. See Othmar Plöckinger, “Frühe biographische Texte zu Hitler: Zur Bewertung der autobiographischen Texte in ‘
Mein Kampf
,’ ” in
Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte
, 58 (2010), p. 99n25.

58 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 236.

59 
See Plöckinger,
Unter Soldaten und Agitatoren
, pp. 144, 147–51.

60 
See Auerbach, “Hitlers politische Lehrjahre,” p. 8f.; Werner Maser,
Die Frühgeschichte der NSDAP: Hitlers Weg bis 1924
, Frankfurt am Main and Bonn, 1965, pp. 146–8; Reginald Phelps, “Before Hitler came: Thule Society and Germanen Orden,” in
Journal of Modern History
, 35 (1963), pp. 245–61; Hermann Gilbhard,
Die Thule-Gesellschaft: Vom okkulten Mummenschanz zum Hakenkreuz
, Munich, 1994.

61 
See Dirk Stegmann, “Zwischen Repression und Manipulation: Konservative Machteliten und Arbeiter- und Angestelltenbewegung 1910–1918: Ein Beitrag zur Vorgeschichte der DAP/NSDAP,” in
Archiv für Sozialgeschichte
, 12 (1972), p. 385ff.; Maser,
Frühgeschichte
, pp. 142–6.

62 
From February to August 1919, between 10 and 38 people took part in DAP members’ meetings. See Anton Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Weg begann in München 1913–1923
, Munich, 2000, p. 251.

63 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, pp. 237f.

64 
See Plöckinger,
Unter Soldaten und Agitatoren
, p. 151f.

65 
Georg-Franz Willing,
Die Hitler-Bewegung: Der Ursprung 1919–1922
, Hamburg and Berlin, 1962, p. 66. On the differing records of this remark see Kershaw,
Hitler: Hubris
, p. 643n79.

66 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 241.

67 
See Fest,
Hitler
, p. 170. According to a statement by Hans Georg Grassinger, the operational manager of the
Münchener Beobachter
and one of the founders of the German Socialist Party (DSP), which evolved out of the Thule Society, Hitler offered to work for the DSP and the newspaper in the fall of 1919, but there was no position for him. Testimony by Hans Georg Grassinger, 19 Dec. 1951; IfZ München, ZS 50.

68 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 243. In an article in the
Illustrierter Beobachter
newspaper on 3 Aug. 1929, Hitler recalled the “unbelievably tiny beginnings” of the movement. Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 3, part 2, doc. 62, pp. 336–41 (quote on p. 336).

69 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 244.

70 
See Plöckinger,
Unter Soldaten und Agitatoren
, p. 157.

71 
See the report by Michael Lotter, secretary of the DAP in the NSDAP-Hauptarchiv, dated 17 Oct. 1941; Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Weg
, p. 257 (see p. 258 for a facsimile of the membership card); in addition, A. Drexler in an unsent letter to Hitler from Jan. 1940: Ernst Deuerlein (ed.),
Der Aufstieg der NSDAP in Augenzeugenberichten
, Munich, 2nd edition, 1976, pp. 97f.

72 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 390. Over lunch at the Reich Chancellery in December 1936, Hitler told stories “from the first party meetings” for which he himself “typed up and distributed flyers.”
Die Tagebücher von Joseph Goebbels. Part 1: Aufzeichnungen 1923–1941
, ed. Elke Fröhlich, Munich, 1998–2006, vol. 3/2, pp. 274f. (entry for 3 Dec. 1936).

73 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 390. See the advertisement in the
Münchener Beobachter
in Plöckinger,
Unter Soldaten und Agitatoren
, p. 158f.

74 
Max Amann’s questioning in Nuremberg on 5 Nov. 1947; Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Weg
, p. 264.

75 
PND report on the DAP meeting of 13 Nov. 1919; Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 66a, p. 93. Also in Deuerlein, “Hitlers Eintritt,” doc. 14, pp. 205–7.

76 
Münchener Beobachter
, 19 Nov. 1919; Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 66b, p. 94.

77 
See Plöckinger,
Unter Soldaten und Agitatoren
, pp. 160–3, 169.

78 
Report on the DAP meeting of 10 Dec. 1919; Deuerlein, “Hitlers Eintritt,” doc. 16, pp. 209f.; Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 69b, pp. 98f.

79 
PND report on the DAP meeting of 16 Jan. 1919; Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 73, p. 105.

80 
See an outline of the DAP leadership structure of Dec. 1919 in Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 68, p. 95; facsimile in Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Weg
, p. 266.

81 
A reprint of the 25-point programme, etc. in Deuerlein (ed.),
Der Aufstieg der NSDAP
, pp. 108–12.

82 
PND report on the DAP meeting of 24 Feb. 1920; Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 83a, p. 110.

83 
Ibid.; see also Plöckinger,
Unter Soldaten und Agitatoren
, p. 176.

84 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 406. See Hitler’s article on the second anniversary of 24 Feb. 1920 in the
Völkischer Beobachter
: “When I finally adjourned the meeting at 10:30 p.m., we were not the only ones who had the feeling that a wolf had been born that was destined to attack the herd of seducers and betrayers of the people.” Hitler, Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen, no. 363, p. 584.

85 
Münchener Neueste Nachrichten
, 25 Feb. 1920; quoted in Hans-Günter Richardi,
Hitler und seine Hintermänner: Neue Fakten zur Frühgeschichte der NSDAP
, Munich, 1991, pp. 116f.;
Völkischer Beobachter
, 28 Feb. 1920; Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 83b, p. 111.

86 
See the entry in Hitler’s military pay-book; BayHStA München, Nl Adolf Hitler.

5
The King of Munich

1 
Adolf Hitler,
Monologe im Führerhauptquartier 1941–1944: Die Aufzeichnungen Heinrich Heims
, ed. Werner Jochmann, Hamburg, 1980, p. 209 (dated 16/17 Jan. 1942); see ibid., p. 147 (dated 30 Nov. 1941): “In hindsight, this was the time of the most beautiful struggle.”

2 
Ibid., p. 173 (dated 3/4 Jan. 1942).

3 
Ibid., pp. 209f. (dated 16/17 Jan. 1942).

4 
See David Clay Large,
Where Ghosts Walked: Munich’s Road to the Third Reich
, New York and London, 1997, p. 231; Andreas Heusler,
Das Braune Haus: Wie München zur “Hauptstadt der Bewegung” wurde
, Munich, 2008, pp. 201f.

5 
On the Kapp Putsch and its consequences see Heinrich August Winkler,
Weimar 1918–1933: Die Geschichte der ersten deutschen Demokratie
, Munich, 1993, pp. 122ff.

6 
See Dirk Walter,
Antisemitische Kriminalität und Gewalt: Judenfeindschaft in der Weimarer Republik
, Bonn, 1999, pp. 64f.

7 
Bogislav von Selchow to Escherich, 24 June 1922; BayHStA München, Nl Escherich 47. On “Organisation Consul” and the attacks it carried out, see Martin Sabrow,
Der Rathenau-Mord: Rekonstruktion einer Verschwörung gegen die Republik von Weimar
, Munich, 1994.

8 
See Bruno Thoss,
Der Ludendorff-Kreis 1919–1923:
München als Zentrum der mitteleuropäischen Gegenrevolution
, Munich, 1978.

9 
Large,
Where Ghosts Walked
, p. 126.

10 
Der Hitler-Prozess 1924
, ed. and annotated by Lothar Gruchmann and Reinhold Weber with Otto Gritschneder, part 2, Munich, 1997, p. 447.

11 
Adolf Hitler,
Mein Kampf. Vol. 1: Eine Abrechnung
, 7th edition, Munich, 1933, p. 403.

12 
Hitlers Tischgespräche im Führerhauptquartier
, ed. Henry Picker, Stuttgart, 1976, p. 160 (dated 19 March 1942).

13 
Quoted in Werner Maser,
Die Frühgeschichte der NSDAP: Hitlers Weg bis 1924
, Frankfurt am Main and Bonn, 1965, p. 256.

14 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, pp. 560f.

15 
See Reginald H. Phelps, “Hitler als Parteiredner im Jahre 1920,” in
Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte
, 11 (1963), p. 284. See also Rudolf Hess to Milly Kleinmann, 11 April 1921: “[Hitler] speaks regularly; on Monday evenings to a small private circle, and every eight to fourteen days publicly.” BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 27. Hitler’s postcard to “Frau Regierungsrat” Dora Lauböck, Rosenheim, from Vienna, undated (Oct. 1920): “Yesterday spoke here for the first time with great success. Today, it’s Leopoldstadt’s turn.” IfZ München, ED 100/86.

16 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 544.

17 
Hitler to G. Seifert, 27 Oct. 1921; Adolf Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen 1905–1924
, ed. Eberhard Jäckel with Axel Kuhn, Stuttgart, 1980, no. 309, p. 509. Figures from Kurt Pätzold and Manfred Weissbecker,
Geschichte der NSDAP 1920–1945
, Cologne, 1998, pp. 27, 54.

18 
See Ernst Hanfstaengl,
Zwischem Weissem und Braunem Haus: Erinnerungen eines politischen Aussenseiters
, Munich, 1970, pp. 86f.

19 
John Toland,
Adolf Hitler: Volume 1
, New York, 1976, p. 112.

20 
For the typical course of a meeting see Hanfstaengl,
Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus
, pp. 37–9; Hanfstaengl’s note “ad A. H., Dez.1922”: “The conclusion culminated in a rallying cry, a slogan. The spoken word as weapon.” BSB München, Nl Hanfstaengl Ana 405, Box 25.

21 
In Marlies Steinert,
Hitler
, Munich, 1994, p. 125.

22 
Hanfstaengl,
Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus
, p. 84.

23 
Ibid., p. 85.

24 
Ibid., p. 41. See Franz Pfeffer von Salomon’s notes of 19 Aug. 1964. Salomon believed that Hitler’s secret was that he expressed “what was already present deep down, fermenting and boiling and waiting to be put in the right words.” IfZ München, ZS 177. Josef Kopperschmidt also saw the most important factor in Hitler’s success as a mass public speaker as the “rhetorical principle of connection,” i.e. the ability to connect with people’s existing hopes and fears. Josef Kopperschmidt (ed.),
Hitler der Redner
, Munich, 2003, p. 18.

25 
Hans Frank,
Im Angesicht des Galgens: Deutung Hitlers und seiner Zeit auf Grund eigener Erlebnisse und Erkenntnisse
, Munich and Gräfelfing, 1953, pp. 39f. See Dieter Schenk,
Hans Frank: Hitlers Kronjurist und Generalgouverneur
, Frankfurt am Main, 2006, pp. 48f.

26 
Konrad Heiden,
Adolf Hitler: Das Zeitalter der Verantwortungslosigkeit. Eine Biographie
, Zurich, 1936, pp. 100f.

27 
Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 223, p. 367 (dated 21 April 1921). On 9 January 1922, Hitler concluded a speech at an NSDAP meeting in Munich with the words: “So help me God! Amen.” Ibid., no. 341, p. 544.

28 
Kurt Lüdecke,
I Knew Hitler: The Story of a Nazi who Escaped the Blood Purge
, London, 1938, pp. 22f. On Lüdecke see Lothar Machtan,
Hitlers Geheimnis: Das Doppelleben eines Diktators
, Berlin, 2001, pp. 302ff.

29 
Joachim Fest,
Hitler: Eine Biographie
, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Vienna, 1973, p. 217.