Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 (154 page)

88 
See also the analysis of Eberhard Jäckel, still the standard on the subject, in
Hitlers Weltanschauung: Entwurf einer Herrschaft
, Stuttgart, 1981. See also Barbara Zehnpfennig,
Hitlers “Mein Kampf”: Eine Interpretation
, 2nd edition, Munich, 2002, which endeavours to make “something comprehensible” out of the text (p. 32).

89 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 372.

90 
Ibid., pp. 312, 314, 316.

91 
Quotations in ibid., pp. 372, 317, 422.

92 
Ibid., p. 317.

93 
Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 654, p. 1242.

94 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, pp. 69f.

95 
Saul Friedländer,
Das Dritte Reich und die Juden: Die Jahre der Verfolgung 1933–1939
, Munich, 1998, pp. 87ff., particularly pp. 104, 113f.

96 
See the overview in Jäckel,
Hitlers Weltanschauung
, p. 69.

97 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 772. See Hitler’s speech at Zirkus Krone, 13 April 1927; Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 2, part 1, no. 104, pp. 259f.

98 
See Hess,
Briefe
, p. 345 (dated 10 July 1924). But Bruno Hipler,
Hitlers Lehrmeister: Karl Haushofer als Vater der NS-Ideologie
, St. Ottilien, 1996, pp. 159, 207, completely exaggerates the situation when he calls Haushofer the “spiritual father” of the Nazi world view and the “inspiration” behind
Mein Kampf
. For a critical perspective see Plöckinger,
Geschichte eines Buches
, pp. 144f. See also Karl Lange, “Der Terminus ‘Lebensraum’ in Hitlers
Mein Kampf
,” in
Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte
, 13 (1965), pp. 426–37.

99 
See Axel Kuhn,
Hitlers aussenpolitisches Programm
, Stuttgart, 1970, p. 115. While in Landsberg, Hitler read Haushofer’s 1913 book about Japan,
Dai Nihonaus
, which uses the example of Japan to illustrate the necessity of war for survival among peoples. See Hess,
Briefe
, p. 328 (dated 19 May 1924). On the content of the book see Hippler,
Hitlers Lehrmeister
, pp. 29ff.

100 
Hitler,
Mein Kampf
, p. 154.

101 
Ibid., pp. 739, 742.

102 
Ibid., p. 743.

103 
Victor Klemperer,
LTI: Notizbuch eines Philologen
, 24th edition, fully revised, ed. and annotated Elke Fröhlich, Stuttgart, 2010, p. 34. See also Joachim Riecker,
Hitlers 9. November: Wie der Erste Weltkrieg zum Holocaust führte
, Berlin, 2009, p. 87: “There are few politicians who, before taking power, so openly described their fundamental convictions and allowed such a free view into their emotional lives as Adolf Hitler.”

104 
See Karl Lange,
Hitlers unbeachtete Maximen:
Mein Kampf
und die Öffentlichkeit
, Stuttgart, 1968, pp. 30, 144–7.

105 
Strasser,
Hitler und ich
, pp. 79f.

106 
Plöckinger,
Geschichte eines Buches
, p. 362. See also, critically, Michael Wildt,
Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus
, Göttingen, 2008, p. 37.

107 
Quoted in Plöckinger,
Geschichte eines Buches
, pp. 225–7.

108 
Hellmut von Gerlach, “Duell Hitler-Schleicher,” in
Die Weltbühne
, 14 June 1932, p. 875 (reprinted 1978). See Plöckinger,
Geschichte eines Buches
, pp. 228–40.

109 
See Plöckinger,
Geschichte eines Buches
, pp. 405f., 424–9, 443f.

110 
See Hess,
Briefe
, p. 351 (dated 20 Aug. 1924): “He’s as impatient as a child for his release on 1 Oct.”

111 
Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 26, p. 1270. On the relationship between Hitler and Werlin see Eberhard Reuss,
Hitlers Rennschlachten: Die Silberpfeile unterm Hakenkreuz
, Berlin, 2006, pp. 40–5. Also
,
Hitler,
Monologe
, p. 259 (dated 3/4 Feb. 1942): “The first thing I bought after being released from prison on 20 Dec. 1924 was a Mercedes compressor.”

112 
Franz Hemmrich’s memoirs, p. 37; IfZ München, ED 153.

113 
Deuerlein,
Aufstieg
, pp. 238f.

114 
Otto Gritschneder,
Bewährungsfrist für den Terroristen Adolf H.: Der Hitler-Putsch und die bayerische Justiz
, Munich, 1990, pp. 101f.

115 
Ibid., pp. 103–7, 114–18. In late Sep. 1924 Justice Minister Gürtner also officially protested against the “conditional pardon” issued to Hitler and Kriebel, arguing that both were suspected of maintaining “contact with dissolved organisations.” BayHStA München, Nl Held 727.

116 
Hermann Fobke to Ludolf Haase, 2 Oct. 1924; Jochmann,
Nationalsozialismus und Revolution
, doc. 48, p. 157.

117 
See Alfons Probst (member of the state assembly) to State President Held, 22 Sept. 1924, on the memo dated 16 Sept. 1924 from Ministerial Councillor Josef Pultar, secretary to the president of the Austrian National Council in Vienna; BayHStA München, Nl Held 731. Report of the
Regensburger Anzeiger
, 7 Nov. 1924, “Hitlers Staatsangehörigkeit (mit hs. Zusatz des Sohnes von Held)”; ibid., Nl Held 730. See also Deuerlein,
Aufstieg
, p. 239f.; Donald Cameron Watt, “Die bayerischen Bemühungen um Ausweisung Hitlers 1924,” in
Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte
, 6 (1958), pp. 270–80.

118 
Hitler,
Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen
, no. 664, pp. 1246f. (entry for 16 Oct. 1924). See Hess,
Briefe
, p. 353 (dated 14 Oct. 1924): Austria “has revoked the tribune’s citizenship…We are rejoicing!”

119 
See Plöckinger,
Geschichte eines Buches
, pp. 74f.; Franz Jetzinger,
Hitlers Jugend: Phantasien, Lügen und Wahrheit
, Vienna, 1956, pp. 279f. (see p. 272 for the facsimile of Hitler’s application, dated 7 April 1925).

120 
See Gritschneder,
Bewährungsfrist
, pp. 119–30. The telegram from the Bavarian state prosecutor to the management of Landsberg Prison, dated 20 Dec. 1924, in BA Berlin-Lichterfelde NS 26/67.

121 
G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 6 (entry for 8 Dec. 1924): “Heavy defeat” for the National Socialists; IfZ München, ED 874.

122 
Maria Hof to State President Held, 16 Dec. 1924; BayHStA München, Nl Held 729.

123 
Hitler,
Monologe
, p. 260 (dated 3/4 Feb. 1942). On 18 Nov. 1938, Hitler visited Landsberg and had his assistant Brückner present gifts to two guards, whom he still recognised. Daily diaries of Max Wünsche, dated 18 Nov. 1938; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/125.

124 
Hess,
Briefe
, p. 359 (entry for 20 Dec. 1924). According to Rudolf Buttmann’s diary, entry for 20 Dec. 1924, Director Leybold refused Strasser admittance to the facility, citing Hitler’s wish that there be no “leaving ceremonies”; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 82.

125 
See Rudolf Buttmann’s diary entry about a conversation at the Bechsteins’ house in Berlin on 19 June 1925, in which Hitler articulated “his disappointment with Ludendorff since he let the three of them escape during the night of 8/9 Nov. 1923”; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 82.

126 
Hess,
Briefe
, p. 357 (dated 11 Dec. 1924).

127 
See Heinrich Hoffmann,
Hitler wie ich ihn sah: Aufzeichnungen seines Leibfotographen
, Munich and Berlin, 1974, pp. 41f.;
Das Hitler-Bild: Die Erinnerungen des Fotografen Heinrich Hoffmann
, ed. Joe J. Heydecker, St. Pölten and Salzburg, 2008, pp. 61f.; Rudolf Herz,
Hoffmann & Hitler: Fotografie als Medium des Führer-Mythos
, Munich, 1994, p. 95.

128 
Hitler,
Monologe
, p. 260 (dated 3/4 Feb. 1942).

129 
Martynkewicz,
Salon Deutschland
, pp. 409–11.

130 
Hanfstaengl,
Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus
, pp. 163f. See also the account of Christmas Eve in Hanfstaengl’s unpublished memoirs, pp. 128f.; BSB München, Nl Hanfstaengl Ana 405, Box 47.

131 
First newsletter to local group leaders and VB representatives in Bavaria, 31 Dec. 1924; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/88.

132 
Emil Hamm to Hermann Fobke, 11 Jan. 1925; Plöckinger,
Geschichte eines Buches
, p. 65.

133 
BayHStA München, Nl Held 730. See Adalbert Volck to Hermann Fobke, 15 Jan. 1925: “Hitler has to step up before the end of the year. Now those who are indecisive and complaining are doing the talking.” BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/899.

8
Führer on Standby

1 
Ernst Hanfstaengl,
Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus: Erinnerungen eines politischen Aussenseiters
, Munich, 1970, p. 167. Hanfstaengl originally wrote in his unpublished memoirs (p. 125): “The next time I’m not going to fall off the high wire.” BSB München, Nl Hanfstaengl Ana 405, Box 47.

2 
Adolf Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen—Februar 1925 bis Januar 1933. Vol. 1: Die Wiedergründung der NSDAP Februar 1925
–
Juni 1926
, ed. and annotated Clemens Vollnhals, Munich, 1992, doc. 50, p. 99 (dated 12 June 1925).

3 
Ibid., doc. 51, p. 102 (dated 14 June 1925). See ibid., doc. 54, p. 105 (dated 5 July 1925), doc. 55, p. 116 (dated 8 July 1925): “That is why this city is holy ground for me and the movement.”

4 
See Peter Longerich,
Deutschland 1918–1933: Die Weimarer Republik
, Hannover, 1995, pp. 160ff., 231ff.; Heinrich August Winkler,
Weimar 1918–1933: Die Geschichte der ersten deutschen Demokratie
, Munich, 1993, pp. 306ff.

5 
On what follows see Peter Gay,
Weimar Culture: The Outside as Insider
, new edition, New York, 2002; Ursula Büttner,
Weimar: Die überforderte Republik 1918–1933
, Stuttgart, 2008, p. 298ff.; Peter Hoeres,
Die Kultur von Weimar: Durchbruch der Moderne
, Berlin-Brandenburg, 2008, pp. 84ff.

6 
Sebastian Haffner,
Geschichte eines Deutschen: Die Erinnerungen 1914–1933
, Stuttgart and Munich, 2000, p. 72; see Jürgen Peter Schmied,
Sebastian Haffner: Eine Biographie
, Munich, 2010, p. 30.

7 
Bayerischer Anzeiger
, 21 Jan. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Held 730.

8 
Rudolf Hess,
Briefe 1908–1933
, ed. Rüdiger Hess, Munich and Vienna, 1987, p. 364 (dated 2 March 1925). See G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 7 (entry for 13 March 1925): “Hitler in Berlin…Full of confidence a[nd] strength.” IfZ München, ED 874. Rudolf Hess had been released from Landsberg prison on 30 Dec. 1924, and through Karl Haushofer found part-time employment at the “German Academy.” A position of trust at Hitler’s side seemed more appealing, however, not least because it was better paid. Rudolf Hess to Klara Hess, 11 Jan. 1925; BA Bern, Nl Hess, J1.211-1989/148, 31.

9 
Otto Strasser,
Hitler und ich
, Konstanz, 1948, p. 82. The previous quote in
Bayerischer Anzeiger
, 9 Jan. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl. Held 730. According to Gregor Strasser, Pöhner had arranged for Hitler to have access to Held at a meeting of the People’s Bloc (Völkischer Block) parliamentary fraction to the Bavarian Landtag. Diary of R. Buttmann, entry for 12 Jan. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 82.

10 
Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 1, doc. 1 and 2, pp. 1–6 (quote on p. 3). Hitler sent Gregor Strasser an advance copy of the statement with the note: “Only now is he once again a political somebody.” Diary of R. Buttmann, entry for 26 Feb. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 82.

11 
Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 1, doc. 4, pp. 7–9 (quote on p. 9).

12 
Ibid., doc. 6, pp. 14–28 (quotes on pp. 20, 21, 27). Gottfried Feder characterised Hitler’s speech as a “masterly mix of the purest demagoguery…and the purest patriotism.” G. Feder’s diaries, vol. 7 (entry for 27 Feb. 1925); IfZ München, ED 874.

13 
Hess,
Briefe
, p. 363 (dated 2 March 1925); see diary of R. Buttmann, entry for 27 Feb. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 82; Brigitte Hamann,
Winifred Wagner oder Hitlers Bayreuth
, Munich and Zurich, 2002, pp. 134f.

14 
See Mathias Rösch,
Die Münchner NSDAP 1925–1933: Eine Untersuchung zur inneren Struktur der NSDAP in der Weimarer Republik
, Munich, 2002, pp. 170–4. On the foundation of the Nazi faction of the Bavarian Landtag see Rudolf Buttmann’s diary entries for 22 Sept., 24 Sept., 27 Sept. 1925; BayHStA München, Nl Buttmann 83. For more on Buttmann’s role see Susanne Wanninger, “Dr. Rudolf Buttmann—Parteimitglied Nr. 4 und Generaldirektor der Münchner Staatsbibliothek,” in Marita Krauss (ed.),
Rechte Karrieren in München: Von der Weimarer Zeit bis in die Nachkriegsjahre
, Munich, 2010, pp. 80–94. The local chapters of the National Socialist Working Association in northern Germany subordinated themselves to the reconstituted NSDAP in late February 1925. See the circular from Ludolf Haase dated 28 Feb. 1925; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/899.