Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 (167 page)

221 
Hitler to Papen, 16 Nov. 1932, Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 65, pp. 188–93 (quotation on p. 190); also in
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, no. 214, pp. 952–6. See Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 61 (entry for 17 Nov. 1932): “Hitler sent a letter cancelling talk with Papen. Letter makes a big impression.”

222 
Cabinet meeting on 17 Nov. 1932;
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, no. 215, pp. 956–60 (quotations on pp. 957, 960). See Papen,
Der Wahrheit eine Gasse
, p. 241.

223 
Kessler,
Das Tagebuch
, vol. 9, p. 529 (entry for 18 Nov. 1932).

224 
Winkler,
Der Weg in die Katastrophe
, p. 790.

225 
Kessler,
Das Tagebuch
, vol. 9, p. 531 (entry for 19 Nov. 1932).

226 
Meissner’s minutes on Hugenberg’s reception, 18 Nov. 1932;
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, no. 217, pp. 973f. (quotation on p. 974).

227 
Meissner’s minutes on the meeting between Hindenburg and Dingeldey, 18 Nov. 1932; ibid., no. 219, pp. 977–9 (quotation on p. 978).

228 
Meissner’s minutes on the meeting between Kaas and Schäffer, 18 and 19 Nov. 1932; ibid., no. 218, pp. 975–7 (quotation on p. 976); no. 223, pp. 987f.

229 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, pp. 62f. (entry for 19 Nov. 1932).

230 
Meissner’s minutes on the meeting between Hindenburgs and Hitler, 19 Nov. 1932; Hubatsch,
Hindenburg und der Staat
, pp. 350–2; also in
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, no. 222, pp. 984–6 (quotations on pp. 984n3, 985, 986). On the idea of an enabling law see Pyta,
Hindenburg
, pp. 754f.

231 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 63 (entry for 20 Nov. 1932), p. 64 (entry for 21 Nov. 1932).

232 
Meissner’s minutes on the meeting between Hindenburgs and Hitler, 21 Nov. 1932; Hubatsch,
Hindenburg und der Staat
, pp. 352–6; also in
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, doc. 224, pp. 988–92 (quotations on pp. 988, 990, 992). Hitler’s letter to Hindenburg dated 21 Nov. 1932 also in Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 67, pp. 194–7.

233 
See Hitler to Meissner, 21 Nov. 1932; Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 68, pp. 197–9; Meissner to Hitler, 22 Nov. 1932;
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, no. 225, pp. 992, 994. See Meissner,
Staatssekretär
, pp. 248f.

234 
Hitler to Meissner, 23 Nov. 1932; Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 69, pp. 199–205 (quotation on p. 204): Meissner to Hitler, 24 Nov. 1932;
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, no. 227, pp. 998–1000 (quotation on p. 999).

235 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 67 (entry for 25 Nov. 1932), p. 68 (entry for 26 Nov. 1932).

236 
Text of the petition in Eberhard Czichon,
Wer verhalf Hitler zur Macht? Zum Anteil der deutschen Industrie an der Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik
, Cologne, 1967, no. 10, pp. 69f.

237 
Hjalmar Schacht to Hitler, 12 April 1932; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 51/46. On the “Keppler Circle” see Turner,
Grossunternehmer
, pp. 293–301; Dirk Stegmann, “Zum Verhältnis von Grossindustrie und Nationalsozialismus 1930–1933,” in
Archiv für Sozialgeschichte
13 (1973), pp. 426–8.

238 
On the signatories of the petition see Turner,
Grossunternehmer
, p. 365; Stegmann, “Zum Verhältnis von Grossindustrie und Nationalsozialismus,” pp. 434f.; Petzold,
Franz von Papen
, pp. 119f.; Asendorf,
Hamburger Nationalklub
, p. 146.

239 
Schacht to Hitler, 12 Nov. 1932; Czichon,
Wer verhalf Hitler zur Macht?
, p. 64.

240 
Vögler to Schröder, 21 Nov. 1932; ibid., p. 72.

241 
Cabinet meeting of 25 Nov. 1932;
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, no. 232, pp. 1013–17 (quotation on p. 1014).

242 
Diary entries by Hans Schäffer dated 26 Nov. 1932;
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, no. 234, pp. 1025f.

243 
See Winkler,
Weimar
, pp. 547–53. See Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 70 (entry for 29 Nov. 1932): “Papen seems on the out. Schleicher at the fore again…Searching for a tolerating majority. Won’t find one with us.”

244 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 70 (entry for 28 Nov. 1932).

245 
Hitler’s interview to the
Daily Express
, 27 Nov. 1932; Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 73, pp. 213f.; Delmer,
Die Deutschen und ich
, p. 174.

246 
Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 74, pp. 214f. (dated 30 Nov. 1932); see Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 71 (entry for 1 Dec. 1932): “Meissner has invited the boss to visit the old man…A new 13 August is in the works. The decision: Hitler won’t go.”

247 
Memorandum by Meissner on the meetings with Hindenburg on 1 and 2 Dec. 1932; Hubatsch,
Hindenburg und der Staat
, pp. 266f.; see also Papen,
Der Wahrheit eine Gasse
, pp. 243–5. On Schleicher’s “vertical front” idea see Axel Schildt,
Militärdiktatur auf Massenbasis? Die Querfrontkonzeption der Reichswehrführung um General Schleicher am Ende der Weimarer Republik
, Frankfurt am Main and New York 1981.

248 
Papen,
Der Wahrheit eine Gasse
, p. 245.

249 
Schwerin von Krosigk’s diary notes on the cabinet meeting of 2 Dec. 1932;
Das Kabinett von Papen
, vol. 2, no. 239b, pp. 1036–8.

250 
Papen,
Der Wahrheit eine Gasse
, p. 250.

251 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 72 (entry for 2 Dec. 1932).

252 
See a critical appraisal of the source in Longerich,
Goebbels
, pp. 194f.

253 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 75 (entry for 5 Dec. 1932): “Makes me want to vomit”; p. 76 (entry for 7 Dec. 1932): “Almost a 40 per cent decline in Thuringia since 31 July.”

254 
Quoted in Eberhard Kolb, “Die Weimarer Republik und das Problem der Kontinuität vom Kaiserreich zum ‘Dritten Reich,’ ” in
idem
.,
Umbrüche deutscher Geschichte 1866/71–1918/19–1929/33: Ausgewählte Aufsätze
, eds Dieter Langewiesche and Klaus Schönhoven, Munich, 1993, p. 367.

255 
Report by the Munich police, 30 Dec. 1932; quoted in Henry A. Turner,
Thirty Days to Power: January 1933
, London, 1996, p. 58. On the NSDAP crisis see Hans Frank,
Im Angesicht des Galgens: Deutung Hitlers und seiner Zeit auf Grund eigener Erlebnisse und Erkenntnisse
, Munich and Gräfelfing, 1953, p. 107; Mathias Rösch,
Die Münchner NSDAP 1925–1933: Eine Untersuchung zur inneren Struktur der NSDAP in der Weimarer Republik
, Munich, 2002, pp. 370f., 427f., 431.

256 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/2, p. 310 (entry for 28 June 1932), p. 355 (entry for 2 Sept. 1932), p. 356 (entry for 4 Sept. 1932).

257 
August Heinrichsbauer to Gregor Strasser, 20 Sept. 1932; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 51/222. See also Eugen Mündler to Franz Gürtner, 21 June 1932, who wrote that Gregor Strasser was well liked in industrialist circles because he was considered “an honest, straight-forward person.” BA Koblenz, N 1530/22.

258 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 55.

259 
Ibid., p. 71 (entry for 1 Dec. 1932).

260 
See ibid., p. 75 (entry for 6 Dec. 1932).

261 
Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 84, pp. 247–9 (quotations on pp. 248, 249).

262 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 75 (entry for 6 Dec. 1932).

263 
Quoted in Udo Kissenkoetter,
Gregor Strasser und die NSDAP
, Stuttgart, 1978, p. 203. The original resignation letter has not been preserved, only a handwritten draft, which is part of the estate of Strasser’s deputy, Paul Schulz. Ibid., p. 172. For more on the Strasser crisis see Peter Stachura,
Gregor Strasser and the Rise of Nazism
, London, 1983, pp. 103ff.

264 
Hinrich Lohse, “Der Fall Strasser,” undated memorandum (
c
.1952); IfZ München, ZS 265.

265 
Ibid.; see Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 77 (entry for 9 Dec. 1932): “Inspectors visiting Hitler. All very downcast but none with Strasser.” Otto Wagener recalled Hitler preparing himself by reading Marc Antony’s speech from Shakespeare’s
Julius Caesar
. Note by Martin Broszat on a meeting with Otto Wagener, 5 Feb. 1960; IfZ München, ZS 1732.

266 
Ibid., p. 78 (entry for 9 Dec. 1932). See also Leni Riefenstahl’s account, for once credible, who visited Hitler in the Hotel Kaiserhof on 8 Dec. 1932; Leni Riefenstahl,
Memoiren
, Munich, 1987, p. 186. On the article in the
Täglichen Rundschau
see Kissenkoetter,
Gregor Strasser und die NSDAP
, p. 73.

267 
Hitler’s order from 9 Dec. 1932; Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 86, p. 251.

268 
See Kissenkoetter,
Gregor Strasser und die NSDAP
, p. 177.

269 
See Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 78 (entry for 10 Dec. 1932): “Feder has tripped himself up. Asks for a sabbatical in a letter that goes to the press before it goes to Hitler. That can’t be topped. Everyone outraged.” In early January 1933, Otto Engelbrecht, the NSDAP district and regional director in Murnau, reported back to the party leadership about a conversation with Feder on 30 Dec. 1932. He quoted Feder as saying that he, “like Strasser, had long realised that the movement had passed its zenith. For that reason, it had been unwise to refuse to join the government.” BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 51/222.

270 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 79 (entry for 10 Dec. 1932).

271 
Ibid., p. 81 (entry for 13 Dec. 1932).

272 
Ibid., p. 80 (entry for 11 Dec. 1932).

273 
Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 89, pp. 253–8 (quotation on p. 256).

274 
Ibid., doc. 92, pp. 259–61 (quotation on p. 260).

275 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 79 (entry for 11 Dec. 1932), p. 85 (entry for 17 Dec. 1932), p. 87 (entry for 22 Dec. 1932).

276 
Ibid., p. 89 (entry for 24 Dec. 1932). See ibid., p. 90 (entry for 25 Dec. 1932): “The main thing is that the movement sticks together. It is our ultimate source of consolation.”

277 
Akten der Reichskanzlei: Weimarer Republik. Das Kabinett von Schleicher 3. Dezember 1932 bis 20. Januar 1933
, ed. Anton Golecki, Boppard am Rhein, 1986, no. 16, p. 57. At a meeting of the steering committee of the Pan-Germanic League on 10–11 Dec. 1932 in Berlin, Heinrich Class opined that “the role of the NSDAP has basically been played out even if it continues to have millions of supporters in the years to come.” Rainer Hering,
Konstruierte Nation: Der Alldeutsche Verband 1890–1939
, Hamburg, 2003, pp. 484f.; see Johannes Leicht,
Heinrich Class 1968–1953: Die politische Biographie eines Alldeutschen
, Paderborn, 2012, p. 387.

278 
Quoted in Kolb,
Umbrüche deutscher Geschichte
, p. 369.

279 
Quoted in Reuth,
Hitler
, p. 285.

280 
Quoted in Kolb,
Umbrüche deutscher Geschichte
, p. 368.

281 
Thomas Mann,
Briefe III: 1924–1932
, selected and ed. Thomas Sprecher, Hans R. Vaget and Cornelia Bernini, Frankfurt am Main, 2011, p. 673 (dated 22 Dec. 1932). Thomas Mann’s son, Golo Mann, felt similar; see Tilmann Lahme,
Golo Mann: Biographie
, Frankfurt am Main, 2009, p. 87.

282 
Memorandum by Malcolm Christie dated 19 Dec. 1932; Clemens,
Herr Hitler in Germany
, p. 246.

283 
Quoted in Joachim Fest,
Hitler: Eine Biographie
, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and Vienna, 1973, p. 495. In a confidential note on 12 Jan. 1933, an advisor to the Italian consulate in Berlin, Vincenzo Cionnardi, offered a different view: “It is true that there’s lots of talk about the collapse of the party and the end, sooner or later, of the movement. But this has less to do with reality than with the hopes and expectations of the other parties and various segments of society that fear Hitler might come to power.” Frank Bajohr and Christoph Strupp (eds),
Fremde Blicke auf das “Dritte Reich”: Berichte ausländischer Diplomaten über Herrschaft und Gesellschaft in Deutschland 1933–1945
, Göttingen, 2011, p. 352.