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Authors: Volker Ullrich

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Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 (169 page)

BOOK: Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939
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50 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 108 (entry for 17 Jan. 1933). According to an account by another participant, Hitler declared that the change in power was just around the corner and no one could stop him taking “Bismarck’s seat.” Hinrich Lohse, “Der Fall Strasser,” undated memorandum (
c
.1952); IfZ München, ZS 265.

51 
See Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 112 (entry for 22 Jan. 1933), p. 115 (entry for 25 Jan. 1933).

52 
Keppler to Schröder, 19 Jan. 1933; Muth, “Das ‘Kölner Gespräch,’ ” p. 538.

53 
Hugenberg to Hitler, 28 Dec. 1932; BA Koblenz, N 1231/37. See Larry Eugene Jones, “ ‘The Greatest Stupidity of My Life’: Alfred Hugenberg and the Formation of the Hitler Cabinet, January 1933,” in
Journal of Contemporary History
, 27 (1992), pp. 63–87 (at p. 70).

54 
Die Deutschnationalen und die Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik: Aus dem Tagebuch von Reinhold Quaatz 1928–1933
, ed. Hermann Weiss and Paul Hoser, Munich, 1989, p. 223 (entry for 17 Jan. 1933). See also Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 109 (entry for 18 Jan. 1933): “Hitler was with Hugenberg. But without success.”

55 
Ribbentrop,
Zwischen London und Moskau
, p. 39 (dated 18 Jan. 1933).

56 
Papen to Springorum, 20 Jan. 1933; Muth “Das ‘Kölner Gespräch,’ ” p. 538. On 7 Jan. 1933 Papen met with Springorum, Krupp, Vögler and Reusch in Dortmund to exchange opinions. We do not know the details of their discussions. See Petzold,
Franz von Papen
, pp. 144–6. Apparently, Papen gave the others the impression that Hitler no longer wanted the chancellorship and would be satisfied with a junior position in a coalition. See Christian Marx,
Paul Reusch und die Gutehoffnungshütte: Leitung eines deutschen Grossunternehmens
, Göttingen, 2013, pp. 324f.

57 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, pp. 109f. (entry for 19 Jan. 1933), p. 110 (entry for 20 Jan. 1933). See Turner,
Thirty Days to Power
, p. 78. On the film
The Rebel
, see Siegfried Kracauer,
Von Caligari zu Hitler: Eine Geschichte des deutschen Films
, vol. 2, ed. Karsten Witte, Frankfurt am Main, 1979, pp. 275f.; 567–9.

58 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 112 (entry for 22 Jan. 1933).

59 
Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 143, p. 375n2.

60 
Ibid., pp. 375–87 (quotations on pp. 381, 375, 378, 387). See Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 111 (entry for 21 Jan. 1933): “Hitler entered to gigantic celebrations and spoke marvellously…Never-ending ovations. Hitler is quite a fellow.”

61 
Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 145, pp. 389f. On the cult of Horst Wessel see Daniel Siemens,
Horst Wessel: Tod und Verklärung eines Nationalsozialisten
, Berlin, 2009, pp. 131ff.

62 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 113 (entry for 23 Jan. 1933).

63 
Quoted in Heinrich August Winkler,
Der Weg in die Katastrophe: Arbeiter und Arbeiterbewegung in der Weimarer Republik 1930 bis 1933
, Berlin and Bonn, 1987, p. 838.

64 
See Ribbentrop,
Zwischen London und Moskau
, p. 39 (dated 22 Jan. 1933); Turner,
Thirty Days to Power Weg
, p. 112.

65 
See Pyta,
Hindenburg
, p. 787; Turner,
Thirty Days to Power
, p. 115. The blackmail theory is advanced, among others, in Fest,
Hitler
, p. 501. In May 1942, Hitler himself recalled “unreservedly laying out the political situation as he understood it and openly declaring that every further week of waiting would be a lost one.”
Hitlers Tischgespräche
, p. 325 (dated 21 May 1942).

66 
See Papen,
Der Wahrheit eine Gasse
, p. 265.

67 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 114 (entry for 25 Jan. 1933).

68 
See Ribbentrop,
Zwischen London und Moskau
, p. 39 (dated 22 Jan. 1933).

69 
Ibid., p. 39 (dated 23 Jan. 1933).

70 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 114 (entry for 25 Jan. 1933).

71 
Ribbentrop,
Zwischen London und Moskau
, p. 39 (dated 24 Jan. 1933). See Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, pp. 116f. (entry for 26 Jan. 1933): “The Harzburg Front re-emerging. Frick and Göring negotiating.”

72 
Quaatz,
Die Deutschnationalen und die Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik
, p. 224 (dated 21 Jan. 1933).

73 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 112 (entry for 22 Jan. 1933).

74 
Cabinet meeting of 16 Jan. 1933;
Das Kabinett von Schleicher
, no. 56, pp. 230–8.

75 
Meissner’s notes on Schleicher’s reception from Hindenburg on 23 Jan. 1933; ibid., no. 65, pp. 284f.

76 
See Winkler,
Weimar
, pp. 578, 581; Turner,
Thirty Days to Power
, pp. 100f.; Merkenich,
Grüne Front gegen Weimar
, p. 318.

77 
Winkler,
Weimar
, p. 582.

78 
Braun to Schleicher, 28 Jan. 1933;
Das Kabinett von Schleicher
, no. 73, pp. 311f.

79 
Kaas to Schleicher, 26 Jan. 1933; ibid., no. 70, pp. 304f.

80 
Cabinet meeting of 28 Jan. 1933; ibid., no. 71, pp. 306–10.

81 
Ibid., no. 77, p. 317. See Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 118 (entry for 29 Jan. 1933): “Breaking news: Schleicher has just stepped down. So we’ve toppled him! More quickly than I thought…The old man practically chucked him out. A just punishment for this latter-day Fouché.”

82 
Kessler,
Das Tagebuch
, vol. 9, p. 535 (entry for 28 Jan. 1933).

83 
Ribbentrop,
Zwischen London und Moskau
, p. 40 (dated 27 Jan. 1933). On the talks between Hitler and Hugenberg on 27 Jan. 1933 see Turner,
Thirty Days to Power
, p. 138; Jones, “Hugenberg and the Hitler Cabinet,” p. 73. Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 117 (entry for 28 Jan. 1933): “Hitler spoke with Hugenberg who is being intransigent, insisting on Schmidt as Hitler’s state secretary, Brosius as his press spokesman and the subordination of the Berlin police to the Reichswehr. Impossible demands. Infuriating.” See also Quaatz,
Die Deutschnationalen und die Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik
, p. 228 (concerning 28 Jan. 1933): “Hugenberg suggested ‘neutralising’ the police, something Hitler heatedly rejected”; Otto Schmidt-Hannover,
Umdenken oder Anarchie: Männer—Schicksale—Lehren
, Göttingen, 1959, pp. 332f.

84 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 118 (entry for 29 Jan. 1933).

85 
On the rumours of a Papen cabinet see Kessler,
Das Tagebuch
, vol. 9, p. 533 (entry for 25 Jan. 1933), p. 534 (entry for 27 Jan. 1933).

86 
Ribbentrop,
Zwischen London und Moskau
, p. 41 (dated 27 Jan. 1933).

87 
Papen,
Der Wahrheit eine Gasse
, pp. 269f.

88 
Schwerin von Krosigk’s diary on the events in Berlin between 23 and 28 Jan. 1933;
Das Kabinett von Schleicher
, no. 77, p. 318.

89 
See Turner,
Thirty Days to Power
, pp. 143f. According to Schmidt-Hannover (
Umdenken oder Anarchie
, p. 340), Blomberg was “the joker added at the last minute to the contest for governmental power.” On Blomberg’s appointment see Kirstin A. Schäfer,
Werner von Blomberg: Hitlers erster Feldmarschall. Eine Biographie
, Paderborn, 2006, pp. 97–100.

90 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 118 (entry for 29 Jan. 1933).

91 
See Papen,
Der Wahrheit eine Gasse,
pp. 271f.; Ribbentrop,
Zwischen London und Moskau
, p. 42 (dated 29 Jan. 1933); Turner,
Thirty Days to Power
, pp. 145f.

92 
See Theodor Duesterberg’s unpublished memoirs, pp. 173, 179; BA Koblenz, N 1377/44.

93 
Theodor Duesterberg,
Der Stahlhelm und Hitler
, Wolfenbüttel and Hanover, 1949, pp. 38f. See also Theodor Duesterberg’s memorandum, “Die Regierungsbildung am 30. Januar 1933,” dated 27 April 1946 (which erroneously dates the meeting as 26 Jan.). Afterwards Duesterberg declared: “If you go to bed with an anaconda, you can’t complain if you wake up with your legs broken. The hour will come, Herr Privy Counsellor, in which you’ll have to flee through the garden in the middle of the night in your underpants.” IfZ München, ZS 1700. Repeated verbatim in Duesterberg’s memoirs, p. 188; BA Koblenz, N 1377/44.

94 
Quaatz,
Die Deutschnationalen und die Zerstörung der Weimarer Republik
, p. 229 (dated 29 Jan. 1933).

95 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 119 (entry for 30 Jan. 1933).

96 
Hammerstein’s notes from 28 Jan. 1935; Bracher,
Die Auflösung der Weimarer Republik
, pp. 733f.; Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein,
Spähtrupp
, Stuttgart, 1963, pp. 49f. Contrary to this see Hans Magnus Enzensberger,
Hammerstein oder Der Eigensinn: Eine deutsche Geschichte
, Frankfurt am Main, 2008, pp. 101–7, who suggests that Hammerstein did not want to prevent a Papen–Hugenberg cabinet so much as to keep Hitler from attaining power.

97 
Hammerstein’s notes from 28 Jan. 1935; Bracher,
Die Auflösung der Weimarer Republik
, p. 734; Hammerstein,
Spähtrupp
, pp. 55f.

98 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 119 (entry for 30 Jan. 1933).

99 
Hitlers Tischgespräche
, p. 327 (dated 21 May 1942); see Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 119 (entry for 30 Jan. 1933): “Called Helldorf. He’s taking measures with Police Major Wecke.”

100 
See Turner,
Thirty Days to Power
, pp. 150–2; Meissner,
Staatssekretär
, pp. 268f.

101 
Wieland Eschenhagen (ed.),
Die “Machtergreifung”: Tagebuch einer Wende nach Presseberichten vom 1. Januar bis 6. März 1933
, Darmstadt and Neuwied, 1982, pp. 86f.

102 
Das Kabinett von Schleicher
, no. 46, p. 232.

103 
See Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 119 (entry for 30 Jan. 1933).

104 
Duesterberg,
Der Stahlhelm und Hitler
, p. 40; see Duesterberg, “Die Regierungsbildung am 30. Januar 1933”; IfZ München, ZS 1700; Duesterberg’s memoirs, p. 189, BA Koblenz, N 1377/44; Turner,
Thirty Days to Power
, p. 155.

105 
Duesterberg,
Der Stahlhelm und Hitler
, pp. 40f.; see Duesterberg, “Die Regierungsbildung am 3. Januar 1933”; IfZ München, ZS 1700; Duesterberg’s memoirs, pp. 190f.; BA Koblenz, N 1377/44. See also Papen,
Der Wahrheit eine Gasse
, pp. 275f.; Meissner,
Staatssekretär
, pp. 269f.; Turner,
Thirty Days Power
, pp. 156f.

106 
Schwerin von Krosigk’s diaries on the events of 29 and 30 Jan. 1933;
Das Kabinett von Schleicher
, no. 79, pp. 320–3 (quotation on p. 323).

107 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 2/3, p. 120 (entry for 31 Jan. 1933).

108 
Ibid., p. 120 (entry for 31 Jan. 1933). On Hitler’s reception at the Hotel Kaiserhof see also Hanfstaengl,
Zwischen Weissem und Braunem Haus
, p. 288; Hanfstaengl’s unpublished memoirs, p. 238: “ ‘Now we’re at our destination,’ he announced with euphoric exaltation. All of us, waiters and maids included, gathered around him and tried to shake his hand”; BSB München, Nl Hanfstaengl Ana 405, Box 47.

109 
Hitler,
Reden, Schriften, Anordnungen
, vol. 5, part 2, doc. 150, pp. 296–8.

110 
Kessler,
Das Tagebuch
, vol. 9, p. 537 (entry for 30 Jan. 1933). See Duesterberg’s memoirs, p. 192: “There was an undeniable, massive tumult of excitement almost everywhere in Berlin during this mild winter night.” BA Koblenz, N 1377/44.

111 
Heinrich Hoffmann,
Hitler wie ich ihn sah: Aufzeichnungen seines Leibfotographen
, Munich and Berlin, 1974, p. 49.

112 
Quoted in Lothar Machtan,
Der Kaisersohn bei Hitler
, Hamburg, 2006, p. 279. See Geoffrey Verhey,
Der “Geist von 1914” und die Erfindung der Volksgemeinschaft
, Hamburg, 2000, pp. 362f.

BOOK: Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939
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