Chapter 44 Chapter 7 In Landsberg Prison (3)

Upstairs in the guard prison were two comrades of Hitler's.Colonel Kriber was locked in cell No. 8, and Weber, the leader of the "Oberan Union", a veterinarian, was locked in cell No. 9.Although Hitler complained about the bars every day, life here was passable.At 6 o'clock every morning, the cell door can be opened when the guards on the night shift get off work.Hitler dressed and washed his face and waited (“He was very careful with his teeth and mouth. This was because he had been gassed during the war”).An hour later, the trusted inmates served the political prisoners breakfast in the common room—coffee and bread or porridge. At 8 o'clock, the yard and garden were opened, and prisoners were allowed to wrestle, box, or practice parallel bars and wooden horse jumping there.With a broken shoulder, Hitler "had to act as referee."

Half an hour later the prisoners were walking along the long, narrow garden.On one side of the garden is the prison building, and on the other is a 20-foot high wall.Hitler liked to walk along a gravel path.He often paced up and down the gravel path with his driver, Emile Morris, muttering political theory questions he had just entered in his diary. "Sometimes," recalls Helmlich, "the ex-S.A. prisoners would walk and sing party songs. At first, we didn't pay attention to it, or at least didn't object. Later, the prisoners who were on their side They sang loudly together and affected the surrounding tranquility, so we banned them."

Around 10:00 am, the prisoners were taken back to their cells and mail was distributed.Many nationalist groups and personality cults sent in numerous food parcels.Hitler was especially looking forward to receiving thin poppy-seed rolls—an Austrian specialty that was delivered weekly by a group of women from the National Socialist Party.However, Dr. Weber recalled that the leader gave barbecue, sausages and ham to his companions, especially those who were imprisoned on the first floor. There is also a hierarchy. They are not equal before the law, nor are they equal as prisoners." Towards noon, political prisoners eat their lunch—usually served in a jug—in the common room.Everyone else stood behind the chairs and waited. As soon as Hitler came in, someone shouted "Stand at attention!"They rarely discuss politics.Hitler usually chatted with people about theatre, art or cars.After lunch, they often smoke and chat for about 15 minutes while clearing the table.After that, Hitler retired to his room (on the highest floor), or read books and letters, or wrote diaries.Around 4 pm is the time for drinking tea or coffee, and the place is still in the common room. At 4:45, the garden gate opened again, and Hitler walked alone or with Maurice for more than an hour. At 6 o'clock, the prisoners have their own dinner in the cell-herring, sausage or salad.You can also buy half a liter of beer or wine if you need it.After another hour of exercise or activities, the prisoners first assembled in the public room, and then went back to their rooms.Lights off at 10pm.

Sometimes, Hitler also changed his work and rest system, and returned to his room to study or receive guests as soon as he had breakfast.Helmlich, who soon fell in love with Hitler, recalls that he had enormous influence over his comrades.Because he "has the discipline of a soldier", there has never been a group of prisoners quarreling in the prison. "He can command them and it will be of great help to our work and our service." Usually, he's "happy," but when bad news arrives, he's "a little taciturn and anxious."What particularly disturbed him was the squabbling within the party.The trend of splitting the Nazi Party into two factions became more and more obvious, and the main reason for the split was the ambiguity of his instructions to his left and right.Rosenberg has joined Strassel to support civil groups in Bavaria's general election.What's more interesting is that with Ludendorff's assistance, the two not only formed the "National Socialist Freedom Movement", but were also included in the list of 32 candidates.

Bavaria's general election was first held in April, and a miscellaneous non-governmental organization won an unexpected victory, winning 191,900 votes, second only to the "Bavarian People's Party."This victory made the Goerings very happy.Karin wrote to her father from Austria: "...it also means an amnesty for those of us who live abroad. I can't believe it, I couldn't be happier. We are in a difficult position these days. According to our estimates, in North Germany, Hitler and his party can get more votes, Hitler will eventually come to power. Do you know, dear father, how much I believe in him! He is a wonderful man, a genius , I believe that he is a rare genius given to the world by God!"

A month later, national elections were successful as expected, with the newly formed National Socialist Freedom Movement gaining almost 2 million votes. Of the 34 candidates, 32 - including Strassel, Rohm, Feder, Frick and Ludendorff - were elected.Ironically, Hitler, who had opposed this basic concept, was a major factor in this success.His speeches in court introduced the concept of "National Socialism" to many voters.These voters were impressed by Hitler's forceful demeanor and the effective way in which he articulated his ideas.But there were other, deeper and more enduring forces contributing to this success—ideas of patriotism and racism growing across the country.It's just that, while inflation has been overcome by drastic monetary reforms across the country, the middle class, who have lost their homes and properties, is not very enthusiastic about voting, along with the unemployed workers in the working class.

Understandably, the election did not please Hitler very much.Ludendorff took credit for his electoral success.Also, since he has been released, he can make capital for himself again.Hitler, on the one hand, was compelled to join in the applause, and on the other hand feared that the new organization would swallow up his illegitimate party.His fear was not without reason.At that time, a pamphlet was circulated among various people's organizations.While acknowledging that the National Socialists were "pioneers and heralds" of the popular movement, it declared wryly that "they were not saviors".This shows that Hitler's political power has been threatened.For Hitler, the whole incident was a painful but valuable lesson.He swore he would never take that position unless he was sure he had the right to strengthen his power.

Hitler was again attacked from his own camp.In the offices of the Volksobserver, which had been sealed up after the uprising, Drexler and Feder were campaigning against Hitler. “They called Hitler a dictator and a neurotic actor, and declared that he would have to be reined in even more tightly if the party was to be rebuilt,” recalls Hanfstangel.One day Drexler ran into Hans Frank in a small park in Munich, spouting complaints about their imprisoned party leader. "He plotted against me, broke all his promises, ostracized me; and now he's starting this insane uprising and destroying the party forever!" Once Hitler was free, the brown-coated thugs would take to the streets again. "The days ahead in Germany are dire. Hitler has betrayed me. That's why I'm against him everywhere."

In May of that year, Kurt Ludek returned from fundraising abroad and found that the underground Nazi party was in disarray. "There are quarrels between factions and within factions. Their hostilities are not limited to private scandals either - rival parties fight in the streets, with no regard for embarrassment in front of startled onlookers or to My own loss.” He learned from Hanfstangel, Oman, and Esser that Rosenberg was at the root of the party’s deterioration.But Rosenberg says something else.He said: "They attacked me because I represented Hitler. Although Hitler was helpless, they dared not attack. If they eliminated me, they would take a step towards the supreme leadership."

Ludek decided to go to Landsberg himself to ask Hitler how to take the best way to get rid of the danger.According to Ludek, Hitler declared that the party must take a new course of action.The future of the party lies not in an armed coup but in the ballot box. "I believe that this is our best course of action, because the domestic situation has undergone fundamental changes." Hitler did not seem to be at all despondent about the quarrel within the party. “Indeed, he was so confident in the eventual victory that he lifted even my own doubts. His emotions were contagious.” Yet the cracks in the party continued to widen.A few weeks later, Strassel, together with Ludendorff, proposed laying the foundation stone for a "National Socialist Liberal Party", a unified People's Party of which the National Socialist Party was only a part.This intensified the struggle within the party and forced Hitler to take drastic measures. On July 7, the People's Messenger announced that he had "renounced leadership of the National Socialist Movement and would not participate in any political activities while serving his sentence. He asked his followers not to come to visit him because he was busy with work and was Committed to writing."

In some circles there has been speculation that Hitler was using his books as an excuse to escape a political struggle that would kill each other.However, long before his arrest, he had been planning to write a "Jewish History".Now, he has a better idea.The idea haunted him so much that he took a political sabbatical in order to put his thoughts to paper.In addition to jotting down thoughts in his diary as he went, he dictated to Morris.Then, in the quiet of the cell, with a typewriter rented from the warden, the manuscript was laboriously typed out with two fingers. Warden Helmlich recalled: "When he had written it, part by part, he could read it aloud to everyone in the evening assembly." Not all of the book was written in good conditions.For example, when it rains heavily, the windows leak.One day, when he was cleaning the floor, he laughed out loud.It turned out that "among the sundries and puddles", there was a prison cat, "squatting on a low stool and licking it with great relish." His most capable assistant was a newcomer on the top floor——Rudolph Hess.After Hitler was arrested, Hess heeded Professor Haushofer's advice and surrendered.Hess helped Hitler with ideas, ideas, recorded Hitler's dictation, and helped him type it.Mrs. Wagner also provided him with plenty of typed paper, carbon paper, pencils, ink, erasers, etc. At first the book was intended to be a general historical work, but the first volume—with the lengthy title Four and a Half Years of Struggle with Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice—includes an account of Hitler's Accounts of childhood, years in Vienna, the Red Revolution, and the party's infancy in Munich.It thus becomes the story of a poor boy's political upbringing, and at the same time offers him an excellent opportunity not only to address three of his strongest subjects—Jewishness, Marxism, and racism—but to On the futility of parliamentary government, the poison of syphilis, the decline of the arts, monarchy, and the responsibility for lost wars. Putting political theory into words is itself a process of self-education. “While I was in prison, I had time to provide a natural, historical basis for my philosophical thinking.” The authorities made a mistake by sending him to prison. "It would have been much wiser if they kept making me lecture and not giving me a chance to breathe!" Hitler also did an excellent job of winning over the jailers.He had won over most of the prison staff to the National Socialist side, and even the warden allowed the lights in Hitler's cell to stay on after midnight.Guard duty became lax, and the prisoners distributed printed underground newspapers.The paper is both lighthearted and serious.The headlines were generally written by Hitler, who often drew caricatures of it.The underground newspaper would not have been discovered until someone accidentally mentioned it in a letter home.But when Helmlich searched the editorial office in Cell One, he found nothing. One of Helmlich's duties was to scout out the evening gatherings to make sure no one was plotting a revolution.The eavesdroppers, however, were influenced by the propaganda of Hitler's speeches and were soon completely mesmerized by his speeches.He and his aides often assembled outside the door, "listening attentively, especially to what he had to say on issues concerning our vital interests. We were extremely impressed by his speeches." Hitler always ended meetings with a "Hurrah!"At this time, people sang the lyrics adapted by Gregor Strassel on the day of the uprising: Even if they betray us, Or treat us like cattle, We know our business well, Loyalty to the motherland is duty-bound. Heart of Hitler spirit, indelible, indelible, hitler stormtroopers, Comeback is finally here! As Hitler turned his attention to his writings, he gave his men free rein to laugh.One night, more than a dozen people forced him to play an old-fashioned peasant game of pranks.They blackened their faces with pot black, wrapped themselves in sheets, and drove into Cell No. 7 with tongs and brooms.Brandishing their weapons, they forced Hitler to stand trial.Then they recreated the Munich trial in the form of a Bavarian comedy.According to Helmlich, Hitler took part in the games, accepted their trial — paraded automatically through the streets of Germany — and then, “went back to work shaking his head and laughing.” Hanf Stangel, one of the less devout visitors, noticed that Hitler had put on weight.He suggested that Hitler take part in more sports in prison and eat less sweets.To each exhortation, Hitler had his own answer: "In sports, a leader cannot afford to lose. Speech loses excess weight." Hanf Stangl brought him several books, but The most inspiring other spirit is the newly formed satirical weekly "Fool".The weekly cover featured a cartoon of Hitler in armor riding into Berlin on a white horse as if he were Sir Galahad — Annotation). "You see," he said, "they can laugh all they want, but I'm going to Berlin!" He met many female guests, including the 83-year-old Mrs. Carona Hoffman (who is not related to the photographer Hoffman).He called her his "dear and faithful grandmother."She is short in stature, but still has some beauty.For the past few years, Mrs. Hoffmann, a retired secondary school teacher, has offered to do Hitler's laundry and look after his clothes.She made him eat pastry and cream.If he ate sweets, she paid him off, like a good mother, by eloquently admonishing him on how to behave himself in high society.Once, Karin Göring came to ask for a loan, but only got a portrait of the Führer with the following inscription: "Give me the honorable wife of the commander of the stormtroopers". Hess' fiancée, Ilse Prohl, was a regular visitor.On Sundays, she bikes from Munich to Landsberg.Once, she smuggled in a camera.Hitler and Hess often waited for her at the stairs.As soon as she arrived, Hitler kissed her hand with Viennese chic and led her to lunch in the common room.Once, she brought her mother up by train, and her mother didn't like Hess very much, especially now that he was a prisoner.But Hitler gave her a kiss that changed everything. "My mother was completely apolitical, but as soon as she got back to Munich she joined the party—all because of that hand kiss." Haushofer also visited Hess, bringing him books on politics, political geography, and articles, including those by Halford Mackinder.He also sometimes went to see Hitler, but never alone. "I did it on purpose," he said later, and I always had the feeling that "he had the distrust of the less educated for the scientifically educated." Perhaps this was because Haushofer The professor had said that Hess should not enter politics, but should continue his academic career, and it may also have been caused by the fact that the professor had publicly regarded the uprising as a tragic mistake.He knew that Hitler was writing his political autobiography and that he had discussed with Hess issues of living space and geopolitics, "but I have the impression, and I fully believe, that Hitler was ignorant of these issues, not even understanding them." Nor do they have any correct views." Knowing that neither Hess nor Hitler understood geopolitics, Professor Haushofer explained to them the basis of the second edition of Lazar's book.But to no avail.Hitler took only what he needed from geopolitics. Although Hess admired the professor, he had made up his mind to be Hitler's personal secretary and dedicated his life to National Socialism.Today, he is the leader's confidant.He confirmed that Hitler really hated quarrels that damaged the party and was busy writing a book. On July 16, Hess wrote to a college friend saying that Mr. Hitler did not want to get involved in real politics. "He has temporarily and publicly withdrawn from the leadership of the movement. The reason is that he does not want to take responsibility for what is happening outside, of which he knows nothing, perhaps because it is against their high opinion. He is also incapable of resolving the endless quarrels, There is nothing he can do, at least here. He sees no need to intervene in such trivial differences. On the other hand, he also firmly believes that once he is free again, he can put everything back on track." The Nazi left in northern Germany staunchly opposed the so-called civil merger.They denounced racists, calling them the "enemies" of the working class.One student leader warned that if they cooperated, "real National Socialists, especially workers" would be forced to leave the party.Leftists in the north, while agreeing with Esser that merger was impossible, were reluctant to associate with him.A letter had been written two days after the Weimar meeting, apparently addressed to the Führer.The letter hoped that Hitler would come to North Germany as soon as he was released from prison, but not Hermann Esser.The North cannot tolerate such people. "We will not build a Great Wall around Hitler, as we did in Munich in 1923. Here are men of northern blood, against political slavishness, and by no means cowards. We are not orators, Nor is it a mercenary person...just asking to get in touch with the Führer...just wanting to dedicate himself to the cause." As these men became more divided on fundamental issues, Hitler became more determined to stay out of politics. On July 29, he sent a thank-you statement to the People's Messenger again. "Because the work I am currently engaged in cannot be disturbed", he will no longer visit guests except for those confirmed in writing.Although he hated politics and meeting guests, he did meet Kugler, a party member of Germanic-Bohemian descent that day.Kugler asked him a crucial question: "Has your stance on the Jewish question changed in some way?" It was a question that almost stings. "Yes, yes," he told Coogler, "there's a change in the approach to anti-Semitism. I'm just now waking up to the fact that I was too soft on them to this day! I didn't realize that until writing the book , if victory is to be won, the most severe anti-Semitic measures must be taken in the future. I firmly believe that this is a matter of life and death not only for our people, but for all peoples. The Jews are the pests of the world."