Chapter 62 Chapter Ten "It's Like a Dream" (5)

In less than a few days, Hitler recovered from the adversity, and recovered well.But those who saw him in Berchtesgaden at this critical moment saw him differently.One of them was Joachim von Ribbentrop.He was a friend of Papen, and the purpose of his trip to Bechtelegarden was to repair the relationship between the Chancellor and the Führer.But within an hour of arriving, he had become a Hitler disciple. "At that time, there was really no room for discussion or negotiation," he recalled. "He only stated truthfully, so that everyone present could accept it. He was not influenced by others and would not compromise." Li, who came to act as a lobbyist Bentrop, when he left, was convinced that only Hitler could save Germany from communism.He then joined the National Socialist Party.

A few days later, on August 17, several American journalists met with Hitler.According to the original plan, Louis Lotzner, H. V. Carlton Bonn and Karl von Wigand were to interview the Führer together, but Wigand, representing Hearst newspaper, insisted on doing the interview alone . Fifteen minutes later, Wigand returned angrily to the small hotel where he was staying - just near the Waschenfeld building. "That guy is incorrigible," he said to his two colleagues. "Every time I see him, he gets worse every time. I get nothing out of him. You ask a question, and he gives a speech. This interview is a complete waste of time."

Hitler was just coming out the front door just as Carlton Born and Lotzner were making their way to the porch.Carlton Bonn asked an embarrassing question at the beginning: "You are hostile to the Jews. May I ask, do you distinguish between German Jews and Jews who immigrated from other countries?" Hitler's bright blue eyes seemed to see right through Carlton Bonn. "We believe in the Monroe Doctrine of Germany," he cried, "you exclude prospective immigrants—immigration you do not accept. You regulate the number of immigrants. You require immigrants to be of a certain physical standard." Other He cared nothing for the Jews in his country, only for the anti-German elements in his own country. "We demand the power to deal with them as we see fit."

Lozner brought the topic back to the current political situation.Did Herr Hitler really propose to Hindenburg the establishment of a National Socialist regime equivalent in power to that of Mussolini?Hitler outright denied that such a deal had ever taken place, but went on to assert that he had "the right to all power".He talked as if he had come to power, and spoke of the conditions in which he would establish rule in Germany.It must be some kind of authoritarian regime.Parliamentarism was not a product of the Continent, nor did it fit with their traditions. "However, we cannot replace it with brute force." The government must have the support of the masses. "You can't build a dictatorship in a vacuum. A government whose strength doesn't flow from the people will fail when it encounters an external crisis."

At the opening meeting of the new Reichstag, the National Socialist deputies were well behaved.They sit in sit-ins when the opposition speaks; they cooperate fully in the election of the head of parliament.This exemplary behavior also paid off - with the support of the Center Party, Goering became president of the Congress.People spend a few days in calm and constructive activity.The political situation in Germany is finally stable - thanks to Adolf Hitler.Within a week, however, he suddenly changed direction again, apparently on a whim.The Communists proposed a vote of no confidence in the Papen regime.Hitler ordered his deputies not to object.

The meeting turned into a shouting contest.President Göring pretended not to see Papen—who had hurried off to allow Hindenburg to sign a document dissolving Parliament—returned and asked to speak.Papen was furious and threw the document on the rostrum. Göring ignored it and demanded a vote.The result of the vote was Papen's total defeat - 512 votes to 42 votes. The success of the unexpected coup d'etat made Hitler ecstatic.He proceeded to prepare for the general election with confidence.On the podium, he performed his usual tricks again.One of the witnesses to this magic was his enemy, the son of the last emperor of Austria-Hungary.At an open-air rally in Berlin, Otto von Habsburg stood on the edge of the crowd with a group of Communists who had been cursing Hitler.Hitler came out.Before he could speak, those who cursed him were attracted. "He caught them before he could even open his mouth. He had some kind of magnetic genius." Towards the end of the speech, the young Habsburg was amazed as the communists around him joined the rest of the ecstatic audience cheer.

Despite Hitler's genius for appealing to the masses, his campaign was slow.This is because the party's financial and human resources have been severely exhausted, almost to the point of bankruptcy.The seemingly never-ending election has also taken a toll on German sentiment.Goebbels was no longer able to arouse the enthusiasm of the previous elections, and the number of people attending meetings and conferences dwindled.In the case of Spengler, the never-ending elections made him furious; what had been half-hearted support for Hitler had now turned into irony.Germany had no real Kaiser, he wrote that autumn, and a true Führer would have to be “a hero, not a heroic tenor.”

Just as Hitler was trying to breathe life into the campaign, he suffered another misfortune himself. On November 1, Eva Braun, who had been his mistress for several months, also shot herself with a pistol, just as Gilly Rabaul had done.She was madly in love with him, and he was too busy with the election to spend much time with her.He used to send her text messages, too, but then, as the political situation intensified, even text messages dwindled.What made her even more uncomfortable was that a malicious jealousy showed her photos of the Führer with beautiful women during the campaign. Shortly after midnight on Halloween night (November 1), she wrote a farewell letter to Hitler and then shot a bullet in the neck, rupturing an aorta.She staggered to the telephone and told the surgeon, Dr. Lutter, breathlessly, that she had shot herself in the heart.

Hitler ignored the general election and rushed to the private hospital with a bouquet of flowers where she recuperated. "Do you think," he asked Dr. Pratt, "that Miss Braun killed herself in order to be your patient and to attract me to her?"She felt that if no one paid attention to her, it would be better to forget about the rest of her life.After the doctor left, he turned to his companion Hoffman and said, "You heard me, this girl committed suicide to love me. But I didn't mess with her, and she had no reason to commit suicide." Said to himself, "Obviously, I have to take care of this girl." Hoffman objected.Who would question him about it? "If you think about it, who would believe that?" Hitler said.Hitler knew a lot about human nature.Who can guarantee that she will not commit suicide again?

The campaign was already deteriorating, but this fortuitous event distracted Hitler.Two days later, he encountered another thorny problem—Goebbels took the initiative to work with the Reds to stage a general strike of Berlin transport workers without the permission of the trade union, demanding an increase in wages of about one Finney per hour.The goals of the two parties have much in common, and this is not the first time that the two parties have fought together.In the next few days, the weather was damp and cold, and the National Socialists and Communists slept together on the cordon.Standing shoulder to shoulder, they threw rocks at strikebreakers, demolished tram tracks and erected barricades.

Hitler could not publicly condemn the actions of his reckless followers, but in private he was furious that he had driven out so many middle-class voters.He then ordered the strike to end. "The press is blaming us, calling us Bolshevism. In fact, we are out of help," Goebbels explained in his diary. "If we ignore this strike, then we The position in the working class will be shaken." Goebbels' reckless move reduced the funding provided by the bourgeoisie for the campaign.On Sunday, November 6, Hitler lost more than two million votes and thirty-four seats in Reichstag.A simple alliance with the Center Party could no longer secure him a majority.More importantly, it showed that the tide of Hitler had receded and that the strategy of taking power by dropping the suitcase had failed. There was talk that Hitler threatened suicide again.It is very possible that he would say this in desperation.Yet the way of reviving its drum after failure has been repeated.Within a few days, Hitler emerged from his depression again.By the time he agreed to let Sefton Delmer interview him again, he seemed to have regained his confidence.The meeting took place in a back room of the "Elephant Hotel" in Weimar.During the conversation, Hitler surprised the Briton by suddenly changing the subject from politics to a rumor that Britain wanted to restore the monarchy in Germany.Delmer said it was the first time he had heard such a statement. "The British government is only interested in measures that will bring about order and stability in Germany." "That's right, that's right," cried Hitler, "if anyone restores the House of Hohenzollern, Germany will be revived in flames. I'm about to rise to power, and I don't want to be a racehorse with a royal jockey on my back." ” Hitler’s vicious remarks may have been made in response to a recent insult—in Potsdam, he had met and insulted the successor princess Cecilier.As the meeting was over and Hitler was preparing to leave, his entourage heard the princess shout: "Open the windows, it's bad taste here!" The Führer's uncontrollable pomp continued to embarrass him.