Chapter 100 Chapter 16 Returning to Hometown (6)

Simon Freud promised his family they would leave Austria if the Nazis came to power.Now, he said to his British colleague Dr. Ernest Jones: "This is my post, I can't leave it." This reminded Jones of the story of the captain of the "Titan".People ask the captain why did you abandon ship?He replied: "I never abandoned ship, she abandoned me." Freud understood.He admitted that Austria no longer existed and agreed to go to England, the "land of early dreams".He did not escape prematurely.Under the personal command of Rudolf Hess, work had begun on the reconstruction of Austria according to the National Socialist ideas on the relationship between party and state.Even more vicious was the purge of the police presided over by Himmler—the persecution of political opponents.Heydrich, the head of the Gestapo, has taken up his post at Morzinplatz, and his agents have begun to examine the statute book and the files seized from the head of the Austrian Secret Police.At least one political murder has been committed, that of Papen's confidant, the consul of the German embassy.

The local SA had begun to persecute the Jews, dragging them out of their homes and offices and forcing them to wash (Schuchniger's) slogans written on walls and sidewalks with acid solution.Others were caught washing toilets in SS barracks and sweeping streets.Bullying the Jews in this way, many German officers can't see it. The journalist Geddi once saw two officers "kick over the buckets that two elderly Jews were using to scrub the pavement, tell them to go, and scold the stormtroopers who were guarding them". These scenes did not dampen the enthusiasm of most Viennese, who were still reveling in the events of the past 48 hours. "Here, the new regime and the decision announced last night to incorporate Austria into the Reich are enthusiastically welcomed. It is impossible to deny this," said the British ambassador in a telegram to the Baron of Halifax on Monday. "Herr Hitler is fully justified in saying that his actions have been welcomed by the people of Austria." There is a reason for this.Merger may end unemployment - 600,000, hardest hit by freelancers, with many doctors begging in the streets.

Later that morning, Hitler set off for Vienna.Due to the large crowds along the way and the road full of broken down trucks and tanks, he only traveled 20 miles an hour on average, and it was already 5 pm when the convoy arrived at the outskirts of the capital.Every building, including the church, flies the Austrian and German flags.Hitler entered the city in a convertible, standing upright with one hand outstretched.The crowd standing in line on both sides of the street, when they saw Hitler, they cheered loudly until they were hoarse.The cheering was wild and spontaneous.His car stopped in front of the "Emperor Hotel".After Hitler entered the hotel, he only felt that another dream of his had also come true.When he was young, how much he wanted to go in.Now, the restaurant is decorated with red banners, as well as his mark - swastika.

The people kept shouting, shouting new words based on the old German wine order: "We will not go home, we will not go home, the Fuehrer speak!" He had to go out of the room and onto the balcony, and the crowd was still standing shouted frantically.He saluted them and waved them back.After that, they went back to the house.Still, the crowd chanted rhythmically, hour after hour, forcing him to come out to the balcony again and again to meet them. At first, he was quiet and rarely spoke, as if the never-ending cheers had numb him.However, as the night wore on (as Hitler's confidant told Pierre Hess of the International Press Agency), he couldn't help remembering how he walked back and forth in front of the Reichshotel: "I I could see the lights and the chandelier in the lobby, but I knew I couldn't get in. One night, it snowed so hard that it was several feet deep. I got a chance to shovel snow for money Ironically enough, five or six of us happened to be dispatched to the Imperial Hotel to clear the sidewalks of snow.” On that very night, the Habsburg royal family happened to be entertaining inside. "I saw Karl and Jida step out of the royal car, step on the red carpet, and walk in with our heads held high. We poor people have to shovel the snow from all directions, and we have to take off our hats every time the nobles come. We dismissed it, although the smell of their perfume still lingered in our nostrils. We were almost as important as they were, or, for the sake of shoveling, to Vienna. It snowed all night long, but This restaurant doesn’t even deliver a cup of hot coffee.” The cheerful music in the hotel not only made him want to cry, but also made him complain about the injustice of life. "That night, I made up my mind that one day I would return to the Imperial Hotel, step on the red carpet, walk into the brightly lit hotel, and go to the place where the Habsburg royals danced. At that time, I didn't know what to do. How and when, but I've been waiting for this day. And tonight, here I am."

When he woke up on Tuesday morning, his stomach was no longer cramped like it was in Lin Si.He delivered a speech in high spirits at a welcoming reception in Helton Square attended by 200,000 people.He said that now, new tasks are before their eyes, and their country has a new name called "East Marko Country".However, both the mission and the country's name derive from its own history, as an attack from the east shattered the borders of the ancient kingdom of East Mark.Neither the new mission nor the new name of the country cooled the enthusiasm of the audience, which shouted as enthusiastically as any audience in Munich.After the speech, Hitler turned and whispered to the announcer: "Please announce that Seyss-Inquart, Governor-General of Reich Austria, is speaking." No one was as surprised as the chancellor: suddenly he became the governor-general of a province!The audience cheered, and Seth-Inquart had to accept the downgrade.At this moment, Adolf Hitler could do no wrong.

Then the procession began.General von Bock rode, followed by the Austrian generals (the Austrian army had just been absorbed into the German army).The procession passed before the Winter Palace and its iron javelin railings.In the middle of the grand parade, Papen, a good-natured Catholic, warned Hitler that if the Church here came under attack like the one in Germany, the merger would evaporate. "There is no need to be afraid," said Hitler, "I know this better than anyone else." Later in the day, Cardinal Innese greeted Hitler with the sign of the cross and said that as long as the Church maintained its freedom, Austrian Catholics would "become the most faithful sons of the Great Reich. Today they have been brought back to the arms of the Great Empire".According to Papen, Hitler was delighted to hear the cardinal's patriotic remarks, shook his hand warmly, and "assured him to give him what he wanted."

Eva Braun also enjoyed the moment of victory and sent a postcard to her sister Ilse."I'm crazy," she wrote. She was accompanied by her mother and her best girlfriend, Herda Schneider, to Vienna.She lived alone in a room just across the hall from her lover's.The secret of their tryst, even Hitler's entourage adjutant knew nothing.In the evening of the same day, Hitler flew back to Munich, but did not bring Eva with him. The next day, in Berlin, he was hailed as a conquering hero. "The whole city is in a daze, extremely excited."Rochner wrote to his family, "Boys and girls are especially hysterical." Hitler talked about the German-Austrian merger in one fell swoop, "Germany has become a big Germany, and it will remain so in the future." He said that God chose him He was delighted to be reunited with Austria - "the land that was the happiest has now become the happiest".

However, not all is well at home.Fritsch's trial-martial, delayed by Schuschnigg's announcement of the referendum, finally began, but Fritsch was quickly found not guilty.This made Hitler very embarrassed.But he had invented a political trick that was never out of fashion—to distract attention from the matter by trumpeting his victory.He hastily summoned the Diet to report on the great events in Austria.Within three days, he said, "the entire Austrian people welcomed him without firing a single shot." On April and October, the entire German nation, the Great German Empire, will go to the polls for the first time ever to prove its allegiance to it.His only requirement was that he have four years or so to internally consolidate the merger he had just acquired externally.All over Germany, no matter what the Führer has done or will do, there is immediate unanimity.It was in this situation of absolute trust that Hitler held a referendum in Kirkshire on March 25. "The idea of ​​National Socialism," he said, "goes far beyond the borders of a little Germany."

10 days before the election, Hitler spent in his hometown.Himmler and Heydrich had almost completely reorganized the Austrian security system. (Austrian security agencies are also carefully and tirelessly collecting all information about the head of state. It is rumored that Dollfuss and Schuschnigg collected a lot of information. These materials indicate that Hitler’s grandfather may be Jewish, and Jill Lee Rabaul may have been killed, and his wartime service was not at all as distinguished as the party propagandists boasted. If the material, even The revelation of a dangerous period can seriously damage the reputation of the Führer. Some of the charges against Hitler after the war are also unfounded. For example, it was widely believed that soon after he took Austria, he set up a cannon The village where he was born was reduced to ashes, along with the grave of his grandfather and other records that may implicate him. Yes, the village is in ruins today, but it was not destroyed by Hitler but by the Russians after the war. Yes. The Germans established a military base in and around the village in 1941. The village’s farms and houses were still largely intact when the Russians arrived.) The wave of Hitler’s popularity has yet to die down.A proclamation signed by Cardinal Innese and five other bishops (sent to the new Austrian Governor-General) instructs Catholics in Austria to go to the polls: "On the day of the referendum, it is clear that our clergy proclaims that we are The Day of the Germans in the Germanic Empire is also our national responsibility. We hope that all Christians will recognize their responsibility."

Wherever he went, Hitler was welcomed as a savior and Führer. On April 8th, Hitler came to Linz again and received a fanatical welcome again.The lobby of the Wenzinger Hotel was packed, and the townspeople clamored to see him.One of them was Kuster Kubichek, a close friend of his youth.Hitler's "chief of staff," Albert Bormann, told him that the Führer was not well enough to see him that day.Would you like to have lunch tomorrow? On the 9th, as soon as he saw Kubishek, Hitler shouted: "Kuster!" Kubishek stretched out his right hand, and Hitler held it tightly.Hitler said that he was not what he used to be, and that he no longer had a private life.He looked out of the window and saw the iron bridge over the Danube that had hurt him. "The ugly guy is still there! But it won't be much longer. Trust me, Kubyschek!" Then he began to detail his previous plans for Lin Si, which should build a new bridge and a new theater , a modern concert hall worthy of Bruckner.When talking about building a new symphony orchestra in Lindz, Hitler recalled Kubischek's ambitions.What did he do?Kubitschek replied embarrassingly, working as a clerk in the town of Everdeen.He explained that the war forced him to give up his musical ambitions or starve.However, he also conducted an amateur orchestra, and his three sons were somewhat musically gifted.Hearing this, Hitler volunteered that he would be responsible for raising his three sons. "I can't let gifted kids suffer like we do. You know best what we've had in Vienna."

After they had talked for an hour, the Führer rose to his feet.Kübizek thought he would see this end, but he didn't. Hitler was calling his aide-de-camp to instruct him on how to send Kubizek's three children to study music at the Bruckner Academy of Music.The meeting is not over yet.After Hitler looked at the works that Kubishik had brought—paintings, letters, and postcards—he suggested that his old friend write a book about him.Finally, he shook Kubitschek's hand and said that we should meet more often. Later that day, Hitler traveled to Vienna—the city of their youthful dreams.In Vienna he made the last speech of the electoral campaign.He said he was proud to be born in Austria, "I believe that it is God's will to send a child from here to the empire and let him grow up to be a leader of the nation so that his homeland can be returned to the empire. " Elections held the next day turned out to be beyond expectations.In Austria, 99.73 percent of voters favored merger.In Germany, 99.2 percent of those in favor of coalition, and 99.8 percent of those in favor of his list of candidates for the Reichstag.Hitler's courageous move (the result of considerable pressure from Goering) was almost unanimously approved by the German and Austrian peoples. "For me," he said, "it was the proudest moment of my life." It also confirmed his belief that he was on the right path and that he should follow it toward his next goal — Czechoslovakia — go.