Hitler: Ascent, 1889-1939 (193 page)

104 
See Görtemaker,
Eva Braun
, p. 202; Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Liste
, pp. 466f.; Hans Georg Hiller von Gaertringen (ed.),
Das Auge des Dritten Reiches: Hitlers Kameramann und Fotograf Walter Frentz
, Berlin, 2006, pp. 108–25.

105 
See Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Liste
, pp. 422f., 458, 462, 472, 502, 507–15 (see p. 515 for a photograph from the wedding on 7 Aug. 1937); Görtemaker,
Eva Braun
, pp. 70, 169f.; quotation in Schlie (ed.),
Albert Speer
, p. 229. Max Wünsche’s daily diaries dated 2 July 1938 (7 p.m.): “Visit from Frau Marion Schönmann.” BA Berlin-Lichterfelde NS 10/125.

106 
See the exchange of letters between Sofie Stork and Fritz Wiedemann 1937–39 in BA Koblenz, N 1720/8. After the New Year’s party of 1937–8, the clique of friends referred to one another as “Fifty Brother” and “Fifty Sister.” On Sofie Stork see also Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Liste
, pp. 497–506; Görtemaker,
Eva Braun
, pp. 168f.

107 
See Görtemaker,
Eva Braun
, pp. 182–9, 199; Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, p. 217; interview with Hermann Esser dated 3 April 1964, vol. 2; BayHStA München, Nl Esser; Max Wünsche’s daily diaries dated 22 June, 5 July, 6 July 1938; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde NS 10/125; Arno Breker,
Im Strahlungsfeld der Ereignisse: Leben und Wirken eines Künstlers. Porträts, Begegnungen, Schicksale
, Preussisch Oldendorf, 1972, p. 183; Jürgen Trimborn,
Arno Breker: Der Künstler und die Macht. Die Biographie
, Berlin, 2011, pp. 212f.

108 
See Sereny,
Albert Speer
, p. 194; Schlie (ed.),
Albert Speer
, pp. 231–3; Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 114; Schmidt,
Hitlers Arzt Karl Brandt
, pp. 102f.

109 
See Görtemaker,
Eva Braun
, pp. 160f.; Schlie (ed.),
Albert Speer
, p. 231; Below,
Als Hitlers Adjutant
, p. 96.

110 
Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 102, 105, 107. Joachim Fest does not challenge this description. See Fest,
Hitler
, p. 721;
idem
,
Speer
, pp. 140f. For a critical perspective on Speer’s account see Görtemaker,
Eva Braun
, pp. 127, 129f., 161.

111 
Sereny,
Albert Speer
, p. 112.

112 
Ibid., p. 193.

113 
Fest,
Die unbeantwortbaren Fragen
, p. 171.

114 
See Gun,
Eva Braun-Hitler
, p. 105; Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, pp. 95f.; Baldur von Schirach,
Ich glaubte an Hitler
, Hamburg, 1967, p. 266; Junge,
Bis zur letzte Stunde
, pp. 69, 72; Plaim and Kuch,
Bei Hitlers
, p. 47.

115 
See Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 102; Gun,
Eva-Braun-Hitler
, pp. 105f.; Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, p. 216; Below,
Als Hitlers Adjutant
, p. 97; Linge,
Bis zum Untergang
, p. 81; Wiedemann, notes on “daily life”; BA Koblenz, N 1720/4. Details on timings according to the daily diaries of Max Wünsche from 16 June to 20 Nov. 1938; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/125.

116 
Speer,
Spandauer Tagebücher
, p. 204 (entry for 13 May 1949).

117 
Ibid., p. 205.

118 
See Gun,
Eva Braun-Hitler
, pp. 106f.; Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, p. 178; Junge,
Bis zur letzten Stunde
, pp. 73, 75; Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 102; Eberle and Uhl (eds),
Das Buch Hitler
, p. 201; Nissen,
Sind Sie die Tochter Speer?
, pp. 23f. (Margarete Speer’s note).

119 
See Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, p. 218; Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, p. 179; Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 102; Junge,
Bis zur letzten Stunde
, p. 75; Eberle and Uhl (eds),
Das Buch Hitler
, p. 202.

120 
Speer,
Spandauer Tagebücher
, p. 206 (entry for 13 May 1949).

121 
Sereny,
Albert Speer
, p. 435. See ibid., p. 153: those who sat next to Hitler at the lunch or dinner table had the feeling afterwards that “he had really wanted to know something about them—cared about them.”

122 
See Gun,
Eva Braun-Hitler
, p. 108; Junge,
Bis zur letzten Stunde
, pp. 77f.; Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, pp. 220f.; Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 108; Fest,
Die unbeantwortbaren Fragen
, p. 64; Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, pp. 181f.

123 
The first walk to the little tearoom took place on 9 Aug. 1937. See excerpts from the notebook of the “private secretary” to Hitler (probably Julius Schaub) about his daily routine during the years 1934–1943; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 26/16.

124 
See Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 103; Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, pp. 182–4; Junge,
Bis zur letzten Stunde
, pp. 78–80; Gun,
Eva Braun-Hitler
, pp. 109f.; Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, p. 222.

125 
See Heydecker,
Hoffmann-Erinnerungen
, pp. 166f.; Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 103; Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, pp. 184–6; Junge,
Bis zur letzten Stunde
, pp. 81–3; Gun,
Eva Braun-Hitler
, pp. 110, 112f.

126 
See Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 3/2, p. 102 (entry for 9 June 1936): “Spent a long time alone with the Führer. He doesn’t like heavily made-up women. He thinks highly of Magda that she’s remained such a clear-headed simple woman.”

127 
Junge,
Bis zur letzten Stunde
, p. 81. On the above see Gun,
Eva Braun-Hitler
, p. 114; Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, p. 186; Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, pp. 228f.; Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 5, p. 64 (entry for 22 Dec. 1937); Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 104f.

128 
Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, p. 230; see also Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, pp. 188–90; Hoffmann,
Hitler wie ich ihn sah
, p. 161; Gun,
Eva Braun-Hitler
, pp. 114f.; Junge,
Bis zur letzten Stunde
, pp. 88–94; Speer,
Erinnerungen
, pp. 104f. From June to November 1938 Hitler usually went to bed around midnight, although occasionally not until 1:30 a.m. Max Wünsche’s daily diaries; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/125.

129 
Krause,
10 Jahre Kammerdiener
, pp. 53–5. See also Leni Riefenstahl,
Memoiren
, Munich, 1987, p. 250 (for Christmas Eve 1935).

130 
Martin Bormann to Wilhelm Brückner, 14 Dec. 1938; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/116.

131 
Handwritten letter by Gretl Braun to Fritz Wiedemann (addressed to “Beloved ‘Fifty Partner’ ”), 31 Dec. 1938; BA Koblenz, N 1720/6. In his return letter of 5 Jan. 1939 (which he began with “Dear Fifty Sister”), Wiedemann assured Braun that “he had thought intensely about the previous year’s party on New Year’s Eve” and hoped “equally intensely” that he would see her again.

132 
Hoffmann,
Hitler wie ich ihn sah
, p. 119. See Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, p. 175; Gun,
Eva Braun-Hitler
, pp. 102–4 (description of the New Year’s Eve 1938 festivities on the Obersalzberg by Ilse Braun). On Hitler’s “particular passion for fireworks” see Albert Speer to Joachim Fest, 13 Sept. 1969; BA Koblenz, N 1340/17. Hanfstaengl spoke in a note about Hitler’s “pyromaniacal tendency”; BSB München, Nl Hanfstaengl Ana 405, Box 25.

133 
Misch,
Der letzte Zeuge
, p. 111; see Knopp,
Geheimnisse des “Dritten Reiches,
” pp. 317f.

134 
Schlie (ed.),
Albert Speer
, p. 225.

135 
Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, p. 150. In her essay “76 Jahre Leben in Deutschland” (1989) Henriette von Schirach describes the Berghof as the “stage of history”; BayHStA München, Nl H. v. Schirach 3.

136 
Adolf Hitler,
Monologe im Führerhauptquartier 1941–1944: Die Aufzeichnungen Heinrich Heims
, ed. Werner Jochmann, Hamburg, 1980, p. 167 (dated 2/3 Jan. 1942). See Wiedemann’s notes dated 25 Feb. 1939: “Without doubt, the Obersalzberg was the place where the Führer determined the main lines of his policy.” BA Koblenz, N 1720/4.

137 
Heydecker,
Hoffmann-Erinnerungen
, p. 85; Hoffmann,
Hitler wie ich ihn sah
, p. 58. When Lloyd George’s daughter jokingly greeted him in from of the hotel in Berchtesgaden with “Heil Hitler!” the former British prime minister remarked in all seriousness that Hitler truly was a “great man.” Paul Schmidt,
Statist auf diplomatischer Bühne 1923–45: Erlebnisse des Chefdolmetschers im Auswärtigen Amt mit den Staatsmännern Europas
, Bonn, 1950, p. 340.

138 
Wiedemann,
Der Mann
, p. 157; see Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, pp. 192f.; Schmidt,
Als Statist auf diplomatischer Bühne
, p. 376; Hoffmann,
Hitler wie ich ihn sah
, pp. 58f.

139 
Below,
Als Hitlers Adjutant
, p. 122.

140 
See Lammers to Willhelm Brückner, Berchtesgaden, 21 Oct. and 25 Oct. 1938: Although Lammers insisted that he needed to get Hitler’s signature on two important draft laws, he was only granted access to him on 31 Oct.; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, R 43 II 886a. See also Görtemaker,
Eva Braun
, pp. 150–2, 154f. In late November, Lammers again requested an appointment, writing: “Since I only had the chance to speak to the Führer in the most urgent cases, and then only in limited fashion, this summer and autumn, the last time on 31 Oct., numerous matters have piled up and can no longer be put off. To take care of them I will need at least an hour.” Lammers to Brückner, 22 Nov. 1938; BA Berlin-Lichterfelde, NS 10/25.

141 
Goebbels,
Tagebücher
, part 1, vol. 4, p. 217 (entry for 13 July 1937); see also ibid., vol. 3/2, p. 317 (entry for 5 Jan. 1937): “Debates about Spain at table.”

142 
See Görtemaker,
Eva Braun
, pp. 170–2; Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Liste
, pp. 512f. (Nicolaus von Below’s and Herbert Döhring’s statements); Below,
Als Hitlers Adjutant
, p. 97.

143 
See Görtemaker,
Eva Braun
, pp. 77, 173f. See also the image of the “unpolitical” Eva Braun in Speer,
Erinnerungen
, p. 107; Dietrich,
12 Jahre mit Hitler
, p. 235; Joachimsthaler,
Hitlers Liste
, pp. 474f. (Herbert Döhring’s statement); Schroeder,
Er war mein Chef
, p. 166.

19
Hitler and the Churches

1 
Adolf Hitler,
Monologe im Führerhauptquartier 1941–1944: Die Aufzeichnungen Heinrich Heims
, ed. Werner Jochmann, Hamburg, 1980, p. 150 (dated 13 Dec. 1941); see also
Hitlers Tischgespräche im Führerhauptquartier
, ed. Henry Picker, Stuttgart, 1976, p. 80 (dated 13 Dec. 1941). Hitler said in February 1942 that by the age of fifteen at the latest he “didn’t believe [in religion] any more.” He added that only “a few stupid model students believed in so-called Communion.” Hitler,
Monologe
, p. 288 (dated 20/21 Feb. 1942). Schwerin von Krosigk opined that it was the “very bigoted brand of Catholicism” in Austria which repelled the young Hitler and turned him against religion. Schwerin von Krosigk, essay on Hitler’s personality, (
c
.1945); IfZ München, ZS 145, vol. 5. For a similar assessment see Hanskarl von Hasselbach “Hitlers Einstellung zum Christentum”; BA Koblenz, N 1128/33. By contrast, Friedrich Heer’s thesis (
Der Glaube des Adolf Hitler: Anatomie einer politischen Religiosität
, Munich, 1968, 2nd edition, 1998) that Hitler was influenced by “specifically Catholic elements” seems rather implausible.

2 
Hitler,
Monologe
, p. 40 (dated 11/12 July 1941).

3 
Ibid., p. 108 (dated 25 Oct. 1941).

4 
Ibid., p. 83 (dated 14 Oct. 1941).

5 
See Michael Rissman,
Hitlers Gott: Vorsehungsglaube und Sendungsbewusstsein eines deutschen Diktators
, Zurich and Munich, 2001, pp. 30–3, 42–52.

6 
For an analysis of Hitler’s Christmas addresses see Friedrich Tomberg,
Das Christentum in Hitlers Weltanschauung
, Munich, 2012, pp. 118–20, 124–6, 128–31.

7 
Walther Hofer (ed.),
Der Nationalsozialismus
:
Dokumente 1933–1945
, Frankfurt am Main, 2011, p. 30.

8 
Adolf Hitler,
Mein Kampf. Vol. 1: Eine Abrechnung
, 7th edition, Munich, 1933, pp. 127, 379.