“Am I weak or a coward? Am I putting my posthumous reputation above my present honor? God how I wish I knew”
Diary, September 29
Yesterday the weather was unflyable so Merle-Smith and I left by car for Frankfurt...
As we drove along, I was following my practice of forty years in deciding how I would attack various positions that presented themselves in the changing landscape or how I would emplace troops for rear guard action in the same country when suddenly I realized that I had fought my last war and other people would have to be picking positions...
The ride reminded me of a similar one Codman and I took from Knutsford to London . . . when I was strongly of the impression I was going to be relieved and sent home – if not tried. I did not believe yesterday I would be tried, but I thought I might be relieved of command.
After a drive of seven and a half hours, we reached General Eisenhower’s headquarters. Ike was quite friendly and gave me a long oration on my inability to keep my mouth shut. I told him that in this particular case the words I was said to have said had been deliberately altered.
It was strange, Patton’s inability or unwillingness to hear and understand what he had said.
One curious thing came up in the course of the conversation. I was thinking yesterday that perhaps my greatest virtue and my greatest fault was my honesty and lack of ulterior motive, Ike said my greatest virtue and my greatest fault was my audacity.
He stated he was certainly at fault as much as I was in that, knowing my strength and weakness as he did, he should not have put me in as Military Governor. I told him it was my considered opinion that Bavaria was the best governed state in Germany. We had probably removed and de-Nazified better than any other state. . .
Ike said that had he possessed any adequate command for me at the time, he would have given it to me rather than have me act as Military Governor of Bavaria. He then was apparently struck with an idea, which probably was acting on his part, that since Gerow was going home, it might be a good idea to transfer me to the Fifteenth Army whose mission it is to write the account of the history and tactics of the war.
He talked about this . . . and said I might be criticized because I would be taking the place of a three-star General, although he too had been an Army commander.
I told him in my opinion I should be simply relieved, but he said he did not intend to do that and had had no pressure from the States to that effect.
I said then I thought I should be allowed to continue the command of the Third Army and the government of Bavaria.
He said he felt on mature thought I should certainly continue for ten days or two weeks and then he thought I should take command of the Fifteenth Army because, while he had complete confidence I would do my full duty as I understood it, I did not, in his opinion, believe in the policies being put into effect and that, while I would not have ever expressed these views to my staff, they had all absorbed them from me in the same way they absorbed my battle system.
At the present moment I am of two minds. If I am kicked upstairs to the Fifteenth Army, should 1 accept or should I ask for relief and put in my resignation? By adopting the latter course, I would save my self-respect at the expense of my reputation but, on the other hand, would become a martyr too soon, it is my belief that when the catchword “de-Nazification” has worn itself out and when people see it is merely a form of stimulating Bolshevism, there will be a flop of the pendulum in the opposite direction.
When that occurs, I can state that I accepted the job with the Fifteenth Army because I was reluctant, in fact unwilling, to be a party to the destruction of Germany under the pretense of de-Nazification. Further, that the utterly un-American and almost Gestapo methods of de-Nazification were so abhorrent to my Anglo-Saxon mind as to be practically indigestible. Further, that I believe Germany should not be destroyed but rather rebuilt as a buffer against the real danger, which is Bolsheivsm from Russia.
These were illusions of grandeur and glory.
During the course of the interview, General Eisenhower brought in General Adcock, his G–5, and a Professor Dorn. Apparently the Professor is the person who provides Adcock with all his information. He is a very slick individual – I think a pure German, and very probably a Communist in disguise. I had great difficulty in not losing my temper with him, but knew that if I did, I would simply get more adverse reports than I already had.
Eisenhower also said during the conversation that several of his staff officers had reported to him that I had told them that I believed we should strengthen Germany because we were going to fight Russia in five years. The two staff officers who told him that were unquestionably Adcock and Bull, as I never made the statement to anyone else and only made it to them under the erroneous assumption that they were my friends.
Ike made the sensational statement that while hostilities were in progress, the one important thing was order and discipline, but now that hostilities were over, the important thing was to stay in with world public opinion – apparently whether it was right or wrong; I suppose on the same basis as Dacatur’s famous remark: “My country, may she ever be right, but, right or wrong, my country.” We could paraphrase that to “My public, may it ever be right but, right or wrong, my public.”
Apparently Ike has to a high degree got the Messiah complex for which he can’t be blamed as everybody bootlicks him except myself.
I asked the Professor what was the particular gripe on Fritz Schaeffer and found out he . . . had kept in his cabinet, in minor positions it is true, some twenty people (16 in Agriculture and 4 in Finance) who were mandatory cases for removal under our instructions.
General Eisenhower said he felt that no matter how much immediate removal of all Nazis from office adversely affected the administration of Bavaria, they should be removed because it was his experience that there was always some subordinate to take over the job of a superior. In battle I believe this is true and it is probably true in Military Government. It is a strange thing that in battle I am perfectly willing to chop off heads but in peacetime my Anglo-Saxon ancestry makes me reluctant to remove people without due process of law. However, I shall carry out General Eisenhower’s wishes to the letter and in the spirit also.
Since it was very evident from General Eisenhower’s demeanor that we had to relieve Fritz Schaeffer, I asked him who he wanted for President. He said, “Ask Dorn,” which I did and Dorn recommended a man named Dr. Wilhelm Hoegner. So I called Harkins at 6.30 and told him to remove Schaeffer, Lange, and Rattenhuber and all members of their ministries in any way tainted with Nazism regardless of the setback it would give to the administration of Bavaria and the resultant cold and hunger it would produce – not only for the Germans but also for the DP’s. This seemed to make everyone happy except myself.
Ike was apparently very anxious that he should not seem too friendly with me because almost the first word he said was, “If you are spending the night, of course you will stay with me, but since I feel you should get back to Bad Tolz as rapidly as possible, I have my train set up to take you, and it leaves at 7.00 o’clock.” It was then 6.30. I took the train.
When we left, we met in the hall the same group of correspondents who caused the trouble .. . Eisenhower asked them what they wanted, and they said they wanted a statement from him as to what we had been talking about. He said, “I have conferences with my Army commanders whenever I feel like it – period” and went by.
During the whole of the preceding interview Eisenhower was more excited than I have ever seen him, and I believe this can be traced to the fact that he is very much worried about the delay in getting appointed as Chief of Staff at home, and fears that if he stays here, he will lose some of his prestige. I think this fear is well grounded, but I do not believe that a fear psychosis should make him so utterly regardless of his better nature as to make him practically unmoral in his treatment of the Germans.
Harkins carried out Patton’s order, and, on September 29, the Third Army announced that Hoegner had replaced Schaeffer. For many years no one knew for sure whether Schaeffer resigned or was dismissed.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, September 29, 1945
Your radio about asking for an official investigation . . . felt just like a look out of your brave loyal eyes.
At this time it is my belief that an investigation would be futile.
The noise against me is only the means by which the Jews and Communists are attempting and with good success to implement a further dismemberment of Germany. I think that if I resigned as I threatened to do yesterday, it would simply discredit me to no purpose . . .
This august lady [Fifteenth Army] . . . has the job of reviewing the strategy and tactics of the war to see how the former conformed to the unit plans and how the tactics changed. Were it not for the fact that it will be, so far as I am concerned, a kick up stairs, I would like it much better than being a sort of executioner to the best race in Europe.
Later, when people wake up to what is going on here, I can admit why I took the job.
Am I weak and a coward? Am I putting my posthumous reputation above my present honor? God how I wish I knew . . .
P.S. No one gives a damn how well Bavaria is run. All they are interested in now is how well it is ruined.
The newspapers in the United States at the end of September were full of stories about Patton’s being in the doghouse again. According to many press accounts, the displaced persons in the Third Army area, many of them Polish Jews, were overcrowded, underfed, and underprivileged in the concentration camps until Eisenhower personally traveled to see them, read the riot act to Patton, and emphasized he meant what he said about ousting Germans from their homes if necessary to make victims of the war comfortable. Yet Germans, some of them Nazis, still entertained American officers in fine houses they were permitted to occupy. No German, it was alleged, could be kicked out of his house without the personal approval of Patton’s chief of staff.
Eisenhower wrote Patton on September 29, and made known his decision to transfer Patton to head the Fifteenth Army, which was studying the lessons of the European campaigns. Truscott was to have the Third Army. Eisenhower planned to make no advance announcement of the change. Insisting that he continued to admire Patton’s loyalty, ability; and soldierly qualities, Eisenhower said he believed simply that Patton’s particular talents were more suited to the new job.
Truscott, on his way home from Italy, had stopped in Frankfurt briefly to pay his respects to Eisenhower, and when Truscott reached Paris, he found a message from Eisenhower calling him back to Germany.
Diary, September 30
Beedle Smith called up about 1:30 yesterday and read me a letter from General Eisenhower which he said General Eisenhower had directed him to read.
It told of Patton’s replacement by Truscott.
So, another die has been cast and probably for the best, as I am sure that hell is going to pop soon in this government business and trust I can avoid detection until [his relief] on the 8th.
Lucian Truscott . . . I am sure will do as good a job as he can in an impossible situation.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, October 1, 1945
In my present frame of mind, the outstanding thing is the difference between Harry [Stimsonj’s attitude in instantly backing George [Marshall] and the lobster like agility with which the high command over here backs water when any of us are attacked.
In a sense I am glad to get out, as I hate the roll we are forced to play and the inethical means we are required to use.
All the troops are going down hill at a wonderful rate and are practically all recruits.
All military governments are going to be targets from now on for every sort of Jewish and Communistic attack from the press.
My self esteem would be better had I simply asked for immediate retirement but then any thing I said in the future could be attributed to revenge . . .
At the moment I feel pretty mad.
Diary, October 1
I left the office at 1330 for the purpose of visiting the DP camps . . . At Feldafing . . . we inspected the camp and found material improvement since I visited it with General Eisenhower . . .
However, considerable remains to be done, primarily because the Jewish type of DP is, in the majority of cases, a sub-human species without any of the cultural or social refinements of our time. They prefer to live in densely populated buildings, the sexes indiscriminately mixed. In consonance with the wishes of General Eisenhower, we had removed German families . . . and on last Friday directed the transfer of the DP’s into these houses. Here we met with two peculiar resistance movements. First, in the majority of cases, they preferred to stay where they were. Second, Saturday and Sunday were the dates of a Jewish festival for taking in the harvest. Why this festival is celebrated by a group of persons who, so far as I know, have never engaged in agricultural pursuits, I do not know. However, in view of the festival, they flatly refused to move, unless we used force, prior to Monday because they had to get ready for the celebration on Friday . . .
Again we ran into the sub-human characteristics of these people in that they do not understand toilets and refuse to use them except as repositories for tin cans, garbage, and refuse . . .
We drove to Welfratshausen . . .
The UNRRA woman in charge of the local UNRRA group there has done an excellent job, but called my attention to the fact that the portion of the camp still occupied by Estonians was far better policed than that occupied by the Jews. I instructed the camp commander that the Jewish inhabitants were to be made responsible not only for the houses in which they live but also for the ground adjacent which, at the time of my visit, was covered with trash. I further stated that if they failed to comply, their rations would be stopped until they had done so.
The UNRRA woman informed me without solicitation that the Estonians detailed to cut wood for the camp cut four times as much wood per day as did the Jews. She believes, and I think with some show of veracity, that the Jews are in a psychopathic condition which may be materially improved, although personally I doubt it. I have never looked at a group of people who seem to be more lacking in intelligence and spirit. Practically all of them had the flat brownish gray eye common among the Hawaiians which, to my mind, indicates very low intelligence.
The cooking and hospital facilities in the village were of a superior character and the Jewish doctors in charge seemed to be men of very high personal and technical capacity . . .
Owing to the cooler weather, the smell of the inhabitants was below average but still extremely nauseating to western nostrils. It is an unfortunate fact that the people at home who are so vociferous in their demands for the betterment of the Displaced Jews have no conception of the low mental, moral, and physical standards of the objects of their solicitude . . .
So far as it is humanly possible, it is my purpose, and I shall strongly recommend it to General Truscott, to see that the density of population per house among the DP’s and the German inhabitants is comparable. The result of this policy will be that should the German people ever rise from the state of utter degradation to which they have now been reduced, there will be the greatest pogrom of the Jews in the history of the world.
I believe the Jews realize this and probably for that reason are reluctant to move out of the camps . . .
In thinking over the situation, I could not but be impressed with the belief that at the present moment the unblemished record of the American Army for non-political activities is about to be lost. Everyone seems to be more interested in the effects which his actions will have on his political future than in carrying out the motto of the United States Military Academy, “Duty, Honor, Country.”
I hope that after the current crop of political aspirants has been gathered, our former tradition will be restored.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to Handy, October 2, 1945
From a personal standpoint the new assignment is more in keeping with my natural academic tendencies than is that of governing Bavaria, but I naturally regret being relieved, however graciously, under circumstances which will be considered detrimental to my reputation.
Diary, October 2
The portrait [of himself] has at last been finished . . .
Just as I was about to go home at five o’clock, the telephone rang and General Eisenhower told me . . . that information of the ensuing change in command had leaked in Berlin and that therefore it might be necessary for him to make the announcement at noon tomorrow . . .
I said I could not see that that made any difference . . .
After the conversation terminated, Colonel Harkins, who had listened to it, said the only person who could have let it spill in Berlin was Mr. Murphy. I said no, Mr. Murphy I would trust, but I did not trust Beedle Smith. This is interesting as showing how guileless I still am because on the way home the truth suddenly dawned on me that Eisenhower is scared to death, which I already knew, and believes that a more prompt announcement of my relief than the one he had originally planned will be beneficial to him. The alleged leak is nothing but a figment of the imagination which is a euphemism for a damned lie.
On the advice of Major Deane, we are going to have the INS and UP correspondents in at eleven o’clock as they are probably the only loyal ones we have left, if any correspondents can be so termed.
His statement to the press was tame. He repeated that he was as responsible for the deaths in battle of as many Germans as “almost anyone” but he would be un-American if he did not try to prevent unnecessary deaths after the war was over.
I called up General McBride . . . [on] the density of population. He said the chief difficulty of carrying out my instructions would be the fact that it would be necessary to use force in order to get the Jews to separate themselves.
He also told me he had visited another camp which he thanked God the correspondents had not seen, where, although room existed, the Jews were crowded together to an appalling extent and in practically every room there was a pile of garbage in one corner which was also used as a latrine. The Jews were only forced to desist from their nastiness and clean up the mess by the threat of the butt ends of rifles.
Of course I know the expression “Lost tribes of Israel” applied to the tribes which disappeared – not to the tribe of Judah from which the current sons of bitches are descended. However, it is my personal opinion that this too is a lost tribe – lost to all decency.
Editorial, “The Punishment of Gen. Patton,” Cincinnati Times-Star, October 3, 1945
The drastic penalty inflicted upon Gen. Patton . . . will shock most Americans, though it will probably delight those leftist commentators who have lately been hounding the great tank commander with all the venom of a Goebbels.
Patton was admittedly indiscreet in making his “unfortunate analogy” . . . But it should have been obvious that Patton did not mean what he seemed to say . . .
Without blaming Eisenhower, it must be said that the drastic punishment of Patton, in view of the occupation mess in Germany, has the effect of making the man a scapegoat.
On the same day John O’Donnell in his column “Capitol Stuff” carried by the New York Daily News published a rumor that purported to tell why Patton was a “scapegoat.” Drew Pearson’s report of the slapping incident had failed to reveal that the soldier slapped was of Jewish descent and that Patton called him a yellow-bellied or yellow-streaked Jew. Thus, behind the drive to disgrace Patton was a cabal, the members of which included Felix Frankfurter, David Niles, Sidney Hillman, Henry Morgenthau, and others, who never forgave Patton for making derogatory references to his victim’s Jewish origins. Patton’s mishandling of the occupation in Germany gave his enemies the opportunity to have Patton removed.
Repeating his accusations on the following day, O’Donnell added that Patton’s dismissal showed how powerful “this republic’s foreign-born political leaders” were.
Two weeks later, on October 19, O’Donnell published an apology for his statements and a retraction. Although he mentioned only Kuhl and not Bennett, the two soldiers whom Patton slapped on different occasions, O’Donnell admitted that Kuhl was not Jewish but a member of the Nazarene Church. He also publicly regretted having said that Jewish leaders were behind Patton’s removal.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to Codman, October 4, 1945
I presume that . . . you have . . . been considerably perturbed by the scurrilous attacks made on me by the non-Aryan press . . .
However, that too will pass, and I think probably the reaction will be as beneficial as was that following our friend Drew Pearson’s asseverations ...
Today I am performing with my usual efficiency my duties as undertaker at my own funeral and am at the moment sitting at a perfectly cleaned up desk . . . Actually, while I regret being relieved for what amounts to cause or rather, perhaps, to a lack of guts – not on my part though— from the Third Army, it may all work out for the best . . .
So far as the Jews are concerned, they do not want to be placed in comfortable buildings . . .
I am really very fearful of repercussions . . . and I am certain we are being completely hood-winked by the degenerate descendants of Ghengis Khan . . . The envy, hatred, malice, and uncharitableness in Europe passes belief.
Letter, GSP, Jr., to Beatrice, October 5, 1945
Like William Jennings Bryan, “My head is bloody but unbowed.” All I regret is that I have again worried you.
I have been helping Lucien to get the hang of the show and he feels rather depressed. I don’t blame him.
I was terribly hurt for a few days but am normal again.
Diary, October 7
Owing to the rain, we decided to have the transfer of command ceremony in the gymnasium. The four corps commanders, Robertson, Harmon, McBride, and Prickett, assembled on the stage before we got there. On the right were the national colors, on the left the colors of the Third Army, while behind in the middle were the General’s and Lieutenant General’s flags.
At exactly noon Truscott and I, followed by Brigadier General Carleton [Truscott’s chief of staff] and Colonel Harkins, entered and marched on the platform. The command, consisting of a company of MP’s, most of the clerks, and all of the officers of both Forward and Rear Headquarters, was then presented and four ruffles and four flourishes were played.
I then made a speech . . .
GSP, Jr., Speech to the Officers and Men of the Third Army on the Occasion of his Leaving
General Truscott, Officers’ and Men: All good things must come to an end. The best thing that has ever come to me thus far is the honor and privilege of having commanded the Third Army.
The great successes we have achieved together have been due primarily to the fighting heart of America, but without the coordinating and supply activities of the General and Special Staffs, even American valor would have been impotent.
You officers and men here represent the fighting, the administrative, and the supply elements of this Army. Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on your valor and devotion to duty, and my fervent gratitude for your unwavering loyalty.
When I said that all good things come to an end, I was referring to myself and not to you because you will find in General Truscott every characteristic which will inspire in you the same loyalty and devotion which you have so generously afforded me.
A man of General Truscott’s achievements needs no introduction. His deeds speak for themselves. I know that you will not fail him.
Goodbye and God bless you.
Auld Lang Syne was [then] played. At the termination of this piece, the Color Bearer with the Colors of the Third Army approached me. I took the Colors from him and handed them to General Truscott, saying I could think of no more worthy recipient. General Truscott took them and handed them back to the Color Sergeant who withdrew to his former post.
The Command was again presented, and three ruffles and three flourishes were played in honor of General Truscott. Following this, he made a short speech, which I could not hear as he was very emotional and shouted too loud into the machine. I think he was very much perturbed at taking over the command. Of course, he had nothing to do with this and was simply carrying out orders.
After this, the band played the Third Army March.
We then left the gymnasium together and while we walked out the band played “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”
All the Generals and the heads of General and Special Staff Sections assembled in the Officers Dining Room, where we had some cocktails and highballs. After this the Senior Officers had place cards at a table where we had a lunch and quite a few speeches.
I left at exactly 2.30 and was accompanied to the Third Army train by General Truscott. We pulled out at 3.00 o’clock.
There was an escort in the headquarters quadrangle. Troops lined the road all the way to the railroad station.
George Fisher’s recollection:
The skies were dripping . . . when Patton officially turned over the command, so the formal ceremony was staged in the spacious Bad Tolz gymnasium. The General attended religious services that morning, as usual, after which he went directly to the gym. Nothing in his dress or bearing reflected the torture of his soul as he stepped forward to hand over the symbol of his command, “All good things must come to an end” was the burden of his brief remarks.
The luncheon that the headquarters mess officer spread out that noon really deserved a better appetite than most of us could muster. All the old corps and division commanders who could be found were there. Their testimonies varied in length but no wise in sincerity. Some thoughts strayed to George Washington and [his farewell address at] Fraunces’ Tavern. [Chaplain] O’Neill may have remembered the Last Supper.
Along about midafternoon Patton had had enough. He arose, squared his shoulders, and moved resolutely off to his waiting car.
A week later, in his first press conference, Truscott said:
I have left too many white crosses across North Africa, Italy, and France, and I have seen too many young men wounded and maimed not to be in complete sympathy with any policy that designs to eradicate, root and branch, the evil force, Nazism, that loosed this holocaust on the world.