Berlin 1933
Jack, in his role as Military Attaché, had the opportunity of meeting Adolf Hitler in a private meeting in his office at the Reichstag.
It was only a five-minute meeting and not much of import was discussed, but Hitler did stress how highly he regarded the United States of America and how important the two countries’ friendship was to Germany.
Jack watched, listened and reported back to Washington the events of what was a tumultuous year, not just for Germany but for the world.
January 1933
Hitler became Chancellor of a coalition government, where the Nazis had a third of the seats in the Reichstag.
February 1933
The German Reichstag was destroyed by fire. The plot and execution was almost certainly due to the Nazis but they point the finger at the Communists and trigger a General Election.
March 1933
The Enabling Act passed – powers of legislation passed to Hitler’s cabinet for four years, making him virtual dictator.
Hitler proclaimed the Nazi Party as the only political party permitted in Germany. All other parties and trade unions were disbanded. Individual German states lost their autonomous powers, while Nazi officials became state governors.
April 1933
Communist Party was banned.
May 1933
Socialists, Trade Unions and strikes are banned.
October 1933
Hitler withdrew from the League of Nations. In the following months, he trebled the size of the German Army and ignored the arms restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles.
A year of change by any standards
June 1934
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives, in June 1934, saw the elimination of the Brown Shirts’ or SA’s leadership, and others who had angered Hitler in the recent past in Nazi Germany. After this date, the SS lead by Heinrich Himmler, became far more powerful in Nazi Germany.
For all the power the Enabling Act gave Hitler, he still felt threatened by some in the Nazi Party. He was also worried that the regular Army had not given an oath of allegiance. Hitler knew that the army hierarchy held him in disdain, as he was ‘only’ a corporal in their eyes. The Night of the Long Knives not only removed the SA leaders but also got Hitler the Army’s oath that he so needed.
By the summer of 1934, the SA’s numbers had swollen to two million men. They were under the control of Ernst Röhm, a loyal follower of Hitler since the early days of the Nazi Party. The SA had given the Nazis an iron fist with which to disrupt other political parties meetings before January 1933. The SA was also used to enforce law after Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933. To all intents, they were the enforcers of the Nazi Party and there is no evidence that Röhm was ever planning anything against Hitler.
However, Röhm had made enemies within the Nazi Party – Himmler, Goering and Goebbels were angered by the power he had gained and convinced Hitler that this was a threat to his position.
By June 1934, the regular Army hierarchy also saw the SA as a threat to their authority. The SA outnumbered the Army by 1934 and Röhm had openly spoken about taking over the regular Army by absorbing it into the SA. Such talk alarmed the Army’s leaders.
By the summer of 1934, Hitler had decided that Röhm was a ‘threat’ and he made a pact with the Army. If Röhm and the other SA leaders were removed, the rank and file SA men would come under the control of the Army but the Army would have to swear an oath of loyalty to Hitler. The Army agreed and Röhm’s fate was sealed.
On the nights of 29th and 30th June 1934, units of the SS arrested the leaders of the SA and other political opponents. Men such as Gregor Strasser, von Schleicher and von Bredow were arrested despite neither of them having any connection with Röhm. The arrests were carried on for two more nights.
Seventy-seven men were executed on charges of treason, although historians tend to think the figure is higher. The SA was brought to heel and placed under the command of the Army. Hitler received an oath of allegiance from all those who served in the Army. Röhm was shot. Others were bludgeoned to death.
The first the public officially knew about the event was on 13th July 1934, when Hitler told the Reichstag which now met in the Kroll Opera House, Berlin, that for the duration of the arrests he and he alone was the judge in Germany and that the SS carried out his orders. From that time on, the SS led by Heinrich Himmler became a feared force in Nazi Germany. The efficiency with which the SS had carried out its orders greatly impressed Hitler and Himmler was to acquire huge power base within Nazi Germany.
July 1934
After the death of President Hindenburg, Hitler became Führer and Reichskanzler and abolished the title of President.
26th February 1935
Hitler ordered Hermann Goering to establish the Luftwaffe, the German air force, in defiance of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
March 1935
Hitler publicly announced that the German Army was to be expanded.
Conscription was introduced.
15th September 1935
Nuremberg Laws defined German citizenship. Relationships between Jews and Aryans were banned.
As each year passed during their stay in Germany more and more worrying events took place. Washington knew of each and every event; they didn’t need Jack to report them yet they valued his opinions and interpretation of what was happening.
Jack and Anna tried to lead reasonably normal lives while Hitler’s campaign of terror and intimidation was taking place in the streets of Berlin. Jack was called to assist a number of American citizens who were either bashed or imprisoned for not raising their arms and shouting ‘ Heil Hitler’ as they were required to do. ‘Good evening’ or ‘good morning’ was no longer acceptable.
They had met some nice German people during their stay and had been invited to dinner a number of times. It was at one such dinner party at a prominent industrialist’s nineteenth century town house in the beautiful area of Charlottenburg that they understood how Hitler had changed Berliner’s lives.
In previous gatherings the conversation was open and frank when it came to German politics. On this occasion none of the guests were willing to talk about, let alone discuss, Hitler or what was happening inside Germany.
When Jack and Anna departed, the host Karl Bauer escorted them to the street where the embassy car was waiting.
‘I am sorry, but things now are so bad we do not dare mention anything about what is happening for fear we will be reported to the SS and who knows what!’
‘Don’t worry Karl, we understand the situation.’