‘We then stopped at a monument to a French general of the 1914-18 war with an inscription abusing German soldiers – very distasteful. Hitler got annoyed, waited for the accompanying car to stop, turned to the military men and ordered they see to it that it was blown up. In honour of Colonel General Keitel, who was travelling with us, we visited the Cour d’honneur de l’École militaire. Then we arrived at the highpoint of our trip – at least for me.
‘In the dome of Les Invalides, Adolf Hitler stood at the edge of the rim of the crypt for a long time. His head was bent as he stared down at Napoleon’s sarcophagus. I stood at his left side, not by accident, but because he dragged me to his side. Quietly he said to me, “Giesler, you will build my grave site, we’ll talk about it later.”
‘Quiet and in reflective mood, he left the dome; we remained a few steps behind him. Outside the gate, Hitler turned around: “Bormann, I want the Herzog of Reichsstadt to be brought back to Paris.” The Herzog was Napoleon’s son from his marriage second wife, the Austrian Princess Marie Luise. He was brought up in Vienna and educated there. He died in 1832 at the age of twenty-one at the Schoenbrunn palace in Vienna and was buried at the Habsburg tomb, the “Kapuziner Gruft.” The restoration of the body of the Herzog von Reichsstadt from its burial place in Austria to the crypt of his father in Paris is one of the little-known and often overlooked actions undertaken by Adolf Hitler; it was designed as a gesture of reconciliation to show his respect for this icon of French history
‘With the brief tour of Paris complete, Hitler’s aesthetes were verbally charged by him with the job of making the new Berlin grander and more breath-taking than the beautiful French capital. Reichsleiter Martin Bormann was as usual to be responsible for executing all of Hitler’s orders in the civilian sphere.
‘Adolf Hitler then turned toward us – Speer, Breker and me: “For you a hard time begins: work and pressure, the developing of cities and monuments which are put into your trust. As far as I am able, and can spare the time, I will assist in your work. Bormann will assist me. Look after my artists and keep away from them anything that might hinder their work.” And then again to us: “Put everything on Bormann’s broad shoulders. He will stand by you.”
‘Adolf Hitler was quiet for a time before he said with a low voice: “At the Dome des Invalides, I was really aware only of Napoleon’s sarcophagus at the open Ronda of the crypt. I fell strangely under the spell – for me everything else was meaningless.”
‘After a while, he explained to me why he wanted his grave site located in Munich, and why I should build it and in what form he wanted it to be built. It surprised me, but nonetheless, as a National Socialist, that reasoning made a lot of sense. It seemed no coincidence that we discussed that on the day of the victorious finale of the French battle it was certainly stimulated by the viewing of Napoleon’s grave site. But in retrospect I suspect he was thinking about that for a long time.
‘Hitler not surprisingly turned his attention once more to the present situation. He expressed his strong desire for a peace settlement – remembering the end of the destructive Thirty Years War and the Treaty of Westphalia which was signed in Munster. Was he comparing the recent troubles over nearly thirty turbulent years since 1914, and hoping to end it in the same way? Very possibly this was going through his mind.
‘Silently we walked up and down the narrow path through the forest. Then Adolf Hitler stopped and said with great stress: “I want peace – and I will do anything to make peace! It is not yet too late. I will go to the limit of what is possible as long as the sacrifice and dignity of the German nation allows it. I know of superior things than waging war. If I just think about the loss of German blood – the finest always fall, the bravest and the ones willing to be sacrificed; their mission is to epitomise the nation.
‘“I do not need to make a reputation by war-mongering like Churchill. I would like to make my name as a steward of the German people. I want to secure its unity and Lebensraum, to achieve National Socialism and shape the environment – add to it the new rebuilding of the German cities according to modern principles. I would like the people to be happy there and be proud of their town, their Lebensraum, and nation.”
‘After a while he said the peace should be signed in Munster. “I have my reasons for that – it would mean an historical caesura. When I now return to Munich, I have to take the necessary steps for the beginning of the rebuilding of the city – a forward-looking scheme in all areas of a city-wide development.” I, and also Speer, would receive orders from him to start immediately with reconstruction. That naturally includes especially the central railway station and the Autobahn circle – they are the prerequisite of further rebuilding of the city. Dr. Todt will receive the order to make the necessary steel available. Then he repeated again: “I hope for Peace,” and changed the subject.
‘We all joined for the late dinner at the barracks. June 23 ended and the armistice began. The trumpet signals Das Ganze halt (All hold) arrived out of the night from varying distances. The windows were open. Setting himself apart from us, Adolf Hitler stood alone folding his hands. He gazed into the darkness. When, long after the signal, he returned to us, he had tears in his eyes. Quietly, with his typical languid movement, he said goodbye to us. He lifted his bent arm, the hand upwards-opened, like a greeting of friendship.
‘Speer, Breker and Giesler then changed out of their military uniforms and left his entourage. Intriguingly Hitler’s triumphal visit to Paris had lasted only three hours. However even in the moment of his greatest triumph, it seems that there was a lurking pre-occupation in the mind of Adolf Hitler. Paris was the glittering prize for Hitler and its capture, which had eluded the German generals during the First World War, was a stunning strategic achievement. Hitler confided to Giesler that the capture of the city made him happier than words could express, but Hitler’s visit to Paris was remarkably brief. The tour began at 6 a.m., by 9 a.m. the tour was over, he would never return to France.’