On the cold, pitch-black evening of February 20, 1933, Günther Quandt, Friedrich Flick, and Baron August von Finck met with the führer and his economic advisers once again in Berlin. Only this time, the location had been upgraded — instead of a discreet suite at the nearby Hotel Kaiserhof, they entered the palatial domicile of the parliamentary president, and more than twenty other tycoons and executives joined them there. Von Finck was again accompanied by Allianz’s CEO, Kurt Schmitt, one of the four future Nazi ministers of economic affairs in attendance. The other three — Walther Funk, Hjalmar Schacht, and Hermann Göring — were on hand to convince these two dozen titans of German industry and finance, one final time, to donate to a Nazi election campaign.
After Hitler’s and Göring’s speeches and Schacht’s call to pony up, it was up to the tycoons to make the next move, a delicate one. In keeping with his legendary thriftiness, August von Finck made a beeline for the exit “at the first possible moment” after realizing that Schacht was coming to extract a personal pledge from him on the spot. Friedrich Flick donated royally. As was his custom, he hedged his bets and gave to all parties involved — as much as 120,000 reichsmarks each to the Nazi Party and its nationalist coalition partner. The smallest contribution that evening came from Günther Quandt. He wired 25,000 reichsmarks to the Nazi slush fund via his battery firm AFA, weeks later. The gift paled in comparison to the six-figure donations made by IG Farben and Flick. But Günther recognized a cheap opportunity when he saw one. This ability, after all, was what had made him rich.
Of course, Günther had a far more pressing personal reason to stay on the good side of the Nazis. Goebbels was about to get a promotion. Just days after Günther’s donation, Hitler appointed Goebbels as Reich minister of public enlightenment and propaganda. He was now one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, controlling every aspect of the press, cultural life, and political promotion. In the end, the outcome of the March 5, 1933, elections had not mattered. Six days before it, the Reichstag burned down, under mysterious circumstances, exactly one week after the secretive meeting at Göring’s residence next door. The rule of law was suspended, and democracy in Germany was dead. Hitler was in control.