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The Most Popular European in History
Der beliebteste Europäer der
Geschichte
David Lloyd George:
“I have never met a happier people than the Germans and Hitler is one of
the greatest men. The old trust him; the young idolise him. It is the
worship of a national hero who has saved his country.” (Daily Express,
September 17, 1936)
Winston Churchill:
“If our country were defeated I should hope we should find a champion as
indomitable to restore our courage and lead us back to our place among the
nations.” (Step By Step, p. 143)
Winston Churchill:
“In fifteen years that have followed this resolve, he has succeeded in
restoring Germany to the most powerful position in Europe, and not only has
he restored the position of his country, but he has even, to a very great
extent, reversed the results of the Great War…. The vanquished are in the
process of becoming the victors and the victors the vanquished…. Whatever
else might be thought about these exploits they are certainly among the
most remarkable in the whole history of the world.” (1935)
Theodor Heuss: “He
moved souls, the will to sacrifice, and great devotion, enthralling and
enthusiastically inspiring everyone by his appearance.”
Daily Mail: “He
succeeded in ascending to the highest power-position in Germany with very
little spilling of blood or loss of human life in a land of 68 million
inhabitants. Austria was annexed without one shot being fired.” (May 20,
1938)
The Observer: “Last May,
I returned, bringing my family for another sojourn, after two years spent
in other European countries. I found a Germany which has advanced
miraculously from the point of 1933. I found political solidarity, a
wholesome tone in the life of city dweller and country dweller alike. I
found living costs materially reduced and an unmistakable optimism on every
hand. In every quarter I found the same answer to my questioning: Profound
belief in the genius of the Leader, love and admiration for him as an individual.
My observations have covered a wide range of social classification. I have
talked with the humblest type of labourers, with merchants, professional
men. I have yet to discover a dissenting voice to the question of loyalty
to the Fuehrer. My two young daughters are attending German public schools
and are receiving an education which in thoroughness could be equalled in
few countries.” (John L. Garvin)
George Bernard Shaw:
“It was evident that Germany needed only a resolute and clear-headed leader
to denounce the Treaty; declare her determination to assert her full
equality with the Powers, and refuse to be disarmed, plundered and
chastised under the pretext of reparations and ‘war guilt’, to rally to him
every living soul whose native language was German, and at the same time
take a great step towards peace in Europe by proving that neither France
nor England nor the United States dare outrage humanity by attempting
military occupation of her territory on the model of the old partitions of
Poland; in short, that instead of Europe being plunged into war she would
be dragged back from the brink of it by Germany.… Herr Hitler seized the
hour and said the word, and France and England immediately climbed down,
preserving their dignity by lecturing the Chancellor solemnly on his
naughty behaviour as they descended.… Mr. Vernon Bartlett was soundly
berated by the Foreign Office for imploring all lovers of peace to believe
in the perfect sincerity of Herr Hitler’s assurance that a free Germany
would be a peaceful Germany, but 95% of the listeners who wrote to him
wanted to have him appointed Foreign Secretary. When I said that Herr
Hitler’s action was right and inevitable, the storm of abuse that was about
to bust on me was suddenly checked by Mr. Lloyd George saying exactly the
same thing.... Europe breathed again. The beginnings of a British
popularity set in for Herr Hitler as they had set in years before for
Signor Mussolini, in spite of all the liberal protests, and it only remains
to watch the results of the forthcoming general election in Germany, in
which it is inconceivable that a single vote should be cast against him,
even by the angriest German Jew or German Communist.” (The Observer,
November 5th, 1933)
John F. Kennedy:
“After visiting these two places (the town of Berchtesgaden and
Obersalzberg) you can easily understand how that within a few years Hitler
will emerge from the hatred that surrounds him now as one of the most
significant figures who ever lived. He had in him the stuff of which legends
are made.” (Prelude to Leadership, the European diary of J.F Kennedy,
Summer, 1945.)
Jesse Owens, black
American Olympic athlete: “When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his
hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad taste
in criticising the man of the hour in Germany.” (Richard D. Mandell, The
Nazi Olympics)
The Marquess of
Lothian: “I think that it must be admitted that National Socialism has done
a great deal for Germany. It has undoubtedly cleaned up Germany in the ordinary
moral sense of the word. The defeatism, the corruption so manifest a
characteristic in the days after the war has disappeared, at any rate from
public view. It has given discipline and order and a sense of purpose to
the great majority of young people who in earlier days did not know where
to go or what they were living for.” (British Ambassador to Washington,
June 29, 1937)
Readers Digest: “That
Hitler’s conquest of the hearts and minds of all classes of Germans is now
so complete that even if all his Brown Shirts and Steel Helmets were to be
disbanded tomorrow he would still be easily the strongest man in Germany,
and on any appeal to the electorate would be confirmed in power by a quite
overwhelming majority of votes.... Hitler is recognised by the whole of the
political and official intelligentsia as an exceedingly able man.... As of
the militarist question, one may say with complete certainty that what
Hitler said in his Reichstag speech on May 17 was exactly what he meant and
accurately represents the policy that he will pursue.... I found no German
who dreamed of the possibility of war, few who did not hope that it might
be prevented in the future altogether. The truth is that the Nazi mind is
concentrated on the internal problems of Germany and does not want to be
bothered by foreign affairs for a long time to come.... Hitler has passed
from the stage of party leader to being the national prophet of an
exceedingly serious people, and it would need another prophet to replace
him.” (Clifford Sharp, former editor of the New Statesman writing in The
New Statesman and Nation and reprinted in Readers Digest, September, 1933)
Dr. Joseph Goebbels:
“This century will be named and shaped after Adolf Hitler.”
Eve Braun to her
sister: “I must write you these words so that you will not feel sad over
our end here in the shelter. It is rather we who are filled with sorrow
because it is your fate to live on into the chaos that will follow. For
myself, I am glad to die here; glad to be at the side of the Fuhrer;
foremost of all, glad that the horror now to come is spared me.”
Dr. Joseph Goebbels
to his stepson, Harald: “My Dear Harald! We sit locked in the Fuhrer’s
shelter in the RC., fighting for lives and honour. I hardly believe that we
shall ever see each other again; therefore, it is likely that these will be
the last lines you will ever receive from me. I expect from you, should you
outlive this war, that you do only that which will honour your mother and
father.... Germany will outlive this terrible war, but only if it has
examples upon which to guide its reconstruction. Such an example we want to
give here. Do not let yourself be confused by the uproar that will now
reign throughout the world. The lies will one day break down under their
own weight and the truth will again triumph. The hour will come when we
shall stand pure and undefiled as our aims and beliefs have always been....
Farewell, my dear Harald. Whether we shall ever see each other again lies
in the hand of God. If it is not to be, then always be proud to have
belonged to a family that even in the face of disaster remains true to the
Fuehrer to the very last and true to his pure and Holy cause. All the best
and my heartfelt greetings. Your Papa.”
General Leon
Degrelle: “Hitler was the greatest statesman Europe has ever known. History
will prove that when whipped up emotions have died down. He was more matter
of fact, generally more unfolded than Napoleon. Napoleon was more of a
vanquishing, empire-founding Frenchman than a true European. Hitler, in his
being a man of his time, dreamed of an enduring, just, honest Europe,
unified by the initiative of the victor. A Europe however in which each
ethnic group could develop according to their merits and accomplishments.
The proof of this is that he offered Petain his hand. Just as Bismarck knew
how to outgrow Prussia and become a German, so Hitler soon changed from
being a German to being a European. At an early stage he disconnected
himself from imperialistic ambition.... Without any difficulty he began to
think of himself as a European and initiated the creation of a Europe in
which Germany, like Prussia in Bismarck’s time, was to be the foundation
stone.... Some comrades of the Fuhrer might still have been short-sighted
Pan-Germanists. But Hitler had the genius, the right scale, the absence of
bias and the necessary vision to accomplish the terrific task.... He had an
authority, not to be found a second time in the history of the continent.
His success would have established the wealth and civilisation of Europe
for centuries, probably forever. Hitler’s plans for Europe would have meant
a blessing for us all.”
Hitler’s Last Will
and Testament: “I nourish the conviction that the hour will come when
millions of men who now curse us will take a stand behind us to welcome the
new Europe, our common creation born of a painful and laborious struggle
and an arduous triumph – a Europe which is the symbol of greatness, honour,
strength, honesty and justice. At the time of supreme peril I must die a
martyr’s death for the people. But after my death will come something
really great, an overwhelming revelation to the world of my mission. My
spirit will rise from the grave, and the world will see I was right. The
day will come when we shall make an agreement with the men of other Aryan
nations.”
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