[Page 1]

Flannery, Harry ,W. :Assignment to Berlin. 1942.

"Hitler had a lot of respect for Petain" , said Dietrich. "I think he compared him to Hindenburg. At any rate, Der Fuehrer, who never acknowledges anyone as his superior, bowed before Petain when he first met him and took the old man's arm and led him to his car. Hitler had never done anything like that before. I think it may have been also because Hitler remembered that Petain, when he was Ambassador to Spain, had saluted the Nazi flag in Madrid along with all the rest. Hitler could not forget that. From that time on he was interested in the soldier, Petain". (Flannery, 36)

Der Fuehrer walked rigidly, turning slightly to left and right, with one hand stiffly by his side and the other raised diffidently before him in the party salute. Henever [sic] raised his hand as high as the others. Hitler was far from pretentious. I thought he looked like many a Nazi waiter I had seen. He wore his gray trench coat and peaked cap and was dressed with less show then any of his fellows. I noted that he had a curious little smile. I remarked about it. One of the Nazis near me said it was unusual.

"Der Fuehrer smiles seldom," he said. He must be feeling good today." .....

Hitler strode to the centre of the platform,stood for a moment before them and then began to speak. His voice was at first a slow, low rumble. As he went on, he became more emotional. His words suddenly took on vehemence, his arms swept wise in gestures. He clenched his fist and held on to the end of his sentences. (Ibid., 147)

On March 16, The German day of memory for soldiers lost in the first World War, I heard Hitler make another speech, this time in the Zeughaus...

...Hitler did not speak in the same fashion as usual on this occasion . He used no gestures and gave his words no emotional stress. Instead he rested his hands on the sides of the rostrum, read from his manuscript, and hardly lifted his eyes from its pages At the same time his text did not differ in tenor or content. (Ibid., 96,147,205-6)

[Page 2]

On one of these days Matsuoke visited Hitler ......

.... Hitler was expected to appear on the balcony with the Nipponese .......

.... The afternoon wore on and it grew dark. The crowd grew impatient, began to yell. Finally, after the people had waited five hours, Der Fuehrer deigned to appear; he merely stepped to the balcony and saluted. The people had waited all the afternoon for that. (Flannery, 213)

Hitler was fifty-two years old on April 20 ....... among the gifts to Hitler were four hundred pounds of coffee, three hundred of tea, fifty of cocoa, some of them announced as coming from the United States. That meant that many Germans had sacrificed their own small allotments of coffee, tea and cocoa to give Der Fuehrer, who could get all he wanted. (Ibid., 245)

I went out on the street just as Hitler's car drove up. .... Hitler stepped out and looked about him, raising his arm in salute as he did so. It was the same stiff, awkward half-salute as usual ..... The honour company snapped to attention and presented arms. Hitler with the head of the Gestapo walked between them, his face expressionless....

Hitler wore a special field-grey uniform....

Hitler made a few gestures on this occasion. Now and then he used one hand to cut the air, to point a finger, or raised an arm to mark a climax. Occasionally he rested one hand on his hips. Now and then he stepped back with both hands on his hips. After a victorious campaign, he was confident and in good form. He did not become as excited as on other occasions. (Ibid., 263-264)

[unreadable]

Flannery, Harry ,W. :Assignment to Berlin. 1942. pp. 213,245,263,36

The original plaintext version of this file is available via ftp.

[ Index ]

Home ·  Site Map ·  What's New? ·  Search Nizkor