Chapter I: Part XX
Chapter I: The Hammerblow
Part XX
February 4, 1936
The Kroll Opera House was packed to capacity for Adolf Hitler’s special speech to the Reichstag. Blocks of brown NSDAP uniforms, mouse gray officers’ uniforms and civilian suits marked the locations of the many Party functionaries, general staffers, Reichstag representatives and cabinet members lucky enough to be favored with seats. Over Goebbels’ objections, the Führer had insisted upon inviting much of the international corps of journalists in Berlin -- they now jostled with one another for the best positions from which to hear him.
Cristoph Scholl sat in the middle of the orchestra, unabashedly awed by the spectacle. Six massive red banners hung, several stories tall, from the ceiling behind the rostrum. At the center of each, a black swastika was set upon a white circle, leaving little doubt as to the Party’s place in the Third Reich. Directly behind the position from which the Führer would speak, an immense gilded Reichsadler spread its fifteen meter wingspan. An honor guard of black-uniformed Leibstandarte-SS soldiers stood at attention in a line stretching from wall to wall.
The crowd’s noise fell to a soft buzz. Necks craned towards the front of the hall. No introduction or fanfare was forthcoming. Scholl adjusted his armband anxiously.
The audience in the Kroll Opera House, awaiting Hitler’s arrival.
At last, the rear doors were thrown open, and the triumphant Führer and a small entourage made their way up the aisle toward the rostrum to thunderous applause. Those sitting adjacent to the aisle extended their arms in the Nazi salute, forming a tunnel through which he passed. Hitler wore a simple gray suit, preferring not to play up his role as Party Leader or Warlord.
The Führer spent several minutes trying to quiet the crowd, which rose to its feet in jubilant ovation. From the rostrum, he motioned for them to sit. The Krolloper became utterly silent. After letting the tension build for several seconds, he began.
“I have summoned you to this meeting on the occasion of a historic moment in the life of the great German Nation.
“I have done so, firstly, because I consider it imperative to give our people and the world the true account of the momentous events of the past month. Secondly, because I wish to express my gratitude to our magnificent soldiers, and thirdly, with the intention of appealing before the world to the wisdom and reason which can ensure peace.
“With regard to an accounting of the facts, I shall relate them.
“On New Year’s Eve of last year, I spent the holiday in a quiet way in the mountains that overlook the land of my birth. There was a speech that I was to give the next morning, however, and I departed for the train that would carry me to this city in order to give it. By chance occurrence, I was not in my usual car, which entered the town of Berchtesgaden before me.
“Upon entering the town, the car was ambushed by criminal assassins who wished to harm me. In that, these men failed. I was able to see more clearly than ever before the destiny to which I am guided, and the services which I must yet perform for our people.
“Yet in this attack, four loyal Germans were murdered, including a true friend and Party hero -- Martin Bormann. The police searched diligently for those conspirators that were not killed during the attack. Soon, I learned that this plot, this crime, had been orchestrated by an insane academic with a political agenda against me personally.”
Hitler paused. Scholl observed that this speech lacked the usual impassioned tones and wild gesticulations which marked the Führer’s oratory. His tone was instead supremely rational, that of a teacher counseling his young charges.
“Of course, no one would take such news well -- having a lunatic out to kill oneself is never a cheering prospect --” The crowd laughed heartily on cue. “-- but I believed that I must be willing to take such risks in the course of my duties to the German People. Yet soon I learned a far more troubling truth.”
Hitler shook his head gravely.
“Two weeks after the attack, this lunatic was arrested by the Swiss authorities. Three other men were arrested with him, including two agents of the Belgian intelligence services. Hearing this, I was as stunned as any man would be. I earnestly did not want to believe it, but the facts spoke for themselves. The Belgian government had aided, trained and armed these men. This was not the idea of some crazy man to kill me personally. No! This was a nation -- or rather, its irresponsible leaders -- seeking the collapse of the Reich itself.
“I say that is an act of war. The
Daily Telegraph feels that this was not an act of war. If a man is attacked on the street, whether or not passersby notice that he is being attacked and whether or not they choose to believe it does not matter to him. He knows only that it is his natural right to defend himself against his assailants as best he can.
“I admit to you freely that I feared the consequences of another war more than anyone in this room. I consulted with our intelligence services in the hope of finding a way to act only against the Belgian government, but there was not. Their grip on their people and armed forces was too great, for they had deluded them with propaganda against Germany and against peace itself. In the days before the conflict, I continued to search for a way to avert bloodshed, but my hopes were disappointed.
“I had ordered our soldiers to the border to secure Germany’s frontier against Belgium. On the twenty-fifth of January, I learned that the Belgian government was preparing further attacks against the German People. I could not let this happen. I personally sent a telegram to Brussels, asking that the government enter into negotiations with Germany to resolve the crisis, but no reply was ever received. Germany’s entreaties to Britain and to France and to the League of Nations to intervene were also unsuccessful. The Reich was left to defend itself alone.
“With great sadness I was forced to order the Wehrmacht into Belgium in order to depose its outlaw government. It is a testament to the fortitude of the individual soldier and the German People from which he comes, that victory was achieved so speedily.
“This brings me to my second point. The valor of our armed forces has shown an example that will live on for all time among the greatest campaigns in history -- Tannenberg, Waterloo, Hannibal in the Apennines. To these names is now added Brussels!
“The enemy blocked and threatened our forces with the mighty fortress of Eben-Emael, manned by more than a thousand soldiers. It was called impregnable in Paris, London and Washington. Even in Berlin! Yet it was captured in a single day by eighty-one daring soldiers through the use of an altogether new method of attack.”
Curiosity and puzzlement flashed across the faces of the audience, but Hitler did not elaborate.
Hitler’s uncharacteristic quiet reasonableness struck a chord with his audience.
“Again and again on the road to Brussels, the German Soldier displayed his courage and skill. Again and again, he drove back the Belgian armies, until the capital laid open before him. So many acts of heroism occurred that I could not account them all to you today, but History shall record each and every one.
“Yesterday in Brussels, representatives from both nations signed a treaty that has restored peace to Europe. I shall summarize for you the terms. First, the old Belgian government shall retire to Africa, allowing to begin the long task of rehabilitating the freedom of the Belgian people, for whom even at this very hour I retain a great affection. Germany shall assist in the administration of Belgian territory until this process is complete. Second, Germany shall rule the majority of Belgium’s colonial possessions in trust for her people until their hour of renewal. Third, Belgium’s military shall be disarmed so as to prevent these terrible events from repeating themselves. For this reason, the Wehrmacht shall continue to protect Belgian territory from all hostile forces and influences.
“With peace established, I am brought to my third appeal, and my most important. I do not doubt that the recently-concluded war has caused some individuals outside Germany to question our actions and motivation. Some, I am sure, think that we have disturbed the balance of power in Europe. These men say that Germany, with her modest military, is somehow threatening to all the combined powers of the world. Now, they threaten Germany with war, and brandish their swords, eager to plunge Europe into another long and devastating war.
“I say to these persons today: Germany pledges to disarm herself completely, down to the last shell, if our neighbors are willing to do the same. I appeal to them that if peace is their true intention, let them disarm themselves for the sake of the world!
“Why should they keep their thousands of guns merely to ‘defend’ against a disarmed Germany? I put that question now to them. Will France and Britain take honest steps to further the world peace of which they speak? Or will it be at last exposed that their true aim is not defense but subjugation?
“The final part of my appeal is to the common sense of all the peoples of the world. You will no doubt be told by the would-be warmongers that our offer of peace is a false one.
“Consider this: I make this desperate appeal for peace in the hour of triumph. I come before the Great Powers not as the vanquished begging favors but as the victor speaking in the name of reason.
“There is no reason why, having just triumphed in war, we should uselessly seek another one. Rather, there is every reason for nations that feel threatened by Germany’s prosperity to attempt to stir up war to their own advantage. But, people of the world, such a war would bring about untold human loss and material devastation. The people of France and of Britain do not wish to see such catastrophe. Neither do the German People!
“When the propagandists tell you otherwise, consider all the things that I have said today, and the facts which I have related. Ask yourself: ‘Is this more consistent with the actions of a nation intending peace or intending war?’ Then, ask yourself whether the response from the Great Powers portends peace or war. From this, you shall know the truth of the situation.
“Then, let History judge each of us upon whether we acted with wisdom and reason in this crisis, or out of aggression and self-interest. I know that it will be the former course which guides Germany!”
As one, those in attendance surged to their feet with deafening cheers. They began to chant: “Peace for Germany!” with rising joy. From his seat, Scholl could see that the foreign journalists looked genuinely impressed as well.
As the Führer made his way back through the exultant audience, Scholl felt himself give way to the spirit of the crowd. If war came again, it would be the sole doing of the warmongers. If not, he realized, today had been the beginning of a new era of the world.