Heinrich Himmler : A Life (137 page)

Authors: Peter Longerich

17
. BAB, NS 18/5007, letter from Fritz Schusnus to the Reich Party headquarters, 27 October 1926. Election results from the
Statistische Jahrbücher des Deutschen Reiches.

18
. BAB, NS 18/5007, 2 December 1926.

19
. Ibid. Himmler’s figures.

20
. Ibid. Himmler to the Gau headquarters, 21 April 1927.

21
. Ibid. Party headquarters to Himmler, 28 April 1927.

22
. Ibid. Heinz Schulz to Himmler, 1 May 1927.

23
. Ibid. Himmler to the Gau headquarters, 2 May 1927.

24
. Ibid. 18 May 1927.

25
. On the meetings and the election result see Beate Behrens,
Mit Hitler zur Macht. Aufstieg des Nationalsozialismus in Mecklenburg und Lübeck 1922–1933
(Rostock, 1998), 76 f.; on the election in general see ibid. 74 ff.

26
. Circular from Himmler dated 24 December 1928, printed in Tyrell,
Führer befiel
, 255 ff. (quotes BAB, formerly Slg. Schumacher 373).

27
. Paul,
Aufstand
, 68.

28
. Tyrell,
Führer befiel
, 225; Paul,
Aufstand
, 66 f.

29
. On the shift of Nazi propaganda to rural areas after the Reichstag election of 1928 see Johnpeter Horst Grill, ‘The Nazi Party’s Rural Propaganda before 1928’,
Central European History
, 15 (1982), 149–85; Peter D. Stachura, ‘Der kritische Wendepunkt? Die NSDAP und die Reichstagswahlen vom 20. Mai 1928’,
Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte
, 26 (1978), 66–99; Tyrell,
Führer befiehl
, 225 ff.

30
. BAB, NS 18/5008, Himmler to G. Feder, 21 April 1928, and in NS 18/5011, to A. Göpfert, 2 August 1930.

31
. BAB, NS 18/5001, Himmler to the Hof local branch.

32
. BAB, NS 18/5005, Himmler to the
Westdeutscher Beobachter
, 6 November 1928.

33
. BAB, NS 18/5007, 20 April 1927.

34
. Ibid. 19 April 1927.

35
. BAB, NS 18/5005, Himmler to Robert Scherl, band leader, 10 August 1928.

36
. BAB, NS 18/5022, Himmler to Hans Lustig, Stettin, 27 July 1927.

37
. BAB, NS 18/5006, Himmler to Herr H. Götz, Kronach, 10 May 1928. Similarly NS 18/5013b, Himmler to Karl Schick, Rossbach (Pfalz), 30 July 1930.

38
. BAB, NS 18/5004, various letters.

39
. BAB, NS 18/5006, letter to Coburg district headquarters (
Bezirksleitung
), 16 March 1928.

40
. BAB, NS 18/5001, Propaganda department to Aschaffenburg local branch, 2 February 1927.

41
. BAB, NS 18/5005, 24 October 1928.

42
. Ibid. 27 October 1928.

43
. Ibid. 31 October 1928.

44
. Ibid. Himmler to the
Westdeutscher Beobachter
, 6 November 1928.

45
. Tyrell,
Führer befiehl
, 146.

46
. Himmler expressed his views on the origins of the agricultural crisis in an undated article and demanded as a response ‘an ethnic (
völkisch
) peasant policy’, which he used as the title of the piece (BAB, NS 19/1789). According to Himmler, in eastern Germany ‘there are now huge amounts of land belonging to large estates that are on sale’, which ought to be settled with peasants and
agricultural workers. At the same time, according to Himmler, this [was] ‘the only effective defence against the intrusion of masses of Slavs from the east’.

47
. Michael H. Kater, ‘Die Artamanen. Völkische Jugend in der Weimarer Republik’,
Historische Zeitschrift
, 213 (1971), 577–683; Peter Schmitz,
Die Artamanen. Landarbeit und Siedlung bündischer Jugend in Deutschland 1924–1935
(Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale, 1985).

48
. Kater, ‘Artamanen’, 614.

49
. Ibid. 623.

50
. Ibid.

51
. This is clear from documents in the archive of the German youth movement (see n. 57 below).

52
. BAB, NS 18/5011, Himmler to Geheimrat von Konopath, 26 June 1930.

53
. BAB, NS 18/5005, letter of 16 May 1929. Himmler recommends to his party comrade from Duisburg, Karl Muefeld, the principles of the Artam league, ‘which has implemented in an exemplary manner the aims you have expressed in so far as it is possible to carry them out at the moment. I can only recommend that you should join the ranks of the Artam league and work for the realization of these goals.’

54
. BAB, NS 18/5014, Himmler to the Pomeranian Gau headquarters, 21 August 1929, Re: request for the expulsion of five named party comrades.

55
. BAB, NS 18/5004, Himmler to Rudolf Hager, Vienna, 21 June 1928.

56
. BAB, NS 18/5011, Himmler to Maria Giessing, Bad Reichenhall, 16 July1930.

57
. Archiv der Deutschen Jugendbewegung, A 2-82/82, note by Alwiss Rosenberg of 23 May 1969, and A 2-82/10, Alwiss Rosenberg: ‘Streit in der Artamanenbewegung’ (MS).

58
. Kater, ‘Artamanen’, 623.

59
. The newspaper first appeared as a supplement to the
Berliner Arbeiterzeitung
. There is evidence for its existence until July 1929. Himmler was still using notepaper with the Bundschuh heading in 1931 (BAK, NL 1126/14, note of 16 February 1931).

60
. BAK, NL 1126/6.

61
. BAK, NL 1126/14, 29 September and 16 October 1927.

62
. See the note in the catalogue of BAK, NL 1126. According to that the Himmler letters are in private hands. The archivist in the Federal Archive (
Bundesarchiv
), Josef Henke, was able on the basis of a microfilm to convince himself of their authenticity.

63
. BAK, NL 1126/14.

64
. Ibid. 21 November 1927.

65
. Ibid.

66
. Ibid. 22 November 1927.

67
. Ibid. 2, 4, and 12 November 1927.

68
. Ibid. 22 November 1927. She had already asked in her letter of 21 November what was the reason for his ‘disappointment’.

69
. Ibid. 26 November 1927.

70
. Ibid.

71
. Ibid. and 13 December 1927.

72
. Ibid. 20, 21, and 22 December 1927.

73
. Ibid. 22 and 24 December 1927.

74
. Ibid. 24 December 1927.

75
. Ibid. 20 December 1927.

76
. Ibid. 24 December 1927. After she had got to know him a bit better she wrote on 11 March 1928: ‘You know, sweetheart, I’m astonished by your submissiveness. All I can say to you is: “as you make your bed so you must lie on it”.’

77
. Ibid. 4 January 1928; 5 January 1928: ‘Why are you so afraid of Berlin?’

78
. Ibid. 21December 1927. On 24 December 1927 she enquired: ‘What did the doctor say?’ There are further mentions of stomach problems from 9 to 12 April 1928.

79
. Ibid. 4 January 1928. The topic of ‘decent’ and ‘not decent’ comes up repeatedly in her early letters: ‘And on the struggle about not being decent and not being good. I didn’t want you suddenly to want to be like that and I wanted to help you’ (31 December 1927). ‘Yesterday evening I read your old letters, my dear fathead who wants to be decent’ (4 January 1928).

80
. Ibid. 24 December 1927.

81
. Ibid. 27 December 1927.

82
. Ibid. 29 December 1927 (two letters).

83
. Ibid. 22 December 1927.

84
. Ibid.

85
. Ibid. 30 December 1927.

86
. Ibid. 2 January 1928.

87
. Ibid. 31 December 1927.

88
. Ibid. 2 January 1928 (two letters).

89
. Ibid. letter arrived in Munich on 2 January 1928.

90
. Ibid. 31 December 1927.

91
. Ibid. 5 May 1928.

92
. Ibid. 6, 7, and 24 January 1928.

93
. Ibid. 6 and 7 February 1928. There is an entry in the office diary for 8 February referring to his stay in Berlin, BAK, NL 1126/6.

94
. On his travel preparations see BAK, NL 1126/14, 11 February, 21 April, und 13 May 1928.

95
. Ibid. 31 December 1927 and 4 January 1928.

96
. Ibid. 2 March 1928.

97
. Ibid. 11 February 1928.

98
. Ibid. 6 March 1928.

99
. Ibid.

100
. Ibid. 3 March 1928. ‘You know, sweetheart, from your letter I once again get the feeling that you’ve told your parents something and don’t want to tell me what they’ve replied for fear of offending me.’

101
. Ibid. 21 April 1928; and 3 and 18 May 1928.

102
. Ibid. 10 May 1928.

103
. In her letter of 10 February 1928 (ibid.) she is already talking of leaving the clinic and sharing her life with Himmler. It is clear from the letter of 20 February 1928 (ibid.) that at this point she is determined to sell her shares in the clinic.

104
. Ibid. 26 April 1928.

105
. Ibid. 21 May 1928.

106
. Ibid. 12 and 20 April 1928.

107
. Ibid. 13, 20, 23, 25, and 27 June 1928.

108
. Ibid. 24 und 27 June 1928.

109
. StA München, Amtsgerichte 21849, 141, 19 September 1928.

110
. BAK, NL 1126/14, 17 June 1928.

111
. Ibid. 21 June 1928. See also 19 May and 15 and 18 June 1928.

112
. StA München, Pol. Dir. München 18001, driving-test certificate. According to this Himmler had had driving lessons between 16 March and 22 June 1928.