Adolf Hitler

March 12-2015

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Ray Goodwin and Carolyn Yeager read and comment on the August 20-22, 1942 lunch and dinner table monologues by the German Leader, as taken down in shorthand by attorney Heinrich Heim. 1h26m. Included in this episode:

• Maximum mechanisation of an army does not defeat greater man-power - Hitler expresses strong criticism of Wilhelm II and praise for Ferdinand of Bulgaria;
• Alfred Rosenberg and the Völkischer Beobachter - after the Reichstag fire Hitler and Goebbels put out the next day's edition;
• Baltic Germans - Hitler a "non-family man" - women's peccadillos bring fresh blood into a family - Bavarian girls are not virgins - rural custom of matrimonial trial;
• Dialects vs standard German - stenographers and secretaries;
• British gained their sense of superiority in India - India a source of great income for Britain - Indians and Mexicans engaged in human sacrifice before the White man came;
• Hitler not fond of local crafts, including German - Don't try to change native peoples - Stalin and the Jews - Lloyd George a wise man - some war comments.

The edition of Hitler's Table Talk being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here

March 5, 2015

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Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the Aug. 16-20, 1942 lunch and dinner table monologues by the German Leader, as taken down in shorthand by aide Heinrich Heim, who has returned. 1h20m. Included in this episode:

• Churchill decided on war years before 1939 - praise for the French workman - obstruction from the Wehrmacht's niggardly ways;
• Hitler recalls how he imposed his will and used all his powers against the Army, Navy and his own ministers in order to prepare Germany for war in spite of the cost;
• Crimes against animals vs people - judges and national morale - different treatment of criminals during peacetime and wartime;
• Function of law is to safeguard the public - Hitler's own experience with lawyers - officers of the judiciary must be the best a country has.

The edition of Hitler's Table Talk being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here

Feb. 26, 2015

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Ray Goodwin and Carolyn Yeager read and comment on the August 7-16, 1942 lunch and dinner table monologues by the German Leader, as taken down in shorthand by attorney Heinrich Heim. 1h23m. Included in this episode:

• Churchill to visit Stalin, Hitler is intrigued as to why;
• Germans are in Crimea to stay, says AH, and winning over the peasantry;
• British have no rights to decide anything in Europe - Rumanians vs Hungarians, and the Viennese;
• Riches of Ukraine - Reichsmarks and Ostmarks - the parson class are enemies of the state;
• Very interesting account of Hitler visiting the National Club and the Officers' Club in Berlin in 1921, meeting Admiral Schröder, an important early supporter;
• Hitler on Dance as artistic expression: most beautiful is the waltz, impressive is the Bavarian Schuhplattler done by men;
• Some of the diplomats he's known in Berlin - comments on Stalin - Churchill and the Malta situation.

The edition of Hitler's Table Talk being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here

Feb. 23,2015

The idea of Tolerance as a total good  has insidiously been incorporated into our modern social thinking, and is still increasing in strength and reach. Some of the points brought up in this program:

• Tolerance has replaced Truth as the major aim of education;
• Adolf Hitler made it very clear from 1925 up to 1945 that he did not believe in nor practice tolerance;
• Tolerance is contrary to the idea that life is an eternal struggle for survival;
• Survival depends on 3 things: the quality of the race, giving significance to the individual personality, and recognition that life is synonymous with struggle;
• Hitler's 1927 paper The Road to Resurgence written for Emil Kirdorf is discussed;
• In 1944, Hitler said "tolerance is only understandable as signs of inner insecurity" and "It is madness to imagine that political views must be tolerant."

Carolyn uses these sources: Mein Kampf 1925, "Road to Resurgence" 1927, Table Talk 1942, and  "Talk to Officers at Platterhof" 1944. 

Feb. 19, 2015

Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the Aug. 3-6, 1942 lunch and dinner table monologues by the German Leader, as taken down in shorthand by aide Heinrich Heim, who has returned. 1h19m. Included in this episode:

• Hitler uses the instinctual behaviors within bee and ant colonies to explain the value of merciless perseverence when its a question of survival;
• American military courts established in Britain - Poor military decision-making influenced by Jews;
• Food and food supply - stories of Prince Arenberg;
• Praise plus criticism for the Italians -more on ruling the Eastern territories;
• Living in open rather than crowded spaces gives one a wider view - St. Petersburg and Moscow must be destroyed - creating markets in the occupied East;
• Mistreatment of the peasant class led to migration of some of the best of Germans - France and Italy both have strong peasantry which stabilizes a nation.

The edition of Hitler's Table Talk being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here.

Feb. 16, 2015

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Adolf Hitler's view on race and the German Volk in his talk to Officers of May 1944 has been misrepresented by Veronica Clark in two books that she has sold on Amazon. Carolyn discusses the most interesting parts of the talk and points out the mistakes in Clark's translation:

• Changing the word Volk to Rasse, or race, in one instance where it could not be an honest error (on page 48 of the German copy, shown at right - click on image for enlarged view);
• Other inexplicably poor translation seemingly designed to detract from Hitler's strict attitude on race;
• Attributing to Adolf Hitler in her foreward a false quote that she knew was actually written by another man, Otto Wagener;
• Hadding Scott comes on the line in the last 15-20 minutes and confirms the correctness of Porter's translation over Clark's in some specific instances.

Read "Hitler's Talk to Officers and Generals on May 26, 1944 at the Platterhof in Obersalzberg" translated by Carlos W. Porter here.

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 Continued from Part 1:

Translated by Carlos Whitlock Porter

The Führer is speaking:

But first, of course, it’s not a pretty picture, I admit it. At first, we had all sorts of difficulties, and you can really get some white hair before you’ve put everything back in order again. But I always counted on one thing: the time will come when that will all have been worth it; then you’ll see that this selection process, which has been made one of the hard principles of the party, is correct. And really, that’s the most basic thing: the most decisive. Since today, when we speak of a national community, you can only do so on the condition of suitable leadership and people. 

There are a lot of training courses being given today for officers, in the so-called Ordenburgen [fortresses built by the Teutonic Knights], not just because they’re suited for it but because that gives them an insight into the way we start out with our youth, building up their education. Of course, gentlemen, nothing is perfect. You ought not to forget: we came to power in 1933. The war began in 1939. So we had barely 6 years. During the war, there’s a limit to what we can do to continue building, but there’s no doubt about it: when our people have had 50 years of peace, then we’ll see something: the whole nation will be completely organized, and the leadership of the nation will consist of the best political leadership corps we’ve ever had, carefully selected from the best we’ve got. There’s no doubt about that. 

Feb. 12, 2015

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Ray Goodwin and Carolyn Yeager read and comment on the July 24-August 2, 1942 lunch and dinner table monologues by the German Leader, as taken down in shorthand by aide Henry Picker. 1h30m. Included in this episode:

• Hitler has faith that the Dutch can "improve" but the Italians without the Duce are hopelessly under the thumb of the Church and nobility;
• The need for oil from the Caucasus and the value of gas-driven over petrol-driven vehicles;
• Hitler discusses why government or military corruption must not be allowed to get a hold in Germany and tells of his experience with "swindlers";
• On Russians wanting to emigrate into the Crimea;
• The lack of superior weaponry in the first World War - developing and building such are of equal importance to soldiering;
• Praise for the annual exhibition and sale in the House of German Art in Munich;
• The credulity of the American and British public - German and American standard of living compared - the power of the Church to surpress scientific progress;

The edition of Hitler's Table Talk being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here. 

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INTRODUCTION by Carolyn Yeager

This unrehearsed talk was taken down by stenographers at the time it was given by Adolf Hitler to his top officers. A single typed copy exists in the archives of the Institut für Zeitgeschichte in Munich, Germany. To obtain it, a Munich woman familiar with the Institute had to go there in person and request it, then make a copy on the premises, after which she mailed the copied pages to me for a fee. It consists of 70 typed, double-spaced pages, with some words on every page illegible because of fold marks.

I made 3 sets of copies and mailed them to 3 persons, one of which was Carlos Porter, who agreed to translate it--a really hard job considering the length and the poor quality of the original. I asked Carlos to do the translation in a more or less direct fashion, not concerning himself overmuch with the quality of the prose. I wanted the exact idea of what the Fuehrer said and meant. Since I'm not in the business of selling books for a profit,  the ease of readability for the general public is not my first concern. My first concern is a very clear rendition of the ideas Hitler was expressing to his audience.

Feb. 5, 2015

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Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the July 17-22, 1942 lunch and dinner table monologues by the German Leader, as taken down in shorthand by aide Henry Picker. 1h24m. Included in this episode:

• Goebbels failed to introduce wired-wireless radio control in Germany before the war to prevent foreign broadcasts;
• Roads are superior to railroads for unification--Hitler wants to create a network of autobahen from Berlin to the East Wall;
• Hitler agrees to an interview with a foreign journalist so he can respond to the persistent talk of a Second Front, i.e. Allied landing;
• Discussion of "seaman's yarns" and need to consider superstitions of the public when making decisions;
• The Channel Islands and how they could be used after the war;
• Hitler criticises lawyers again and makes some very good points
• Russia's strength and the Stakhanov system--Bormann tells of his tour of Ukraine;
• More on how to treat the local populations in the occupied territories (see Ukraine images here).

The edition of Hitler's Table Talk being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here.