"Hitler's Table Talk" Study Hour

June 26, 2014

Adolf Hitler in pre-Chancellor days, signs something for Julius Streicher, NSDAP Gauleiter of Nuremberg.

Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the Dec. 17-31, 1941 dinner table monologues by the German Leader, as taken down in shorthand by trusted aide, attorney Heinrich Heim. Some highlights of this episode:

• Hitler tells stories about Karl Lueger and Georg von Schoenerer of Vienna, plus other mayors of German cities;

• The difficulty of building an art collection when Jews are dishonest dealers - finding the Bordone Venus;

• More on how cooked food causes disease, and the achievements of the Party men;

• Hitler defends Julius Streicher, who has been removed as Gauleiter of Nuremberg - says Dietrich Eckart had also thought men like Streicher were necessary;

• Hitler treats his political opponents well;

• Ruhr industrial district - the need for increased production of coal and iron;

• Some thoughts on the Japanese.

June 19, 2014

Ray Goodwin and Carolyn Yeager read and comment on the Nov. 19th-Dec. 14th 1941 dinner table monologues by the German Leader, as taken down in shorthand by trusted aide, attorney Heinrich Heim. Topics included in this episode:

• The Struggle for Power, the necessity to follow Nature's laws, and the peculiar German sense of duty;

• Hitler tells stories about the Party's trip to Coburg in 1922, the Volkischer Beobachter NSDAP newspaper, and the reason for uniforms;

• On Germans married to Jews, and the Jewish role as a destroyer;

• Highest aim of every man should be the preservation of the species;

• Catholic Church better at appreciating culture and beauty than the Protestant.

Image: Hitler ordered the Coburg Badge to be struck on October 14, 1932 to memorialize the event which took place ten years earlier. In Nov. 1936, he listed the top NSDAP awards  in this order: 1. Coburg Badge; 2. Nürnberg Party Badge of 1929; 3. SA Treffen at Brunswick 1931; 4. Golden Party Badge; 5. The Blood Order

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.

June 12, 2014

Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the November 11th-16th, 1941 dinner table conversations and monologues by the German Leader, taken down in shorthand by trusted aide, attorney Heinrich Heim.  Some highlights of this episode:

• Monarchy is an out-of-date form - example, the Thuringian Royal House lived off the state;
• Keeping the friendship of the Church is too costly, but we're glad to have its cultural monuments - the great Cathedrals;
• Frederick the Great's reaction against the Church in defense of the State was definitive;
• The Germanic Spirit will penetrate the East and bring the people all they need;
• The success of the Four Year Plan is explained by setting everybody to work within a closed circle economy, not by rearmament;
• Too many officials, too much paperwork - Hitler wants more local autonomy;
• Legal system is too lenient; there are no "extenuating circumstances" for treason.

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.

June 5, 2014

Hitler talks about the effect of diet on disease in this episode. Here he dines out of doors with his officers as ordinary soldiers look on; the short officer in the background must be Helmuth Stieff, later executed for treason. They are having soup (a Führer favorite) with fresh fruit on the table. 

Ray Goodwin and Carolyn Yeager read and comment on the Nov. 2nd-6th 1941 dinner table monologues by the German Leader, as taken down in shorthand by trusted aide, attorney Heinrich Heim. Topics included in this episode:

•  The dimensions of Europe have changed over the years;
•  Criminals cannot be tolerated in society during wartime but juvenile criminals need special treatment;
•  Diet and long life, and freedom from disease;
•  Progress of the Germanic race and peculiarities of the Jewish mind;
•  Standards for promotion, and fairness in handing out awards

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.

May 29, 2014

Hitler stands with two members of his paramilitary wing in 1923, men he remembers as "jolly rogues" who were invaluable to him because of their willingness to sacrifice.

Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the October 30-November 2, 1941 dinner table conversations and monologues by the German Leader, taken down in shorthand by trusted aide, attorney Heinrich Heim.  Topics included in this episode:

• The Fuehrer discusses a hunting-trip taken by some of his Ministers and Reichsleaders;
• Sharp criticism of the Foreign Office for its lack of ingenuity;
• For high officials, the interests of the State and private investment conflict;
• Plan to improve the Civil Service and Judiciary;
• Social justice before everything - Masses are the source of the elite - Soldiers recognize a commander.

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.

May 22, 2014

Joseph Goebbels on his wedding day in Dec. 1931, with Magda's 10 yr. old son walking beside him. Hitler, walking behind dressed in coat and hat, was best man. The Church put Goebbels under a ban for marrying a Protestant, but he still had to pay the church tax.

Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the October 24-30th, 1941 dinner table conversation and monologues by the German Leader, taken down in shorthand by trusted aide, attorney Heinrich Heim.  Topics included in this episode:

• Religion and the Church versus science;
• The beauties of the Ancient World and the destruction of antiquity and the past;
• The fate of Europe's Jews for their responsibility in bringing on war;
• Vision of a strong and great Europe with the addition of Ukraine;
• Thoughts on motorized war, the qualities of Croatians, National-Socialism, training of teachers, the art and culture of Paris;
• A number of distinguished guests were present at these meals.

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.

May 15, 2014

Architect Prof. Albert Speer at Obersalzberg in June 1939, showing the Fuehrer his plan for the new Opera House at Linz. enlarge

Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the October 18-22, 1941 dinner table conversation and monologues by the German Leader, taken down in shorthand by trusted aide, attorney Heinrich Heim.  Topics included in this episode:

• Britain's oligarchic, money-grubbing politicans don't represent the people;
• Germany needs to remain autarkic and independent from British imports even after the war;
• Need to improve standardization of construction and building products;
• Christianity and Bolshevism, and their relationship to St. Paul of Tarsus;
• Hitler identifies himself as "Prussian," compares Berlin favorably to Munich;
• Hitler: "I wish to be a builder." Monuments outlast the battles that inspired them.

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.

This picture was labeled "German panzer division heads toward Moscow in 1941" in Google Images. But I've learned it is from the end of 1943 during fighting in the Zihtomir sector. The tank is a Panzer 6 (Tiger) of SS Panzer Grenadier Division Das Reich.(see comments below)

May 8, 2014

Ray Goodwin and Carolyn Yeager read and comment on the October 14-19, 1941 dinner table conversation and monologues by the German Leader, taken down in shorthand by trusted aide Heinrich Heim. Included in this episode:

• Suggestions for improvement of meteorological forecasts;
• Hitler describes the challenges involved in his party's conquest of power;
• Lesson in economics and the cause of inflation;
• The progress made under Antonescu in Rumania, and the great promise of Ukraine;
• May 10, 1940 (start of Western Offensive) compared to June 22, 1941 (start of Barbarossa);

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.

Looks like Adolf Hitler is paying the bill for his glass of milk and the refreshments for the rest of his party. Or else he's signing an autograph.

May 1, 2014

Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the October 13-14, 1941 dinner table monologues by the German leader, as taken down by a trusted adjutant.

• Economic opportunities in the East for all Northern European people;
• Lunacy of First World War High Command;
• How Hitler makes wise use of his time;
• Disadvantages of a Concordat with the Churches;
• More thoughts on Christianity.

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.