Tapping Hitler's Generals

CHOLTITZ: Yes. He said (imitating HITLER): ‘Does the General know what it’s about?’ and BURGDORF(?) replied: ‘Yes, my FÜHRER.’ Thereupon he began reeling off a gramophone record like a man stung by a tarantula and spoke for three-quarters of an hour! With difficulty I succeeded in interrupting him three times. He spoke just as loud as I am speaking now in a room that was about as large as this one, only rather longer–it was in his dug-out, because the air-raid warning had just been given outside. (Imitating HITLER) ‘A people which does not surrender can never be defeated, such a thing has never happened in history.’ Then he began talking about the Party and how he had struggled for fourteen years. (With sarcasm) He said some words which I seemed vaguely to remember having heard before. (General laughter) He trotted out all that old nonsense, so that I actually had to bite my tongue hard three times, to keep myself from bursting out. His left eye dropped a bit to the left, his right one was fixed very suspiciously on me all the time, because he hates us all like the plague. I noticed that when we–I have been commanding a ‘Korps’ since December 1942[70] and, in order o check up on me, I was sent again at Christmas to a course for GOCs–they have got that too, now! At the end of this course, we were all put into a marvellous train and sent to POSEN, where we were lodged for four days in an hotel, where we were actually very well off–good food and good drink–and where we were allowed to listen to speeches by prominent people on ‘the greatest man of GERMANY’ for four days on end. (General laughter).

?: SPANG was there too, wasn’t he?

CHOLTITZ: SPANG was there, among others. He just accepted all these things with startled resignation. I was delighted to see that such people still exist, who are living mentally two-thirds and physically one-third on the moon. He was like a little child and always used to listen in complete wonder.

?: You will see him here, too.

CHOLTITZ: He was also the only one who took notes. (General amusement ). He took notes!

There was a terrible man there, who is a disgrace to the German Army, General REINECKE.[71]

?: Who is he?

THOMA: He was a member of the People’s Court.

CHOLTITZ: I heard say that he was at the Clothing Department for a long time. (General laughter).

?: The very man for the job.

CHOLTITZ: (With disgust) Such a common commercial traveller, such a vulgar, horrible fellow! He always used to come on to the platform: ‘Heil HITLER’–dead silence in the hall–whereupon everyone said: ‘Morning’, whereupon he said: ‘I ought to say a few words about that!’–and that to the Commanders-in-Chief of our army! ‘Anyone who doesn’t say “Heil HITLER” is an outsider.’ That was the gist of his speech. The next day I came down to breakfast and stood there–there were nothing but Generals all round the table–and said: ‘Heil HITLER’, whereupon they all began to laugh. I said: ‘Gentlemen, you are on the wrong side. So is the General over there.’ That was REINECKE, who had not said ‘Heil HITLER’ either. (General laughter). A really common, horrible fellow.

THOMA: Didn’t anyone from the Party come then, GOEBBELS or anyone?

CHOLTITZ: That’s possible. Then the best thing was a fellow from the Party, whose name I have forgotten, who came from the Party Chancellery and had the impudence to stand there and read something out for three-and-a-half hours in a completely toneless voice, just talking down to us. There was a fat brown-shirted, stupid fellow sitting on one of those narrow theatre chairs beside me and he said: ‘It’s intolerable, who the hell is he?’ ‘I wouldn’t speak so loudly,’ I said, ‘or you will be had up there.’ (Laughter) I said: ‘Who are you then?’ ‘I am the “Gauleiter”.’ ‘Oh, hell!’ I said.