Page 141 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

128 The French Diplomats

that there was no doubt that some among the leadership of the third reich
were “sincere partisans of a Western entente,” which they viewed as the
“most solid foundation for peace.” How much influence they would exer-
cise would become clear only “over the coming weeks and months.” 75
On the other hand, about a month later, the ambassador gave a chilling
account of the celebration of Hitler’s birthday on april 20. Many citizens,
in a state of rapture, marked the event by extolling the “resurrection” of the
German army and the reoccupation of the rhine territory. the celebrations
took place “in an atmosphere of idolatry and cultism, evoking in certain
aspects the cult that surrounded roman emperors.” the military marches
harked back to the most elaborate such spectacles of imperial Germany.
Hitler’s photograph was prominently displayed on virtually all streets to
drive home the point that he had restored the country’s power and pres-
tige. according to François-Poncet, it seemed as though the Führer was
portrayed as some sort of “Germanic deity” and that the cult surrounding
him was designed to supplant Christianity. in the evening before these cel-
ebrations, Goebbels delivered a speech, widely reprinted in the press, that
lauded Hitler as “one of the greatest figures in history, as a being of super-
human will, a person with a sharp intelligence [and] a phenomenal mem-
ory, capable of confounding any technician on questions in his specialty; a
man of encyclopedic knowledge, [who] knows by heart the smallest details
of Greek or roman history as well as the tonnage of any German or for-
eign warship.” the ambassador concluded his dispatch with a statement
that could be taken as a warning to the French government: the grand dis-
play of april 20 amounted to further evidence of Hitler’s megalomania and
boded ill for european countries standing in his way. it was certainly not
76
the description of a leader who could be restrained by domestic pressures
from pursuing his ambitions. it is therefore surprising that François-Poncet
continued to believe that moderates in the Nazi Party might yet influence
the Führer’s policies.
totally unexpected events early in 1938 further strengthened Hitler’s grip
on power. On January 12, General Werner von Blomberg, the minister of
war and an ardent admirer of the Führer, married a young woman twenty
years his junior in the presence of his five children, the bride’s mother, and
Hitler and Göring; the last two acted as witnesses. Blomberg’s wife had
died, and lacking friends he yearned for female companionship. But within
days of the marriage, rumors circulated in Berlin that the general’s new wife
had been a lady of ill repute; even worse for devoted Nazis, she had been
photographed in scanty attire by a Czech Jew who was her lover. according