Page 86 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

The British Diplomats 73

discussion. Hitler’s sense of values is so abnormal that argument seems
powerless. the ordinary rules of the game seem to have no meaning for
him and some of the statements which he makes and which, to give him
his due, i am sure he believes to be true, leave one aghast.” Henderson was
stunned to hear Hitler claim, with “the utmost emphasis and conviction,”
that despite the trial of Pastor Martin Niemöller (for publicly criticizing the
repressive measures of the Nazis), “nowhere in the world was religion freer
than in Germany!” Henderson concluded that “His capacity for self-decep-
tion and his incapacity to see any point which does not meet his own case
are fantastic, and no perversion of the truth seems too great for him to ac-
cept as the gospel of Hitler and of Germany.” it was likely, the ambassador
suggested, that Hitler’s self-confidence, his ability to sweep aside all doubts
and any inferiority complex, accounted for his extraordinary influence over
the German people. No one like that had ever been the leader of Germany,
and Henderson could not think of any dictator “past or present” to whom
Hitler could be compared.
a few months later, in mid-september 1938, Henderson suggested that
the Führer might actually be somewhat deranged: “driven by megalomania
inspired by military force which he has built up . . . , he may have crossed
the border-line of insanity.” at about the same time, Henderson com-
141
plained that he could not speak with “certitude” about the international cri-
sis over Germany’s designs on Czechoslovakia because “everything depends
on the psychology of one abnormal individual.” He had recently talked
briefly with Hitler at the Nuremberg Party day and had noticed that, “even
while addressing his Hitler Youth,” the Führer was so nervous that he could
not relax. “His abnormality seemed to me greater than ever.” 142
astonishingly, Henderson’s assessment of Hitler’s psychological makeup
did not prevent the ambassador from finding much to admire in his leader-
ship, and he warned against discounting the positive features of his rule.
the Führer had “sublime faith in his own mission and that of Germany in
the world,” and there could be no doubt that “he is a constructive genius,
a builder and not a mere demagogue.” like several other diplomats, Hen-
derson admired the Nazi program “strength through Joy” (Kraft durch
Freude), and he lavished praise on Hitler for his commitment to doing “the
right thing—for Germany—at the right moment” and for knowing how
to “get . . . away with it.” to be sure, Hitler was prepared to go to great
lengths to “secure fair and honourable treatment for the austro- and su-
deten Germans,” even if it meant waging war, but Henderson assured the
Foreign Office that the chancellor “hates war as much as anyone.” in fact,