I am continuing with the quotes contemporaries of the Hitler years, starting with his arch enemy, Winston Churchill.
For reasons best known to himself, Churchill - at first an admirer of Hitler - eventually made himself his enemy and, in the process, turned into the mass murderer of civilians in terror bombings of vulnerable, strategically unimportant German cities, killing hundreds of thousands of helpless women and children.
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WINSTON CHURCHILL: Those who have met Hitler face to face in public, business, or on social terms, have found a highly competent, cool, well-informed functionary with an agreeable manner, a discerning smile and few have been unaffected by a subtle personal magnetism. Nor is this impression merely the dazzle of power. He exerted it on his companions at every stage in his struggle, even when his fortunes were in the lowest depths.(...)
One may dislike Hitler's system and yet admire his patriotic achievement. If our country were defeated I should hope we should find a champion as indomitable to restore our courage and lead us back to our place among the nations." - Winston Churchill, 'Step by Step', p.143
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WINSTON CHURCHIL: In fifteen years that have followed this resolve, (Hitler) has succeeded in restoring Germany to the most powerful position in Europe, and not only has he restored the position of his country, but he has even, to a very great extent, reversed the results of the Great War.(...) the vanquished are in the process of becoming the victors and the victors the vanquished.(...) whatever else might be thought about these exploits they are certainly among the most remarkable in the whole history of the world." Winston Churchill, 1935.
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VISCOUNT ROTHERMERE: He has a supreme intellect. I have known only two other men to whom I could apply such distinction - Lord Northcliffe and Lloyd George. If one puts a question to Hitler, he gives an immediate, brilliant, clear answer. There is no human being living whose promise on important matters I would trust more readily.
He believes that Germany has a divine calling and that the German people are destined to save Europe from the revolutionary attacks of Communism. He values family life very highly, whereas Communism is its worst enemy.
He has thoroughly cleansed the moral, ethical life of Germany, forbidden publication of obscene books, and performance of questionable plays and films. No words can describe his politeness; he disarms men as well as women and can win both at any time with his conciliatory, pleasant smile. He is a man of rare culture. His knowledge of music, the arts and architecture is profound. - 'Warnings and Predictions', p.180 - 183
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HANS GRIMM: "I witness with awe and admiration, that he, as nearly the first in the world, caused multitudes without force or any personal benefits to follow him of their own free will and volition."
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G.E.O KNIGHT: "Altogether, Herr Hitler has worked miracles for the new Germany. I anticipate that in a very short time, the Chancellor will have shown the world more than it ever bargained for in its wildest efforts to crush the new regime." - In Defence of Germany
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JACQUES BAINVILLE, l'Action Francais: "Is Hitler policy the result of his own unaided efforts? Or is it influenced by his counselors? At bottom, this is more or less indifferent; then he who is capable of following sound advice is just as clever as he who gives such advice.
Hitler is undoubtedly lucky. Hitherto he has succeeded in everything, since even in his most impulsive moments he is a prudent calculator, and he shapes his foreign policy with the same bold imagination as he shaped the policy which was fore-ordained to make him the master of German's destinies. Thus he is always ahead of other governments, who are invariably a day or an idea - let us hope not an army - behind.
When our ministers were asked if they were prepared to negotiate with the Head of the German Government they replied evasively that they were certainly ready to do so, but only in full agreement with our allies. At that very time Hitler had already concluded his non-aggression pact with Poland. Poland's leading newspaper writes; 'Hitler is the first German statesman who has found the right language at the right time. Hitler has always stressed that any treaty signed by him is worth far more than the Treaty of Locarno. For Stressseman represented political parties which no longer existed, whereas Hitler enjoys the confidence of the whole of Germany expressed by the votes of over forty million electors.' "
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HOUSTON STEWART CHAMBERLAIN: "At one stroke you have transformed the state of my soul. That Germany in the greatest hour of its need can produce a Hitler testifies to its vitality."
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THE DAILY MAIL : "He succeeded in ascending to the highest power-position in Germany with very little spilling of blood or loss of human life in a land of 68 million inhabitants. Austria was annexed without one shot being fired." - Daily Mail, 20th, May, 1938
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SIR ARNOLD WILSON, MP: "Health statistics in Germany are satisfactory. Infant mortality has been greatly reduced and is considerably inferior to that in Great Britain. Tuberculosis and other diseases have noticeably diminished. The criminal courts have never had so little to do and the prisons have never had so few occupants. It is a pleasure to observe the physical aptitude of the German youth. Even the poorest persons are better clothed than was formerly the case, and their cheerful faces testify to their psychological improvement that has been wrought within them. Economic conditions in Germany, abstraction made of the influence exerted by rearmament, are steadily progressing. Unemployment has greatly decreased.
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THE OBSERVER: "Last May, I returned, bringing my family for another sojourn, after two years spent in other European countries. I found a Germany which has advanced miraculously from the point of 1933. I found political solidarity, a wholesome tone in the life of city dweller and country dweller alike. I found living costs materially reduced and an unmistakable optimism on every hand. In every quarter I found the same answer to my questioning: Profound belief in the genius of the Leader, love and admiration for him as an individual.
My observations have covered a wide range of social classification. I have talked with the humblest type of labourers, with merchants, professional men. I have yet to discover a dissenting voice to the question of loyalty to the Fuehrer.
My two young daughters are attending German public schools and are receiving an education which in thoroughness could be equaled in few countries."- John L. Garvin. The Observer
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AMERICAN MANIFEST DESTINY: "These financial and industrial wonders had been performed without foreign loans. Of these miracles, Churchill gave this tribute: "Whatever else may be thought about these exploits they are certainly among the most remarkable in the whole history of the world." - American Manifest Destiny, Conrad Grieb. Examiner Books. N.Y
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GEORGE BERNARD SHAW: "It was evident that Germany needed only a resolute and clear-headed leader to denounce the Treaty; declare her determination to assert her full equality with the Powers, and refuse to be disarmed, plundered and chastised under the pretext of reparations and 'war guilt', to rally to him every living soul whose native language was German, and at the same time take a great step towards peace in Europe by proving that neither France nor England nor the United States dare outrage humanity by attempting military occupation of her territory on the model of the old partitions of Poland; in short, that instead of Europe being plunged into war she would be dragged back from the brink of it by Germany.
Herr Hitler seized the hour and said the word, and France and England immediately climbed down, preserving their dignity by lecturing the Chancellor solemnly on his naughty behaviour as they descended. Mr. Vernon Bartlett was soundly berated by the Foreign Office for imploring all lovers of peace to believe in the perfect sincerity of Herr Hitler's assurance that a free Germany would be a peaceful Germany, but 95% of the listeners who wrote to him wanted to have him appointed Foreign Secretary. When I said that Herr Hitler's action was right and inevitable, the storm of abuse that was about to bust on me was suddenly checked by Mr. Lloyd George saying exactly the same thing.
Europe breathed again. The beginnings of a British popularity set in for Herr Hitler as they had set in years before for Signor Mussolini, in spite of all the liberal protests, and it only remains to watch the results of the forthcoming general election in Germany, in which it is inconceivable that a single vote should be cast against him, even by the angriest German Jew or German Communist." George Bernard Shaw. Playwright.
'The Observer' November, 5th, 1933
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THE CHURCH: "The spectacle of Germany today is a tremendous experience. Fifteen years after the war in which the allied powers thought they had destroyed her, Germany is on her feet again. As compared with 1922 and 1931, when I last saw Germany, the change is miraculous. The people are confident, enthusiastic and courageous. They have recovered their morale.
In 1931 the German people were going to pieces. But now they are themselves again, no doubt about that! The masses of the people are increasingly with Hitler. I have been fooling myself all along that this was not so, but now I know it is so." - John H. Holmes, Pastor.
Community Church. NY Times, July 12th, 1935
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Thought for the Day:
"The holohuggers have created a false impression, that there is no rational discussion outside of skinhead diatribes - as though there were a skinhead who is intelligent enough to create a diatribe."
(Letter to the Zundelsite)