53
The Brown House
ADOLF HITLER SAT AT one end of the long walnut table in the Senatorensaal conference room in the Brown House, shaking his head, drumming his fingers.
The others at the table—Hermann Goring, Heinrich Himmler, Martin Bormann, Rudolf Hess, and Joseph Goebbels—noted the darkening of his eyes, the reddening of his face, the clenching of his jaw. They knew an explosion was forthcoming.
Hitler had finished in a respectable second place in the runoff presidential election.
But, more important, the National Socialists had won the most seats in the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament, preventing President Paul von Hindenburg and his appointed chancellor, Franz von Papen, from forming a moderate coalition government.
Even after the chancellor was forced to call for new parliamentary elections in November, the Nazis still remained the party with the largest plurality of seats by far, with one-third of the elected Reichstag.
The question had remained: who would the president appoint as the new chancellor of Germany?
Von Papen’s failure to form a coalition government had wounded him terribly.
That left two principal candidates: General Kurt von Schleicher, the defense minister, a moderate who had pushed hard for Papen’s downfall; or Adolf Hitler, the undisputed leader of the National Socialists and, of course, the second highest vote-getter in the previous presidential race.
Von Hindenburg’s decision had just come through.
“That swine,” Hitler mumbled. “He chooses that pimple Schleicher over me?” He slammed his hand down on the table and pushed himself out of his chair, walking over to one of the many portraits of himself inside the room.
“That position is rightfully mine,” he hissed, his hands balled in fists, his face a deep scarlet, the veins in his forehead and neck threatening to pop. “Mine!”
“And it will be soon, mein Führer,” said Goebbels.
“You know what will happen now, Joseph.” Hitler wagged an angry finger. “Schleicher will try to negotiate with Strasser. He’ll try to divide our party.”
He was referring to Gregor Strasser, leader of the liberal wing of the National Socialists, who had butted heads often with Hitler over the years about party ideology, resulting in only the most fragile of truces to date.
“He will try that very thing,” said Goebbels. “Schleicher, I predict, will offer Strasser the vice-chancellorship, with the intention of marginalizing you. So we will have to ensure that Strasser does not accept.”
“And how do we do that?” asked Rudolf Hess.
“We marginalize Strasser,” said Goebbels.
“Yes, yes,” Hitler agreed. “We force Strasser to resign from all party offices. We leave him without a party. Then he will be unable to speak for the National Socialists.”
“And then Schleicher will be marginalized,” said Hermann Goring. “He will be politically wounded. Like Papen, Schleicher will be unable to form a coalition. The government will be paralyzed. President von Hindenburg will have to do something.”
“And that is where we come in.” Goebbels rubbed his bony hands together.
“We play one off the other. We appeal to Papen’s ego and thirst for revenge.
Papen largely blames Schleicher for undermining his chancellorship, yes?
He thinks Schleicher sabotaged him. So we give Papen the chance to sabotage Schleicher right back. ”
Hitler leaned forward. “Go on, Joseph.”
“We offer Papen a deal, mein Führer. You are named chancellor, and he is named vice-chancellor.”
“And you think Papen will agree to that?” asked Hitler.
“I do, mein Führer.” Goebbels turned to Goring, who had been elected to the Reichstag and who, given the Nazis’ status as the largest party, had become its leader. “Do you concur, Hermann?”
“I do.” Goring nodded. “Papen is a political animal through and through. He wants a title, a position. A compromise will allow him to turn the tables on Schleicher—to oust the man who just ousted him—and at the same time, keep himself close to power. He will sell it to the president. He will say it allows him to placate you, mein Führer, while also keeping a watchful eye on you.”
Everyone around the table nodded.
Hitler took a moment to warm to the idea.
“So then I become chancellor,” he said, pacing slowly.
“And it doesn’t matter who the vice-chancellor is, whether it’s Franz von Papen or Kurt von Schleicher or Mickey Mouse.
Not after we trigger our… our…” He turned to Goebbels. “What are we calling it, Joseph?”
“Unsere nationale Krise,” said Goebbels.
“Yes, our national crisis.” Hitler clapped his hands together, then slapped them down flat on the table.
“Gentlemen, we have work to do. Starting with you, Martin.” He turned to Bormann.
“I want you to convene a meeting of party leaders at once. On the agenda will be the future of Gregor Strasser in the National Socialist Party.”
“Yes, mein Führer.”
“I must be chancellor within days, not months,” said Hitler. “At which time, we will remember those who tried to stop us. And in that vein, Hermann?”
“Yes, mein Führer.” Goring sat up straight.
“Strasser? Schleicher? I want to add them.”
“Add them, mein Führer?”
Hitler leveled his coldest stare on Goring.
“Add them to the list,” he said.