45 Schmidt, Statist, p 439.
46 Moseley, Zwischen Hitler und Mussolini, p m3.
47 Ciano diaries ^39–43, quoted in Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 290 and Rauscher, Hitler und Mussolini, p 331.
48 Moseley, Zwischen Hitler und Mussolini, p 107; Rauscher, Hitler und Mussolini, p 332.
49 Below, Adjutant, p 178.
50 Roatta, report to Mussolini, 12 August 1939, IDocumenti Diplomatici Italiani (DDI), series VIII, vol XIII, Rome, 1953, no 10, p ii. Cf Siebert, Ferdinand, Italiens Weg in den Zweiten Weltkrieg, Frankfurt am Main 1962, p 252.
51 Magistrati, report to Ciano, 16 August 1939, DDI, series VIII, vol XIII, no 67, p 46b Cf Groscurth diaries, p 181, n 372 to entry 24 August 1939.
52 DDI, series VIII, vol XIII, no 67, p 47, n 1.
53 Cf Thielenhaus, Zwischen Anpassung und Widerstand, p 140ff.
54 Hill, Weizsäcker-Papiere 1933–1950, p 181.
55 Thielenhaus, Zwischen Anpassung und Widerstand, p 140.
56 Ibid, p 141.
57 Lahousen diaries, p i, entry 12 August 1939, IfZ, F 23/i, folio 4.
58 Cf additionally with examples Höhne, Canaris, p 322.
59 Ibid, p 323.
60 For Jost see Wildt, Generation, p 422, and also a short biography of Jost, ibid, p 936f.
61 See Lahousen, note: ‘Unternehmen Himmler’, undated, IfZ, ZS 658, folio 45; Lahousen diaries, p 2, entry 17 August 1939, IfZ, F 23Α, folio 5.
62 Ibid, and p 3, entry 19 August 1939.
63 Wildt, Generation, p 392f; cf Wildt, Nachrichtendienst, p 264f.
64 Lahousen, statement to IMG, vol II, p 496f.
65 Lahousen diaries, p 2, entry 17 August 1939, IfZ, F 23/1, folio 5.
66 Gruchmann, Der Zweite Weltkrieg, vol 1, p 22; Höhne, Heinz, Der Orden unter dem Totenkopf– Die Geschichte der SS, Munich, 1984, pp 240–5; also Höhne, Canaris, p 325. No Polish uniforms were used during the raid on the Gleiwitz radio station because it had already been occupied by an SS unit. Cf Runzheimer, Jürgen, ‘“Der Uberfall auf den Sender Gleiwitz” im Jahre 1939’, in VfZ 10, 1962, pp 408–26.
67 Lahousen, note, ‘Unternehmen Himmler’, IfZ, ZS 658, folio 47; cf IMG, vol IV, p 270b Affidavit, Alfred Helmut Naujocks, 20 November 1945; Höhne, Orden unter dem Totenkopf, p 241 and Runzheimer, ‘Der Uberfall’, p 412.
68 Gruchmann, Der Zweite Weltkrieg, p 22.
69 Lahousen diaries, p 1, entry 17 August 1939, IfZ, F 23/1, folio 4.
70 Halder, War Diary, vol I, p 19, entry 17 August 1939.
71 Canaris, note, ‘Aussprache mit Generaloberst Keitel am 17. August 1939’, BA/MA, RW 4/v. 764; reprinted in Abshagen, Canaris, pp 195–7; cf Höhne, Canaris, p 328f.
72 Ibid.
73 Cf Müller, Heer und Hitler, p 4070.
74 Groscurth diaries, p 180, entry 24 August 1939 (private diary).
75 Thomas, Georg, ‘Gedanken und Erinnerungen’, Schweizer Monatshefte 25, 1945, p 542f; Gisevius, Bis zum betteren Ende, vol II, p 112f; IMG, vol XII, p 246, statement Gisevius. Cf Hoffmann, Widerstand, p 143 k Despite differing accounts it appears possible that one of the memoranda was given to Keitel before 25 August, and one on the 27th: see Hoffmann, Widerstand, p 702, n 61. For General Thomas see also Uberschar, Gerd R (ed), Hitlers militärische Elite, vol I: Von den Anfängen des Regimes bis Kriegsbeginn, Darmstadt, 1998, pp 248–57.
76 Thomas, ‘Gedanken und Erinnerungen’, p 542. Cf Gisevius, Biz zum betteren Ende, vol II, p 113.
77 ADAP, series D, vol VII, no 200, p 180; Schmidt, Statist, p 448; Kershaw, Hitler 1936–194$, p 299f; Schmidt, Außenpolitik, p 346f.
78 Below, Adjutant, p 182.
79 According to Weizsäcker, Erinnerungen, p 252; cf Kershaw, Hitler 1936–194$, p 300.
80 Ibid.
81 Weizsäcker, Erinnerungen, p 252.
82 Cf Schmidt, Außenpolitik, p 346.
83 Schmidt, Statist, p 444; Below, Adjutant, p 183.
84 Ibid.
85 Ahmann, Rolf, ‘Der Hitler–Stalin-Pakt: Nichtangriffs- und Angriffsvertrag?’, in Oberländer, Erwin (ed), Hitler–Stalin-Pakt 1939. Das Ende Ostmitteleuropas?, Frankfurt am Main, 1989. For the whole complex also see Schmidt, Außenpolitik, p 340f; Hildebrand, Klaus, Das vergangene Reich – Deutsche Außenpolitik von Bismarck bis Hitler, Stuttgart, 1995, p 803ff, with rather differing interpretations; Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 297.
86 Hildebrand, Das vergangene Reich, p 806.
87 Heinz, ‘Canaris’, p 108.
88 Ibid, p 109.
18 The Madness Unfolds
1 Krausnick, Deutsch and Kotze, ‘Introduction’, p 7.
2 Ibid, p 48 and Groscurth diaries, p 179, entry 24 August 1939 (private diary).
3 For Krichbaum and the GFP see principally: Brown, Paul B, ‘Forester to Feldpolizeichef: The Life and Counter-intelligence Career of Wilhelm Krichbaum’, paper presented at the Conference of the International History Study Group, Tutzing, 24–6 April 1998, and Brown, Paul B, ‘The Senior Leadership Cadre of the Geheime Feldpolizei, 1939–1945’, Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group, National Archives and Records Administration: Holocaust and Genocide Studies 17, no 2, Autumn 2003, pp 278–304. I thank Erich Schmidt-Eenboom for drawing my attention to the two texts and Paul Brown for his support during my research in Washington. Krichbaum left the liaison group on 23 September 1939; cf Krausnick, Deutsch and Kotze, ‘Introduction’, p 48, n 147, p 128, n 140 and Groscurth diaries, entry 23 September 1939, in ibid, p 278.
4 Ibid, p 128, n 140.
5 Meinl, Nationalsozialisten, p 307.
6 Groscurth diaries, p 183, entry 24 August 1939 (private diary).
7 Lahousen diaries, p 7, entry 25 August 1939, IfZ F 23/1, folio 10.
8 Ibid.
9 Groscurth diaries, p 184, entry 25 August 1939 (private diary).
10 Schmidt, Außenpolitik, p 349; Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 302.
11 Groscurth diaries, p 184, entry 25 August 1939 (private diary).
12 Schindler, Mosty und Dirschau, p 74.
13 Ibid, p 114.
14 Ibid, p 116, n 42.
15 Schmidt, Außenpolitik, p 349.
16 Schmidt, Statist, p 452.
17 Ibid.
18 Keitel, statement, IMG, vol 10, p 578.
19 Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 303.
20 Gisevius, Bis zum betteren Ende, vol 2, p 132k also see Müller, Heer undHitler,p 413k This attempt to prevent the war and end the dictatorship has undergone various evaluations (Ritter, Gerhard, Carl Goerdeler und die deutsche Widerstandsbewegung, Stuttgart, 1956, p 498, n 54; Müller, Heer und Hitler, p 414). For more recent opinions on the reactions of Canaris, Oster and others see Fest, Staatsstreich, p 114 and Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 316.
21 As portrayed by Gisevius, Bis zum betteren Ende, vol 2, p 134ff. Kershaw points out that Gisevius did not claim to report Oster word for word, but guaranteed the sense of what he said. Cf Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 316 and p 1153, n 309.
22 Gisevius, Bis zum betteren Ende, vol 2, p 135.
23 Ibid, p 136.
24 Fest, Staatsstreich, p 114.
25 Gisevius, Bis zum betteren Ende, vol 2, p 136f.
26 Fest, Staatsstreich, p 114.
27 Kordt, Nicht aus den Akten, p 329.
28 Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 316.
29 Lahousen diaries, p 8, entry 25 August 1939, IfZ F 23/1, folio 11.
30 Herzner, ‘Bericht über das Unternehmen gegen Bahnhof und Tunnel von Mosty in der Nacht vom 25У26. August 1939’, Handakte Herzner, Archive Heinz Höhne.
31 Lahousen diaries, p 8, entry 26 August 1939, IfZ F 23/1, folio 11.
32 Report, Eickern, 26 August 1939, Handakte Herzner, Archive Heinz Höhne.
33 Radio message Striegau, 26 August 1939, Handakte Herzner, Archive Heinz Höhne.
34 Cf ‘Bericht vom 26.8. 1939 K.O.J. Besetzung Bahnh of Mosty und Tunnel’, Handakte Herzner, Archive Heinz Höhne. Cf the very divergent accounts from the German and Polish sides of the exact cir
cumstances of Unternehmen Herzner, principally in Schindler, Mosty und Dirschau.
35 Herzner, ‘Bericht über das Unternehmen gegen Bahnhof und Tunnel von Mosty in der Nacht vom 25У26. August 1939’, Handakte Herzner, Archive Heinz Höhne, and Lahousen diaries, entry 26 August 1939, IfZ F 23/1, folio 11.
36 Lahousen diaries, p 8, entry 26 August 1939, IfZ F 23/1, folio 11.
37 Schlabrendorff, Fabian von, Offiziere gegen Hitler; bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Gero v. S. Gaevernitz, Zurich, 1946, p 32.
38 Groscurth diaries, p 185, entry 26 August 1939 and n 388 (private diary).
39 Fest, Joachim, Hitler – Eine Biographie, Munich, 1973, p 821.
40 Schmidt, Außenpolitik, p 351.
41 Fest, Hitler, p 821.
42 Groscurth diaries, p 185, entry 26 August 1939 (private diary).
43 Ibid, p 186.
44 See above, similar entries by Halder in his War Diary.
45 Groscurth diaries, p 186, n 391.
46 Ibid, p 186, entry 26 August 1939 (private diary).
47 Ibid.
48 That would have been 31 August; the attack occurred on 7th Mobilisation Day. Brauchitsch informed Halder on 28 August that Hitler had set the definitive attack date for 1 September: Halder, War Diary, vol I, p 40.
49 Groscurth diaries, p 187, entry 27 August 1939 (private diary).
50 Thomas, Gedanken und Erinnerungen, p 542f; Gisevius, Bis zum betteren Ende, vol II, p 113f; cf Hoffmann, Widerstand, p 145. It is not beyond doubt that the second memorandum reached Hitler; Schlabrendorff mentions only that Keitel dismissed all Thomas’s arguments and supported Hitler.
51 Groscurth diaries, p 190, entry 28 August 1939 (private diary).
52 Halder, War Diary, vol I, p 38, entry 28 August 1939.
53 Groscurth diaries, p 190, entry 28 August 1939; similarly Halder, War Diary, vol I, p 38, following information from Groscurth and Oster. The content of the address quickly made the rounds. Reichstag Deputy Heinrich Ernst von Sybel, at breakfast on 29 August, spoke at length with Finance Minister Popitz, State Secretary Kempner, Chief of the OKW-Household Department Tischbein, Generalmajor Heinrici and Ambassador von Hassell: Hassell diaries, p 117f, entry 29 August 1939.
54 Groscurth diaries, p 190, entry 28 August 1939 (private diary).
55 Halder, War Diary, vol I, p 38, entry 28 August 1939.
56 Schmidt, Außenpolitik, p 353f.
57 Schmidt, Statist, p 456.
58 Ibid, p 459.
59 Hill, Weizsäcker-Papiere, p 163.
60 Groscurth diaries, p 195, entry 31 August 1939 (private diary).
61 Gisevius, Bis zum betteren Ende, vol 2, p 138; cf IMG, vol XII, p 247, statement of Gisevius.
62 Lahousen, statement, IMG, vol II, p 490.
63 Fest, Staatsstreich, p 115.
19 The War of Extermination – Act One
1 Ueberschär, Gerd R, ‘Der militärische Widerstand, die antijüdischen Maßnahmen, “Polenmorde” und NS-Kriegsverbrechen in den ersten Kriegsjahren (1939–1941)’, in Ueberschär, Gerd R, (ed), NS-Verbrechen und der militärische Widerstand gegen Hitler, Darmstadt, 2000, p 34.
2 Hill, Weizsäcker-Papiere 1933–1950, p 164, note of 7 October 1939.
3 Ibid, p 173.
4 Ueberschär, ‘Widerstand’, p 34.
5 Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 313.
6 Groscurth diaries, p 196, entry 1 September 1939 (private diary).
7 Ibid; Halder, War Diary, vol I, pp 50 and 52, entry 1 September 1939. Also see Schindler, Mosty und Dirschau, pp I20f and 150f.
8 Lahousen diaries, p II, entry I September 1939, IfZ, F 23/1, folio 14.
9 Runzheimer, ‘Der Uberfall’, p 409.
10 Lahousen, Erwin, ‘Das Unternehmen Himmler’, undated, IfZ, ZS 658, folio 45; IMG, vol II, p 497, statement by Lahousen. Abshagen, Canaris, p 207, writes – after Lahousen’s statement before the IMG – that Piekenbrock made the statement after the publication of the first Wehrmacht report. This is incorrect. See Runzheimer, ‘Der Uberfall’, p 410, n 11.
11 Interrogation of Lahousen at the Nuremberg OKW trial in Runzheimer, ‘Der Uberfall’, p 411.
12 Ibid, p 412, with n 21.
13 Höhne, Orden unter dem Totenkopf, pp 241–5.
14 Browning, Christopher R, Die Entfesselung der Entlösung – nationalsozialistishe Judenpolitik 1939–1942, Munich, 2003, p 35 and Müller, Heer und Hitler, p 426.
15 Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 334.
16 Halder, War Diary, vol I, p 44, entry 29 September 1939.
17 Herbert, Best, pp 234–40; Wildt, Generation, pp 426–8; Krausnick, Helmut, and Wilhelm, Hans Heinrich, Die Truppe des Weltanschauungskrieges – Die Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD 1938–1942, Stuttgart, 1981, p 40f.
18 Quotation from Herbert, Best, p 238.
19 Halder, War Diary, vol I, p 44, entry 30 September 1939.
20 Herbert, Best, p 239.
21 Ibid, p 240.
22 For the ‘Bromberg Bloody Sunday’ in detail, see Wildt, Generation, pp 432–47; Krausnick and Wilhelm, Truppe, pp 55–65.
23 Groscurth diaries, p 198 (private diary) and p 257 (service diary), entry 3 September 1939.
24 Ibid, p 257, entry 4 September 1939 (service diary).
25 Ibid, p 199, entry 5 September 1939 (private diary).
26 Ibid, p 260, entry 5 September 1939 (service diary).
27 Ibid, p 198, entry 3 September 1939 (private diary).
28 Ibid, p 200f, entry 8 September 1939 (private diary); cf Wildt, Generation, p 433f, with n 52.
29 Groscurth diaries, p 198, entry 4 September 1939 (private diary).
30 Ibid, p 198 ff, entries 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 September 1939 (private diary).
31 Ibid, p 199, with n 461 (private diary) and p 259 (service diary).
32 Werner Best dates the evening meal as the day of the British declaration of war, 3 September. According to the service diaries Canaris was at the Front that day. Presumably the visit occurred after his return. Groscurth’s diary entries do not mention it and Lahousen refers only to journeys and conferences planned by Canaris for the following week. See Best, ‘Canaris’, p 177.
33 Ibid.
34 Cf the recent study by John Horne and Alan Kramer, Deutsche Kriegsgreuel 1914, Hamburg, 2004.
35 Wildt, Generation, p 436f.
36 Krausnick and Wilhelm, Truppe, p 55, with n 134; Herbert, Best, p 593, n 316; Wildt, Generation, p 439.
37 Ibid.
38 See for the discussion of the events Wildt, Generation, p 439ff; Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 336; Krausnick and Wilhelm, Truppe, p 55ff.
39 Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 336.
40 For the divergent details see Wildt, Generation, p 439f, n 71.
41 Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 336.
42 Wildt points out, contrary to the general interpretation, that Himmler’s orders of 3 September were in reaction to Bromberg. Wildt, Generation, p 434, n 53.
43 Ibid, p 433 and Herbert, Best, p 240.
44 Ibid.
45 Wildt, Generation, p 414ff.
46 Ibid, p 447f, with n 96.
47 Protocol of Conference of Departmental Chiefs, 7 to 8 September 1939 in Herbert, Best, p 241.
48 Groscurth diaries, p 201, entry 8 September 1939 (private diary).
49 Ibid, p 202, entry 9 September 1939 (private diary).
50 Ibid, in his service diary Groscurth put the time of his appointment with Halder (1615hrs) but made no mention of the content of the conversation: ibid, p 265.
51 Cf opinions of Herbert, Best, p 241 and Wildt, Generation, pp 447 and 449.
52 File note by Oberstleutnant von Lahousen on the conference in the Führer’s train on 12 September 1939 at Illnau and Vienna, 14 September 1939, BA-MA, N 104/3; Groscurth papers, reproduced in Groscurth diaries, pp 357–9, document 12; cf statement of Lahousen at Nuremberg: IMG, vol II, pp 492–5.
53 Galicia and White Russia played an important role for some time in the Abwehr plans for t
he war against Poland. See ‘Ergebnis der Besprechung der Abwehr II-Referenten der Abwehrstellen VIII und XVII beim Chef der Abt II der Amtsgr. Ausland/Abwehr’, 3 July 1939, BA-MA, RW 5/123; ‘Bericht Lahousen an Chef der IV. Abt. d. GenStH über die Ausbildung von Angehörigen der OUN far den Uberfall auf Polen’, 15 July 1939, BA-MA, RW 5/699; ‘Direktive Lahousens zur Kampfausbildung von Angehörigen der OUN’, 4 August 1939, BA-MA, RW 5/699; Lahousen diaries, entry 15 August 1923 and 8 and 25 August 1939, IfZ, F 23/1. For Abwehr planning and activities with regards to the Ukraine and Galicia, cf Höhne, Canaris, pp 304–9, 323f and 342ff
54 IMG, vol II, p 494, Lahousen statement.
55 File note, Lahousen, 14 September 1939.
56 IMG, vol II, p 493, Lahousen statement.
57 File note, Lahousen, 14 September 1939.
58 Ibid and IMG, vol II, p 493, statement of Lahousen.
59 Ibid, p 494. Keitel avoided recollecting any details of this conference to the Nuremberg judges, but admitted to having repeated ‘frankly’ what had been discussed in his presence by Brauchitsch and Hitler. IMG, vol X, p 580, statement of Keitel.
60 Cf principally Krausnick and Wilhelm, Truppe, p 64ff; Müller, Heer und Hitler, p 427ff; and Browning, Entfesselung, pp 34–48 and 116–29f.
61 File note, Lahousen, 14 September 1939; cf IMG, vol II, p 493, statement of Lahousen.
62 Nikolaus von Vormann, ‘Erinnerungen’ (unpublished, IfZ 34/2), quoted in Höhne, Canaris, p 349.
63 IMG, vol II, p 494, statement of Lahousen.
64 File note Lahousen, 14 September 1939.
65 Groscurth diaries, p 204, entry 13 September 1939 (private diary).
66 Ibid, p 286, entry 13 September 1939 (service diary).
67 Halder, War Diary, vol I, p 71, entry 13 September 1939.
68 Conference note, Oberquartiermeister IV for ObdH, Generaloberst von Brauchitsch, 17 September 1939, BA-MA N 104/3 reproduced in Groscurth diaries, p 360, document 13; cf here et seq principally Wildt, Generation, p 451ff and Browning, Entfesselung, p 38ff.
69 Conference note, 17 September 1939.
70 Ibid.
71 This is denied by Wildt, Generation, p 452.
72 Groscurth diaries, p 206, entry 18 September 1939 (private diary).
73 Cf DRZW, vol 2, p 126f; Hoensch, JörgK, ‘Der Hitler–Stalin-Pakt und Polen’, in Oberländer, Erwin (ed), Hitler–Stalin-Pakt 1939. Das Ende Ostmitteleuropas?, Frankfurt am Main 1989, p 51 (with facsimile of the secret protocol, p 127O; Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945, p 329.
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