Thus, she realised her fantasy of him not only being her deity, but also a participant in her sexual Eucharist. To his obvious pleasure, this became apparent to him, when, in answer to his whispered question of what she thought about when she was being taken by his warrior disciples, she assured him that she only ever thought of him and that they were purely a symbol of her submissive devotion and total commitment to his control of her destiny.
And so it was that for the first time, they not only shared a sexual experience but Unity acknowledged her unconditional acceptance of Hitler’s necromantic power.
* * *
While the intimate details of Unity’s relationship with Hitler have never previously been publicly revealed, there have been a number of rather vague but pointed references made, particularly by Nancy, that lead one to believe that within the Mitford family they were an open secret; but something, they decided, that was best kept to themselves. Many years later, Nancy could not resist claiming that Unity and Hitler’s relationship had developed to the point where marriage had been considered. While Sydney may indeed have harboured such ambitions, Unity believed their relationship transcended such a dreary, temporal union. There was also no evidence, despite Nancy’s claims, that Hitler had told Unity that he ‘could not think of marrying someone who had been behind the hedge with half his army’. It was much more likely that Nancy was hinting at Unity’s group sex activities’in an effort to intimidate the family. There was no doubt a degree of resentment in the publicity that her sister was attracting and the fact that Unity was now a frequent guest at gatherings of Hitler’s inner circle.
While Hitler’s clique seemed to have accepted the fact that she regularly saw their Führer alone in his apartment, there is no evidence that the details of her physical and transcendental relationship with him were of any concern to them. This group of privileged associates were all too aware that discretion was the safest option. Of far greater concern would have been the security risk she posed.
Major Gerhard Engel, Hitler’s adjutant representing the Wehrmacht, always claimed to be ignorant of Unity’s relationship with the Führer; this was of course highly unlikely, but perhaps advisable. ‘The great enigma,’ said Engel, ‘was what did Unity Mitford want?’
There was also an ever-increasing degree of jealousy involved. They could not help but notice that Hitler addressed her as ‘Walküre’ or that she now signed her name ‘Unity Walküre’ in the German manner, adding a small swastika underneath.
No one else in his life, apart from Eva Braun, who was rarely present in either Munich or Berlin, dared to treat him in the casual manner that Unity adopted. Even during the time that Diana spent alone with Hitler, which was far more than most people realise, she was always respectful of his position and her radio station agenda and addressed him accordingly with the formal ‘Sie’. Only Unity had been invited to address him with the familiar ‘Du’, in the same way that the equally ill-fated Ernst Röhm had before her.
* * *
By the end of May 1937 Unity had returned to Munich, accompanied – or joined soon after – by Sydney. Unity then drove her mother to stay with the Heskeths, who had rented the frightfully grand Princess Starhemberg’s villa at Ischl, once the summer residence of Emperor Franz Joseph.
According to Peter Hesketh:
When they arrived at Ischl, Unity’s car had swastika flags on it and one long banner given to her by Hitler. We had English servants and the loyal Starhemberg servants who were strongly opposed to Hitler. Muv and Unity spent a few days there. My mother took them over to Engleiten, a charming little castle not far away belonging to Lucy Goldschmidt-Rothschild, married to Baron Spiegel. When Unity was asked to sign the visitor’s book, with a flourish she put a huge swastika opposite her name, Lucy picked the book up, hugged it and said something to the effect that it was her first swastika.
The Mitford family, like Baroness Bentinck and Milly Howard-Brown, seemed quite impervious to the rising tension in Austria and continued dashing about as if they owned the place. Their constant stream of letters gave little indication of the socio-political eruption that was about to take place. Even Deborah’s letters to Jessica, the supposedly committed socialist, reflected little in the way of social or political conflict:
Yesterday [2 June 1937] we went to stay with Janos [von Almasy] and Baby [Countess Palffy-Erdödy] took us in her car. We found Mrs Janos in a great state because Janos had been taken off by the gendarmes because he was thought to be plotting for the Nazis and the soldiers had been through all his papers and writing desk and they had found the picture of Bobo [Unity] and H [Hitler] and were in a state about it.
The Mitford party did not seem particularly concerned by the incarceration of their host; no mention was ever made concerning the outcome of this charade, or of why the police or the army should suddenly become suspicious of a man who had already been flying a swastika flag over his house for some time. One can only assume that the Mitfords knew that poor Countess Almasy’s husband was being somewhat less than truthful with his wife concerning his relationship with Unity and decided the best course of action was to politely change the subject.
On 13 June Deborah wrote Jessica another letter with no mention of Janos or what may or may not have happened to him:
There is a wonderful band led by the most wonderful and sweet man called Barnabas von Geczy and they play at a delicious café called the Luitpold. Dear, there is a man in that band who simply makes your hair stand on end to look at him. We don’t know his name but he plays the violin the second from the right so that is what we’ve called him. He is the personification of my type – awfully like Franchot Tone and he sometimes makes the most fascinating faces like Maurice Chevalier … if it hadn’t been for Geczy and the second from the right I should have longed to go ages ago. I think Munich is no end nice all the same. If I had to live anywhere abroad I should certainly live here.
What was so remarkable about these letters was that they were – and are – so unremarkable, yet the Mitford sisters considered them worthy of preservation. Indeed, countless writers have referred to them, and in some strange and bizarre manner the letters have contributed to the girls’ elevation to iconic social and literary status. Sometimes their superficiality and humour appears to be a concerted effort to avoid their Nazi sympathies being taken seriously.
A typical case in point is a letter from Deborah to Jessica concerning their parents:
Everyone does the same old things here. Farve goes off to The Lady and the House of Lords and Muv paints chairs and reads books called things like ‘Stalin: My Father’ or ‘Mussolini: The Man’ or ‘Hitler: My Brother’s Uncle’ or ‘I was in Spain’ or ‘The Jews – By One Who Knows Them’ etc. etc. etc. I haven’t read a book for eight months now …
Other letters, while avoiding specific intimate details concerning Unity’s relationships and sexual adventures, certainly gave strong hints. In the middle of July 1937, Jessica announced that she was ‘in pig’ and Unity, who appeared genuinely pleased to hear her news, announced her own breeding plan which was apparently to include having ‘eight darling little bastards, all with different fathers’. Lord Redesdale, who had obviously read the letter, reacted to this information by drafting a new will disinheriting any illegitimate grandchildren he might be presented with.
Her statement and her father’s reaction gave a rather clear indication of Unity’s sexual habits and the fact that she made no attempt to hide them, even from her own father. In fact, quite the opposite; Unity appeared to be flaunting her unconventional behaviour, Mitford letters being anything but private.
Unity also gave a good indication of her provocative behaviour and lack of inhibitions, casually informing Jessica, ‘The other day when it was boiling hot I found a secluded spot in the Englischer Garten where I took off all my clothes and sunbathed, luckily no-one came along.’ While nudity had become a national pastime during the Weimar days, such things were far less acceptable under the Nazi regi
me, particularly in the middle of an urban park, thus leading one to believe that Unity’s behaviour was more of a celebration of the protection afforded by her privileged position, than a desire for an all-over tan. Doubtless she also enjoyed a degree of erotic excitement from the possibility of being observed.
But, as with all family archives, as much was revealed by the Mitford girls’ choice not to publish certain letters, as by the contents of those that were made available for public reading. Many years later Deborah – by then Dowager Duchess of Devonshire – would shrewdly admit, ‘There’s bound to be some things which you don’t want everyone to read … but I don’t think that it affected the story at all.’
* * *
While she continued to roar round Europe in her new motorcar, staying in grand hotels and even grander houses, for Unity, as for Hitler, the preferred location for their meetings (apart from his apartment, which was relatively modest by fascist dictator standards) remained the Osteria Bavaria; even when she had to share his company with ‘the Osteria circle’. This group included the photographer and author Heinrich Hoffmann; Adolf Wagner, the gauleiter of Munich; Martin Bormann, head of the party chancellery and Hitler’s private secretary, chief aide and adjutant; Otto Dietrich, chief press officer and confidant; Julius Schaub, another chief aide and adjutant; Hitler’s doctor Theodor Morell; Dr Karl Brandt, another of Hitler’s physicians who headed the euthanasia program and was involved in criminal human experiments and abortions; and Wilhelm Brückner, another chief adjutant and bodyguard.
But none of these members of Hitler’s dining club ever seemed particularly welcoming, as Unity recounted in yet another letter to Diana:
I had lunch with the Führer in the Ost the day before the Duce came … the little Doktor [Goebbels] was there. We had rather a stormy scene as all of them, except the Führer, set on me because I said I didn’t like Musso, and bullied me till I was almost in tears, it was dreadful. I thought I wouldn’t be able to prevent myself crying. However, the Führer took my part (without of course saying anything against Musso) and he was perfectly sweet. Of course the one that led the attack was Dr Brandt.
But there were also contradictory reports concerning the reactions to Unity’s presence. Bella Fromm, diplomatic columnist of the Vossische Zeitung before she fled to America, claimed, ‘Unity is most unpopular with the Nazis. Ribbentrop dislikes her. Hess is jealous and suspicious.’ But, apparently, when confronted with this statement Frau Hess could not recollect her husband having any such reaction of jealousy and suspicion and thought it most improbable.
Albert Speer, an occasional participant and observer remembered:
For those close to Hitler [she] was a nuisance. Schaub was angry that she was coming again. It was amazing that someone not German was around Hitler and could listen to details of party politics and far-ranging policy … Her German was good enough to make herself understood. She was never bored and never boring. Her features were those of a woman with some intelligence, thinking in her own way, not the type of Eva Braun who had no serious interests.
In fact, Hitler rarely encouraged Eva to accompany him personally to any public events, even lunch, at which any of his staff were present, except at the Berghof. Though it has to be said, there is no evidence that Eva was particularly interested in politics or the working of the party. Judging from the considerable amount of surviving home-movie footage she was extremely extrovert and spent her happiest times fooling around with ‘Wolfie’ and their dogs or her numerous girlfriends.
* * *
While Unity’s obsession with Hitler continued to develop, her car had given her a great degree of independent mobility which she obviously enjoyed exploiting.
David Pryce-Jones claimed that in August 1937:
Unity had completed another of her mammoth drives, to Bernstein. The next ten days of summer slipped idly by. Tom was there as from Friday onwards. So were Marie-Eugenie Zichy, Kisebb, Baby and Jimmy Erdödy. Herr Pohl, the factor on the estate, was [according to her friend Mary] ‘misguided enough’ to take the Bernstein party to a service in the Szombathely synagogue.
What Mary does not point out is that Janos, despite being pro-Nazi and politically anti-Semitic, was quite prepared to employ Jews and fascinated by the more mystical, messianic and Kabbalistic branches of the faith. It also seems likely that Pohl, like many of the Austrian and Hungarian estate factors, was Jewish and that Janos had persuaded him to take them to the service, either to increase their understanding of the faith or in an attempt to manipulate Unity. If that had indeed been his intention, it backfired quite dramatically.
First Unity had refused to attend the service and then she was publicly abusive towards Pohl. The result was that she had an electrifying row with Janos and threatened to report his actions to her Führer. She rather accurately predicted that Hitler would be occupying Janos’ miserable little country in the very near future, when he would doubtless have him and all his Jews slaughtered. Realising that he had overshot the mark, Janos arranged for Jimmy Erdödy to drive Unity into Vienna to cheer her up with some shopping and an appointment at the hairdresser’s. But somehow Unity managed to make contact with a local SA Stormführer who, much to Janos’ horror, turned up at the schloss the following day. Unity then insisted on spending the morning incarcerated with him in the library.
The good-looking, young SA Stormführer was called Lajos Mezriczky. It is unlikely that he had ever actually met Hitler personally, so he must have found it extremely exciting to be in the presence of someone who had spent so much time with the Führer. ‘They were closeted together all morning.’7
After he had left, Unity explained in detail to the increasingly terrified Janos how much she had enjoyed Mezriczky’s company and gave him a full account of the young Stormführer’s planned Fememord. This was the term the SA used for the part of their initiation that consisted of the assassination of a Jew or a Communist or another political opponent. Janos could feel his necromantic power ebbing, but even worse was his realisation of its transference to Unity.
The Kohfidisch and Bernstein crowd of fellow houseguests, including Baroness Bentinck, despite having initially teased Unity about her worship of Hitler, had been desperate to know what he was really like. They now took to teasing the unhappy Janos concerning exactly what had taken place in the library that morning between Unity and her young Storm and what Janos’ punishment might be. There was also endless speculation concerning Unity’s relationship with Hitler and her various pet Storms, particularly the ones with whom she had been connected publicly; most of whom it seems likely she had also been involved with sexually.
A rather typical example was Stabschef Viktor Lutze, who had become the leader of the SA after Röhm had been murdered. Unity even joked about his glass eye, which she insisted he used to remove before they had sex.
There was evidence that she had also sought advice concerning contraception from Dr Beckett Overy, the family gynaecologist whose name, having been obviously personalised by the Mitford girls, made it somewhat difficult to take the evidence seriously. But there can be no doubt that Unity had an extremely active sex life. Regardless of claims to the contrary.
* * *
In September 1937 Diana and Unity again visited the Nuremberg Nazi Rally, once more accompanied by their brother. By now a sophisticated hospitality service had been developed to attract foreigners and their welcome currency. Anne de Courcy described it with somewhat disturbing enthusiasm. ‘The cheerful, bustling friendliness, the optimism and enthusiasm of the people, and the ritualistic, compelling drama of the rally itself, affected Tom deeply.’ Apparently, Tom Mitford was so impressed by the event that shortly after his return to England he felt obliged to join the BUF.
As with the rest of the Mitfords, there was no evidence of him finding fault with the Nazis’ use of concentration camps or their policies on euthanasia, racial cleansing or selective breeding, or the use of extreme violence to achieve social and political ambitions.
> The Daily Express and the News Chronicle reported the presence of Diana, Unity and Tom at the rally, while one of the paper’s readers voiced a question that was becoming of increasing concern to many Britons. ‘Once more members of the Mitford family are attending the Nazi Congress at Nuremberg. Why are Lord Redesdale and his children so interested? Why are they Britain’s Fascist Family Number One?’
Doubtless Lord Redesdale, like many of his class, was motivated by the ever-present socialist threat that he would continue to blame for his declining fortune, a decline that was beginning to make it increasingly difficult for the Mitfords to maintain both their country estate and appropriate town house. While the gradually increasing independence of his offspring, which reduced the size of the resident family, could have been used as an excuse for his decision to sell Swinbrook and the estate in 1936, its loss would have been a huge blow to his ego as well as his family’s social status. However, its replacement with a private fiefdom would have gone some way to repairing his loss.
In 1938 one of Lord Redesdale’s chums at the Marlborough Club asked him if he was interested in buying an island on the west coast of Scotland, at the mouth of Loch Na Keal, next to Mull. It was called Inch Kenneth and David bought it almost immediately. One mile long and half a mile wide it is virtually treeless but wildly beautiful with magnificent views of its better-known sister. Sheltering amongst the low hills and distant hillocks, known locally as ‘humpies’, was a rather plain, pretentiously castellated and large four-storey mansion. There was also a small cottage and the ruins of a medieval chapel; something that proved extremely useful for Unity’s subsequent, somewhat theatrical, religious exploration.
Hitler's Valkyrie Page 27