by Jim Wilson
Among other British supporters at the rally worshipping the ceremony, the passion with which the crowd was being whipped into a frenzy and hanging upon every word the Führer uttered, was Unity Mitford. Unity was jealous of Hitler’s fondness for Princess Stephanie, and of the compliments he paid her. She had complained loudly to him about his relationship with the princess and she was said to have told Hitler: ‘Here you are, an anti-Semite, and yet you have a Jewish woman, Princess Hohenlohe, around you all the time.’ Hitler apparently made no response. It was an indication of what was now widely suspected across Europe: that the princess was working for German intelligence and supplying the Nazis with important information and influential contacts in Britain. The link the princess provided to Rothermere, his newspapers and to right-wing elements in British society was a propaganda tool Hitler greatly valued. Unity hated Stephanie. She referred to her as a ‘rusée’, a wily manipulator; she feared the influence Stephanie was exerting on Hitler, and was furious when she learnt that the Reich Chancellor had presented the princess with a large, signed photograph of himself. It was a memento Stephanie treasured and she kept it in pride of place on her desk at her London flat, as British intelligence noted in her MI5 file. The portrait was personally signed by Hitler and was dedicated ‘To my dear Princess’.
Albert Speer, Hitler’s architect and close friend, believed Unity was in love with Hitler. She was often included in the Führer’s party when he travelled, and she referred to him in correspondence as ‘the greatest man of all time’. Unity herself, though, was not trusted by the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler; in fact, he could not stand her. But he had no such distrust of Stephanie, despite those rumours of her Jewish background. By 1937 Unity was under active surveillance by the SS. She was also being closely watched by British intelligence who described her as ‘more Nazi than the Nazis’. Significantly, Stephanie was never placed under similar surveillance by the SS. Wilhelm Brückner, one of Hitler’s adjutants, so disliked the close relationship between Hitler and Unity that on one occasion he broached the subject directly with his boss: ‘What if she’s an agent of the British secret service, cleverly placed right under our noses?’ he asked. ‘We should be more cautious.’ The suggestion was rejected in Hitler’s close circle, but no such suspicions seem ever to have been voiced about Hitler’s other admirer, Stephanie, until later. Indeed, she received VIP invitations on the Führer’s instructions to the huge annual rallies of the Nazi Party in 1936, 1937 and 1938.
Stephanie was deeply impressed by the hypnotic and quasi-religious character of these spectacular events. Later in life she described the ‘tribal excitement of Nuremberg … a shrine of Nazidom … an orgy of dedication’ to the Nazi creed.1 Lady Snowden accompanied her again in 1937, and that year Goebbels noted in his diary: ‘Lady Snowden writes an enthusiastic article on Nuremberg. A woman with guts. In London they don’t understand that.’ In 1938 Stephanie was on the dais for the Reich Party Congress of Greater Germany. She was distinctly unhappy at having to share the privileged seating area set aside for Hitler’s personal guests with Unity Mitford and Unity’s parents Lord and Lady Redesdale. There was an intense jealousy growing between them, each of them angling for the Führer’s favours. Much to Stephanie’s annoyance, it was she who had been instrumental in enabling Unity to meet Hitler in the first place. Back in 1935 she had told Unity that Hitler frequently patronised the Osteria Bavaria, his favourite Munich restaurant. It was there that Unity first met him. Determined to get herself noticed and introduced to him, Unity did so by the simple expedient of sitting quietly at a table by the door, day after day, wearing her British Blackshirt uniform and waiting for Hitler to spot her when he walked in. After that first meeting she rapidly became part of the Osteria Bavaria circle, and later of Hitler’s close court. Hitler was well aware of the propaganda value of having a faithful follower drawn from the ranks of the British aristocracy. Stephanie blamed herself for initiating the relationship, and it made the jealousy she felt for Unity all the more bitter. Two of the Mitford girls, Unity and Diana, in private called Hitler ‘Sweet Uncle Wolf’. For his part, the Führer was totally fascinated by them.
The exchange of letters between Rothermere and Hitler continued throughout 1935. The press baron made sure that when it was appropriate, Hitler’s views were communicated to government ministers and even, on some occasions, to the king. In a long letter in May 1935, Hitler wrote:
An Anglo-German understanding would form in Europe a force for peace and reason of 120 million people of the highest type. The historically unique colonial ability and sea-power of England would be united to one of the greatest soldier-races of the world. Were this understanding extended by the joining up of the American nation, then it would indeed be hard to see who in the world could disturb peace without wilfully and consciously neglecting the interests of the white race. There is in Germany a fine saying: that the Gods love and bless him who seems to demand the impossible.2
Hitler set his sights high, but while he was writing in this reasonable and apparently peaceful vein to the owner of the Daily Mail, and signing his letter ‘with sincere friendship’, he was simultaneously launching his first steps towards the Final Solution – the Holocaust, the greatest crime of the twentieth century. He was enacting the Nuremberg Laws that would take away the citizenship of Jews, prohibit marriage between Jews and Aryans, and exclude Jews from leading professions, depriving them of their livelihoods. From burning thousands of books by Jewish authors, he was in the process of making the chilling leap to incinerating human beings in their millions.
The invasion of Abyssinia by Italian troops in October 1935 caused a storm of protest in England. The Italian dictator, Mussolini, was intent on seizing the whole of that vast country and turning it into an Italian colony. Rothermere was anxious to exert pressure to stop the conflict, or at the very least to prevent it spreading. He wanted to find out Hitler’s views so he could write with authority about Germany’s stance in his newspapers and pass on first-hand information to the British government. He asked Stephanie, once again, to be his go-between. Initially Hitler sent word, via the princess, that he had no time to answer detailed questions on the matter. He was possibly stalling for time because he was playing a devious hand in the conflict. On the one hand, Hitler was seeking closer relations with Mussolini and supplying him with coal and steel. On the other, he was secretly prolonging the war by supplying war materials to the Abyssinians, as a means of further increasing Mussolini’s dependence on him. When Hitler did respond to Rothermere, in December, it was to emphasise his belief that a time would come when England and Germany would be the solid pillars in a worried and unstable world:
There is nobody in Germany with any political insight who welcomes this conflict, except perhaps some enemies of the state who may cherish the hope that it might constitute an international example which could one day be applied to Germany. But these elements must not be confused with the German people.3
Rothermere met Hitler again in September 1936, and signalled his continuing friendship with the Nazi leader that Christmas by asking the princess to take the German chancellor a personal gift of a valuable Gobelin tapestry which would attract a value of more than £85,000 in today’s money. Stephanie was happy to oblige. In a letter accompanying his gift, Rothermere wrote that he had selected the tapestry guided by the thought of Hitler the artist, rather than Hitler the ‘great leader’. He added it was a pleasure to hear from Princess Stephanie that in spite of the Führer’s tremendous workload, and the burden of responsibilities he shouldered, he was in high spirits and excellent health. Rothermere signed off his Christmas letter ‘in sincere admiration and respect’.4
A letter of thanks arrived from the Reich Chancellery at Rothermere’s villa on the French Riviera, where he escaped from the English winter whenever he could. Hitler’s letter said the ‘magnificent tapestry’ had given him great pleasure and his letter included an invitation for Rothermere to be his guest in January 19
37 at the Führer’s mountain retreat, amid the spectacular mountain scenery on the Obersalzberg. It was the first occasion Rothermere had been asked to meet Hitler at his mountain retreat and it was to be an especially memorable occasion.5 In a gesture Hitler rarely offered to his guests, he sent his personal railway saloon carriage to meet Rothermere and the princess at the Austrian border. The Berghof was isolated and difficult to reach. It was poorly served by road and rail, but the railway line to Bad Reichenhall, some 20km from the Berghof, had been improved and the station enlarged to accommodate Hitler’s and Goering’s private trains. Hitler had had his home there since 1927. Goering and Martin Bormann, Hitler’s deputy chief of staff, also had residences on the Obersalzberg. In 1939 the Nazi Party, as a 50th birthday present, gave Hitler what became known as ‘The Eagle’s Nest’, a building constructed on the very summit of the Kehlstein Mountain, high above the Berghof. Because of the exposed and rugged site on which it was built, it was one of the most costly and complicated building projects of its time; a showpiece of German engineering. However, Hitler rarely visited ‘The Eagle’s Nest’ or the Teehaus with its breathtaking views and spectacular sun terrace. He disliked the rarefied air high on top of the mountain and he had a fear of heights. Nevertheless, suppressing his own fears Hitler was proud to show off the building whenever he had prominent political guests visiting him at the Berghof.
Rothermere’s party arrived late in the evening and spent the night at the Berghof, a distinct privilege seldom granted to foreign visitors. Fellow guests at Hitler’s lair while Rothermere and his party were there were Magda and Joseph Goebbels. Hitler was immensely proud of the Berghof. Its great hall was dominated at one end by a glass wall that provided a magnificent view of the spectacular scenery. The hall’s walls were hung with Gobelin tapestries, all of them every bit as valuable as the one his guest had presented to him. There were numerous paintings by Italian masters, including nudes by Titian and Bordone which were displayed either side of the entrance to the dining room. As well as expensive paintings, the rooms were adorned with beautiful pieces of sculpture and exotic porcelain. The dining room was almost as big as the great hall, and leading from it was an enclosed winter garden, one of the few places in the Berghof where smoking was allowed. Hitler was a fanatical anti-smoker. Upstairs, bedrooms and offices were arranged either side of a long corridor. Hitler’s private suite consisted of sitting room, study, bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom was clad in Italian marble and embellished with gold-plated fittings.
After experiencing a night in the splendour of the Berghof, the group breakfasted together late as Hitler rarely rose early. In the afternoon Hitler took Rothermere for a walk – downhill, because the Reich Chancellor disliked too much physical exertion. At the end of their stroll, during which the two men discussed the possibility of a German alliance with Britain, a car met them and returned them to the comfort of the Berghof. There the discussions continued on the threat of international communism and the Nazis’ attitude to the Jews. Hitler claimed that the anti-Nazi campaign in Britain was being backed by Winston Churchill on behalf of his Jewish paymasters, and asserted that it was the Jews who controlled much of the press in Britain, too – an indication perhaps of the value he placed on the mouthpiece for National Socialism Rothermere was providing for him.6
Goebbels’ diary for 7 January 1937 records the visit by Rothermere and Princess Stephanie:
Rothermere pays me great compliments … Enquires in detail about German press policy. Strongly anti-Jewish. The princess is very pushy. After lunch we retire for a chat. Question of Spain comes up. Führer won’t tolerate a hot-bed of communism in Europe any longer. Is ready to prevent any more pro-Republican volunteers from going there. His proposal on controls seems to astonish Rothermere. German prestige is thus restored. Franco will win anyway … Rothermere believes British government also pro-Franco.7
In the evening Hitler treated his guests to a showing of the film Stosstrupp 1917 (Shock-troops 1917). Rothermere, who had lost two of his sons in the Great War, was deeply moved by it. Stephanie apparently wept. Hitler seemed fascinated by her, stroking her hair and giving her intimate pinches on her cheek.
As a result of the meeting at the Berghof and the discussions that took place there, Hitler and Goebbels agreed that Rothermere’s continued supporting voice in Britain on behalf of the Nazis via his newspapers was of valuable service to the German Reich. The relationship should be encouraged as actively as possible, and the British peer should be treated well to ensure he continued to write favourably of an Anglo-German alliance and remained a strong supporter of the Führer. However, on the orders of the Reich propaganda chief, little was published in the German press about Rothermere’s visit.8
Stephanie left the Berghof delighted with what had been achieved and honoured that she had been personally presented with another signed photograph of Hitler in a silver frame, in this case inscribed ‘In memory of your visit to Berchtesgaden’. Rothermere returned to his villa by the Mediterranean, while Stephanie remained for a few days in Munich. Again Hitler showered her with favours. A massive bunch of roses arrived at her hotel, along with a personal message that as a further token of his friendship and admiration, he wanted to present her with a sheepdog puppy. She christened the puppy Wolf, after Hitler’s own favourite Alsatian dog.
Later, from her apartment at Bryanston Court, London, Stephanie wrote a personal letter of thanks. ‘You are a charming host,’ she told Hitler. ‘Your beautiful and excellently run home in that magnificent setting all leave me with a wonderful and lasting impression. It is no empty phrase when I say, Herr Reich Chancellor, that I enjoyed every minute of my stay with you.’ Thanking Hitler for the gift of the dog, she wrote: ‘It has given me great pleasure, not only because I love dogs – but also because, to me, dogs symbolise loyalty and friendship – which in this instance pleases me all the more.’9
By January 1937, when the visit to the Berghof took place, Stephanie was deeply in love with Fritz Wiedemann. The previous year, when she was staying at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, Wiedemann had visited her there. Both of them were aged 45. Although married for eighteen years and the father of three children, Fritz Wiedemann missed no opportunity to lavish his charms on her. He was 6ft tall, dark and muscular, with beetling eyebrows and friendly eyes. Some said he exuded eroticism. He was extremely charming and well educated. But, according to the daughter of the American ambassador to Berlin, Martha Dodd, who attended many parties given by leading Nazis, he had the shrewdness and cunning of an animal and could behave completely without delicacy or subtlety. ‘Certainly, Wiedemann was a dangerous man to cross,’ she wrote, ‘for despite his social naiveté and clumsiness he was as ruthless a fighter and schemer as some of his compatriots.’10
Stephanie was extremely keen to cement her relationship with Wiedemann. She knew how close he was to Hitler and the influence he was able to exert on his leader. Devious as ever, she advised Rothermere to send Wiedemann a gift and Rothermere duly instructed her to go to Cartier, select a gold cigarette case, have it engraved with Wiedemann’s name, charge it to his account and take it to Berlin. In response, Rothermere received a handwritten letter of thanks from Wiedemann.11 Rothermere’s keenness to maintain good relations with Hitler extended to another expensive gift. In May 1937 he sent a precious jade bowl to the Nazi leader. Again, it was Princess Stephanie who delivered it personally. In his letter expressing ‘heartfelt thanks’, Hitler said he would display the bowl in his rooms at the Obersalzberg as a lasting token of Rothermere’s ‘friendship and esteem’. He added that he was following closely Rothermere’s efforts to establish a true Anglo-German friendship. ‘Your leading articles published within the last few weeks, which I have read with great interest, contain everything that corresponds to my own thoughts as well.’12
Later in 1937, Princess Stephanie received a personal honour from a grateful Reich Chancellor – proof of the value the Führer placed on her work for the Nazi regime. On Hitler’s
orders she was awarded the Honorary Cross of the German Red Cross as a token of her ‘tireless activities on behalf of the German Reich’. Wiedemann travelled to Paris, where Stephanie was staying at the Ritz Hotel, and personally decorated her with the medal, which was accompanied by a document confirming Hitler’s personal authorisation of the award. But this honour was totally eclipsed the following year, 1938, when she was cabled in Paris by Wiedemann summoning her urgently to Berlin ‘as the Chief wants to speak to you’. On 10 June 1938 she had an audience lasting several hours in the Reich Chancellery. It was an extraordinary event; at a solemn ceremony Hitler pinned on her, a Jewess, the Nazi Party’s Gold Medal of Honour. In the Third Reich it was a badge that elevated the recipient to the level of ‘Nazi royalty’. It was rarely awarded and reserved for a small group of people, mainly long-standing Nazi Party members who had given outstanding service to the National Socialist movement. It was regarded as the mark of a so-called true patriot. The princess, born a Jew, was now a de facto member of the Nazi Party – ‘an honorary Aryan’, as Heinrich Himmler declared her. The honour meant she had been acknowledged personally by Hitler as a significant contributor to the Third Reich. Three years later, in 1941, when she was in internment in America, FBI agents searched her house in Alexandria, Virginia, and found and photographed the medal with its gold swastika symbol. It was in a jewel case in her bedroom, close to her signed photographs of the Führer. It is unlikely that Rothermere ever knew of this extraordinary meeting in Berlin, or the honour bestowed by Hitler on Princess Stephanie. Had he known about it, the implications to him must surely have been obvious. Her loyalty as his ambassador had been fatally compromised. But her loyalty to Hitler was plain to see.