EDITOR'S NOTE A document, known as Die Bormann Vermerke, was published in a number of countries during 1952 and 1953. (In France by Flammarion under the title of Libres Propos sur la Guerre et la Paix (two volumes), and in England by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Hitler's Table Talks.) The document contains the views expressed by Hitler on a variety of subjects between the 5th July 1941 and the 30th November 1944. They were taken down verbatim at the time they were expressed by subordinates of Martin Bormann, who then read, annotated and classified them. From the beginning until 7th September 1942 there is a note for nearly every day of the period; but after that date they become few and far between. We know that Bormann attached great importance to this document, which he considered would be 'of capital interest to the future'. These new pages, which have only just come to light, form part of Die Bormann Vermerke. They cover but a brief period, but one of exceptional interest. They consist, unfortunately, of only eighteen notes. The first seventeen cover the period between the 4th February and 26th February 1945 with all but day-to-day regularity. The eighteenth and last note is dated 2nd April 1945. They differ from their predecessors in that all eighteen were taken down directly by Bormann himself. (In previous years, he had delegated the task of taking down, except on the rarest of occasions, to a secretary.) The explanation is twofold. Firstly, conditions in the Chancellery 'Bunker' in 1945 were certainly not of a kind in which the presence of subordinate personnel could be tolerated. Secondly, taking into consideration the nature of the subjects broached, it is probable that the Führer was speaking 'off the cuff', as it were, in the presence of only the most privileged of his intimates and perhaps even in the presence of Bormann alone. Furthermore, it must not be forgotten that a few weeks later Hitler nominated Bormann as his successor as Head of the Party and as executor of his Will. It is, then, reasonable to suppose that Bormann on his own initiative decided to preserve for posterity these final thoughts of his Führer, on events that had occurred, on the state of the world a few weeks before the end of the war and on the future of Germany. It is, however, more than probable that the actual taking down of the notes by Bormann was done on the instructions of Hitler himself. For in these all too fragmentary notes there is apparent an obvious desire to place on record clear-cut opinions on a number of subjects, to which hitherto no allusion has even been made. The Führer, obviously, is anxious to commit to paper certain thoughts which, until a few months, indeed, a few weeks before, he had deliberately kept to himself, in rigid adherence, perhaps, to certain convictions which he held, and also perhaps actuated by the desire to keep alive in his intimate entourage their belief in a number of cherished myths. Be that as it may, to label these thoughts his 'Political Testament' is to give them a title which is certainly both appropriate and the one which Hitler himself, by implication, intended them to bear. It seems certain that in acting as they did both Hitler and Bormann gave clear evidence of their wish to leave behind, in extremis, a message to survive the defeat, which they themselves knew must come within a matter of weeks, but which they were still unprepared to admit in the presence of others. It is equally certain that, alone with Bormann, the last, the staunchest and the most intimate of all his adherents, Hitler felt that he could speak with complete freedom. A characteristic feature of these last notes, in sharp contrast to those of the preceding years, is the absence of any frills or digressions. They go straight to the point. That Bormann had no illusions about the inevitability and the completeness of the defeat that was imminent is shown in a letter to his wife, dated 4th February 1945, in which he wrote: . . . 'But to you I can write quite frankly, and tell you how very unpleasant-indeed, if I am completely honest, how desperate the situation is' . . . Bormann Letters (p. 170). And all Bormann's thoughts were, as we know, always a faithful reflection of the thoughts of his Führer, to whom he had dedicated himself body and soul. As far as can be ascertained, it was about 2nd February that Bormann moved into the Chancellery, in which a room was put at his disposal. It is therefore not surprising to find the first of these notes dated 4th February. But why did they cease on 26th February? Why was there a break of thirty-five days between the seventeenth and the eighteenth and final note? Why, after a whole month of silence, is there just that last, solitary note, dated 2nd April and then no more? No wholly satisfactory explanation is available. The growing burden of the day-to-day routine, the rapid deterioration of the situation, the feeling, perhaps, that the Führer had already given him all that was essential of his ideas on subjects of capital interest? Or perhaps, overtaken by the rush of events during the last desperate, few days, Bormann had no chance of putting in a place of safety any further notes which he may have taken? These are conjecture and questions to which, it is felt, the answers will never be known. FRANÇOIS GENOUD 1 Pitt and Churchill - Pitt paves the way for Empire, Churchill digs its grave - Europe has lost her supremacy - Great Britain ought to have accepted a negotiated Peace - The Third Reich was forced into war - Misfortune and adversity, the parents of great resurrections. 4th February 1945 Churchill seems to regard himself as a second Pitt. What a hope! In 1793, Pitt was thirty-four years old. Churchill unfortunately is an old man, capable, and only just capable at that, of carrying out the orders of that madman, Roosevelt. In any case, the situations are in no way comparable. Take your mind back for a moment to the conditions in Pitt's time. From England's point of view, he was perfectly right in refusing to have any truck with Napoleon. By maintaining, as he did, a firm attitude under impossible conditions, he was safeguarding for his country such chance as it had of playing the role which subsequently fell to its lot in the nineteenth century. It was a policy designed to preserve the existence of his country. Churchill, by refusing to come to terms with me, has condemned his country to a policy of suicide. He has made the same mistakes as those generals make who wage a war according to the principles of the preceding war. There are now elements which it is impossible to fit into such a scheme of things. The crucial new factor is the existence of those two giants, the United States and Russia. Pitt's England ensured the balance of world power by preventing the hegemony of Europe - by preventing Napoleon, that is, from attaining his goal. Churchill's England, on the other hand, should have allowed the unification of Europe, if it wished to preserve that same balance of power. At the beginning of this war I did my utmost to act as though I believed Churchill to be capable of grasping the truth of this great policy; and in his lucid moments he was indeed, capable of grasping it. But for a long time now he has been bound hand and foot to the Jewish-chariot. My object in trying to come to terms with England was to avoid creating an irreparable situation in the West. Later, when I attacked eastwards and lanced' the communist abscess, I hoped thereby to rekindle a spark of common sense in the minds of the Western Powers. I gave them the chance, without lifting a finger, of making a contribution to an act of catharsis, in which they could have safely left the task of disinfecting the West in our hands alone. But the hatred felt by these hypocrites for a man of good faith is stronger than their sense of self preservation. I had underestimated the power of Jewish domination over Churchill's England. They preferred, indeed, to perish by default, rather than to admit National Socialism to their midst. Under pressure, they might have tolerated a facade of anti-semitism on our part. But our absolute determination to eradicate Jewish power root and branch throughout the world was far too strong meat for their delicate stomachs to digest! Pitt's genius lay in the implementation of a realistic policy, in harmony with the conditions of the epoch, which allowed his country to make a truly extraordinary recovery and which ensured for it world supremacy in the nineteenth century. The servile imitation of this policy which Churchill is now pursuing - and with a complete disregard for the fact that conditions are not in the least the same - is a sheer absurdity. The fact is that the world has progressed since Pitt's day! For a whole century, changes, it is true, came slowly; but the first war increased the pace, and this war has led us to a presentation of the bills and a final settlement! At the beginning of the nineteenth century, from the point of power, Europe alone counted. The great Asiatic empires had fallen into a sleep that resembled the sleep of death. The New World was still nothing more than an excrescence on the end of the old, and no one could reasonably have foreseen the prodigious destiny which awaited the thirteen British colonies which had just gained their freedom. . . . Thirteen! I'm not superstitious, but that story tempts me to become so! That new State of four million inhabitants, which grew so immeasurably in the course of a hundred years that at the beginning of the twentieth century it had already become a world Power. . . . ! During the decisive period between 1930 and 1940, the situation was quite different from that which obtained at the time of Pitt and Napoleon. Europe, exhausted by a great war, had lost her pride of place, and her role as leader was no longer recognized. It was still one of the centres of attraction on earth, but one which was steadily losing its importance in the face of the growing might of the United States of America, of the Russo-Asiatic colossus and of the Empire of the Rising Sun. If fate had granted to an ageing and enfeebled Britain a new Pitt instead of this Jew-ridden, half American drunkard, the new Pitt would at once have recognized that Britain's traditional policy of balance of power would now have to be applied on a different scale, and this time on a worldwide scale. Instead of maintaining, creating and adding fuel to European rivalries Britain ought to do her utmost to encourage and bring about a unification of Europe. Allied to a united Europe, she would then still retain the chance of being able to play the part of arbiter in world affairs. Everything that is happening makes. one think that Providence is now punishing Albion for her past crimes, the crimes which raised her to the power she was. The advent of Churchill, at a period that is decisive for both Britain and Europe, is the punishment chosen by Providence. For the degenerate élite of Britain, he's just the very man they want; and it is in the hands of this senile clown to decide the fate of a vast empire and, at the same time, of all Europe. It is, I think, an open question whether the British people, in spite of the degeneration of the aristocracy, has preserved those qualities which have hitherto justified British world domination. For my own part, I doubt it; because there does not seem to have been any popular reaction to the errors committed by the nation's leaders. And yet there have been many occasions when Britain could well have boldly set forth on a new and more fruitful course. Had she so wished, Britain could have put an end to the war at the beginning of 1941. In the skies over London she had demonstrated to all the world her will to resist, and on her credit side she had the humiliating defeats which she had inflicted on the Italians in North Africa. The traditional Britain would have made peace. But the Jews would have none of it. And their lackeys, Churchill and Roosevelt, were there to prevent it. Peace then, however, would have allowed us to prevent the Americans from meddling in European affairs. Under the guidance of the Reich, Europe would speedily have become unified. Once the Jewish poison had been eradicated, unification would have been an easy matter. France and Italy, each defeated in turn at an interval of a few months by the two Germanic Powers, would have been well out of it. Both would have had to renounce their inappropriate aspirations to greatness. At the same time they would have had to renounce their pretentions in North Africa and the Near East; and that would have allowed Europe to pursue a bold policy of friendship towards Islam. As for Britain, relieved of all European cares, she could have devoted herself to the wellbeing of her Empire. And lastly, Germany, her rear secure, could have thrown herself heart and soul into her essential task, the ambition of my life and the raison d'être of National Socialism - the destruction of Bolshevism. This would have entailed the conquest of wide spaces in the East, and these in their turn would have ensured the future wellbeing of the German people. The laws of nature follow a logic which does not necessarily always conform to our own ideas of logic. We ourselves were disposed to compromise. We were ready to throw our forces into the scales for the preservation of the British Empire; and all that, mark you, at a time when, to tell the truth, I feel much more sympathetically inclined to the lowliest Hindu than to any of these arrogant islanders. Later on, the Germans will be pleased that they did not make any contribution to the survival of an out-dated state of affairs for which the world of the future would have found it hard to forgive them. We can with safety make one prophecy: whatever the outcome of this war, the British Empire is at an end. It has been mortally wounded. The future of the British people is to die of hunger and tuberculosis in their cursed island. British obstinancy and the desperate resistance being put up by the Reich have nothing in common. In the first place Britain had a freedom of choice, and nothing forced her to go to war. Yet, not only did she go to war, but she actually provoked war. I need hardly say that the Poles, had they not been urged on by the British and French war mongers (who were themselves spurred on by the Jews), would certainly not have felt themselves called upon to commit suicide. Even so, and even after having made this initial error, Britain could have pulled her chestnuts out of the fire, either after the liquidation of Poland or after the defeat of France. It would not, of course, have been very honourable on her part to do so; but in matters of this kind British sense of honour is not too particular. All she had to do was to place the blame for her defection squarely on the shoulders of her ex-allies- just as she and France did with Belgium in 1940, and, furthermore, we ourselves would have helped her to save face. At the beginning of 1941, after her successes in North Africa had re-established her prestige, she had an even more favourable opportunity of withdrawing from the game and concluding a negotiated peace with us. Why, you may well ask, did she prefer to obey the orders of her Jewish and American allies, people, indeed, who were more voracious than even the worst of her enemies? I will tell you; Britain was not waging her own war, she was waging that which had been imposed on her by her implacable allies. Germany, on the other hand, had no option. Once we had declared our desire of at last uniting all Germans in one great Reich and of ensuring for them a real independence - in other words, freedom to live their own lives - all our enemies at once rose against us. War became inevitable if for no other reason that in order to avoid it we should have been compelled to betray the fundamental interests of the German people. As far as our people were concerned we could not and would not be content with the mere semblance of independence. That sort of thing is all right for the Swedes and the Swiss, who are always prepared to subscribe to dubious and tortuous formulae, provided that they can at the same time line their pockets. Nor, for that matter could the Weimar Republic lay claim to any more worthy pretensions: That, however, is not an ambition worthy of the Third Reich. We were, then, condemned to wage war - some time or other; and our sole preoccupation was to choose the least unfavourable moment. And once we were committed, of course, there could be no question of a withdrawal. It is not to the doctrines of National Socialism alone that our adversaries take exception. They hate National Socialism because through it the qualities of the German people have been exalted. They therefore seek the destruction of the German people - of that there can be no shadow of doubt. For once in a way, hatred has proved to be stronger than hypocrisy. We can only express our thanks to our enemies for having thus clearly exposed their minds to us. To this all-embracing hatred we can retort only by means of total war. Fighting for our very survival, we are fighting desperately; and whatever happens, we shall fight to the death to save our lives. Germany will emerge from this war stronger than ever before, and Britain more enfeebled than ever. History shows that for Germany misfortune and adversity often constitute an indispensable prelude to a great renaissance. The sufferings of the German people - and in this war they have suffered incomparably more than any other people - are the very things which, if Providence wills, will help us to rise superior to the heady influence of victory. And should Providence abandon us, in spite of our sacrifices and our resolute steadfastness, it only means that Fate is subjecting us to ever greater trials, in order to give us the chance to confirm our right to live. 2 The last quarter of an hour - The determination to exterminate Germany - Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans - The miraculous death of the Tsarina, Elizabeth Victory in the final sprint - This war started on 30th January 1933 6th February 1945 After fifty-four months of titanic struggle, waged on both sides with unexampled fury, the German people now finds itself alone, facing a coalition sworn to destroy it. War is raging everywhere along our frontiers. It i, coming closer and ever closer. Our enemies are gathering all their forces for the final assault. Their object is no merely to defeat us in battle but to crush and annihilate us Their object is to destroy our Reich, to sweep our Weltan- schauung from the face of the earth, to enslave the German people - as a punishment for their loyalty to Nation Socialism. We have reached the final quarter of an hour The situation is serious, very serious. It seems even to be desperate. We might very easily give way to fatigue, to exhaustion, we might allow ourselves to become discouraged to an extent that blinds us to the weaknesses of our enemies. But these weaknesses are there, for all that. We have facing us an incongruous coalition, drawn together by hatred and jealousy and cemented by the panic with which the national socialist doctrine fills this Jew- ridden motley. Face to face with this amorphous monster, our one chance is to depend on ourselves and ourselves alone; to oppose this heterogeneous rabble with a national, homogeneous entity, animated by a courage which no adversity will be able to shake. A people which resists as the German people is now resisting can never be consumed in a witches' cauldron of this kind. On the contrary; it will emerge from the crucible with its soul more steadfast, more intrepid than ever. Whatever reverses we may suffer in the days that lie ahead of us, the German people will draw fresh strength from them; and whatever may happen today, it will live to know a glorious tomorrow. The will to exterminate which goads these dogs in the pursuit of their quarry gives us no option; it indicates the path which we must follow - the only path that remains