Cafe Gentz and the Silver Pheasants

Adam Bayne

3. It is untrue that my niece wanted to become engaged in
Vienna or that I had some objection to her engagement. My
niece, tortured by anxiety about whether she had the talent
necessary for a public appearance, wanted to go to Vienna to
have a fresh assessment of her voice by a qualified voice
specialist.

4. It is untrue that I left my flat on 18th September 1931 after a
violent scene. The truth is that there was no kind of scene
and no agitation of any kind when I left my flat that day.

Hess, Goebbels, Magda and I had another private meeting in my
office, and Goebbels said Hitler was calming down and happy with
the newspaper publishing his statement. Goebbels said the leak had
come from an SA officer Otto Schmitt who had sold the story to the
newspaper. I had seen Schmitt on guard duty outside Hitler’s
apartment a few times, but I never heard of him again. He
disappeared. That afternoon Hitler called me into his office, and I
entered nervously.
‘Well done, Adam. I knew I could depend on you. Have you heard
the news from London? The Bank of England abandoned the gold
standard because it used all its gold reserves to support the Austrian
Creditanstalt. Your contacts certainly kept their promises. Well done
again, Adam.’ I thought well done, Montagu. You came to my
rescue at just the right time.
Hitler went on, ‘This girl Geli has caused me a lot of stress, and it is
best that it is over. Now on to more pressing matters. Carin Goering
has been taken ill, and I must visit her at the hospital. Would you
like to join me?’
Hitler could turn his emotions and moods on and off as if a switch
controlled them. We visited Carin at the hospital, and he acted as if
the last few days had never happened.
That evening Helene and I had a quiet aperitif at Café Gentz,

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relieved that the crisis was over. I said that I had not kept up with
international banking news due to the chaos of the last few days. By
their decisive action concerning the Austrian bank, the British had
shown that they were committed to putting Hitler into power in
Germany.
I had just poured my second gin and tonic when the telephone rang.
It was Magda. In a very ominous voice, she said she needed to talk
to Helene and me in total privacy. She said she knew she could rely
on us and arranged to come to our apartment the following evening.
I then told her that Carin was seriously ill and she should visit the
hospital tomorrow.
‘What do you think that’s all about?’ I asked Helene, who shrugged
her shoulders and said we would soon find out. That meeting with
Magda would change our perception of the Nazi party and provide
us with an ominous look into the future.

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Chapter 15 Carin Goering’s funeral. CA Bank Austria bailed
out by Bank of England.

Throughout the Geli crisis, Eva Braun kept a low profile and had not
become involved in any way. When Magda came to see us, Helene
and I realised why.
Magda arrived as arranged at eight o’clock. It was after dinner,
indicating she wanted to talk, not eat. We sat down, and Magda said
we were the only two people she could trust with what she was
about to tell us. I thought this was more likely because we were the
only two non-Germans in Hitler’s inner circle, but I digress. Magda
continued,
‘I am sure you both realise that my dearest Fuhrer cannot marry; it
will be detrimental to his image. He must be the Führer and will be
too busy watching over Germany to be with women or to be
married.’
Magda stopped to take a breath and a sip of the Champagne she
always drank. She went on,
‘I cannot allow him to be tarnished with such a thing. He must be
seen as morally perfect and devoted to the Nazi party. His vision is a
pure Aryan Third Reich cleansed of any Jewish poison. That little
jezebel Geli threatened that she would give her boyfriend’s love
letters to the newspaper if he did not marry her. She would say that
Hitler raped her and made her perform perverted sex acts.’
She stopped again for a drink, and I could see Helene was as
disturbed as I was by Magda’s outburst. We did not feel it was a
suitable time to interrupt her, and she continued,
‘From the moment my dear Fuhrer began seeing Eva, that witch
Geli began to put pressure on him. He told me it was distressing
him. I could not bear him to be distracted from his destiny. I told
Goebbels I could only see one solution and begged him to solve this
problem. We sent our ever-loyal Ulrich Graf to Geli’s apartment that

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night. Unfortunately, she put up a fight, and Graf made a mess of it.
But thanks to you, Adam, that has been put right.’
‘My god,’ I thought, ‘Thanks to me? That means I am now
complicit in a murder and a cover-up.’
Magda sat back in the chair and finished her glass. She started
sobbing with the stress and relief of sharing her terrible secret.
Helene went across to comfort her.
‘I’m sorry,’ Magda said, ‘But you must understand I had no
alternative. I did it for my dearest Fuhrer. I also had that traitor
Schmitt removed, and the priest will be dealt with if he ever comes
back to Germany.’
She wiped her eyes on her handkerchief and composed herself,
taking a deep breath.
‘I saw Carin yesterday; she looks very ill.’ Magda said and changed
the subject abruptly. ‘Another glass of Champagne, please.’
After a short pause which almost became uncomfortable, Helene
broke the silence. ‘Yes, she does, and I’m afraid we must prepare
poor Hermann for the worst.’
Magda stood up and said she had to go; she had troubled us enough
for one night. We followed her to the door. I saw that the murderer
Ulrich Graf was waiting for her in Goebbels’s distinctive car, the
Blue Goose. We watched as she got into the back seat and was
driven off.
Back in our apartment, we both sat down, and I said, ‘Phew, what do
you make of that?’
‘I need a stiff drink,’ said Helene. I did too. After we had both taken
a couple of swigs of schnapps, Helene spoke again.
‘She is a psychopath Adam, no more, no less. She is so infatuated
with Hitler and his master race plan that she will do anything for
him, and I do mean anything. She is completely mad.’
I tried to lighten the mood by saying, ‘We had better make sure we

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keep on her good side then,’ and Helene replied, ‘It is no joke,
Adam, for our safety. Now I am worried about Eva. Is she next on
Magda’s list?’
After a couple more drinks, we calmed down and went to bed, both
disturbed by Magda’s state of mind and her confession, which made
us both accomplices to cold-blooded murder.
My next visit to my friend Hoffmann at his studio was relatively
restrained. Neither of us knew whether to bring up the subject, and
we started together. ‘That was quite a week,’ we said over each
other, and at least it gave us a laugh. I dared not mention our
meeting with Magda, but luckily Hoffmann had drawn his
conclusions.
‘I was worried that Eva would suffer the same fate,’ he said, ‘But
Magda was here yesterday telling me that I should encourage Eva to
become Hitler’s unofficial partner. Magda said we must support Eva
because it will protect Hitler from any other women’s advances,
women with less than pure ideas.’ Magda said she was convinced
that Eva would not pressurise Hitler for marriage and Eva would be
content always to take a low profile.
It was another shock from the warped mind of Magda. ‘Give me a
shot of that schnapps Hoffmann,’ I said, and we just looked at each,
both wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.
Life soon returned to normal, and we were saddened but not
surprised when Carin died of heart failure after complications from
epilepsy and pneumonia. We all attended her funeral at Brunswick’s
main Protestant cemetery. Hitler gave a passionate speech. The
widower Goering was visibly moved. Some years later, when Hitler
built Goering a palatial residence at Wuckersee, Goering named it
Carinhall in her honour. We said our fond goodbyes to Baroness
Carin Axelina Hulda Countess von Kantzow.
I continued to coordinate Hitler’s hectic electioneering schedule. In

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October alone, he had a meeting with President Paul von
Hindenburg, five campaign rallies and gave the address at Carin
Goering’s funeral. In November, there were six rallies, then in
December, six press conferences.
The party headquarters was once again a hive of activity. Hitler was
not going to allow the Communists one single extra vote. The SA
made it clear that expressing support for any party other than the
Nazis was not a good idea when they were around.
On Sunday, 15th of November 1931, Hitler arrived back in Munich
from Berlin and asked if he could meet us for lunch at Café Gentz.
He said he had been away a lot and wanted to see his godson Egon.
We were not surprised when he turned up with Eva. Helene
arranged a light lunch of Flaedlesuppe, a simple soup made with
strips of homemade pancakes (flaedle) in a clear broth. Egon was
delighted with the model Junkers 52 his Uncle Adolf had brought
for him.
The Fuhrer proudly told us that Goebbels had arranged the world’s
first airborne election campaign, even before the Americans, and
gave a sly smile to Helene. In a campaign known as Flights over
Germany, he would give speeches in forty-six towns and cities in
two one-week sessions. ‘And I shall be flying in a plane the same as
the model one you have there,’ he said to Egon. ‘Thanks again,
Uncle Adolf,’ shouted Egon.
We all made our general sounds of ‘wow’ and ‘amazing’ as Helene
served the soup.
After lunch, Hitler asked if he could have a quick private chat with
me, so we went into my little office. He confided in me that he had
received an early warning that the Credit-Anstalt (CA) bank in
Austria was close to bankruptcy again and asked me to contact the
Bank of England as soon as possible, to which I agreed.
We were soon back with Helene and Eva, playing with Egon. After

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a nice cup of English tea, Hitler said they had to go back. He
planned on not travelling anymore before Christmas and reminded
us that we only have two weeks before Magda becomes Frau
Goebbels. He wanted to spend some time alone with Eva, which
made her glow with delight.
‘Do you want to go to the Christmas markets again, Egon?’ he
asked. Egon ran over and gave his Uncle Adolf a big hug.
With that, Hitler and Eva left, and Egon went out into the street to
wave goodbye until they were out of sight. ‘Sometimes it’s hard to
believe he is a man who has no hesitation about having people
murdered if they get in his way,’ Helene said.
‘It is the same with Magda, and I cannot help but like her so much,
even though she has such a nasty side. She cares so much and can be
so cruel at the same time.’
Once again, I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into, a
question I would ask myself more than once in the coming years.
I went into the office Monday morning and booked a long-distance
call to London. I told Montagu Norman that the CA bank in Austria
was on the brink of bankruptcy, and Hitler had personally asked for
his help. ‘Not again,’ said Montagu, ‘I’ll do my best.’ He did and
kept the bank going for another twelve months. It gained me another
feather in my cap from Hitler.
On Saturday, the 9th of December, we all attended the Goebbels’
wedding at Magda’s ex-husband’s farm in Mecklenburg. It is where
he bred the famous Mecklenburger horses. We left early on the
previous Thursday to drive the three hundred miles in the Red
Dragon. I chatted to Helene as she drove, and said it was typical of
that scheming Magda to get her ex-husband Gunter to arrange her
wedding party. Helene laughed and said, ‘The poor man is probably
too scared of the witch to do otherwise,’ to which we both laughed
aloud. Egon said, ‘What’s so funny, mummy?’ from the back seat.

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‘Nothing really,’ we replied, but it was not that funny.
‘Don’t call her that in front of Egon,’ Helene said in a whisper, and I
agreed to be more careful in future.
The wedding was fantastic, as could be expected from Magda’s
wealthy ex-husband. Hitler was the best man and signed as a
witness. It was a sunny winter’s day in North Germany, and we had
a barbeque outside the extensive stables. Guenter came up to Helene
and said it was not just an American thing to have barbeques, and
had she ever thought where hamburgers came from originally?
‘These are made from my herd of Red Holstein cattle,’ Guenter said
as he proudly brought over a tray, ‘I call these Kraut-Burgers,’ he
announced as he handed us a bun stuffed with a burger patty topped
with sauerkraut. He had a massive grin on his face.
‘Got any tomato ketchup?’ said Helene cheekily, which made
Guenter walk away in pretended disgust.
Magda looked gorgeous that day. She was thirty years old and a
beautiful woman. She was the second youngest of the Nazi leaders’
ladies, Eva Braun being nineteen. The ladies, spouses, and
girlfriends were known in the office as the Silver Pheasants - a
wordplay on Golden Pheasants - the nickname for Hitler’s earliest
friends and loyal companions. Their name was given because the
first Nazi uniforms were golden-brown and reminiscent of a cock
golden pheasant’s plumage. Even Goebbels looked good as he
walked alongside Magda; his specially made shoes hid his club foot
and made any limp barely noticeable. We stayed the night and drove
back the next day.

Christmas was coming, and next year our work was going to be
dominated by the German Federal elections, which would hopefully
see Hitler’s rise to rule Germany.

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I was looking forward to the Flights over Germany campaign, and
Hitler had already agreed that I could join him for the second week.

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Chapter 16 Hitler’s Christmas party for the Silver Pheasants.

Christmas day 1931 was unusual. Hitler had booked the entire
restaurant Osteria Bavaria and invited his inner circle for a private
lunch. We were honoured to be included. As far as I know, he never
held a dinner party or other function at his residence in Munich,
although they hosted many dinners at the Berghof. Helene said it
was probably because they did not have servants in Munich.
The usual group arrived dressed in their finest new wardrobes;
Magda and Joseph Goebbels, Hermann and Ilse Hess, and Helene
and me. Hermann Goering was accompanied by the famous actress
Emma Sonnemann. She became his wife in 1935 and became a
favourite of Hitler in competition with Magda for the Nazi First
Lady or First Pheasant title. Despite the potential for dispute, they
became good friends.
We also met Heinrich Himmler and his wife Marga, who was at
least five years older than him and did not fit into the typical image
of the Silver Pheasants. She was quite shy and dowdy with blonde
hair and turquoise blue eyes. She looked the epitome of the perfect
Aryan wife. Everyone knew their marriage was a convenient sham.
Himmler was having affairs with his female staff, but Marga kept
the pretence. Later Himmler would even have two children with his
former secretary Hedwig Potthast. Although he and Marga had
separated by then, they never divorced.
Hitler, of course, was accompanied by Eva Braun, dressed
immaculately in the latest fashion. Eva was always well dressed, and
Helene told me she would sometimes wear five or six dresses daily.
‘I have chosen the menu myself,’ Hitler proudly announced as the
potato pancakes with applesauce arrived.
Magda overheard Helene whispering to me, ‘You would have
thought he cooked it as well by the look on his face,’ and the two
girls giggled. The savoury pancakes were followed by braised pork

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with vegetables, dumplings and red cabbage. Hitler ordered the
wine, which he told the waiter to give me for the tasting. It was an
Alsace Gewurztraminer getting to be one of my favourites.
This attention to detail was one of the most charming traits of
Hitler’s personality. He made everyone think they were the most
important person in the room. He noticed trivial things others missed
and remembered them for a long time. However, Hitler’s long
memory had a more sinister side, wherein he would hold a grudge
for years. In only one example, the three men who betrayed him on
the night of the Beerhall Putsch, Kahr, Lossow and Hans Ritter von
Seisser, were all executed within a few years.
Christmas dessert was baked apples stuffed with walnuts and
hazelnut macaroons dipped in cholate. Hitler took a macaroon and
said, ‘what, no swastikas?’ and looked across at Helene, which
perplexed Goering and Himmler but got knowing smiles from the
Goebbels and the Hesses.
As the waiters cleared the main table, we split into groups on
smaller tables and sipped French Champagne. I was next to
Himmler’s table and overheard him explaining to Hitler his idea for
what he called concentration camps. He told Hitler he got the
concept from the British, who had established them to control and
punish the Boers in the two wars bearing that name. I could not hear
all the details, but he wanted Hitler to approve the construction of a
concentration camp for Jews and other undesirables at Dachau. I did
hear Hitler say, ‘let’s try one and see how it goes.’
With the table cleared, we began the formal toasts. Magda rose first
and proposed a toast to the ladies, without whom she said you men
would be lost. When the laughing died down, Goebbels toasted the
thousand-year Reich. Himmler toasted the Nazi party wishing for
much success in the coming elections.
I noticed Himmler talking intently to Eva and Helene for a while,

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and when they parted, Eva said she would mention it to Hitler. I
made a note to ask Helene what it was that Eva was going to
mention to Hitler.
The lunch finished mid-afternoon, and we all went home happy and
looking forward to the New Year.
As soon as I was home, I could not contain my curiosity and urged
Helene to tell me what Eva would mention to Hitler.
‘You’d better sit down,’ she said, pointing to the couch, ‘I’ll get you
a beer and tell you the story.’
Himmler had employed a fortune teller or astrologer, as he preferred
to call them. He was famous in Vienna, where he had a stage show.
Himmler heard about him from his friend Dr Leopold Thomas chief
of police in Vienna. The astrologer went by the name of Erik Jan
Hanussen. He worked on a case for the Central Bank.
Dr Thomas said that newly printed bank notes were disappearing,
and all the bank’s efforts and police investigations to discover the
thief failed. In desperation, they employed Hanussen to find the
culprit using his psychic powers. To everyone’s amazement, he
exposed the culprits who confessed, and most of the cash was
recovered. This same Dr Thomas was a crony of Wolf von Helldorf,
Himmler’s deputy in Berlin and a friend of the British occultist
Aleister Crowley.
Himmler wanted Eva to suggest that Hitler invite the astrologer
Hanussen to Munich for a meeting because they honestly believed
he could foretell the future. I rolled my eyes.
We were all back to work and preparing for the elections in January.
In one of my regular morning chats with Hoffmann over coffee, he
said he had been instructed to make a complete photographic record
of the two-week-long Hitler over Germany electioneering campaign.
It would be published as a picture book. ‘I want at least sixty pages
of photographs,’ Hitler directed.

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Hoffmann asked me if I had seen Leni Riefenstahl in any of her
films, and I said that Helene and I had been to see her in The White
Frenzy only three months ago. ‘Well, listen to this,’ said Hoffmann,
with a look on his face like a boy who the teacher had just awarded
five stars, ‘I met her before Christmas through a mutual friend, and
she said she admired Hitler and his vision of an Aryan super-race.
She asked if I could arrange a meeting to get her a commission to
make a film.’ I told Hoffmann it was a great idea, but we should
include Goebbels as he was zealous about controlling all that kind of
thing.
The astrologer project got off to a poor start. Although Eva believed
in fortune-telling and psychic power, she told Helene that Hitler was
not interested initially. However, she convinced him to let Himmler
meet with this astrologer and see what it was all about, which
Himmler did.
On the 14th of February 1932, Magda and Joseph Goebbels came to
Café Gentz for a ‘romantic dinner’ as Helene described it. Magda
phoned to ask what it was all about because they did not celebrate
St. Valentine’s Day in Germany. Helen explained it was an
American commercial invention, and Magda said, ‘Oh, I see.’
Helene told me Magda sounded disappointed that it would not be an
orgy or a wife-swapping party, and I said, ‘I told you she was a slut.’
If looks could kill, I would be dead now.
It was the first time the Goebbels had been for dinner with us since
they were married. He was in high spirits about the upcoming
election. After we were seated and the Champagne served, he told us
what he described as a funny story.
As we all knew, he was preparing Hitler to stand for the Presidential
election in March against Paul von Hindenburg. Goebbels said he
panicked when he realised Hitler was Austrian and only German
citizens could stand for President. He spoke to his senior contacts in

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the Bavarian government, who said it could take months to get
through the red tape. However, an old law dating back to the days of
the German Empire stated that specific civil service jobs carried
automatic citizenship status.
‘So, guess what I did?’ he said and could not stop laughing, ‘I had to
take Hitler along for a job interview at the Maximilianeum Bavarian
parliament building. Can you believe it?’
‘Well,’ shouted Helen and Magda together, ‘Did he get the job?’ and
we could hardly stop the uncontrolled laughter. ‘He wore his best
suit and tie, which must have clinched it.’ Goebbels had tears
running down his cheeks.
We eventually calmed down, and Goebbels warned us never to
repeat that story. Hitler had sworn him to secrecy. We will all
remember that dinner on Valentine’s Day.
Hitler stood in the election on the 13th of March and the run-off on
the 10th of April. Although he did not win, the results were
encouraging, showing a trend that would continue.

President Paul von Hindenburg 53%
Adolf Hitler (Nazi party) 36.8%
Ernst Thulmann (Communist) 10.2%
This result indicated that in a general election, nobody would have
an overall majority, and nobody could form a coalition.
In the meantime, Hanussen, the astrologer, had met with Himmler
and given him three predictions to provide to Hitler. Himmler
showed Hoffmann and me the predictions before passing them to
Hitler.
Hanussen predicted a terrible fatal accident in the German Grand
Prix in May. He said the Nazi party would get the largest share of
the votes in the federal election in July. But the one that really
would get Hitler’s attention was that Hitler would be Chancellor of
Germany ‘before three months had passed of 1934’.

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‘Let’s see what happens,’ said Hoffmann, then find out what Hitler
says.
The flying election campaign was a huge success and has set a
precedent for election campaigns worldwide since then. Hoffman’s
photographs were excellent, and he produced his seventy-page photo
chronicle with three large fold-out pictures. The pictures showed a
hundred thousand people at the Chemnitz rally, a hundred and
twenty thousand at the Hamburg rally and a vast crowd of two
hundred thousand at the Berlin rally.
It had a print run of fifty thousand. Hoffmann gave me a signed
copy, which is here in Tunbridge Wells. It frequently brings back
fond memories of the 1930s. There were also technically excellent
photos of the hundred thousand people at a night rally in Goerlitz
and complex wide-angle images of Hitler’s 43rd birthday party on
the plane whilst flying two thousand metres above Germany. That
was before the absolute horror began.

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Chapter 17 Berlin Grand Prix 1933. New Nazi HQ offices in
Munich.

Egon was growing up fast and asked if we could go to the AVUS
Grand Prix in Berlin. When I mentioned it to Hitler, he said I would
be able to see the German Benz thrashing the Italian Alfa Romeo.
Although everyone was learning not to disagree with the Fuhrer, I
dared to say, ‘maybe, but you never know.’ To which Hitler replied,
‘We will take the Silver Pheasants out for dinner after the Grand
Prix. You are backing the Italians, so you will pay if the German car
wins. I shall pay if the Italian car wins by some fluke or cheating.
But I warn you, Adam, dinner will be at the Four Seasons Hotel on
Maximilianstrasse, so get your wallet ready,’ and Hitler returned to
his office with a very contented smile.
Christa Schroeder, his private secretary, passed him on the way out
and leaned through the open doorway to my office, ‘What is the
Fuhrer so happy about on a Monday morning?’ she asked.
‘Racing cars,’ I replied truthfully, and Christa took it in her stride.
She was Hitler’s secretary throughout the war and remained so until
the end. She would go on to witness more things than she would
have ever been able to imagine in those quiet days of the early
1930s.
Helene suggested we go by train to the race in Berlin. She was
outvoted by the family men who derided the idea. ‘We have to go in
the Red Dragon,’ said Egon, so it was decided. Helene phoned her
namesake Helene Bechstein, and she was pleased to have us as
guests at their elegant villa in Berlin. Helene B, as we called her,
arranged grandstand seats through her contacts and came with us to
watch the race.
Before I left the office on the previous Friday, Hoffman had come in
to see me. He reminded me not to forget the predictions of that
astrologer Hanussen. He was sure Hitler would be watching as well.

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I was not much into this magic stuff and said I could not remember
what they were.
‘You will see at the race on Sunday. If there is a terrible fatal crash,
maybe we will see more of this Hanussen fellow and his mumbo-
jumbo.’
We had a lovely evening at the Bechsteins, but the mood in the villa
was sombre because Edwin Bechstein was bedridden and seemed
quite sick. He was seventy-three and at least twenty years older than
his wife. It was to be the last time Egon saw him.
The following day, we were off to the races. Races involving
engines, that is. Our seats were in the VIP Grandstand section,
which was nothing less than I had come to expect from Helene B.
There was one empty seat in our group, and Helene B said an old
friend of mine was on his way.
The competing cars were at the pinnacle of technology for 1933.
The Mercedes-Benz SSKL would dominate racing for the next
decade with its supercharged seven-litre straight-six engine designed
by Ferdinand Porsche. It produced over three hundred horsepower. I
told Egon to watch the silver Benz at the front of the grid. I pointed
out to everyone that the blue Sunbeam was being driven by Sir
Malcolm Campbell, who broke the world land speed record, driving
at over two hundred and fifty mph only a few months ago.
With all the cars lined up ready and only a few minutes before the
start flag, Hjalmar Schacht arrived. I was genuinely surprised. The
President of the Reichsbank was attired as formally as ever. After
friendly greetings, Egon asked us to sit down because the race was
about to begin and begin it did with a mighty roar of massive,
supercharged engines.
The cars were round the first hairpin, and I heard them accelerate
down the straight, but within minutes a strange hush came over the
grandstand. In the distance, we could see smoke and people running

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across the track. Georg Lobokowicz in the Bugatti T51 had
misjudged his speed coming into the hairpin and skidded sideways.
He was killed instantly. He had flown off the track and onto the
adjacent railway embankment.
I turned white as a sheet, and Hjalmar asked if I was ok. ‘Yes,’ I
said, hoping this was not the beginning of astrologers being advisors
to Hitler.
The race was not stopped. Things were different in those early days
of car racing, and we watched an exhilarating competition. The Benz
and the Alfa were neck and neck for the whole race. Eventually, von
Brauchitsch took the chequered flag in his Benz with the Alfa of
Caracciola a close second.
After over ninety minutes of racing, there were only four seconds
between them. I was devastated; those four seconds would cost my
wallet dearly. The Four Seasons bill was going to be mine. I said a
silent thank you to my Grandfather for his legacy, which continued
to fund my lifestyle.
Both Helenes looked at me and said in unison, ‘Don’t bring us next
time. It is much too noisy and smelly.’
‘That’s the point,’ I thought, but it would have been a waste of
breath saying it.
We planned to stay overnight and return to Munich on Monday, so
Helene B invited Hjalmar back to the villa for dinner.
It was an opportunity for Hjalmar and me to catch up. I said I was
confident that Hitler would get the largest share of votes in July, and
I expected him to be the Chancellor by March of next year. I took a
gamble with Hanussen’s predictions; after all, he got the first one
right.
Hjalmar said that was excellent news and would bring more
donations and international financial support. He said Montagu was
bored with this Austrian bank fiasco and would do something drastic

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to fix the problem if it continued until the end of the year. ‘Can I tell
Hitler that?’ I asked, and he nodded. I thought it would also be
valuable information in my next XC report.
Back in Munich, a slightly worried Hoffmann met me and said,
‘One down, two to go.’
The election was another success; Hitler got the largest single share
of the votes at 32%. But once again, not enough to command a
majority in Parliament. Nobody could form a government, and that
meant yet another election. Luckily, the party coffers were full and
well-organised after two attempts.
‘Two down, only one more to go,’ said Hoffmann after the election,
and I knew what he meant.
After months of wrangling and bickering, another election was
scheduled for November. I sensed that the German people were
getting frustrated by the inability of their rulers to form a
government.
The Nazi party had outgrown the offices at Schellingstrasse as fifty
people were turning up for work every day. Hitler acquired a huge
old baronial palace, known as the Palais Barlow, to house the team.
Fritz Thyssen financed the considerable costs to buy, renovate and
convert the rundown Victorian mansion into modern offices. We
named it the Brown House. Within, there was a large office for
Hitler overlooking the Koenigplatz. It was beautiful once
refurbished.
The core team of Hess, Goering, Himmler, Goebbels and,
thankfully, myself had spacious offices. With additional space
available for more senior party members who joined us, the Nazis
grew into an almost unstoppable force with a will to take over the
world.
Joseph Goebbels had a lavish office decorated in his flamboyant
style. Goering had an apartment at the Brown House with a private

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elevator from the underground car park, ‘So that financial sponsors
can visit me discretely,’ he told me. ‘Yes, and the actresses,’ I
thought to myself.
There was also a staff restaurant in the basement, a rare facility in
1932. It was Hitler showing his innate ability to keep staff happy
and loyal. The next time I had a meeting with Hitler, I saw the life-
size portrait of Henry Ford on the wall next to his desk. Ford was
one American Nazi benefactor who did not need to hide his support
by using Goering’s private elevator.

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Chapter 18 Circle of Friends of the Economy. Chancellor Hitler
and the Austrian Astrologer.

The elections in November 1932 were becoming tiresome. The
competition made slight inroads into the Nazi’s lead, and it fell by a
not insignificant four per cent. Once again, there was no way an
agreement to form a coalition government could be reached, despite
Hitler having the single largest share of the vote. A majority in
Parliament was required to form a government.
On the 19th of November, Hoffmann, in one of our less frequent
meetings, now I had moved to the Brown House, told me that the
mood on the street was getting ugly and the clashes between the SA
and the Communists were getting increasingly violent. On top of
that, the Creditanstalt bank was about to go under, and
accountholders in Austria would riot. If the bank collapses and
triggers a domino effect in Germany, it could be as serious as a civil
war.
The same day Fritz Thyssen phoned me and said that he and
Hjalmar were organising a letter from senior German industrialists
to the Weimar government formally requesting that Hitler be made
Chancellor to overcome the crippling stalemate in Parliament.
I immediately contacted Montagu in London and said now was the
time for action; Germany was on the brink of civil war.
Hjalmar said not to worry, a solution was in process, and it indeed
was. As reported in Hansard for Friday, the 30th of December. The
official newspaper of the British Parliament documented that
Parliament had passed a motion directing the British government to
bail out and support the Austrian Creditanstalt.
Everything stops for Christmas and New Year, even banking crises,
and with the financial guarantee of the British Government, the
Austrian Government nationalised Creditanstalt bank in January.
The fifty per cent foreign investment meant that depositor money

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was guaranteed.
Later in January, Hitler appointed Goering head of the Gestapo, an
organisation he would make the most feared in Germany.
On Sunday, 29th of January, Hitler was at Helene Bechstein’s villa in
Berlin, negotiating with the crumbling Weimar government. He
went to bed that night for the last time as an ordinary German
citizen,
The rise to power of the Nazis was now unstoppable.
On that Sunday evening, Helene and I were back home in Café
Gentz when Helene B phoned us from Berlin. She told us, in
confidence, that Hitler would be appointed Chancellor the next day.
His rise to power was almost surreal.
On Monday, 30th of January 1933, President von Hindenburg
appointed Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany. Without being
elected, Hitler became the leader of the government. He was
appointed under the powers held by the President of Germany.
Historians would say that Hindenburg had no choice if he was to
prevent complete civil unrest.
When the news reached the staff at the Brown House, the mood was
ecstatic. I remember Hoffmann and Eva Braun coming into my
office carrying a bottle of Krug Champagne which I popped open
just as Joseph and Magda Goebbels arrived.
‘Well done, Adam,’ she shouted, ‘Perfect timing as usual.’
‘How come you always get the glory?’ Hoffmann asked me.
‘It is just his pretty face,’ Helene quipped as Hoffman shrugged his
shoulders.
Goebbels announced that work was over for the day, and everyone
could go home early.
When the office had emptied, the four of us - Hoffmann, Helene,
Eva, and I sat down. I got my special bottle of Lamb’s Navy Rum
for toasts to Hitler and the Nazi party. Eva and Helene nearly

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choked on theirs, and I laughed as I explained it was Royal Navy
strength of over fifty per cent alcohol. Hoffmann asked if I could get
him a few bottles.
Eva got quite emotional and said with tears in her eyes that her
beloved Adolf would now become the most powerful man in the
world, and she would never leave his side, which turned out to be
true.
Hoffmann took the delighted Eva home. Helene and I went to bed
early that evening, not daring to overthink the future.
When Hitler returned, it was straight into business as usual. He
called a staff meeting, and when he came out of his office, he was
greeted by a spontaneous burst of applause. His busy campaign
schedule over the last year made him respond automatically to such
introductions, and he graciously thanked everyone for their support
and hard work.
‘As you all know, I am now Chancellor of the Weimar Reich, but
we must not cease our endeavours until I am Chancellor of the Third
Reich and Fuhrer of Germany.’
In an uncanny preview of Churchill’s words to Parliament in 1940,
Hitler continued, ‘Until the day that I am Fuhrer, I have nothing to
offer my loyal team but hard work and sweat. But when that time
comes, as we are certain it will, we shall all reap the rewards and
benefits. I will never forget your loyalty and devotion.’ He was
given a standing ovation as he returned to his office. His oratory
skill was formidable. I realised he could inspire and energise a
crowd to do anything.
The office calmed down, and everyone went back to their desks.
One of Hitler’s secretaries told me that he wanted to see me.
‘Well, what do you think, Adam?’ Hitler asked as I entered his
office before I could even sit down. ‘I have taken the first step, and
the future is now inevitable. My destiny and the destiny of Germany

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are now one. That is clear.’
I agreed, and he continued, ‘Do you remember those predictions that
Himmler brought from that Austrian fortune-teller? I dismissed
them at first, but now you can see he was one hundred per cent
accurate about the fatal crash. Also, Mercedes-Benz won the race,
for which you owe us that dinner. Do not forget that.’ he said,
smiling.
‘Yes, I remember,’ I interjected, ‘And he was also correct that you
would get the largest share of the votes in July. And the last of his
predictions - the one which, I am sorry to say, I had my doubts about
- he said would you be Chancellor of Germany ‘before three months
had passed of 1934’, and he was right for the third time.
Hitler looked at me with those piercing eyes, and I felt compelled by
some unforeseen force to listen and concentrate. ‘Adam, I now want
you to do two things for me. Please sit down and let us have a
coffee.’
Christa brought in two cups of Kaffee HAG, a horrible type of
decaffeinated coffee that I do not believe has any coffee in it, yet
Hitler and all the office staff loved it, so I suffered in silence.
Hitler took a sip of his coffee and said, ‘I want you to do two things,
Adam. The first is for you and Himmler to meet with this Austrian
fortune-teller and get him on board with us. Goebbels will put his
prophecies to effective use. Wilhelm Keppler, my treasurer, will
arrange a special budget for what we shall call the Ahnenerbe
project. Let us see what we can do with this mystical stuff to support
the master race theory.’
‘Secondly, I want you to arrange a secret meeting of all the wealthy
and powerful industrialists that you have done an excellent job
developing into party supporters. My political ambitions are not
over yet. Our funds are low, and we will need at least three million
marks in the party coffers for the March elections. We must win

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outright to gain full control of Germany.’
‘I understand, and I will start immediately,’ I said as I stood up to
leave.
‘Please,’ said Hitler, ‘You haven’t finished your coffee.’ I downed
the brown liquid in two large gulps and left Hitler with a smug
smile. I think he knew I was not too fond of Kaffee HAG, and it
amused him to see my expression as I drank it.
I immediately contacted Hjalmar Schacht, and we made a list of
invitees. Hjalmar suggested the core should be the same group that
had signed the petition to President Hindenburg requesting Hitler be
made Chancellor back in November 1932. I also suggested
including Friedrich Flick, who had not been very keen to donate
more than the fifty thousand he contributed to the election campaign
thus far. We knew we could count on their support and that they
would probably convert any recruits who may have doubts.
Hjalmar suggested we hold the meeting in Berlin at the Chancellor’s
official residence, which Hitler could now use. He also indicated
that to distance himself from the conference, we delegate the details
of arranging the invites to Wilhelm Keppler. Hjalmar did not want
his name to be associated with direct fundraising, which he said was
best for his international image. We agreed, and from then on, the
participants were known as the Circle of Friends of the Economy or
Keppler’s Circle for short.
I also met Himmler to get Hanussen, the Austrian Astrologer, as
Hitler called him, to come to Munich immediately. I discovered
Hanussen was easily motivated by money and was in the Brown
House in Munich within days of being asked.
When he arrived, Himmler and I met him in my office late in the
evening. He came directly to meet us without checking into his
hotel. He said he knew his first three predictions had been correct
and wanted to show us his powers. He asked us to stay until the

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offices were empty, which they soon were.
On a cleared table, he opened his case and laid out a cloth
embroidered with mystical markings. He placed candlesticks, an
incense burner and some weird rocks on it. He lit the candles and
incense and told me to put out the lights. He instructed us to sit
quietly and not disturb the aura he was creating.
He started making a humming sound, and then his eyes rolled up,
and he crashed forwards onto the table. There was silence, but
Himmler and I followed his instructions and did not move or make a
sound. Suddenly he rose with a terrific yell and fell backwards onto
the floor. I must admit I jumped. He certainly put on a good show.
He sat up and asked me to help him onto his chair. Himmler could
not wait any longer, ‘What happened?’ Hanussen said. ‘I saw a
vision. A great building was on fire and burning out of control. It
was lighting up the sky, and Hitler was looking on from a distance
with a look of satisfaction. Then I heard noises of a crowd, and
everything went blank.’
Hanussen composed himself and asked if we had anything to drink.
I understood what he meant and poured him a large schnapps which
he downed in one.
Himmler told Hanussen that we wanted him to move to Munich and
that the Nazi party would employ him full-time. After some back
and forth about money, he agreed. He asked if a driver could take
him back to Vienna the next morning so he could sort out his things
and return the same day. Himmler sent him to his hotel with an
office driver.
Encouraged by Eva Braun and Magda Goebbels, this was the
beginning of the weird relationship between Hitler and the occult.
Keppler would arrange for a budget of one million Marks for the
Ahnenerbe Society. That organisation was to become much more
sinister in the years ahead.

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Meanwhile, my sponsorship conference in Berlin was confirmed for
Monday, the 20th of February.
Helene and I drove up to Berlin the Saturday before the meeting and
stayed at Helene B’s villa. On Monday, I met Goering and Keppler
at the Presidential Palace, and we soon welcomed the most wealthy
and influential group of businessmen I had ever seen under one roof.
In all, there were nearly thirty attendees. Kurt Schmitt and August
von Finck from Allianz were there. They would be rewarded by
having their company provide all Nazi party insurance policies,
including those for the facilities and employees at concentration
camps such as Dachau.
Friedrich Flick made the second of his many donations, which
eventually amounted to over eight million Marks before the war
ended. Flick himself and his industrial empire recovered after the
war, and he was the wealthiest man in Germany when he died in
1972. He was tried for war crimes but served less than three years of
his seven-year sentence.
When everyone was settled, Goering opened the meeting. Hitler
followed with an impassioned speech in which he promised rewards
for support and said he knew he could count on everyone there.
Then Hitler left the meeting, and Goering addressed the group again.
In his blunt way, he said the party needed three million Marks
before the election, which was only weeks away. He said to contact
either myself or Keppler for details of how to transfer donations. He
closed the meeting by saying in his unique way of combining
menace with friendship, ‘I am sure you all understand the
importance of this meeting not only for Germany but for the future
of your own companies and businesses.’
To a murmur of approval, we broke up for lunch, and I made sure to
get acquainted with Frick and any others I had not met prior. Before
the week was out, we had received over two million Marks,

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laundered through the Nazi publishing company F. Bruckmann
Kapitalanlagegesellschaft in Munich.
Back in Munich, Hitler called one of his impromptu staff meetings
and told the team that Goering had returned from Berlin with the
joyful news that three million Marks were now available for the
election.
Hitler turned to Goebbels and said, ‘Mobilise your propaganda
department immediately. The money is here. Get moving. We only
have days before the most important election in our history.’ Now
we will have an election campaign to be remembered.

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Chapter 19 The Reichstag fire. Dachau concentration camp
opened.

It was a few weeks before the elections. They were going to be both
hectic and traumatic. I could hardly believe the speed of the drastic
changes occurring in only five weeks. My XC report for January
was full of the proceedings of the financial sponsors meeting at the
Presidential Palace. The appointment of Hitler as Chancellor was
public knowledge, but I threw in Goering’s appointment as head of
the Gestapo for good measure.
My February and March reports were going to be very interesting
for MI6. I just hoped the British government would take appropriate
measures. Hjalmar and Montagu kept in constant touch with me,
waiting for breaking news. The international bankers were acutely
aware of the importance of intelligence information and the need for
rapid action if required. The leftist Labour government of Prime
Minister Ramsay MacDonald in London seemed oblivious to what
was happening in Germany. Winston Churchill was now only a
backbench Member of Parliament. Although he constantly warned
of a European war on the horizon, his words fell on deaf ears.
I kept my parents advised of what was happening in Germany by
letter. I was careful not to include any secret or sensitive information
as I was sure someone intercepted the mail: Communists, Nazis,
MI6, or even Wild Bill Donovan’s rogue American agents.
In February, my father wrote to me after he had attended a
Conservative Association meeting that Churchill addressed. When
Winston warned of the imminent danger from Hitler’s Nazis and
mentioned bomb attacks from the air on London, he was met with
derisive laughter.
Back in Munich at the Brown House, Himmler called a meeting
with Goering, Goebbels, Hitler and me to report on the psychic
experience with Hanussen. When we told him of Hanussen’s

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prediction of a ‘huge building on fire and out of control’, Hitler
looked at Goebbels and said, ‘well, I suppose anything could happen
in the next few days. The Communists and the Trade Unions are
organising gangs of thugs roaming the streets in all major towns and
cities. They are threatening our supporters.’
Hitler stopped and raised his arms high, then slammed down his fist
on the desk, ‘This must be stopped by any means.’ It was the first
time I had seen Hitler use his public speaking methods to a small
audience and in the office.
Goering stood up and asked permission to report on what he had
done to counteract the Communists and Trade Unionists in the
weeks before the elections. He said that he had created the
Hilfpolizei. It was a central Secret State Police Office with all the
separate regional Police Forces united under his command. This
received general nods of approval from all present.
Goering continued his presentation; ‘I have appointed fifty thousand
trained SA troops as auxiliary police with the power to arrest. I have
selected the ablest men from the Gestapo as regional controllers for
the Hilfpolizei Offices. Day-to-day control will be by the Office
Chief, Rudolf Diels, who has proved himself capable and worthy.’
Hitler asked, ‘What about these gangs of Communist thugs
threatening our loyal voters?’
Goering became quite excited, ‘Diels has established two groups in
each district. The first comprises the toughest men and will defend
our loyal voters against harassment on the streets. They have been
well-armed and will arrest and detain the Communist thugs. The
second group will interview residents and arrest any Communist or
Trade Union activists before they can do more damage. Himmler
told me about his plan to build concentration camps, and the
troublemakers we arrest will be interred at these camps, unable to
cause any more problems. My Fuhrer, your path to victory will be

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clear. The coming German revolution for freedom will be the most
disciplined in history.’
Goering received a round of applause from the small group in
Hitler’s office, me included. He described the beginning of the Nazi
police state and the use of concentration camps to eliminate all
resistance. It was only the beginning.
On the last Friday of February, Hitler announced he was temporarily
moving himself and the team to Berlin.
He said, ‘I now have unlimited use of the facilities at the
Presidential Palace. Hindenburg will do exactly what I say from now
on,’ So we organised our move to Berlin, and as usual, Helene
arranged for us to stay with Helene B.
On our first evening with Helene B, she told us she had met, through
a mutual friend, the doctor who was secretly treating President
Hindenburg. Dr Josef Mengele had told her confidentially that the
President had advanced lung cancer. Mengele had been developing
alternative treatments, and the President was undergoing a robust
regime of Mengele’s special drugs.
Mengele has been researching at Munich University since they
awarded him his PhD. A friend of mine is a laboratory assistant
there. She tells me he conducts some strange experiments. ‘That is
why Hindenburg lets Hitler walk all over him,’ said Helene B, ‘He
is sick. God knows what experimental drug Mengele is injecting into
that poor man.’
On Sunday morning, Hitler called a private meeting at Helene B’s
house, and only Goering and I were invited. At the meeting, in his
position as Chancellor, Hitler appointed Hermann Goering the
Commander-in-Chief of the new Luftwaffe. Germany was banned
from having an air force under the Versailles Treaty, and officially
forming one was strictly in violation. Hitler said the Treaty was
invalid and Goering should develop a German air force to defeat the

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world.
I told them that I had already received assurances through Putzi that
the major aeroplane manufacturers in the USA were waiting with
open wallets for the German aviation market to be available. Hitler
immediately instructed me to make the required contacts and invite
these American aviation companies to Munich for discussions with
Goering and me.
The next day was spent being introduced to Hitler’s new staff who
came with the job of Chancellor. I was then allocated an office and
settled in. Goering dropped by and said it had been a hectic day, and
he was going home early. ‘Why not?’ I thought and followed him
out of the Presidential Palace.
I was at Helene B’s that evening when I received a telephone call
from an excited and agitated Goering, ‘Diels has told me the
Reichstag building is on fire. Get down there as soon as you can. I
have informed Hitler and the others.’
I told both Helenes, and we drove across to the Reichstag
immediately. We could see the sky lit up orange by the
conflagration. Flames were shooting twenty metres in the air.
We soon found Goering and Diels, who told us the fire was out of
control and the fire brigade could only try to contain the spread of
the flames. The German Parliament building was lost.
Hitler and Himmler suddenly appeared out of the smoke, and Hitler
was ranting.
‘This is the work of Communist agitators,’ he said, ‘trying to wreck
my chances in the election. But we will use this afront to the
German people against them. They will rue the day they burned the
Reichstag.’
Rudolf Diels said that Hilfpolizei groups were already out arresting
the culprits, none of whom would go unpunished. It was an excellent
opportunity to arrest hundreds of communists and trade unionists,

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which Diels and his gangs did over the next week.
In an excited voice, Hitler pulled me aside and whispered to me,
‘Adam, this was predicted by the Austrian astrologer. Get close to
him and find out what he really can do and what he wants. If he has
psychic power, we will use it.’
I nodded, and Hitler went off with Himmler, disappearing into the
smoke and red glow from the fire.
Hitler was satisfied that Goering and Diels would do a thorough job
because he had other pressing matters. In the next meeting with
Hindenburg, Hitler ordered the President to issue the Reichstag Fire
Decree, which put Germany into a state of emergency. It meant the
suspension of the freedom of the press, the suspension of habeas
corpus, and the ban on public assembly. This decree was never
repealed while Hitler governed.
For the rest of the week, Diels continued with arrests and
interrogations culminating in the announcement that a known
communist agitator Marinus van der Lubbe, had confessed to being
the instrument of a Communist plot to burn the Reichstag. Goebbels
made the most of this Communist plot story in the days before the
election.
Election day passed without further distractions, and back in the
offices at the Palace, we were eagerly awaiting the results. When
they finally came through, Hitler had done well, and his Nazi party
was the largest single party receiving thirty-nine per cent of the
votes. The Communists and the incumbent centre party could only
muster thirty per cent between them. Hitler had two hundred eighty-
eight seats but still not enough to have an outright majority in
Parliament.
The stormtroopers continued to harass Communists, which included
the ransacking of Jewish shops and offices. Hitler had not yet flexed
his muscles in his new position as Chancellor and confided in me

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over a cup of Kaffee HAG one morning that he had prepared a
blacklist of people who had chosen to try to deflect him from his
destiny. Now they would find out their own destiny, ‘and it will not
be pleasant, you will see,’ he said with a grin of satisfaction.
‘How is the coffee, Adam,’ he said with a wry smile, ‘I ordered it
just for you,’ and he laughed out loud. The elections had lifted a lot
of pressure off his shoulders.
The newspaper that had published the maligning report about Geli’s
death was obviously on the top of his blacklist. Their offices were
raided and ransacked. All staff who did not manage to run away
were arrested and thrown into jail. Gangs of Hilfpolizei Police raided
the homes of those that did manage to run away and arrested them
all.
After the fire, Hitler sent us back to Munich, and Magda invited us
for dinner the first weekend we were there. Helene said Magda
confided in her more as if she needed support and approval of her
actions and intentions. Helene also said that Magda had a strong
hold over her husband, and he did whatever she told him.
The other Silver Pheasants had already arrived when we entered the
Goebbels’ residence. Eva looked very young and demur, wearing a
plain blue school uniform dress and white socks. When we had a
quiet moment, I asked Helene how Eva always managed to look so
young. Helene replied, ‘sometimes you are so naive, Adam. She
doesn’t need to do anything; she’s only nineteen. Why do you think
Hitler is infatuated with her?
‘Oh,’ I said.
After dinner, Magda said that Himmler had an announcement to
make, ‘Please,’ she said as she signalled for Himmler to stand and
tell us his news.
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honour to announce…’
‘Himmler,’ shouted Hitler, ‘For God’s sake, get on with it; Eva does

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not want to hear all your pomp and ceremony, do you, my dear?’
and Eva blushed, a coy look on her face.
‘I am here to announce,’ continued Himmler, ‘That the first Nazi
concentration camp has been built and is open. It is in Dachau, only
sixteen kilometres from here.’ He turned to Helene, ‘That is ten
miles for you, Helene.’
‘Get on with it,’ called Hitler again, which got a giggle from Eva.
‘Dachau will be the first of many, and we will use them to remove
all undesirables from the Third Reich; the Jews, the Gypsies, the
homosexuals and the Communists.’
‘And anyone else who is against us,’ chipped in Goebbels. We all
gave our congratulations to Himmler for a job well done.
Then Magda stood up again. ‘And for you, my dear Fuhrer, we have
a little surprise. Do you remember that turncoat Ritter von Seisser
who betrayed you at the Putsch, along with Kahr and Lossow? You
told me you would never forgive them. Well, the surprise is that von
Seisser is one of the first inmates at Dachau. He is there now
contemplating his fate.’
The news of von Seisser’s detention put the group in a merry mood
that continued for the remainder of the dinner.
‘Why are they called concentration camps?’ asked Eva innocently.
‘Because it will concentrate the minds of the degenerates locked
away in them,’ said Goering, and he laughed at his joke. Hitler
laughed, and Eva followed him.
Hitler pulled out his pocket watch and looked at the time, indicating
it was soon time to go. He never wore a wristwatch, and I am sure it
was so that he could make the visible gesture of looking at the time
much more apparent. We all took the hint, and the party broke up.
When Hoffmann and I next met, I told him as much as I dared about
the dinner. Although we became good friends, Hoffman was
completely loyal to Hitler and believed utterly in the Nazi doctrines

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of the master race and world domination.
I gave him the bottle of Navy rum I had scrounged from the
Embassy in Berlin, and he said, ‘Thank you, have you got one
opened?’
I took the hint and poured him a glass from my office collection.
‘Listen to this,’ he said, ‘Now that Hitler is Chancellor, I have been
instructed to destroy any negatives of him wearing lederhosen. I
must never take any photographs when he wears them again.’
‘Quite right, Chancellors don’t wear shorts,’ I said. ‘Cheers to the
Chancellor,’ and we both raised our glasses.

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Chapter 20 Hitler Chancellor of Germany, with a majority in
Parliament.

In my next XC report to MI6 in London, I reported the development
of the first concentration camps and included confidential
information about Hindenburg’s medical condition. I said
Hindenburg was now a puppet of Hitler and that Franz von Papen
was acting as Hindenburg’s deputy for most public duties.
C asked about who was in line to become President when
Hindenburg goes. He also wanted to know if there had been any
reaction from the Catholic church. The reply came back with a note
about the concentration camps saying that we (the British) had
invented them and they worked very well.
I showed Helene the questions, and she said, ‘Don’t they realise that
Hitler is planning to abolish the Presidency and become supreme
leader?’
‘Obviously not,’ I replied, ‘sometimes they seem completely out of
touch with reality despite my warnings.’
‘That must frustrate poor Churchill,’ she said.
On Monday 20th of March Hitler called Himmler, Goebbels,
Goering, and me into his office for an early morning meeting. He
produced a draft act. He said he intended to present it to the
Reichstag as soon as possible. He called it the Enabling Act, and
enable it certainly did.
Hitler said, ‘This act is critical to the future of the Nazi party and the
Third Reich. I have kept it simple with only five articles. It contains
less than two hundred words, and I would like you all to read it now.
Hitler passed out copies of the draft, and we all sat and read.
I read my copy and realised that it enabled Chancellor Hitler to
make laws without either the Reichstag’s approval or the President’s
signature. Simply put, Hitler could introduce any law without the
previous checks and balances provided by a democratic government.

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Passing this act would make Hitler the absolute dictator of Germany.
Goebbels was first to finish and, as always, had a practical point.
‘To be passed into law, my Fuhrer, this will need a two-thirds
majority in the Reichstag. As you know, we do not have that
majority.’
‘That is why I called this meeting,’ Hitler said, ‘I need your help to
ensure victory, especially the Hilfpolizei (Special Police groups).’
Himmler stood up and saluted, ‘They stand ready for you to
command!’
‘Excellent, now please listen carefully. If we remove the eighty-one
seats held by the filthy Communists, we only need to remove twenty
of the Social Democrat seats. That means your Police must arrest
and detain only one hundred and one members to ensure we get the
required majority. Due to the Reichstag Building being destroyed,
on Thursday, a parliament session will be held in the Kroll Opera
house. I want a detachment of armed Hilfpolizei inside the building.
We shall announce that they are there to ensure the safety of the
members and protect the building from another Communist attack.’
Goering said, ‘That Communist rat Ernst Thalmann has already
been arrested and is on his way to Dachau as we speak.’ Goering
turned to Himmler, ‘If we keep up the good work, it will be full
before we know it. You had better start building some more of your
special hotels.’
Himmler replied, ‘That has already started. We are building one at
Esterwegen, one at Oranieburg, near Brandenburg and if we need
extra hotel accommodation,’ and everyone smiled at his description,
‘I have the ship Ochstumsand moored at Bremen for emergency
overload.’
Hitler tapped the table and looked at his pocket watch, signalling the
end of the meeting. ‘Well done, I can see we are prepared. Now off
to Berlin, everyone. You have urgent work. The arrests must

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complete before Thursday. You have only three days.’ We all got up
to go when Hitler said, ‘Please, Adam, not you. I have other things
for you.’
Hitler asked if I remembered what he had said to me as we watched
the Reichstag burning. I replied that I had already contacted
Hanussen to arrange a meeting. ‘Good. Let me know when you have
something that we can use. But we must address a second matter,
the Jewish problem.’ His tone darkened. ‘I want all the Jews out of
Germany. I want them out of Europe. Adam, please discuss with
your government contacts in London the best way to accomplish
this. I need a solution. It is very delicate, so I want you to go to
London and discuss this face-to-face.’ I said I would make
arrangements to travel immediately.
At home that evening, I told Helene that Hitler had asked me to go
to London. She said that was perfect timing. Putzi had enrolled Egon
into Cranbrook boarding school in Tunbridge Wells, and we could
take him there.
‘It certainly does when we lead hectic lives,’ replied Helene. I told
her we could go to London by train on Wednesday morning and I
would get Christa Schroeder to make the bookings from the office
tomorrow.
‘By the way,’ Helene said, ‘Magda wants to come and see us. She
wants to talk about what she said was a very confidential matter.’
Just what we need, I thought. I wonder what is so urgent and
confidential?
The next evening, I was to find out what that lunatic was planning.
She arrived early, and Helene had prepared some snacks rather than
a formal dinner. Magda brought a bottle of Moet et Chandon
Champagne, already chilled. She said that before we started the
serious business, she had to tell us that her friend Joachim von
Ribbentrop, the importing agent for Moet et Chandon, had

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introduced her to his brother-in-law Otto Klaebisch, the distributor
in France. He had assured her that we would have an uninterrupted
personal supply regardless of future events. ‘He gave us some
samples,’ she said, ‘let us open this and try, shall we?’
Magda then looked at us intently, and I realised she had the same
penetrating eyes as Hitler. ‘I trust you both entirely and value your
opinion, which is why I am here tonight. Everyone else has their
hidden agenda, and I cannot trust them. You will understand the
need for the utmost secrecy when you hear the story.’
‘When I was a silly young girl, I fell for a school friend called
Chaim Arlossrof. Yes, he was a Jew. We dated and planned to marry
and emigrate to Palestine, which he considered the Jewish State. My
parents and friends were most unhappy about this. One evening
Chaim and I argued in his apartment.’ She stopped for a drink. ‘He
lost his temper, pulled out a gun and shot at me. The bullet missed
me, luckily, but I realised he was a psychopath and never saw him
again.’ Yes, I thought to myself that it takes one to know one.
Magda continued, ‘Chaim is in Munich right now. He is negotiating
with the government to ratify and implement the Ha’avara
Agreement. It is a deal whereby German Jews and their families can
emigrate to Palestine. Instead of confiscating all their assets, they
will receive forty-two per cent of the value when they arrive in
Palestine. Chaim contacted me last weekend, and we met in his hotel
room for old times’ sake. The violent brute tried to rape me, but I
fought him off and got away. I told Joseph, and he vowed to avenge
the insult.’
‘OK, Magda,’ I said, ‘but I hope this has nothing to do with Helene
and myself.’
‘Well, it has because I know my dear Adolf asked you to solve what
he calls the Jewish Problem. The Ha’avara Agreement is a start, but
it is much too easy on the Jews. So, please do not get involved with

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Chaim, as he will no longer be relevant. We do not want you to
waste time making his acquaintance.’ I assured Magda, in all
sincerity, that I would bear that in mind.
‘I have more news,’ she continued as she refilled her glass and piled
her plate with a selection of sausages and cold meats.
She said that she had another great idea that would deter these
Communists and leftist scum should they consider committing
treason. She turned to Helene and said, ‘Have you heard of the
guillotine? It was the device used in the French Revolution to cut off
heads’
‘Of course,’ replied Helene, ‘the terrifying machine invented by Dr
Guillotine to speed up executions.’
Magda continued, ‘Precisely. Well, I have designed a new and
improved model and have persuaded my friend Fritz Thyssen to
assign a prototype engineer to build one.’
She was highly excited and stopped only for a gulp of Champagne.
‘It is not built of wood like the old French design; it is made
completely from metal and has a screen and gutter to direct the
blood into a bucket. It is designed to be clean and fast. I will present
it to dear Adolf on his birthday next month,’ and she sat down with a
contented sigh. ‘This is delicious white sausage. Where do you get
it, Helene?’
There was an uncomfortable silence for what seemed like minutes,
but it was only a few seconds. I broke the ice by getting up and
filling Magda’s glass. Helene told Magda which butcher she used
for the sausages, and Magda reverted to her usual friendly self once
more.
We told her we were going to England the next day and she asked
many questions about Egon’s new school. She said she had to go by
nine o’clock, and we said farewells. I noticed Emil Maurice was
again the driver.

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Back in the apartment, we both sat down and finished our drinks.
‘Wow!’ said Helene, ‘she certainly revealed her true character. That
guy Chaim better look out. I am not sure that even getting a
bodyguard will help.’
We went to bed that night, our heads full of Magda’s crazy ideas. ‘I
told you she was a witch,’ I said, ‘but now we know she is a total
psychopath. Can you imagine having a guillotine made for a
birthday present? I hope she has not planned a live demonstration
while we blow out the candles.’
I had made an appointment with C in Head Office and went to
London on the train while Helene took Egon to his new school. The
following day an office driver took us to the station, and we were on
our way to London. The school was close to my parent’s house, and
we planned to stay with them.
I was as frustrated as Churchill when I came out of the meeting. MI6
believed Hitler was no threat to world peace and reminded me that
my main objective was to get him into power and destroy the
Communists as they were the real threat. I described the plan to get
a two-thirds majority in Parliament by intimidation. Their only
comment was that the end would justify the means. I also mentioned
Hitler’s new-found interest in magic and astrology and received
some names to contact later.
We were on the train back to Munich on Thursday, the 23rd of
March. Meanwhile, armed Hilfpolizei surrounded Reichstag
members in Berlin as they voted on the Enabling Act, which they
passed with the required two-thirds majority.
And so it was that Hitler became the legal dictator of Germany.
Chancellor Hitler had the sole power to make and enforce laws
without the involvement of the Reichstag or Weimar President Paul
von Hindenburg.
Hitler had executed a perfect coup. It was an almost bloodless

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revolution; as Goering had predicted, it was one of the most
disciplined in history.

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Chapter 21 Stolen Art and sending German Jews to Palestine.
Surprise party for Hitler.

On the 1st of April 1933, the Communist party was banned by law in
Germany, and membership became illegal. This gave the Secret
Police all the reason they needed to arrest anyone they suspected of
being a member. Himmler told me that at least forty-five thousand
Communists had been arrested and sent to his first concentration
camp. He said he had to delegate control of that first camp to
Theodor Eicke because it was so busy and that he had accelerated
the building programmes for the others.
Goebbels came to see us at Café Gentz unannounced one evening.
We welcomed him, and he apologised for any inconvenience.
Helene and I were intrigued to discover the reason for his
unexpected visit without Magda.
‘It must be something very important,’ Helene whispered to me as
we went into the kitchen to get some glasses and snacks.
We soon discovered what it was. Goebbels was arranging a surprise
birthday party for Hitler in the Brown House office on the afternoon
of Thursday, 20th April. I was to invite Hitler to a private meeting in
my office and hold him there while the conference room was
prepared. He proposed my session with Hitler be to discuss Putzi
and Hjalmar’s upcoming meeting with US President Franklin
Roosevelt in May in America. This was such a crucial fund-raising
meeting that Hitler was bound to want a briefing.
Goebbels asked Helene if she knew who Hitler’s favourite painter
was, and she said that he had mentioned an Austrian painter Rudolf
von Alt. Hitler said von Alt was an early influence on his painting
style when he was a struggling artist in Vienna.
‘Excellent,’ said Goebbels, ‘I can tell you now that I am establishing
the Reich Chamber of Culture to collect the finest German art for
the benefit of the German people. I will attempt to acquire a von Alt

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work as a surprise for our Fuhrer.’
Goebbels thanked us profusely as he left the apartment. I noticed
that he had Erich Kempka as his driver that night. As Goebbels
entered the back seat of the Mercedes, I was sure I saw a woman in
there with him.
When he had gone, I asked Helene, ‘Did you see a woman in the
back with Goebbels?’ ‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘and it was not Magda.’
We looked at each other, both thinking of the power of Magda’s
wrath.
The next evening, we had yet another unexpected visit, but it was
Magda without her husband this time. She seemed agitated.
‘Did Joseph come round here last night?’ she asked outright.
‘Yes, he did,’ replied Helene, ‘what is the problem, Magda?’
‘He said he was here until late but would not tell me what it was
about.’
Helene and I looked at each other, and Helene said, ‘Magda, Joseph
made us swear to secrecy, but we will tell you if you swear the
same.’
‘Of course,’ she replied, ‘Tell me.’
We told her about the preparations for the secret birthday party, and
she sat down and said, ‘I thought he was seeing an actress; his driver
Kempka refused to tell me where he was yesterday evening.’
Helene told her to calm down and have some Champagne, which
she did. We assured her that Goebbels was committed to Magda and
the family, even more so now that Helga Suzanne was born last
year. I said he dotes on Helga and always talks about his beautiful
daughter in the office.
It was the first time we had seen Magda look embarrassed. She said,
‘Forgive me, I am being silly. Do not tell Joseph what we have been
talking about, please.’
‘Of course not,’ said Helene, ‘Now relax a little before you go back

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home to Helga.’
It was the second night in a row that we had received copious thanks
on the doorstep from an uninvited guest. When we sat down to
finish our drinks in peace, Helene suggested we change the name of
our Berlin apartment from Café Gentz to Gentz Psychiatric Clinic.
As we went to bed, I said there is no smoke without fire, and
Goebbels better take care with that deranged Magda as a wife.
‘It’s quiet here now that Egon has gone,’ Helene whispered as she
cuddled up, ‘no chance of being disturbed.’
It was soon the Thursday of Hitler’s birthday. I had arranged for him
to meet me in my office for what I said was a confidential meeting. I
launched into a lengthy report about how Putzi had made a private
appointment with the new US President Franklin Roosevelt and that
Hjalmar was travelling to America to attend. Putzi and Hjalmar
would next travel across the Atlantic to meet with Montagu Norman
at the Bank of England in London. The Bank of England had offered
a two-billion-dollar loan for the re-industrialisation of Germany
using American and British technology and support. The American
bankers had assured us that they would open a line for credit for one
billion dollars as soon as the President gave his tacit approval. I had
negotiated with Montagu Norman for deferred repayments.
‘Excellent, excellent, excellent,’ enthused Hitler, but Christa
signalled me through the window that they needed ten minutes
more.
‘Before you go, my Fuhrer, because I know you disapprove of
smoking, I would like your opinion of an idea that Hoffman has
suggested to Goebbels.’ This aroused Hitler’s curiosity, and he
asked about it.
I explained the plan was to make cigarette cards showing Hitler
addressing crowds at party rallies and inserting them into packets of
cigarettes for collectors. Collecting these cards was all the rage in

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America and became so worldwide. Hitler was fascinated. He
understood the value of propaganda. ‘I agree,’ he said, ‘although I
disapprove of smoking, this is a clever way to get us recognised by
the workers. Tell Hoffmann to go ahead, but he knows to ensure all
photographs are approved by me first.’
‘None in lederhosen,’ I thought and chuckled, but I did not say
anything.
At that moment, Christa came in with a tray of Kaffee HAG, and I
knew Hitler would want to see me suffer and drink it, which he did.
‘Thank you, Christa, this is Adam’s favourite coffee. It would be
best if you made it for him more often,’ and his eyes glistened
mischievously.
I was saved from finishing the horrible stuff when Goebbels came in
and said, ‘My Fuhrer, there is someone in the conference room
waiting to see you urgently. Please follow me.’
As Hitler entered the room, applause broke out. The Silver
Pheasants were there with all the office staff. The room was
overflowing.
A giant birthday cake was in the centre of the table, with forty-three
candles blazing away amongst the chocolate swastikas. Hitler was
visibly moved. Eva came forward and guided him to blow out the
candles, which he did with gusto.
Not one to be upstaged, Magda took the floor and wished the Fuhrer
a happy birthday on behalf of everyone. She signalled to Christa to
remove the dustsheet covering a painting on the wall and revealed a
colourful scene of a farmhouse in Bad Goisern, Austria. Hitler went
up to it and shouted, ‘My god! It is by Rudolf von Alt!’ He turned to
thank everyone, ‘This is a birthday I shall never forget,’ and went
round the room with Eva, shaking hands with everyone in turn. He
cut the cake, and the chatting went on for another hour. Every few
minutes, Hitler went up to admire the painting.

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Magda and Joseph were standing together in the corner. Helene and
I went up to them, and I said, ‘You two certainly know how to
organise a party and keep the Fuhrer happy.’ To which they replied
in unison, ‘That’s our job.’ Someone suggested we all go to the
Burgerbraukeller for something to eat and to continue the
celebrations, which we did. Except for Hitler, who was not a
drinker. He went home for a peaceful evening with Eva.
The following week was quiet. The Reichstag members had called a
recess, possibly because they were terrified of being asked to vote
again. Hitler used his power under the Enabling Act to ban trade
union membership. In addition, it was now illegal to strike under
penalty of arrest and protective custody, as Himmler called it. Hitler
was slowly but surely tightening his grip on Germany.
The Goebbels invited themselves for dinner a few days after the
office party. It was their way of saying they wanted a private
meeting on some subject.
They arrived with young Helga, who could sit up and, at seven
months old, was beginning to crawl. After the usual cooing and
cheek-pinching over the cute baby, Goebbels said he wanted our
opinion of the Ha’avara scheme, which was being put forward as a
solution to the Jewish problem. Goebbels summarised the program;
it allowed German Jews with more than five thousand US dollars in
assets to emigrate to Palestine with their families. Before they left,
they had to surrender these assets. Thirty-nine per cent was allocated
for Jewish Development Projects, nineteen per cent for bank fees,
and the remaining forty-two per cent was given back to them when
they arrived in Palestine.
Magda said Himmler was against the program because Jewish assets
were leaving Germany along with the Jews. He wanted to strip them
of everything before they emigrated. Goebbels wanted to go ahead
with the program supported and organised by international banks.

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He said he did not want any adverse international newspaper reports
about Nazis and antisemitism, particularly at this time. He knew that
Hitler was indifferent and did not care if the plan went ahead. As the
Reich Economics Ministry was handling it, I suggested we distance
ourselves from the issue and not raise any objections.
Magda told us she had informed Joseph about the incident with
Chaim Arlozorov, who had suddenly returned to Palestine. ‘Well
done,’ said Helene, ‘there is only one way to deal with sleazebags
like that.’
‘I’m so glad you agree, Helene, only one way indeed, he will never
bother any woman again,’ replied Magda smiling ominously
After the discussion, the atmosphere lightened, and we had a
pleasant evening, mostly chatting about babies and drinking more
Champagne.
I almost forgot about the Ha’avara agreement and Arlozorov until I
arrived home one evening about five weeks later. Helene had
something on her mind. She called me into the sitting room, where
she had a gin and tonic waiting for me.
After she had sat me down with my drink, she said, ‘Look at this,’
and passed me the newspaper. The headline said that Chaim
Arlozorov had been assassinated while walking on the beach in Tel
Aviv.
Helene said, ‘My god, I am sure she did it. When I told Magda there
was only one way to deal with rapists; I did not mean to kill him,’
‘You must always be careful what you say to psychopaths,’ I
warned her quietly, thinking Goebbels had already developed a
formidable international network. It was clear that Helene and I
must ensure we keep our undercover roles well-guarded.
As the end of the month approached, I remembered that I had not
made any headway with Hanussen and his astrology. I asked Helene
if she could make some progress through Eva Braun and Ilse Hess.

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Both had expressed their interest in the occult to Helene. She agreed
to set up some meetings.
Goebbels asked if I could add the Vatican Reichskonkordat
agreement to my list. He said it was an easy job because he had
already outlined the deal with the Vatican when he had been in
Rome nearly two years ago. He said the Holy See moves incredibly
slowly but that Eugenio Pacelli, Papal Nuncio in Germany, was now
ready to discuss a draft agreement with Hitler’s representative,
which was apparently me.
It seemed that because I had once briefly sat in a car later used by
the Papal Nuncio, I was now the religious expert of the Nazi party.

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