Ernst F. S. Hanfstaengl, Hitler’s intimate friend and liaison officer in charge of relations with the foreign press, today confirmed reports that he had quoted William Randolph Hearst, American publisher now visiting Germany, as having promised to attend a Nazi party convention in Nuremberg in September.
Hanfstaengl chatted with the publisher, he said, while Hearst was in Munich, en route to Nauheim, where he has gone for many years to take the cure. The Hitler lieutenant’s report of their conversation represented the newspaper magnate as commenting on recent Nazi developments in glowingly favorable terms.
“The results (of the recent plebiscite),” Hanfstaengl claims Hearst said, “represent a unanimous expression of the popular will. This overwhelming majority with which Hitler astonishes the world must, as we now learn, be accepted as self-evident and in a sense must open up a new chapter in modern history.
“If Hitler succeeds in pointing the way of peace and order and an ethical development which has been destroyed throughout the world by war, he will have accomplished a measure of good not only for his own people but for all humanity.
“Germany is battling for her liberation from the mischievous provisions of the Treaty of Versailles and for her redemption from the malicious suppression and encirclement to which she has been subjected by nations which in their avarice and short-sightedness
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
