Another concern for Hitler was that foreign journalists were eager to get their hands on material, which they might use to denounce or ridicule his regime. Dorothy Thompson has published an article in the Harp Market. "It was not a revolution," said one who came to watch the Passion Play at Oberammer (a play condemning the Jews for the death of Jesus.) [*The play was not edited until 1975 As a result, the responsibility was shifted to the failed sinful angel Liu Xihu, to whom his American visitors had repeatedly said, "It was the resurrection, and they thought Hitler was God. Believe it or not, there was a German woman sitting next to me at the Passion, and when they put Jesus up on the cross, she said, 'That's him. That's our Führer, our Hitler!' When they gave the Jews 30 silver coins, she said, 'That's Roma, and he betrayed the leader.'" Thompson's statement, with Ambassador Dodd in August The diary entry on the 23rd describing the situation of the play was almost identical: "While Jesus was being tried in an angry Jewish court, a well-dressed, serious-looking German said to me: 'EsistunserHitler' (he is our Hitler).” My distant relative Ida Horner, who was sitting on the other side of the hall, told me at the end, “As Judas put away the 30 pieces of silver, a woman nearby said, ‘This is the Roma '. I suspect that at least half of the German audience also believed that Hitler was the Messiah of Germany."
Among the many stormtroopers who barely stayed in the party, the view was quite the opposite. They believed that Hitler was more like Judas than Messiah. During a discussion with Hitler about the upcoming party's birthday, Roehm's former subordinate Mex Juttner couldn't help but praise his late leader. Hitler was furious: "Why do you repeat the old words?" he shouted, "This matter is over. Roma has been sentenced." Wouldn't have picked him as chief of staff. Hitler changed his body, patted Jutner on the shoulder and said: "You are right, but you can't know the whole process. Rohm and Schleicher tried to rebel against me, and I had to suppress it. I wanted to let The court looked into these matters, but I was left with nothing to do, and many stormtrooper leaders were shot without my consent. The whole world was publicizing it. I take full responsibility."
Hitler chose a young Albert Speer to act as stage manager for his spectacular performance in Nuremberg. The performance was clearly meant to consolidate its gains and reunite the party. Speer demolished all the temporary stands of Chaplin Stadium, and under the inspiration of the Pagamen altar, erected a stone platform 1,300 feet long and 80 feet high, and above the stadium installed a 100-foot wingspan. The eagle, surrounded by swastika flags, and 130 searchlights with a range of 25,000 feet were placed every 40 feet. Goering was reluctant to lend these searchlights because they were for strategic reserves. But Hitler supported Speer. “If such a large number of searchlights are used for such a thing,” he explained, “other countries will think we have too many.”
His imagination surpassed current publicity. He planned to make a permanent record and export it, and asked the famous actress and director Rini Lefensdahl to make a commemorative film. He admired her work, especially Blue Light. He assured her of his fullest cooperation if she could make a feature film commemorating the party's birthday in 1934 and the length of a feature film. Although she was disgusted, she had to give in. But once she left his presence, she said she couldn't make a documentary. She entrusted the directing task to her collaborators, and went to Spain to make the film herself. When she returned, there were only two weeks before the Nuremberg Congress. Hess's letter was waiting for her: the Führer found her, was taken aback when he gave the task to someone else, and wanted to see her immediately.
Hitler was not angry, but persuaded with kind words. "You only need to spend six days of your life," he said. She countered that with splicing, that would be six months. After hearing this, Hitler said, "Oh, but you are still so young!" She insisted that she would not do it, saying that it was the most inappropriate for her to make such a film. "I'm not a party member, so I can't tell the difference between the SA and the SS."
"That's why I want you to shoot," Hitler said. "That would give people a new perspective." She accepted the difficulty Task. At the same time, to bring extra interest to the six-day program, she designed various shots: she used airplanes, cranes, roller skates, and a small lift platform on the tallest flagpole. A week before the conference, she brought a film crew of 120 people (including 16 photographers) to Nuremberg. She got all the help Hitler promised. Even the firefighting equipment and other public facilities in the city were handed over to her.
The attendees of the congress began to flood Nuremberg. They were carefully selected months ago. Each has a number, an assigned truck, an assigned seat, and an assigned bed in the marquee city near Nuremberg. By the time the conference officially opened on September 4, tens of thousands of party members had finished rehearsing. After the Führer's brief welcome speech at the Old Town Hall that evening, Hanf Stangl gave a lengthy speech urging foreign press to "only report what happened in Germany without explaining it." After that, Hitler's hotel "Deutsche Hotel" was surrounded by at least 10,000 party members. They repeatedly shouted "We want the Führer!" rhythmically until Hitler appeared on the balcony. Their frenzied faces reminded L. Sheila (who was at the Globe at the time) of the frantic expressions on the faces of the "Holy Ramblers" in Louisiana.
The next morning, Hitler appeared in the Rupold Arena. He's more of a venerated target than a speaker. He entered sharply, followed by Goering, Goebbels, Hess, Himmler, and several adjutants. The band played the Badenweiler March. After the touching "Egmont Prelude" was played, Hess walked to the stage and slowly read the list of martyrs who died in the 1923 uprising. For an audience of 30,000 -- not foreign journalists -- it was a moving experience. The most important words came from the magistrate Wagner - he read a communiqué of Hitler. Because Wagner's voice resembled Hitler's, some journalists listening to the radio thought it was him. "The German way of life for the next 1,000 years must have been decided," Wagner read. "For us, the turbulent nineteenth century is over. There will be no more revolutions in Germany for the next 1,000 years."
Hitler was mesmerized by the almost uninterrupted cheers of his admirers, but he was still tormented by anxiety. Many stormtroopers who came to celebrate the festival came with remorse and awakening. The thought of potentially embarrassing or even dangerous situations made him nervous and sometimes even remorseful. Once, while dining in a restaurant frequented by party officials, he suddenly turned to Hans Frank. "I'm irritated by your delay in Munich on June 30!" he cried. When Frank again called for his resignation, he interrupted impatiently, "In a few weeks, the joke of state law will be over." The Empire will dictate, and Bavaria and other states will have to obey, he said. After an uncomfortable silence, he walked out.
As the congress became more and more exciting, Hitler regained his elation. This was particularly evident on the evening of the 7th. It was night, and 200,000 loyal party members crowded the Chaplin Stadium with more than 200,000 banners. Their ranks are as neat as an army. Speyer's 130 searchlights, the effect is more thrilling than imagined. "The stadium was illuminated like daytime, and it looked like a hall surrounded by huge white columns that gleamed," recalls Speier. It's the translucent autumn peonies floating at sea." In the terrifying silence, Hitler's voice resounded through the loudspeaker, to a terrifying effect. "We are strong and will be stronger!" he said. This is both a promise and a threat.
Rini Leifensdahl and her photographers filmed this scene from more than 10 angles. During the filming process, the nosy brown-clothed gangsters, under the instigation of Goebbels, hid the situation from the Führer. interfere with her. They kept harassing the photographers, pushing them away from the most favorable angle, and even dismantling several camera stations.
Hitler himself was threatened, as the stormtroopers had the potential to react. Two days later, 50,000 stormtroopers assembled in the stadium; Hitler was on guard. "The atmosphere in the stadium was quite tense," Sheila recalled. "I noticed that the Führer's own SS guards were also massed in front of the Führer, separating him from the SA." He thought to himself that among so many people It is not known if anyone would have drawn a pistol during the Fuhrer's "carrot and stick" speech. In his speech, the Fuhrer pardoned all stormtroopers linked to the Roma conspiracy.
The conference ended without incident. This guarantees the success of the last show the next day (9th and 10th). This day was designated as Army Day, and for this reason, the mobile troops equipped with the latest weapons made a perfect performance on the huge lawn. This is the first time the armed forces have been shown to the public in Germany since the postwar period. The 300,000 spectators were almost ecstatic to see this realistic combat exercise. Sheila wrote in her diary that the martial spirit was not the product of the Hohenzollern family. "It's something that is ingrained in the minds of all Germans. Today they act like children playing with toy soldiers made of tinplate."
Hitler, too, reveled in joy like the crowd. After his final speech, the cheers of the crowd resounded through the sky, and there was no silence for a long time. Hess' voice was finally heard: he bid farewell to the Führer on behalf of the Nazi Party. "The Party is Hitler," he said. "Hitler is Germany, and Germany is Hitler. Cheers to Hitler! Cheers to victory! Cheers to victory! Cheers to Hitler's victory!" People are elated, exhilarating, and blood boiling. But to those uninfected by Hitler, it was the roar of a creepy beast, a shriek from a cave.
There is no better symbol of the wedding of the Führer to the army, and he has decided to make a gesture of reconciliation to the senior generals. That night, after a spectacular army parade in front of his hotel, he invited them to dinner. "I know that you are accusing our party of a lot of wrong things," Hitler said at the time, according to General von Wich's record, which was recorded verbatim at the time. "I admit that you are 100 percent correct. But you also Remember, in the moment of struggle, the intellectuals abandoned me, so I work with mostly low-quality people. I have been trying to correct this shortcoming. However, as in the construction of the officer corps in the new armed forces Just as it would take years for the party to build a good leadership group." His words were effective because, according to Vichy, "he knew how to use his great skill to make him The speeches suit the needs of the audience.”
Later, Hitler visited the barracks. There, the old corporal fought hotly with the soldiers, joked and recalled the past. After returning to the hotel, he was relaxed and happy, and when he had supper with his confidants, he told in detail about the reunion with the soldiers. This is the perfect way to end a week's hard work.
Two days later, a reception was held at the presidential palace to welcome Hitler. He was in high spirits. The diplomats who had been avoiding him had to offer formal congratulations to the new president. Ambassador Dodd had never seen him "so happy that he greeted the delegates one by one." Despite some unpleasant events, and despite his moments of anxiety, he accomplished what he had planned to do in Nuremberg. do everything. The party is reunited, the people and the army are on his side.
Despite Goebbels' interference, the party monument was not damaged. Rini Levensdahl and her photographers captured tens of thousands of feet of extraordinary material. During the editing of the film, protests hit her like a flood. The protesters were off-camera party officials and people complaining about the lack of publicity. She refused to make changes, and Hitler proposed a compromise: the idea of adding a picture of the disgruntled leader to the film. It was an affront to Leifensdahl's artistic principles; she rejected it. Hitler was just as staunchly assertive. According to her own account, she stomped and shouted: "I'm not doing it!" "You forgot who you were talking to?" he replied. Yet her convictions were so strong, and Hitler so admired her genius. As a result, after the film came out, no changes were made. She named the film "The Triumph of the Will" because she couldn't have a better title. At the premiere, party officials treated her with indifference, but even her most vicious critic, Goebbels, understood that the film was a remarkable success. Its methods are far more powerful than any other film that promotes the Führer and National Socialism. It won the "May 1st Cultural Achievement Award" for the best film that year.
The film is also unanimously regarded as the most important documentary. Later, at the "World Film Exhibition" in Paris in 1937, it won a gold medal for its artistry rather than its content.
——From John Toland's "Hitler" Chapter 13 "The Triumph of the Will"
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