From 1933 Hitler avoided personal contact with money which seemed in some way repugnant to him. His adjutant Schaub would settle everything. Before 1933 he carried a wallet and put loose coins in his jacket pocket. According to Ada Klein, when paying off a taxi he would always give a big tip ‘almost equivalent to the fare’. She repeated his often-expressed conviction: ‘Rich people are tight, they spare on tips!’
It amused Hitler that there were men always looking for new ties. ‘When I saw a tie I liked, I would buy several of the same kind,’ he said once. Later he only ever wore black ties, to go with the uniform. He placed no value on having a variety of dress styles. He rarely spoke on fashion, although he could deliver a surprising commentary on a dress and pay compliments to the lady wearing it. He would go to town on certain dress crazes, such as shoes with cork soles, but I am convinced it was all done for some purpose or other. I often heard him say in admiration to Eva Braun: ‘Ah, you are wearing a new dress!’ and she would reply indignantly: ‘Oh, come on, you’ve seen it before, I’ve worn it often enough.’
Hitler set great store on hygiene. He bathed daily, often several times a day, particularly after meetings and speeches, from which he would return sweating. His skin was very soft. Probably he always shaved himself. A manservant would not have been called upon to do much for him. At the beginning of the 1930s his clothing was sent to a large Berlin laundry which would put pins into the upper part of the shirts to retain their shape. Hitler rarely had occasion to remonstrate with his servants, but when he did he could be very angry, as when Karl Krause forgot to take out the pins from his shirts one day.
Hitler was very strong-willed. During the 1933 Nuremberg rally I was summoned there and ordered to the Deutscher Hof Hotel where Hitler dictated to Johanna Wolf and myself that night the speeches he delivered next day. We watched from the hotel window as Hitler saluted the march past by the SA, SS and RAD (Reich Work Service). I was surprised that he could stand for hours at a stretch with his arm extended. During a tea hour he revealed that he had ‘done daily training with an expander’, but that ‘a strong will’ was also needed. Additionally he would always try to look every man in the eye to give him the feeling that the Führer had seen him. Often one actually heard it said: ‘The Führer saw me, he looked into my eyes.’
One must mention that Hitler did no sport. He did not like horses and hated snow (especially after the winter of 1941), and sunshine made him feel bad. He did not like the sun and had bought the Berghof precisely because it was situated on the north side of the Obersalzberg. The house was in shadow all day, and the thick walls made sure no warmth got through from outside. Even in summer it was unusually cool, and cold when it rained. Hitler loved this cold, although his guests found it unpleasant. He was afraid of water. I do not believe he could swim.[47] One day he told me: ‘The movements a person makes while at his daily work is enough to keep his body in shape.’
Undoubtedly he knew how to charm a person under his spell during conversation. He could expound even the most complicated subjects clearly and simply. He had the power to relate something so convincingly that he fascinated his listeners. He possessed extraordinary powers of suggestion, and this was no doubt the reason why people who came to him in desperation went away reassured. I remember that in March 1945 Gauleiter Forster came from Danzig totally demoralised. He told me that Danzig was surrounded by 1,100 Russian tanks and the Wehrmacht was opposing this force with four Tiger panzers, and these were short of fuel. Forster was determined to hold nothing back and tell Hitler the whole truth about the situation in Danzig. When I encouraged him to do so, he replied: ‘You can rely on it. I am going to tell him everything, even if I run the danger of being ejected.’ To my surprise he returned from his talk with Hitler a changed man. ‘The Führer has promised me new divisions for Danzig,’ he said in relief. He countered my doubting smile: ‘I admit I have no idea where he will be getting them from, but he assured me that Danzig will be saved, about that there is no doubt.’ Such were Hitler’s powers of suggestion.
Harsh and inflexible as Hitler could be with others, he did not exempt himself. He never spared himself. He would reject tiredness and would call upon endless reserves of energy. He was a prisoner to the delusion that an iron will could succeed everywhere. No wonder that the trembling left hand was such an embarrassment to him. The knowledge from 1944 onwards that he was no longer master of his own body was a heavy burden. When surprised visitors saw his trembling hand, he would cover it instinctively with the other. Despite every effort of will he could do nothing to stop the trembling. Yet to the end he remained master of his emotions. Should bad news arrive during a private conversation the only clue would be a movement of his jaw and he would carry on calmly. I remember him receiving the report about the destruction of the Möhne and Eder dams, which flooded much of the Ruhr. As he read it his face turned to stone, but that was all. Nobody could have gauged how deeply the blow had struck him. It would be hours or days before he would refer to such an event, and then give full vent to his feelings.
With equally astonishing self-mastery he kept his secrets. He was convinced that nobody should know more than what was needed for the discharge of his or her office. He would often say: ‘A secret shared is no secret.’ He never spoke of his secret intentions and plans nor dropped hints about an impending military operation or suchlike.
From his youth onwards Hitler had a great lust to read. He told me one day that during his youth in Vienna he had read through all 500 volumes at the city reference library. This passion for books, and to assimilate contents of the most diverse kinds, enabled him to extend his knowledge into almost all areas of literature and science. I was always amazed at how precisely he could describe any geographical region or speak about art history or hold forth on very complicated technical matters. In the same way he could describe with amazing detail how theatres, churches, monasteries and castles were built. Even during his incarceration at Landsberg he studied tirelessly the historical buildings of all European countries and would often boast that he ‘knew the architectural beauties of those countries better even than the experts who were native to them.’
The Oberbürgermeister of Munich[48] with whom Hitler enjoyed discussing the expansion and beautification of the city related how surprised he was when Hitler recalled the minute details of a conversation they had had months previously. Hitler had reproached him: ‘Six months ago I told you I wanted to have it done this way!’ and then repeated word for word the conversation they had had on the subject, a fact confirmed by architects Speer and Giesler postwar.
Hitler could not only recall very easily names, books and statistics, but faces too. He could remember exactly the time, place and circumstances under which he had met a person. He retained a mental image of all persons whom he had got to know in his life, and on reflection surprising personal details might also occur to him. Equally he could describe the atmosphere and sequence of events at rallies at which he had spoken. The friends of his youth in Vienna, of the First World War, the period of struggle and the seizure of power were all deeply embedded in his memory with all their peculiarities. If he was in a good mood he enjoyed describing the great receptions at the Reich Chancellery. He could see in his mind’s eye what dress this or that artiste had worn, and repeat the serious or light-hearted conversations he had had with his guests.
47
According to Kubizek,
48
Karl Fiehler (b. 31.8.1895 Braunschweig, d. 8.12.1969 Munich). 5.11.1923 joined NSDAP; active in Hitler’s storm troops; 28.4.1924 sentenced to fifteen months’ imprisonment for participation in the putsch of 1923; by 1930 NSDAP Reichsleiter; 20.3.1933 Oberbürgermeister of Munich until 1945; 1945◦– 16.1.1949 interned.