Hitler's Spy Princess Read online

  Thus it is no surprise that, even after 1933, many Britons were willing to take a very benevolent attitude towards the ‘new Germany’ of Adolf Hitler. Stephanie recalls that ‘it is certainly very rare for a nation to show as much good will to a former enemy as the British did in the 1930s – what is more, towards a dangerous dictator.’

  After Hitler’s seizure of power in 1933, Lord Rothermere wanted to become personally acquainted with this ‘new man’, who had set the world back on its heels. Enthusiasm for the ‘Führer’ spread far beyond the borders of the German Reich. ‘All political camps and classes donned the brown shirt; even the Stahlhelm [the army veterans’ organisation] went over to the Nazis’, complained Bella Fromm, the Berlin journalist who worked for the liberal Ullstein newspapers.1 And she got extremely angry with people like Lord Rothermere, who complained in his own newspaper on 10 July 1933 about ‘old women of both sexes’ in Britain, mounting ‘a clamorous campaign of denunciation against what they call “Nazi atrocities” which, as anyone who visits Germany quickly discovers for himself, consist merely of a few isolated acts of violence … but have been multiplied and exaggerated to give the impression that Nazi rule is a bloodthirsty tyranny.’ He went on to add that Germany had been ‘liberated’ by Nazism from ‘the rule of the frowsty, down-at-heel German republic … where fraud and corruption had begun to spread on a large scale’. Bella Fromm could only retort: ‘What a pity that the noble Lord has not had the opportunity to experience [this liberation] in a concentration camp!’2

  On the other hand, Stephanie wrote of her own role in this: ‘Rothermere was mad keen to find out Hitler’s real political intentions. He chose me as his “adviser”, and for a time, from 1934 to 1938, I was an important witness to world events. There was a moment when I stood at the very centre of things.’

  Lord Rothermere knew very well that it could also be of interest to Hitler to be on terms with Britain’s biggest newspaper owner. In the Daily Mail, a mass-circulation paper then as it is today, he frequently published articles aimed at convincing his readers of the virtues of Nazi Germany. In Rothermere’s mind, Nazism and fascism were the answer to all the political problems of the age, and he was a supporter of Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists, though even at its height in 1934 that organisation never had more than about 40,000 members.

  Rothermere gave the princess the task of establishing personal contact with the German Chancellor. Once again it was the crown prince, ‘Little Willie’, who set up the appointment for Stephanie by making a telephone call to the Reich Chancellery.

  As always, the princess checked in at Berlin’s top hotel, the Adlon, where she found a note to say that the Reich Chancellor was expecting her; and in half an hour a car came to pick her up. This was in fact quite unnecessary, as the Reich Chancellery was only a few yards from the hotel. The exact date of this meeting is not known. Stephanie only tells us that it was early in December 1933.

  It was extremely unusual in itself for the Führer to receive a woman sent on a political mission. Hitler had frequently spoken very scathingly about women in politics, and pointed out that history provides many examples to prove that a woman, however intelligent, is incapable in politics of separating emotion from reason.3 On the same theme Hitler once declared: ‘In my view, a female who gets involved in politics is an abomination. In military matters, it’s completely intolerable! No woman should have even the smallest position in any local Party branch. In 1924 some political women turned up at my door … they wanted to become members of the Reichstag … I told them, 99 per cent of the matters debated are men’s business, which they can have no opinion on!’4

  In view of all this, Stephanie von Hohenlohe, as the political emissary of a British press baron to Hitler, was very much the exception. But to Hitler, of course, her only importance was that she had been sent by a man who, as a powerful publisher, could be helpful to the cause of National Socialism in Britain.

  The petite princess now made her grand entrance in the Reich Chancellery. Adolf Hitler greeted her with a charming kiss on the hand; beside him stood Dr Hans-Heinrich Lammers who, since the Nazis took power in January, had been the administrative head of the Chancellery. Hitler invited her to take a seat and tea was immediately served. The princess handed Hitler the letter from Lord Rothermere, which he passed on to Lammers without opening it.

  Stephanie von Hohenlohe had arrived wearing her most elegant outfit. The Führer wore his usual fawn military-style jacket, a white shirt, brown tie fastened with a swastika tie-pin, and black uniform trousers. Stephanie thought his black socks and black patent leather gloves most inappropriate. Once she was beside him, the Führer did not take his eyes off her for a moment. Yet, for her part, she was struck by his totally insignificant appearance. He seemed to her like a minor clerk, albeit a very neat and tidy one, and just an ordinary and sincere man.

  There are very few personal records by women who came to know Hitler personally and who described his appearance and the effect he had on them. One was the American journalist Dorothy Thompson, who interviewed him in 1931, before he had achieved supreme power. What she wrote resulted in her being expelled from Germany. Thompson and Stephanie met in London around that time, and again later in the USA. Women, and especially those who had studied Hitler’s racial theories, were astonished at how poorly he matched his own ideals. Stephanie later made notes on her observations of Hitler’s appearance:

  The most surprising thing about his appearance was the colour of his hair. I had imagined his hair to be dark, almost black. In fact it isn’t. It’s light brown. The often caricatured forelock that seems to fall over his face with every movement is in reality much less pronounced than in photos. He combs it diagonally across his forehead …

  The ugliest things about him are his nose, his moustache, his mouth and his feet. His nose is too large. Not at the bridge, but from nostril to nostril. The bit between the nostrils is a very ugly shape, so that one is forced to stare at it and wonder what it is. His moustache really does look like Chaplin’s and is narrower than his mouth, which is small anyway. It is very much narrower than the base of his nose, and draws attention to the whole thing even more …

  When Hitler talks, you hardly see his teeth, but when you do, neither their colour nor their shape are at all attractive, and his front teeth are edged with a thin gold strip. His mouth is small, far too small for a man, and when he opens it, especially when he gets worked up, it is extremely unappetising. It becomes distorted into an ugly little hole …

  His eyes, which are a pleasant pale blue, could be called beautiful if they were not slightly protruding. This, combined with his very fine, almost translucent, skin, and the fact that he is always very pale, or else has little pink spots on his cheeks, gave me the impression that he is not very healthy …

  The nicest thing about him are his hands. They are not only a beautiful shape, but are genuinely the hands of an artist. The contrast between those exquisite hands and his coarse feet could not be greater. Apart from that, he constantly scratches nervously with his thumbnail on the skin of his index finger so that he always has a sore there.

  One very unpleasant thing that stuck in her memory was the fact that, even in 1933, when he had lived in Germany for about twenty years, Hitler still spoke with an Austrian accent ‘of the lowest class. Like someone who is trying to express himself in a language that he is not born to. Frightfully stiff and bombastic.’

  Hitler took his leave of the princess with an almost ceremonial solemnity. She returned to London with a letter written by Adolf Hitler to Lord Rothermere. He in turn was so delighted that he paid his envoy a bonus of £2,000. He now launched an uncomprom-isingly pro-Hitler campaign in his newspapers.

  Hitler’s letter to Rothermere, dated 7 December 1933, is reproduced in full in Appendix II and sets out what amounts to a basic political programme, with particular attention paid to Franco-German relations. The letter begins:

  Dear Lord Rotherme
re,

  You were kind enough to convey to me through Princess Hohenlohe a series of proposals, for which I wish to express my sincere thanks.

  In addition, I would like to voice the feelings of countless Germans, who regard me as their spokesman, with regard to the shrewd and well-directed journalistic support of the policy which we all hope will lead to the ultimate liberation of Europe. Princess Hohenlohe gave me a translation of the splendid article that Your Lordship has written; I have already taken the liberty recently of referring to the article. What I particularly welcome in the article is that it points out the value of an Anglo-French defence alliance. I am convinced that Anglo-French friendship can be very helpful in maintaining a genuine peace. Germany itself has no aggressive intentions whatever towards France; determined as we may be to defend ourselves against attack, we certainly do not harbour the slightest intention of provoking a war. As veterans of the Great War – I myself was at the Front for four-and-a-half years, facing British and French troops – we all have a very personal experience of the horror of European war. While having no sympathy with cowards and deserters, we frankly accept our duty towards God and our country to prevent with all the means at our disposal the repetition of such a catastrophe. However, this can only be achieved for Europe if the treatment of that critical problem, whose existence cannot be denied, can be removed from the climate of hatred in which victor and vanquished confront each other, and placed on a basis where nations and states can negotiate with each other on an equal footing.

  Granting such equality of status to Germany implies no threat to the security of France […]

  It should not be overlooked that I am offering the friendship of a nation of 66 million, which has much of value in other respects too. And just as I see no reason for a war in the west, no more do I see any for a war in the east.

  Our efforts to bring about an understanding between Germany and Poland spring from the same desire to eschew the use of force and to approach the tasks we face pragmatically and without emotion […]

  If I have been frank in presenting these thoughts to Your Lordship, I have done so in order to express my appreciation of the high journalistic position held by Your Lordship in the British press.

  I thank you once again for the support that you have shown for a genuine policy for peace in Europe.

  Yours sincerely,

  Adolf Hitler

  At the end of December 1933 the princess travelled once more to Berlin, this time to present Hitler with a gift from her patron, worth about £50,000 in today’s terms. It was a portrait photograph of Rothermere in a solid gold frame made by Cartier in Paris. Proudly displayed on the reverse was a reprint of the page from the Daily Mail of 24 September 1930 containing the article on the ‘New Germany’. Under a series of headlines: ‘GERMANY AND INEVITABILITY – A NATION REBORN – YOUTH ASSERTING ITS POWER – NEW CHAPTER IN EUROPEAN HISTORY’, the article begins:

  These last ten days have seen another milestone raised beside the march of European history. One of those immensely significant events has occurred which from time to time open up a new chapter in international affairs.

  The sweeping success of the German National Socialist Party – in other words, the Fascist Party, at the general election of September 14 will, it is my strong conviction, prove to be an enduring landmark of this time. It will stand out as the beginning of a new epoch in the relations between the German nation and the rest of the world.

  Rothermere goes on to praise the vitality and ambition of the young generation of Germans who ‘retain only vague recollections of the old Imperial Germany’. ‘Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, who himself is only 41, [the Nazi Party] has already become the second largest party in the state. I confidently believe the future of Germany lies in its hands. […] We can do nothing to check this movement, and I believe it would be a blunder for the British people to take up an attitude of hostility towards it.’

  ‘If we do’, Rothermere went on, referring back to the First World War, ‘sooner or later another and more terrible awakening is in store for Europe.’ Rothermere concluded that, as an ally, Nazi Germany would be a valuable bulwark against Russian communism. He calls for removal of the Versailles terms restricting Germany’s army to 100,000 men, pointing out that her neighbours, Poland and Czechoslovakia, have been steadily building up their armaments. He ends: ‘I confidently predict that within the next few years [the inevitable force of history] will have altered not a few of the features of the map of Europe, which the politicians assembled in Paris in 1919 complacently believed they had fixed for ever.’

  Since neither the German Chancellor nor his head of administration knew any English, the princess was obliged, at Rothermere’s behest, to translate the article word for word. Hitler was meant to be impressed by Rothermere’s ‘clairvoyant genius’. It was extremely uncomfortable for the princess to provide the translation, sunk deep in the soft armchair with the heavy photo-frame on her lap. What is more, her skirt had slid up over her knees, and this appeared to shock Dr Lammers. Yet Hitler liked the article: ‘He glanced up at Lammers as if to say: “You see what a great man I really am. Even a lord has been quick to recognise my genius.” But the civil servant showed absolutely no reaction. He sat there as stiff as a board. A fishy eye stared from his monocle, expressionless. The scars on his cheek did not even twitch once. The expression of pride and satisfaction on Hitler’s face could have been quite moving, had he not at the same time been so ordinary and comical.’

  Stephanie found the whole situation little short of ridiculous. ‘So there I sat, flattering and acting up to a man who never seemed more gauche and plebeian to me than at that moment.’

  At the end of the audience Hitler bade Stephanie von Hohenlohe convey his warmest thanks to Lord Rothermere for the gift. She was also to tell his Lordship that Hitler was sure his publications would convince the British that a strong and contented Germany was the best guarantee for the maintenance of a lasting peace.

  Hitler’s expectations were quickly fulfilled. In all his papers, Rothermere promoted the notion that, as regards his foreign policy, the German Reich Chancellor had only peaceful intentions and that he was the saviour of a defeated Germany.

  However, it was not only Rothermere’s Daily Mail that was singing the praises of the great Führer; so was the Times – which in those days was probably the most influential newspaper in the world. Not to be left out, a few years later the Saturday Review in London (on 7 March 1936) ran the headline ‘Heil Hitler!’ on its front page.

  As a result of her activity on behalf of the British press baron, Stephanie also made some enemies in the Reich Chancellery. Hitler’s foreign press spokesman, Dr Ernst ‘Putzi’ von Hanfstaengl, did not share his boss’s obvious liking for the princess. He particularly resented the way Hitler showed favour to Stephanie von Hohenlohe. He had been watching her for a long time and warned Hitler against ‘this professional blackmailer and full-blooded Jewess’. However, Hitler was so taken with her that he absolutely refused to pay any attention to these warnings. Hanfstaengl did everything he could to put an end to the relationship, since he feared that Princess Stephanie would beguile Hitler, just as she had other men, and would thus ruin his career.

  It was not even any use pointing out to Hitler that such a close relationship with a ‘full Jewess’ could have a serious impact on German public opinion. In order to keep Hanfstaengl quiet, Hitler promised to have her family history checked out against the ‘Aryan Laws’. The next time Hanfstaengl warned him to be cautious, Hitler retorted that the Gestapo had investigated the family tree of the allegedly Jewish woman and found it to be in order and unexceptionable.

  On 3 March 1934 Hitler handed the princess a letter inviting his ‘kindred spirit’, Lord Rothermere, to visit him in Germany. He was unable, he said, to travel to England himself: ‘… partly due to my position today, and partly due to other difficulties, it is impossible for me to leave the borders of the Reich. However, I have already
told the good lady who brought Your Lordship’s letter and memento, how delighted I would be, on your possible visit to Germany, to describe in detail my views on the European questions that interest you.’

  On this occasion, too, Hitler’s farewell to the princess was remarkably friendly; he kissed her hand, then held it for a long time in his.

  It was not until December 1934 that Lord Rothermere was able to accept Hitler’s invitation. The German Chancellor greeted the British press baron, who arrived accompanied by his son Esmond Harmsworth, and Princess Stephanie. To cover the event for the press, Ward Price, the Daily Mail’s Europe correspondent, had also been brought along. Rothermere was absolutely delighted with his ‘royal’ reception and promised Stephanie that, in return for her good offices in arranging the meeting, he would ask Hitler to make her a duchess!

  The return invitation took place on 19 December 1934, when Lord Rothermere asked the Reich Chancellor to join him at the Adlon hotel. This time the peer was accompanied not only by his son, and by Princess Stephanie and Ward Price, but also by the British banker, E.W.C. Tennant, who had good contacts in German industry. The invitation to Tennant, who was a well-known member of the Anglo-German Fellowship, was also connected with the fact that he was on friendly terms with Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler’s foreign policy adviser, who in 1936 would be appointed German ambassador to Britain. On a recent visit to England Ribbentrop had claimed that he and not Rothermere had planned the invitation for Hitler in Berlin.

  The other guests – there were twenty-five in all – included Germany’s Foreign Minister, Baron Constantin von Neurath, and his wife, Joseph and Magda Goebbels, Ribbentrop and his wife Annelies, and Hermann Göring, accompanied by the actress Emmy Sonnemann, whom he later married, as well as other members of the government and their ladies, and several German opera singers.