nd Persona Persons 4 Hirien’s SAtal By W. W. C. ‘Nation, London Independent Weekly ofthe La p Days rom the New Siaesman and Bimentene 0 heard the name OF Adolf Hider naam Dee fe end of the War, when = man named Hag Huber, a war veteran who had had a leg shot away before ¥ Hib fs sere ofa cris fellow who had! been in ig Jor ol ga geeralous chap, anh siting in that same Bi Fa ome fanich where in 3923 Hitler took his onary sctvides by fring off his army revo daring the morrow would see him victor o: fathe the one nor the other, but unscathed, 2 the Bavarian hills, he used to tell tales tr paign experiences. "The thing that had struck him about ‘ Private Hitler? was oguence. He was neither popular nor the reverse with his fell ast smiled at him and his vague, rambling speech De PERTH oct of it. He acecired very swiftly che reall ove itech rays clles sa la occ Beit aleve in avcidile acegrreatle te toe fiche bread was buttered. He incercted noeell parte important question of secing that the teary’ nealing ead Heise This vecured fe hin here ea removed him from the mere on ee, 8004 Braces of the cola Pointed him runner ber ‘ore constant dangers of the trem - ie duties PeaGhehin ie tal headquarters and eld se for hours ina dugout quently in contac withthe 10 laugh at him brook contradiees mat Word of dissent. The ‘one in ee it. The s any sort of for the skill wi 4 cords contain aa with which he avoide itler, the ly on his self Mag, ot his self lunich I lived enieae1, Vilkischer Beobachter, has its offices in a equently noticed in the street a man who militant edition of Charlie Chaplin, owing to his and his bouncing way of walking. He never ie carried a riding whip in his hand, with which he chop off imaginary heads as he walked. He was so quired from neighbors who he might be; most of them, his Slav type, took him to be one of those Russian émigrés who ed in Germany at that time, and they freely talked of his being ya trifle mentally deranged. But my grocer told me it was a Herr fitler from Braunau in Austria, and that he was leader of a tiny a which called itself the ‘German National Socialist Work- ty.’ He lived quietly enough as a boarder in the apartment of a tisan, wrote articles for an obscure paper called the V’é/kischer *bter, and orated in hole-and-corner meetings before audiences of a ‘or two. His closest friend was a Russian émigré from the Baltic ces, a certain Herr Rosenberg, who was joint owner of the paper. curiosity I bought the paper once or twice, and found it a scatter collection of wild anti-Jewish stories and articles interlarded with ies on the Germanic race. My obliging grocer closed his informa- lon Hitler by remarking that he frequently purchased things in his land was, despite his eccentric appearance, quite a pleasant fellow, Gnclined to talk sixteen to the dozen about anything and every- mer of a little wine saloon fhe Schelling Strasse, called the * Ba ’ It was an historic in its way, for it had be of the philosopher, Schelling. iblic in this inn was mostly composed of Bohemians, artists, art »plicissimus, the famous satiri- ly. Musicians and poet ¢ around of an evening and [to Gulbransson or Thény giving forth their views on art, politics, $ price of a pound of meat. Discussions ensued that lasted far into over tankards of beer and bottles of an excellent Chianti. as an almost daily visitor; he had, I learned, been a house his early days in Vienna, but he was ther sore on the subject, as an artist. He was very fond of airing his views on art and e, which, however, were not taken seriously by any of the frequented the place. i Was often accompanied by one or two friends who, I was told, of his little political group. The most sensible of the band named Gregor Strasser, a very sound fellow with whom I Hitler’s closest friend at that time, however, seemed to be named Roehm, who later became chief of the StormTHE LIVING AGE Sonal ‘« friend, Baldur von Schirach, was entrusted gs aie ete Youth,’ the boy-scout organization i of jalist movement. h i Ai Be secuck me about Hitler was his extreme absten mC 7 ight a dish of vegetables, and mineral water was hy ag Sie never smoked. This reminds me of an amusing inated - : iPhecame Chancellor. The German vegetarians havea ene il rtheit league, and this paper came out with flaming headlineg. G Tans? Great Vicrory or German Vecrrarrans st E Hirier Becomes Cuancettor ac times instead of regaling us with chaotic speeches, Hitler woul, br hours on end in front of his mineral water, staring into space, not de a word, and apparently quite oblivious of his surroundings If tse occasions someone suddenly addressed him, he would startasif Is Of sleep, and stroke his forehead with his hand several times before re back to reality. of +t from Rites and art, Hitler’s chief topics of conversation were and clairvoyance. He had never visited Italy, but had apparently So ‘@ great deal about it, and he would somet alk for half an hour re Pend about the glories of ancient Rome the greatness of the Bi sats: There was something about his tallc rade one think of the abu Sof the Old Testament; he spoke as if he believed himself tobe at The only thing that dispelled the ill. was his frequent use an F we not found in the dictionary of a cultivated German. an , for the price of a plate tin Hitler retired with the soothsaye reg t with him in earnest conlertiia - a Bsting eet turned with anger upon a snide a on Bent defence nr, coout clairvoyance, and launc Bi # eo ee of every kind, and ee 199 der who had ks ant, too, of a Jewish c arlatan “i cap h A to himself the name of HanusseMy Ger = Hanussen, who subsequently founded am Fi vag tology, devoted to indirect propagands seks after Hitler’s accession to power aimee He and 28 Rasputin had been in Russie Oy uns vary ottd murdered in a field in is apeecin his death. Some sy ; ed Hitler that the star Fents {8 the beginning of the wineer of 32 “thar be his death to the jealousy of PRE at may be, the incident does not aPP’PERSONS AND PERSONAGES ler’s faith in astrology, and on oe ate BARC Micke, has been’ appoincel by iter Rete y pe eae This, I oe is the first time in modern ta as officially recognized sootl i ioe Be epartmest, ly recog hsaying and turned it into es is one extraordinary feature about Hitler's faith in the Roe tise to intriguing speculation. As everyone knows, he pted the swastika as the emblem not only of his party but of the But curiously enough this swastika is reversed, and anyone nted with Eastern beliefs and superstitions knows that this is to ded with positive horror. An inverted swastika is indicative not dless life but of the flood and flame of life leading to a violent Stl ction. Did Hitler know this when he foisted it upon the German nation? he reversed swastika just another sign of the man’s half-baked con- tion of things, even his beloved mysticism? Or is this a last vestige fe irony of his political / itler was not without de students after a while t arding him, and hung on to eve Bthere is no doubt that his chief admir Bavarian wenches who listened open-mouthed to him and danced dance on him in a way that formed the subject of many jokes g the habitués of the place. Hitler’s relations with women indeed A strange and obscure chapter. I saw a great deal of him at that sand I can certify that he was in these matters as abstemious as in ird to food and drink. The only woman he seemed to care for at all je lady to whose villa in the hills he fled after his inglorious collapse aber 1923. He used to correspond with her a great deal and frequent week-ends at her place. eal, he is said to have fallen ve with Winifred Wagner, but I can hardly imagine the Hitler of Tove. Another thing that struck me was the man’s utter in- deal with important details. When he spoke of Italy, or the race, or occultism, or the Jews, his talk was a succession Of neralities, couched in attractive if flowery language, but show- sry case either complete ignorance or at least complete con- idherents in the ‘Osteria Bavari 1 with a sort of hero worship dhe said with wrapt attention, were the two waitresses, {insisted in season and out of season on the greatness of L never met a German who was so entirely un- his thought, his outlook upon men _and things were "Peutonic. He loved everything foreign while he de- theories came from the Frenchman, Gobineau, and "Houston Chamberlain. His famous phrase, ‘theTHE LIVING AGE Septey seh? was the invention of the Dutchma a 1983 - n, Moelk Rie ty salute was an Elizabethan stage conventi er van dey ; E ree sieptol by 1a te give a Roman effect. Flis regimental aut nd ; Mer pation of Roman eagles. His uniforms are tal standards se ee Pei they are a sort of cocktail of French, Austria anything by Pt eefoume with most of the bad points to all three. Bue | wn Ent ea Bnllort these long evenings spent with him: he was, and pro tt sli pasion, aot Fee ciusly, sincere in all he eae jae leven when itappears hypocritical and insincere. SAYS and does, ae) Mac Turee Sraresmen or Cuwa take By Wiiutam Marri wie ‘Translated from the Journal de Ger ¢ L ia es ted rom the Journal de Get, Geneva Libsal Daily Mad Mad LAVING been closely associated fi has! pon ies of the League of Nations, I have y fourteen years with the husb judge a great many statesm 1 ee le occasion to see, know Thre Mrersfore know wh en from ev untr he we Ratan talline atone yin the worl I ae Governing China at thi g about when I affirm that the mel y Galleagues of the Occiden. it ies agus of the Occident. Bredeny china is governed by a o est rent powers, inst ed by a complicated system composed who: And on top of th. read of the three th F ; “a Hsia’ Bi ese five powers is a p Bee tha customary in Burope Pract aaat anne Powersis a party government somewhat like gove Hemi SE whom represents the ilsry occa ee on of tire pe S il pe Tl en 3 while the third holds the economic lle sen, ithe of Pd acter is Genera ot with ers WH eaten of the Gietal Chiang Kai-shek, who bears the mot Wang lang Chinn committee of Military Affairs. The litical but f tember of this trees etesident of the Exe rae Counc Ti Yat.s Vira ¥ ty, bute nat: Mr. T. V. Soong, has no impo it ten y b moreover, brotha note" OF Fin f slippe > brother-in-law of Ger ¢ Pres shell isa m Gene : n ey a. te ote an army, ety Military leaders; they mply M my. Gegeristary leaders; they are P iy wee eneral Chiang Ka ee has noe ic ‘atdly ¢ eo ages eer the cotton business, BUM Uaah 2 fWO respects. F ining, his conn r8Cter having on or one thi ; ae originally been the army ot.the pad ecome he army of the nation. 1n the Fj AS act y c ually studied military affairs