Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

504 DER FUEHREROn December 3, when Schleicher and Strasser agreed on their plan,new elections in Thuringia had taken place. The result had been a newNational Socialist defeat. The party lost up to forty per cent of its votes;this was no longer a slip, it was a crash. To save the party, desperatemeasures were in order. Hitler sent Goring to Schleicher withinstructions to discuss the possibilities of appointing a National Socialistpremier in Prussia; but this premier, he insisted, must be Goring and notStrasser. Schleicher had an easy answer: the Center declared that itwould approve and vote for Strasser as Prussian premier, but notGoring.A sordid comedy — this mutual betrayal of the National Socialistleaders! Strasser conspired with Schleicher against Hitler, Hitler withSchleicher against Strasser. But more and more, the unexpressedsentiment in the party was gathering behind Strasser. In vain, Hitlerattempted at a meeting on December 5 to inspire his Reichstag deputieswith courage. It was not true, he told them, that the party had suffered adefeat in Thuringia — all of them knew that it was only too true. Never,he said, had a great movement achieved victory by taking the road ofcompromise. The closer the show-down approached, the greater thesacrifices; 'only one thing is decisive: who in this struggle is capable ofthe last effort, who can put the last battalion in the field.' For thedeputies who knew that they themselves would be the sacrifice at thenext elections, this was no consolation. 'God save us from having to gothrough with the next election campaign,' Goebbels had recendy writtenin his diary. On December 6, he noted: 'The situation in the Reich iscatastrophic'On December 7, Hitler and Strasser met in the Kaiserhof; theirconversation ended with mutual threats, reproaches, and accusations ofbetrayal. Hitler accused Strasser of trying to cheat him out of thechancellorship, and even the party leadership — of trying to split theparty. Strasser replied that he had wanted to save the party, but Hitlerhad disloyally stabbed him in the back. Perhaps he did not sayeverything he had in his heart; after the conference, he sat down in hisroom in the Hotel Excelsior across from the Anhalt Station, and wroteHitler a letter overflowing with the anger that had been gathering withinhim for years. The letter took up differ-