hitler

243not the headquarters of a militant organization but the houseof a parvenu displaying his wealth in an orgy of ostentation.The Senate room is the show-place of the house and it isso arranged that a chair on the platform may easily be transformedinto a throne. Bronze eagles abound all over theplace, so that one might imagine oneself in the Castle ofCompiègne, where Napoleon has left his mark of grandeur.A caustic critic has lamented the absence of a multitude of“H”s or, still better, “AG”s, for “Hitler” and “Adolf theGreat.” The swastika predominates on the floors and carpets,a living memento of the coming Aryan rule.“Deutschland Erwache” is written on the portal of theBrown House in letters of sombre dignity. The eagle and theswastika, flanking the iron-wrought gate, stamp the housebeyond doubt as the Nazi home. Young people, proudlyself-conscious, stand guard at the doors and pass muster overall comers.The clicking of heels is the dominating note in the house.Young men stand at rigid attention before other young men,receive their orders and clear out of sight. Staccato commandsgive the symphony of noise a rattling undertone.Elderly men, too, come and go, wrapped in ponderoussilence. Some of them may be generals, ghosts from thechurchyard of a departed day, attracted to the Brown Houseby the military stir. The scene brings back to themmemories of days at division headquarters during the greatwar, with just this type of young men dashing around, jumpinginto automobiles, and mounting spirited horses, listeningto censure and to praise.