Hitler's Table Talk

282 LEGAL FORM OF NSDAP
amongst the former masons, there were many who felt a sense
of relief at the idea that we'd freed them from this chain.
Not only has there always been an incompatibility between
membership of a Lodge and membership of the Party, but the
fact of having been a Freemason forbids access to the Party. Of
course, there are men who are so stupid that one knows very
well that it was only from stupidity that they became masons.
The very rare cases in which an exception can be made come
exclusively under my authority. And I grant absolution only
to men whose entire lives bear witness to their indisputably
nationalist feelings.
We were obliged to call a general meeting of the Party each
year to elect the Directing Committee. The result of the vote,
recorded in a minute, had to appear in the Register of Societies,
But for this formality, the Party would have lost its juridical
personality and accompanying rights.
This annual meeting had something of farce about it. I
would offer my resignation. Two accountants, in the space of
two hours, would succeed in checking a balance for a total
movement of funds of six hundred and fifty millions. The
President of the Assembly, elected ad hoc, would conduct the
debates and proceed to the election of the new Committee.
Voting was by a show of hands. "Who is for, who is against?"
he would ask. His silly questions would arouse storms of mirth.
I would then present myself to the Registry of the Court to
have our documents registered. The anti-democratic parties,
just like the democratic parties, had to go through these
grotesque ceremonies.
The other parties had practically no paying members. We,
with our two and a half million members, banked two and a
half million marks every month. Many members paid more
than the subscription demanded (at first it was fifty pfennig a
month, then it was raised to a mark). Fräulein Schleifer, from
the post-office, used to pay ten marks a month, for example.
Thus, the Party disposed of considerable sums. Schwarz was
very open-handed when it was a question of large matters, but
extremely thrifty in small ones. He was the perfect mixture of
parsimony and generosity.