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GREGOR STRASSER and the RISE of NAZISM This Page Intentionally Left Blank GREGOR STRASSER and the RISE of NAZISM ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: NAZI GERMANY AND THE HOLOCAUST Volume 6 GREGOR STRASSER AND THE RISE OF NAZISM This page intentionally left blank GREGOR STRASSER AND THE RISE OF NAZISM PETER D. STACHURA First published in 1983 This edition first published in 2015 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1983 Peter D. Stachura All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-138-79664-5 (Set) eISBN: 978-1-315-75774-2 (Set) ISBN: 978-1-138-79862-5 (Volume 6) eISBN: 978-1-315-75662-2 (Volume 6) Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. Disclaimer The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace. Gregor Strasser and the Rise of Nazism PETER D. STACHURA University of Stirling London GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN Boston Sydney © Peter D. Stachura, 1983. This book is Copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved. George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd, 40 Museum Street, London WC1A1LU, UK George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd, Park Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Herts HP2 4TE, UK Allen & Unwin, Inc., 9 Winchester Terrace, Winchester, Mass. 01890, USA George Allen & Unwin Australia Pty Ltd, 8 Napier Street, North Sydney, NSW 2060, Australia First published in 1983 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Stachura, Peter D. Gregor Strasser and the rise of Nazism. 1. Strasser, Gregor 2. Germany - Politics and govemment - 1918-1933 -Biography I. Title 943.085 DD247.S/ ISBN 0-04-943027-0 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Stachura, Peter D. Gregor Strasser and the rise of Nazism. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Strasser, Gregor, 1892-1934. 2. National socialism -Biography. 3. Germany - Politics and govemment -1918-1933. 4. Germany - Politics and govemment-1933-1945.1. Title. DD247.S78S73 1983 943.08'092'4 [B] 82-24327 ISBN 0-04-943027-0 Set in 10 on 11 point Plantin by Fotographics (Bedford) Ltd, and printed in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham For Gregory and Madeleine This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface page xi List of Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 1 The Early Years, 1892-1923 11 Background 11 Towards Hitler 16 2 New Opportunities, 1923-5 26 Aftermath of the Putsch 26 Into Politics 31 3 The ‘Socialist’ Years, 1925-8 40 The Northern Challenge 40 Strasserism 51 Propaganda Leader 60 4 Reorientation, 1928-30 67 Organisation Leader 67 Crisis 73 5 Party Leader or Weimar Politician, 1930-2? 82 The Party Man 82 New Friends and Perceptions 89 6 The Resignation Crisis, 1932-3 103 Epilogue 121 Notes 127 Bibliography 160 Index 172 This page intentionally left blank Preface Since commencing the research for this book in autumn 1974, I have accumulated many debts to a large number of persons and institutions at home and abroad for their invaluable assistance. The staffs of the archives and libraries where I worked could not have been more helpful and friendly in dealing with my inquiries about source material: the Bundes­ archiv, Berlin Document Center, Institut für Zeitgeschichte, Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv (Allgemeines Staatsarchiv, Kriegsarchiv, Geheimes Staatsarchiv, Staatsarchiv München), Hauptstaatsarchiv Düsseldorf, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Staatsarchiv Koblenz, Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart and the Institute of Contemporary History and Wiener Library. The British Academy, the Carnegie Trust, and the Twenty-Seven Foundation generously provided funds which helped finance my numerous visits over the years to archives in West Germany. I am most grateful to Frau Vera Hierl-Hartegg for granting me per- mission to consult the papers of her late husband, Konstantin Hierl, in the Bundesarchiv, and similarly to Herr Thomas Passarge for allowing me access to his father’s Nachlass in the same archive. Dr Paul Alexander Schulz and Frau Renate Strasser kindly answered questions concerning Gregor Strasser and his associates which I put to them. Herr Christoph Cornelissen and his parents deserve my gratitude for transcribing several private letters written by Strasser whose illegibility had defeated me. Dr Winfried Mogge and Dr Jill Stephenson were very considerate in sending me a number of documents relating to Strasser’s political activities. Dr Stephenson read a portion of my manuscript and supplied know- ledgeable points of criticism which I much appreciated. Full responsibility for what has been written remains, of course, exclusively mine. Mr Keith M. Ashfield was most understanding about my repeated failure to meet our agreed deadlines for submitting my typescript. I salute his patience. I should also like to thank Miss Betty Neech for typing the entire manuscript with her usual admirable efficiency and expertise. The most consistently supportive contribution to the research and writ- ing of this book, however, has come from my wife, Kay. Her interest, encouragement and humour, expressed in a variety of stimulating ways, were very important to me. Bridge of Allan Peter D. Stachura January 1982 This page intentionally left blank List of Abbreviations ADGB Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund AG Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Nord und West Deutsch« Gauleiter der NSDAP BA Bundesarchiv (Koblenz) Bay. HSA: ASA Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv: Allgemeines Staatsarchiv Bay. HSA: SAM Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv: Staatsarchiv München BDC Berlin Document Center BNSDJ Bund Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Juristen BVP Bayerische Volkspartei C-V Central-Verein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens DAP Deutsche Arbeiterpartei DDP Deutsche Demokratische Partei DHV Deutschnationaler Handlungsgehilfen-Verband DNVP Deutschnationale Volkspartei DSP Deutsche Staatspartei DVFB Deutschvölkische Freiheitsbewegung DVFP Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei DVP Deutsche Volkspartei EW Einwohnerwehr GVG Grossdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft HJ Hitlerjugend IfZG Institut für Zeitgeschichte (Munich) KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands KV Kampfverlag KVP Konservative Volkspartei NSAB Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Ärztebund NSAG Nationalsozialistische Arbeitsgemeinschaft NSBO Nationalsozialistische Betriebszellenorganisation NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei NSDStB Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund NSF Nationalsozialistische Frauenschaft NSFB Nationalsozialistischer Freiheitsbewegung Gross- Deutschlands NSFP Nationalsozialistischer Freiheitspartei NSLB Nationalsozialistischer Lehrerbund NSS Nationalsozialistischer Schülerbund RM Reichsmark xiv Gregor Strasser and the Rise of Nazism ROL Reichsorganisationsleitung SA Sturmabteilung SAK Staatsarchiv Koblenz SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands SS Schutzstaffel Uschla Untersuchungs- und Schlichtungsausschuss VB Völkischer Beobachter VfZG Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte VKV Volkskonservative Vereinigung VnS Verband nationalgesinnter Soldaten V-S-B Völkische-Sozialer-Block WPA Wirtschaftspolitische Abteilung ZSg Zeitgeschichtlicher Sammlung Introduction The collapse of the Weimar Republic and the concomitant rise to power of the National Socialist movement form one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of Europe in the twentieth Century. The repercussions of Adolf Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor of Germany in 1933 on the world at large can hardly be overestimated in view of the unprecedented catas- trophes in terms of human misery, extermination and destruction that subsequently befell civilisation. The Weimar Republic thus projected on to a broader scenario the fundamental crises its politicians were unable to solve; in the Third Reich, Germany’s problems eventually became every- one else’s. The reasons for the political and socio-economic disasters which overcame the Republic, particularly in its latter years, have been analysed in countless studies,1 as indeed have the preconditions and dynamics which made possible the inconceivable - the advent and widespread acceptance, in one of the most industrially and culturally advanced countries in Europe, of a comprehensively negative and nefarious Weltanschauung. These explanations for National Socialism,2 however, must not be allowed to obscure the axiomatic point that people ultimately shape the destiny of democratic parliamentary nations - ordinary citizens exercising their electoral preferences and the leaders whom they install in office. The Weimar era was singularly lacking in decisive, inspiring leaders. Only a few stand out from the mass of mediocrity who controlled public life, of whom Gustav Stresemann is perhaps the best example. The frus- tration which this poverty of leadership engendered in many Germans, especially of the younger generation, during these years was poignantly captured in the celebrated slogan,
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