862.00/2729
The Ambassador in Germany (Sackett) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received April 30.]
Sir: Confirming my telegram No. 75 of April 14, 10 a.m., and with special reference to despatch No. 1627 of April 7, 1932, relative to the police raids on the offices and quarters of the Nazi Party and the homes of its leaders, I have the honor to report that after long deliberations between the Reich Government and the heads of the principal German States, President von Hindenburg has issued an executive decree on the basis of Article 48 of the Constitution13 dissolving Hitler’s semi-military organizations. The importance which the Government attached to this step may be seen from the fact that the decree was countersigned by the Chancellor, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice, as well as the fact that Dr. Brüning deemed it necessary to postpone for one day his departure for Geneva in order to take part in the deliberations.
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The mysterious financial backers of such a large private army undoubtedly expected returns on their investment. The assertion that Thyssen, the iron and steel magnate, is one of the principal financial backers of the Nazi movement has never been effectively denied. According to latest reports, Hitler has also foreign financial backers and in this connection Sir Henri Deterding and Ivar Kreuger have been repeatedly mentioned. The report which appeared in a Swedish Socialist journal several days ago that a receipt for 100,000 marks signed by Hitler had been found among Kreuger’s papers was promptly denied by the Nazi leader. The allegations in connection with the financing of the Hitler movement in Germany will be discussed in a separate despatch going forward in this pouch.
As reported in my telegram No. 75 of April 14, 10 a.m., the dissolution of Hitler’s private army was carried out in almost every part of Germany without serious disturbances. Hitler himself has [Page 293] accepted the dissolution with apparent equanimity, having promptly issued a manifesto to his “former” comrades of the S.S. and S.A.13a telling them that henceforth they are only ordinary members of the Nazi Party and consoling them with the prospect of retribution on April 24, the date of the Prussian election.
Being aware of the Government’s intentions, the storm detachments had time to take precautionary measures, removing large quantities of documentary and other material, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the police. It is reported that in many instances the police found nothing but the bare walls.
There is reason to believe that the dissolution of the storm detachments was not entirely unwelcome to Hitler. Various units of his army were dissatisfied with his principle of legality; they were tired of waiting for the promised Third Reich. Moreover, the two presidential campaigns had been a drain on Hitler’s coffers and the question of financing these organizations threatened to become burdensome. The dissolution of the storm detachments removed also the main obstacle in the way of the Nazis’ participation in a coalition government in the Reich and several German states.
In republican quarters the proscription of the storm detachments was hailed as an act that should tend to strengthen the Government’s authority both at home and abroad. The belief was widespread that the Government’s action will deprive France of an effective argument against Germany at the Disarmament Conference at Geneva.14
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Respectfully yours,
- British and Foreign State Papers, vol. cxii, p. 1072.↩
- Schutz-Staffel and Stnrm-Abteilung.↩
- For correspondence concerning the Disarmament Conference, see vol. i, pp. 1 ff.↩